Day 2

So the bus ride to Jeonju was 4 hours...a full hour and a half longer than I thought it would be. Luckily through sheer dumb luck, the guy I was supposed to call just happened to check and see if I was on the bus...so he was waiting for me at the bus stop. He picked me up, and we drove past the school I will be working at. I was taken to a hotel where I stayed last night and will be here today as well. I move in to my apartment tomorrow afternoon, and then will have a 1/2 day of orientation. I start teaching my first class on Monday. I am nervous..but hoping the job is easy. Culture shock is definately starting to set in. I left my hotel today in search of food...and that was an adventure. Nothing looks even partially recognizable, so I stood outside my hotel for about 5 minutes just trying to memorize what it looked like so I could find it. I then set off in a straight line in search of a restautant. On my way there, I found a small convienance store where I bought a phone card. I was forced to hold my hand up to my ear to get my point across, but luckily he understood and I bought a card that has 144 minutes for 10,000 won, which is a little less than $10. I then found a restaurant and went inside. They had "When Harry Met Sally" on the TV, except it was dubbed in Korean. I never thought in my life that ordering lunch would be a stressful experiance. The lady didn't speak a word of english, and I the same in Korean. The menu had no pictures on it...so I just shrugged my shoulders and hoped for the best. For a fleeting moment I considered flapping my arms like a chicken, but decided against it. She ended up bringing me a bowl of some rice and vegetable concoction that was kind of bland, but it was edible. I also had some kimchis and there was even a plate of fish heads that I immediately pushed away. Apparently there is a specific way to eat things in Korea, because the lady kept coming over and correcting me when I used the fork insted of a spoon to eat the rice stuff. All in all I found the whole situation stressful..but at least I got something to eat. I picked up a 1.5L bottle of Coke, a bag of korean buggles, and a bag of korean funyuns at the store....and then went back to my hotel room, already having been through enough adventure for the day. I then called home and spent the next hour talking to my mom, my dad, and James, as well as Nick and Zac. I tried calling Ellyn, but got voicemail. It's definately been an experience...and there is a lot of emotions that I am feeling right now. There were some tears shed on the phone...but I think it had more to do with stress and unfamiliarity than with anything else. I was embarassed...but I couldn't help it. I am trying to take this day by day, and hopefully I find my way here and learn to love this place...but right now that seems really daunting. I can't wait to see where I will be living tomorrow..and hopefully I can get a few things shipped from home that I was unable to bring with (Camcorder, power cord I forgot, bed sheets, a TOWEL...). It's 4pm as I write this...and I figure the rest of my day today will be sitting on my rock hard Korean bed (seriously...its like sleeping on a concrete slab with a 1/2 of foam on top) and watching Beverly Hills, 90210 on the laptop until bed time. It's still quite surreal when I realize that I am actually half way across the world...a full 23 hours of travel away...It's odd that I am actually here...and I find myself wishing for a little familiarity. At least now I know...when I come back home...I am really going to appreciate it.

Side note: I called my fraternity brother, Jun Mo Park...who told me that he FLEW to Incheon (he lives 3.5 hrs by bus) to try and suprise me at the airport. He lives about 4 hrs from Jeonju by bus. Talk about a bummer! I would have loved to see him! We are planning on getting together one of the upcoming weekends for sure. He also offered to give me a cell phone of his because Americans cannot get cell phones in Korea. That's some Sigma Pi love right there!