Miss Ulsan
I'm finally here! Let me bring you up to speed:
While packing and getting ready to go, I wasn't nervous about my trip at all. My only concerns were money (having some would be nice) and packing the right things. Bear in mind that I was packing for an entire year, in a climate with NY's extreme weather conditions, in a culture I was unfamiliar with, for a job I'd never done before. On top of those concerns, airline regulations for checked baggage limited me to two bags, each not exceeding 50lbs. I had to bring sheets and a towel, plus sheets for another teacher and various and sundry other items, so I got out Kanika's trusty bathroom scale and carefully balanced my huge suitcases on it every few minutes as they got full. By Thursday night I had effectively packed one bag, and was banking on the Alaska Airlines counterperson's sympathy since it weighed in at 55lbs. The second bag refused to cooperate, however. I unpacked and repacked that stupid suitcase umpteen bagillion times on Saturday night, and (leaving SR at 7:30am Sunday) once again in the morning. Carolyn brought me to the airport, and panic set in as we approached the drop off zone at Oakland Int'l. Suddenly I didn't have all the extraneous stuff to worry about. What was in my suitcases was what was coming with me, the money I had was the money I had, and once I got past check-in, I had nothing to occupy my mind except the abject terror at moving halfway around the world by myself. After the wave of nausea passed, I was able to get my suitcases out of the truck and say a tearful goodbye to Carolyn. I wrestled my bags (plus the biggest carry-on backpack EVER - thank you REI for having a Labor Day sale) to the ticket line and crossed my fingers as they weighed my suitcases. Luckily, she only slapped some bright orange HEAVY stickers on them and sent them on their way without charging me the overweight fee.
The flight from Oakland to Seattle was very short after becoming accustomed to the bicoastal route, and we were landing before I'd even settled in. Once I got to Seattle, I had a little trouble figuring out where I should wait for my connecting flight. Who knew Seattle was an international hub? Their airport rivals Atlanta for sheer enormity. I had to take 2 trains to get to the Korean Air terminal. The second instance of rising panic occured when I got there and saw only Koreans waiting. This was it! Time for me to come to terms with being the minority, being 8 feet tall, and being unsure of who can speak my language. I camped out with my big packpack on the floor and made phone calls. Interestingly, on the flight I sat next to a Laotian man, and a Chinese woman was next to him. Both had lived in the States for 20+ years and made great seatmates. The flight was 11 hours long, but was certainly not horrible. Exhausted from lack of sleep in the preceeding days, I took a nice nap, and enjoyed a long list of free movies which I controlled. I watched The DaVinci Code, Over the Hedge (eat your heart out Carolyn), and then Kinky Boots (yes, Mom, that WAS excellent!). I also got about 6 more inches of scarf crocheted while listening to my ipod. They served two meals (one American and one Korean) and a couple snacks and were always coming by with orange juice and water. The flight attendents were like Korean barbie dolls - all thin, gorgeous and dressed impeccably in white pencil skirts with pressed aqua shirts and scarves. They also had some strange piece of headgear that resembled those "support the troops" ribbons, only with thin lines, and attached to their heads sideways above a low bun. Also aqua.
Dropping into South Korea after flying over boring Russia forever, we saw mountains rising out of a thin mist. Beautiful.
After making it through immigration without a hitch (although waiting behind LOTS of ppl with hitches) I had to pick up my luggage and go through 'customs' which is actually where I had to fill out a form (no, I'm not bringing agricultural items, explosives or porn) and hand it to a woman who didn't even glance at it. THEN came the fun of finding my ticket counter so I could get a boarding pass and re-check my luggage. Seoul airport has a spa, grocery store, arcade and quite possibly a football field inside. What it doesn't have are signs indicating where sweaty foreigners should take their inordinately bulky luggage so their arms don't fall off. I lugged that crap in and out of narrow elevators for 25 minutes, following Engrish instructions ('second' and 'third' sound a lot alike with the "th" sound is pronounced as an "s") before I finally found the domestic departures Korean Airlines ticket counter. After I happily gave my bags back, I headed to the restroom and freshened up. There was an interesting type of toilet seat cover there - it was a plastic cover that stayed on the toilet, and with the push of a button, rotated through a sanitizing machine on the back of the seat. It's reminiscent of the European hand towels, only less openly disgusting.
