There is no such things as baby steps in Korea, literally. I arrived in Korea and took off running.
50 of us (by "us" I mean recent graduates turned English teachers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison) arrived on August 27th after a 14 hour flight on Korean Air and were immediately ripped away from each other. If I sound dramatic, its because the scene was just that. As we hauled our luggage off the baggage carousel we could see the automatic doors beyond customs sliding open and a legion of our Korean co-teachers waving signs with our names on it, waiting to whisk us away to our respective cities.
I found my name (heart over the "i" of course) and met one of my co-teachers, Eden. I had just enough time to ask Eden her name before she told me we needed to hurry in order to catch the 5 o'clock bus to Songtan. It was 4:56. We pretty much did the international terminal dash-- pushing something like 150 pounds of luggage the entire length of the corridor. Turns out, the bus didn't leave till 5:30. So on top of being exhausted and jet lagged I was now sweating and smelled like a bum.
Eden and I spent the around 2 hour bus ride from Incheon Airport to Songtan napping and intermittently learning about each other. Once we got to Songtan, I got handed off to my other co-teacher Jinny. Eden went home and Jinny took me to my home for the next 5 days: Metro Hotel. Metro Hotel makes a Super 8 look like the Four Seasons. The Metro Hotel would have been a great backdrop for a really bad thriller movie. It was deserted, I was the only person I ever saw going in or coming out of the place. There was one clerk working from sun up to sun down. The place smelled like moth balls and every thing was a musty taupe color... cue music from Psycho.
The first couple days weren't so bad all I did was dose in and out of consciousness forcing my body to adjust to the right time zone. I managed to drag myself out of bed at some point and cross the street for my second ever Dunkin' Donuts experience abroad. For those of you who know, and for those who don't I loveeeee me some Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. There's nothing like it. I've been deprived of this sweet nectar for the last 4 years because Wisconsin is entirely devoid of Double D. I happened upon a Dunkin' Donuts last year in Marbella, Spain and it was like Christmas morning. Iced coffee and a chocolate glazed donut-- it's the simple things, right?
Anywho, in my jet lagged semi-concsious state Dunkin' Donuts was exactly the pick me up and comfort from home that I needed. So, for the next five days I subsisted on Dunkin' Donuts ice coffee, chocolate glazed donuts, and cashews from 7 Eleven. I read some Jane Eyre whenever FoxLife (like the Fox channel at home except it plays all the comedies from NBC, but hey I'm complaining) wasn't playing The Office or Community or Scrubs. I even succumbed to NCIS, which I loathed in the states, but when it is the only thing on in English, sure I'll be a NCIS fan for a day (or the next year).
That Monday I met up with Danielle the English teacher I replaced and her boyfriend. She and her boyfriend had been living together in the apartment I inherited for the last year. They shared all sorts of helpful tips preparing me for life in Songtan. They showed me the park-- where the militia trains on weekends (got it, do not wander into the park on weekends-- will probably get shot), showed me "Little Amurrica" where all the soldiers from Osan Air Base go for kicks and where the Filipino "Juicy Girls" hustle at the pool tables (ok, avoid that like the plague or the clap).
Songtan isn't much. It's just north of the much larger Pyeongtaek which is still minuscule compared to Seoul. And much of the city's business comes from the Osan Air Base hence "Little Amurrica." I'm not exactly sure where Songtan-ians hang out, there is the aforementioned park, but besides that it's pretty gritty. I don't have any major department stores, a lot of my friends are in wealthier suburbs and have insane shopping malls and things called Lotte Worlds, but that's all foreign to me in Songtan.
Anyway, I kicked it at the Metro Hotel till Wednesday just Dunkin' Donuts, FoxLife and me. On Wednesday morning I dropped my bags off at my apartment on the way to school and started teaching that morning. Like I said no such things as baby steps...
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