We Made it!

We made it to Korea safe and sound. Everything has gone so smoothly. Our luggage was a little over the weight limit, but we told the guy we were leaving for a year and he let it go. Our 13 hour flight was really nice. The guy next to me moved to another seat, so Jayson and I got 3 seats to ourselves. We had our own movie screen in front of us. I watched about 4 movies, played a few games and learned some Korean on it. The airport in Incheon was very nice. We just followed people off the plane to find our luggage and our way out. Once we got to the main area everything was in Korean and English. A lot of people speak English too. By the time we got to the Hotel, we were exhausted. We checked in, but we wanted a bite to eat. We stayed at the Hyatt and they had a restaurant that had food from all over the world. So, we had a Caesar Salad and a Margherita Pizza. Yum!

The next day we woke up from a good night rest and had some nice showers. We got some coffee, and guess what, there is a Casino in the Hyatt. Yes Jayson could not refuse the urge. He played a little bit. I almost went to jail. Apparently you are not allowed to take pictures in there. 6 people swarmed me when the flash went and started to speak Korean to me. I quickly showed them the picture and I erased it in front of them. We didn’t stay much longer after that. “Stupid American”

We got back to the airport and met Jessa from Teach Away. What a sense of relief, finally the traveling is out of or hands and we just follow EPIK. We took a 4 hour bus ride to Jeonju University. At first, I was excited to be able to see a big stretch of Korea, but there wasn’t much to see. The highway sights were full of dirt land, no buildings or amazing greenery.

The University is pretty funny. We checked in, got some welcoming goodies and a sweatshirt. Got our temperature check, we passed! The funny part is the elevators and our luggage. One elevator goes to even floors and the elevator goes to odd floors. Nobody knew that at first. Jayson and I took the wrong one. We went all the way up to nine and was very confused why the 14 button wasn’t working. We went all the way down and found more people confused. So we took out all of the luggage and waited for the “even elevator.” We also have a couples dorm, so we don’t have to share with anyone. Which is good because the dorm room is small and the bathroom is all in one. The shower is right next to the toilet. So, when we take a shower the whole floor gets wet. Everyone says, “That’s asian life, everything is small.”

There are a lot of interesting people at the orientation. We have met someone form, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and New York. When we say we’re from California, their eyes get big. Jessa even couldn’t believe that I owned a heavy coat. So, we are all teaching each other about our home countries. It is very exciting.