Once I felt less like a wrestler in the 8th round and more like myself, I got myself to the gate to wait for my one hour flight to Busan. Surprisingly, my domestic flight had less Koreans on it than my international flight to Korea... I even met two French women and bumblingly chatted a bit before the flight. However on the plane, I was seated next to two Korean women who spoke virtually no English. I took out my scarf and started working on it. The yarn I'm using is made from recycled Indian silk saris, and as such is brightly colored. The older woman reached over and was touching the material, so I told her it was from India, which she understood. She also understood when I said it wasn't a good scarf, because it was my first try. She laughed. The rest of the flight was less successful in terms of conversation. She also hooked a few loops for me on the scarf, but she may be worse than I am at crocheting, so no improvement there.
Funny Engrish: The line we all know, "Be careful when opening the overhead bins as contents may have shifted during the flight" becomes, "Please be careful as the contents may fall out" on Korean Airlines.
After arriving in Busan, my luggage took quite awhile coming out and then I went out and faced the sea of expectant Koreans. I tried smiling at everyone and no one as I walked slowly and hoped the director would be there and pick me out. Sure enough, a (young!) woman came running up to me - "Alexis?"- and took a bag right away. Then the other foreign teacher Mark (from Michigan) took a suitcase and so did the school's accountant, who had driven them to get me. They had a car waiting and we were on the road to Ulsan before my head stopped spinning. This was at 10pm, so unfortunately there wasn't much to see. Mark and I talked a bit about Ulsan and Korea in general. The accountant didn't speak any English, and so he and the director (Director Yoon) spoke to each other in Korean most of the ride. On the plane, I had been gettng hungry and VERY tired, but I had power bars in my bag and just wanted to get to my apartment, so when Director Yoon asked if I wanted to eat, I told her no. We went first to the school for a moment and Director Yoon introduced me to her boss - no name, just "This is my boss," who apparently doesn't speak English either. She confirmed with him that I'll start on Monday, and we left. My apartment isn't far from the school - maybe 5 minutes walking - and we were there quickly. I'm on the second floor (stairs) and the key is the funniest looking little thing. They whirlwinded around my apartment, showing me the things that were bought for me and where the hot water was (you have to turn it on everytime you need to use it, and turn it off afterwards), then left. I was so glad to be by myself in my apartment, but it was suddenly very lonely and I wished I could at least call home, but unfortunately my cellphone doesn't work here, and I don't have a phone in my apt yet. I got out my adapters and plugged in my ipod speakers and tried to turn on the ipod so I could listen to music while unpacking - no juice in the ipod! And I have no way to charge it, without a computer. That was probably the most disappointing thing. It's lonely with only Korean tv as company. The director had given me her cell phone, though - someone (not sure who) was supposed to come to my apartment to hook up my washing machine the next day, so they would call that phone when they were coming. I thought calling the US would be a bit much from my new boss' phone, but calling Kate in Ulsan didn't sound so bad. So I gave her a call and it was SO nice to hear someone who I was at least familiar with. She also sounded excited that I was there and I was instantly more comfortable. She wanted to come over and see me, but I didn't know where I was! That is a truly bizarre feeling. I didn't know my address, what section of town I was in... nothing. Street signs are only in Korean, too, so I couldn't even give her an intersection. I could have gotten in a cab and gone to her place, but I wouldn't know what to say to get home. So we talked for a few minutes and decided to meet up Tuesday (today). That went wonderfully well - she was downtown at the only Starbucks in town, and I had said that I thought my place was also downtown. She told me to look for a ferris wheel (yes, there's a ferris wheel in downtown Ulsan), and then we'd figure it out from there. I called her when I got out of my apartment, and turned a corner while talking and there was the ferris wheel! Then, she said the Starbucks was in the Hyundai Shopping Center, and I could see that too- turns out, I'm only a 10 minute walk from Starbucks (I said Hi for you Jessica - it looks exactly the same and costs even more) and the section of town where everyone hangs out! On the way, I passed a wine store and earmarked it for a visit later on.
