First Days

July 21, 2014

I  thought I was getting a sign that I made the wrong decision moving to Korea shortly after we got to Seatac when half of my front tooth broke off as I was taping copies of the long Korean address on nine luggage tags. Alone while Griff was parking, I needed tape and the agent gave me some commercial packaging tape, no scissors available, and I stupidly, hurriedly, used my front tooth as a knife.  Also, three of my bags were overweight so I was charged an extra $300. I wasn't going to be able to smile without embarrassment when I arrived in my new country. I was tired and anxious after only a few hours sleep and suddenly, for the first time, I had doubts and I had to hold back the tears.

Is there a such thing as a totally pleasant 11 hour fight? Oh yes there is when you fly with Korean Air!  We will have no obnoxious intercom interruptions or monotonous instructions. All is done through the screen with personal remote directly in front of each seat. Blanket, socks, eye mask, pillow, wine ( poured out of regular bottles), hot towels, slippers, toothbrush, two full meals and a snack anyone? Your choice of movies, TV, news, games ( I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and loved it! The movie Her on the other hand was a total snoozer.) One of the darling young flight attendants told me my son was, "So handsome, just like celebrity."! It just gets better when you arrive at the best airport in the world. Golf, spa, museum, hotel, you can do it all here. We were met by our greeters who immediately took charge of our luggage and sat us down so we could have a quick meal at Kraze Burger before we headed to the apartment. We arrive at my cute little apartment on the fourth floor of a five story building where four guys schlep my suitcases up four flights, thank you! I love my place. They have set me up with a phone, cable, internet a few groceries, towels, bathroom kit and cleaning supplies. Clear operating instructions to the washing machine, a/c, hot water were just part of the big welcome packet given to me. Also include we're guide books, preloaded subway/bus/taxi card, phone card,  $600 US cash and 600 Korean won. Then we were left on our own. A phone call just minutes later was to tell me an appointment was made with a dentist. This was followed by an email attachment of a full bio page of my dentist who graduated from Tufts. Aaahhh, maybe I did make the right choice.

After a good night's sleep Griff and I ventured out. Our neighborhood is stocked with cafés, coffee shops, retail stores and 7 Elevens. Anything we need/ want is at our fingertips and so far the prices seem reasonable. We walked for a couple of hours snacking here and there shocked by the many choices of American restaurants. Dominos, Dunkin Donuts, Subway, McD, etc. they are all here and within steps. But way better than that are the zillion other food choices, many with English translation or pictures to point to. We decide to hop a cab (all clean, nice, easy, cheap price) to go to Emarket, one of the big consumer retail outlets. I quickly realize I packet way too much stuff and could have bought most everything here! The grocery section is fantastic! Like Costco, samples are given out in each section. We are fascinated by the availability of everything and like everything else in Korea it is super clean, neat, organized and efficient. After having such limited choices for shopping on the island and nothing I could walk to, this is my consumer paradise!

We did not see any other Americans or foreigners while out and about and nobody stared at us or approached us. People were friendly when we asked for directions, although most people do not speak English well. We posed as hotel guests at the Intercontinental Hotel to get info from the concierge who understood/ spoke perfect English.  I can see a big billboard from my deck that reads: I Love English and we see English speaking schools on every other street, so the English speakers must all be in school during the day I'm guessing.  It's fairly quiet during the day on the streets as everyone is working or in school. The young people in cafés are studying while eating and of course they are tethered to their smart phones. We are located about 30 minutes from Seoul, but this is a bustling district in the afternoon/evening. Cars everywhere, people on the streets and filling the restaurants. The temperature is in the 80s, but no more humid than Hawaii and much more comfortable than China this time of year. Skies have been overcast and it is the end of monsoon season. Heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in many parts of the country recently, but the last rains should occur shortly.  I hear fall is lovely here.

Another new teacher arrived and we got together for dinner. She had just finished college in Pennsylvania  Since most schools only have one music teacher, and nothing interesting had opened up in her town in PA she took a chance at a job fair and found herself teaching in the Middle East a few weeks later.  She took a two-year job in Saudi Arabia and really enjoyed her time there then, as with me, Korea International School perused all the resumes on file with the two international agencies and thought she would be a good fit for them. She is super nice, positive, up for any experience and easy to get along with. I'll be working directly with her as my students will see her regularly. Her main instrument is the trumpet but she also plays piano and violin.She learned to make her own wine and sangria there, so she'll have no trouble with the active drinking culture here!

Couple of side notes. Recycling is not only a big deal here, it is mandatory. I received two pages of instructions on the proper disposal of all types of garbage. It's nice to know that throughout the country the policy is enforced by fines if the reuse of natural resources and elimination of garbage is not carefully followed. This is a great model for the world.
Traffic is similar to Seattle, but the interesting thing is that there are only three colors of cars here: white, gray and black. I believe the color reflects stays and there are no old cars. Parking is on the sidewalks, so you've got to be very careful if you plan on walking and texting at the same time!

It is easy to transition to a country that is so clean, well-organized, welcomes tourism and  is very safe. I definitely feel like I am in another country, but it is quite Western, super high tech and interesting in so many ways.  I'm sure for many days I will be waking up at four in the morning ready for the next adventure. Griffin is here for five more days so we have lots of exploring to do. He loves it so far and is taking heaps of pictures.
I am using my iPhone to text with the app Kakao Talk. There is no fee. Sign up to communicate that way if you want.

All is good in this part of the world.

Gaylen
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