I hung out at Starbucks with Kate and Wendy for a little over an hour, and they are great. We have lots in common, and everyone has interesting stories to tell too. Wendy has lived in Spain for the last 6 years, so I'm going to see if I can finagle (sp?!) some Spanish lessons from her. I also found out that I am the only one with a DVD player, so that resulted in instant popularity. We're going to have a girls' movie night this weekend, since I brought The Sweetest Thing and Legally Blond. :)
After meeting with them, I walked back to my apartment via the wine store, and bought a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz/Grenache and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. No wine glasses yet, though, don't know when I'll break them out. I also stopped by a little shop closer to my place and bought paper towels, bottled water, crackers (Funny Engrish: "Vegetable Cheese Cracker Friends") and after a lot of consideration and guesswork, two just-add-water soups. I went for one with pictures of vegetables and noodles and crossed my fingers. I also had to buy toilet paper, because although they bought every other possible thing for my apartment (including "air fresheners" that smell like an attic), there was not a scrap of toilet paper to be found. Luckily, I'm a spaz and always travel with some.
I am madly in love with my apartment. I have three locks on my outside door, so feel very safe. It's technically a one bedroom, but they should find a better name for it. It's a one bedroom, one-other-room-including-the-kitchen. I have lovely hardwood floors with ondol heating, which is the traditional Korean method of heating from underneath the floor. My bedroom is a decent size, my TV is enormous, and I have a cute little dining area with a table that is almost smaller than the Lyndhurst kitchen table (for the uninitiated, that is a feat) and two chairs. They bought me a microwave, rice cooker, two pots, two saute pans, broom, sponge and cutting board. I have silverware service for two, same with the dishes. I'm also reasonably sure that I now have in my possession the cutest vacuum cleaner known to man. It's a samsung and is this little blue bubbly looking thing. (Photos of all of this will be coming once I figure out how to upload photos - without a cord for the camera...) The bathroom is widdle iddle, and has the typical Korean shower - none. There is a handheld showerhead that rests above the sink, and the entire bathroom is designed to get wet as I shower next to the toilet and over the sink. There is an enclosed porch where my washer is, and a really neat drying rack for my clothes that raises and lowers for easy loading, drying and unloading.
As I was checking the place out when I got there, I noticed a mosquito but didn't want the first thing I did in the apartment to be killing a creature. This morning after waking up with 14 (really - I counted) bites, I tracked down the little pest and sent him to his maker. His gluttony made him slow and clumsy, and he went down easy. Later I found his accomplice and gave him the same treatment. Other than those two fellows, I haven't had any unwanted guests.
When I got home with my food purchases today, I tried to boil water to pour into my soup. Riiiight. NO idea how to work my stove. Luckily, they print instructions on it. In Korean. Without pictures. So, I took the microwave out of its box and made hot water in my coffee mug. The microwave also only had Korean instructions and the buttons didn't have any English either, but through a very complex process of pressing random buttons, and then a big round one, I was able to set the microwave. For 6 minutes. That prompted me to discover that the little round button opens the microwave before the time finishes elapsing. That was some tasty soup - noodles, spicy powder and a nice sense of self satisfaction.
I can say a couple words without much thought:
Hello - "annyong haseyo"
Thank you - "kamsa hamnida"
Here - "Yogi"
Where - "Odi"
I'm working on some more - Kate made me a "taxi talk" guide so I can get places, which is nice. Tomorrow is bingo night at Tombstone, the foreigner bar, and I'm going with Wendy and Kate to meet people. Tonight I'm on my own, but as I'm already exhausted and it's only 7:30, I don't think that will be too bad. I figured out how to charge my ipod on the computer here, so at least I'll have music when I go home.
Oh - and after all the stress about sheets, mine are too small. Yeah. Mom - can you send me my old ones, the green ones I showed you from NJ? No, I have no idea where they are. Psht. That would take all the fun out of you looking for them!
Well I think that's it for now... I will certainly try to keep this up. This internet cafe is pretty far from my apartment, but I'm sure I'll find one closer soon. Tomorrow the trek is on to find calling cards and a public phone on which to use them... also, my phone is supposed to be connected tomorrow, so soon you'll all be able to go into massive debt calling me all the time :)
Love you all, miss most of you ;)
Cheers from the other side of the world,
Lex
While packing and getting ready to go, I wasn't nervous about my trip at all. My only concerns were money (having some would be nice) and packing the right things. Bear in mind that I was packing for an entire year, in a climate with NY's extreme weather conditions, in a culture I was unfamiliar with, for a job I'd never done before. On top of those concerns, airline regulations for checked baggage limited me to two bags, each not exceeding 50lbs. I had to bring sheets and a towel, plus sheets for another teacher and various and sundry other items, so I got out Kanika's trusty bathroom scale and carefully balanced my huge suitcases on it every few minutes as they got full. By Thursday night I had effectively packed one bag, and was banking on the Alaska Airlines counterperson's sympathy since it weighed in at 55lbs. The second bag refused to cooperate, however. I unpacked and repacked that stupid suitcase umpteen bagillion times on Saturday night, and (leaving SR at 7:30am Sunday) once again in the morning. Carolyn brought me to the airport, and panic set in as we approached the drop off zone at Oakland Int'l. Suddenly I didn't have all the extraneous stuff to worry about. What was in my suitcases was what was coming with me, the money I had was the money I had, and once I got past check-in, I had nothing to occupy my mind except the abject terror at moving halfway around the world by myself. After the wave of nausea passed, I was able to get my suitcases out of the truck and say a tearful goodbye to Carolyn. I wrestled my bags (plus the biggest carry-on backpack EVER - thank you REI for having a Labor Day sale) to the ticket line and crossed my fingers as they weighed my suitcases. Luckily, she only slapped some bright orange HEAVY stickers on them and sent them on their way without charging me the overweight fee.
The flight from Oakland to Seattle was very short after becoming accustomed to the bicoastal route, and we were landing before I'd even settled in. Once I got to Seattle, I had a little trouble figuring out where I should wait for my connecting flight. Who knew Seattle was an international hub? Their airport rivals Atlanta for sheer enormity. I had to take 2 trains to get to the Korean Air terminal. The second instance of rising panic occured when I got there and saw only Koreans waiting. This was it! Time for me to come to terms with being the minority, being 8 feet tall, and being unsure of who can speak my language. I camped out with my big packpack on the floor and made phone calls. Interestingly, on the flight I sat next to a Laotian man, and a Chinese woman was next to him. Both had lived in the States for 20+ years and made great seatmates. The flight was 11 hours long, but was certainly not horrible. Exhausted from lack of sleep in the preceeding days, I took a nice nap, and enjoyed a long list of free movies which I controlled. I watched The DaVinci Code, Over the Hedge (eat your heart out Carolyn), and then Kinky Boots (yes, Mom, that WAS excellent!). I also got about 6 more inches of scarf crocheted while listening to my ipod. They served two meals (one American and one Korean) and a couple snacks and were always coming by with orange juice and water. The flight attendents were like Korean barbie dolls - all thin, gorgeous and dressed impeccably in white pencil skirts with pressed aqua shirts and scarves. They also had some strange piece of headgear that resembled those "support the troops" ribbons, only with thin lines, and attached to their heads sideways above a low bun. Also aqua.
Dropping into South Korea after flying over boring Russia forever, we saw mountains rising out of a thin mist. Beautiful.
After making it through immigration without a hitch (although waiting behind LOTS of ppl with hitches) I had to pick up my luggage and go through 'customs' which is actually where I had to fill out a form (no, I'm not bringing agricultural items, explosives or porn) and hand it to a woman who didn't even glance at it. THEN came the fun of finding my ticket counter so I could get a boarding pass and re-check my luggage. Seoul airport has a spa, grocery store, arcade and quite possibly a football field inside. What it doesn't have are signs indicating where sweaty foreigners should take their inordinately bulky luggage so their arms don't fall off. I lugged that crap in and out of narrow elevators for 25 minutes, following Engrish instructions ('second' and 'third' sound a lot alike with the "th" sound is pronounced as an "s") before I finally found the domestic departures Korean Airlines ticket counter. After I happily gave my bags back, I headed to the restroom and freshened up. There was an interesting type of toilet seat cover there - it was a plastic cover that stayed on the toilet, and with the push of a button, rotated through a sanitizing machine on the back of the seat. It's reminiscent of the European hand towels, only less openly disgusting.
Once I felt less like a wrestler in the 8th round and more like myself, I got myself to the gate to wait for my one hour flight to Busan. Surprisingly, my domestic flight had less Koreans on it than my international flight to Korea... I even met two French women and bumblingly chatted a bit before the flight. However on the plane, I was seated next to two Korean women who spoke virtually no English. I took out my scarf and started working on it. The yarn I'm using is made from recycled Indian silk saris, and as such is brightly colored. The older woman reached over and was touching the material, so I told her it was from India, which she understood. She also understood when I said it wasn't a good scarf, because it was my first try. She laughed. The rest of the flight was less successful in terms of conversation. She also hooked a few loops for me on the scarf, but she may be worse than I am at crocheting, so no improvement there.
Funny Engrish: The line we all know, "Be careful when opening the overhead bins as contents may have shifted during the flight" becomes, "Please be careful as the contents may fall out" on Korean Airlines.
After arriving in Busan, my luggage took quite awhile coming out and then I went out and faced the sea of expectant Koreans. I tried smiling at everyone and no one as I walked slowly and hoped the director would be there and pick me out. Sure enough, a (young!) woman came running up to me - "Alexis?"- and took a bag right away. Then the other foreign teacher Mark (from Michigan) took a suitcase and so did the school's accountant, who had driven them to get me. They had a car waiting and we were on the road to Ulsan before my head stopped spinning. This was at 10pm, so unfortunately there wasn't much to see. Mark and I talked a bit about Ulsan and Korea in general. The accountant didn't speak any English, and so he and the director (Director Yoon) spoke to each other in Korean most of the ride. On the plane, I had been gettng hungry and VERY tired, but I had power bars in my bag and just wanted to get to my apartment, so when Director Yoon asked if I wanted to eat, I told her no. We went first to the school for a moment and Director Yoon introduced me to her boss - no name, just "This is my boss," who apparently doesn't speak English either. She confirmed with him that I'll start on Monday, and we left. My apartment isn't far from the school - maybe 5 minutes walking - and we were there quickly. I'm on the second floor (stairs) and the key is the funniest looking little thing. They whirlwinded around my apartment, showing me the things that were bought for me and where the hot water was (you have to turn it on everytime you need to use it, and turn it off afterwards), then left. I was so glad to be by myself in my apartment, but it was suddenly very lonely and I wished I could at least call home, but unfortunately my cellphone doesn't work here, and I don't have a phone in my apt yet. I got out my adapters and plugged in my ipod speakers and tried to turn on the ipod so I could listen to music while unpacking - no juice in the ipod! And I have no way to charge it, without a computer. That was probably the most disappointing thing. It's lonely with only Korean tv as company. The director had given me her cell phone, though - someone (not sure who) was supposed to come to my apartment to hook up my washing machine the next day, so they would call that phone when they were coming. I thought calling the US would be a bit much from my new boss' phone, but calling Kate in Ulsan didn't sound so bad. So I gave her a call and it was SO nice to hear someone who I was at least familiar with. She also sounded excited that I was there and I was instantly more comfortable. She wanted to come over and see me, but I didn't know where I was! That is a truly bizarre feeling. I didn't know my address, what section of town I was in... nothing. Street signs are only in Korean, too, so I couldn't even give her an intersection. I could have gotten in a cab and gone to her place, but I wouldn't know what to say to get home. So we talked for a few minutes and decided to meet up Tuesday (today). That went wonderfully well - she was downtown at the only Starbucks in town, and I had said that I thought my place was also downtown. She told me to look for a ferris wheel (yes, there's a ferris wheel in downtown Ulsan), and then we'd figure it out from there. I called her when I got out of my apartment, and turned a corner while talking and there was the ferris wheel! Then, she said the Starbucks was in the Hyundai Shopping Center, and I could see that too- turns out, I'm only a 10 minute walk from Starbucks (I said Hi for you Jessica - it looks exactly the same and costs even more) and the section of town where everyone hangs out! On the way, I passed a wine store and earmarked it for a visit later on.
I hung out at Starbucks with Kate and Wendy for a little over an hour, and they are great. We have lots in common, and everyone has interesting stories to tell too. Wendy has lived in Spain for the last 6 years, so I'm going to see if I can finagle (sp?!) some Spanish lessons from her. I also found out that I am the only one with a DVD player, so that resulted in instant popularity. We're going to have a girls' movie night this weekend, since I brought The Sweetest Thing and Legally Blond. :)
After meeting with them, I walked back to my apartment via the wine store, and bought a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz/Grenache and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. No wine glasses yet, though, don't know when I'll break them out. I also stopped by a little shop closer to my place and bought paper towels, bottled water, crackers (Funny Engrish: "Vegetable Cheese Cracker Friends") and after a lot of consideration and guesswork, two just-add-water soups. I went for one with pictures of vegetables and noodles and crossed my fingers. I also had to buy toilet paper, because although they bought every other possible thing for my apartment (including "air fresheners" that smell like an attic), there was not a scrap of toilet paper to be found. Luckily, I'm a spaz and always travel with some.
I am madly in love with my apartment. I have three locks on my outside door, so feel very safe. It's technically a one bedroom, but they should find a better name for it. It's a one bedroom, one-other-room-including-the-kitchen. I have lovely hardwood floors with ondol heating, which is the traditional Korean method of heating from underneath the floor. My bedroom is a decent size, my TV is enormous, and I have a cute little dining area with a table that is almost smaller than the Lyndhurst kitchen table (for the uninitiated, that is a feat) and two chairs. They bought me a microwave, rice cooker, two pots, two saute pans, broom, sponge and cutting board. I have silverware service for two, same with the dishes. I'm also reasonably sure that I now have in my possession the cutest vacuum cleaner known to man. It's a samsung and is this little blue bubbly looking thing. (Photos of all of this will be coming once I figure out how to upload photos - without a cord for the camera...) The bathroom is widdle iddle, and has the typical Korean shower - none. There is a handheld showerhead that rests above the sink, and the entire bathroom is designed to get wet as I shower next to the toilet and over the sink. There is an enclosed porch where my washer is, and a really neat drying rack for my clothes that raises and lowers for easy loading, drying and unloading.
As I was checking the place out when I got there, I noticed a mosquito but didn't want the first thing I did in the apartment to be killing a creature. This morning after waking up with 14 (really - I counted) bites, I tracked down the little pest and sent him to his maker. His gluttony made him slow and clumsy, and he went down easy. Later I found his accomplice and gave him the same treatment. Other than those two fellows, I haven't had any unwanted guests.
When I got home with my food purchases today, I tried to boil water to pour into my soup. Riiiight. NO idea how to work my stove. Luckily, they print instructions on it. In Korean. Without pictures. So, I took the microwave out of its box and made hot water in my coffee mug. The microwave also only had Korean instructions and the buttons didn't have any English either, but through a very complex process of pressing random buttons, and then a big round one, I was able to set the microwave. For 6 minutes. That prompted me to discover that the little round button opens the microwave before the time finishes elapsing. That was some tasty soup - noodles, spicy powder and a nice sense of self satisfaction.
I can say a couple words without much thought:
Hello - "annyong haseyo"
Thank you - "kamsa hamnida"
Here - "Yogi"
Where - "Odi"
I'm working on some more - Kate made me a "taxi talk" guide so I can get places, which is nice. Tomorrow is bingo night at Tombstone, the foreigner bar, and I'm going with Wendy and Kate to meet people. Tonight I'm on my own, but as I'm already exhausted and it's only 7:30, I don't think that will be too bad. I figured out how to charge my ipod on the computer here, so at least I'll have music when I go home.
Oh - and after all the stress about sheets, mine are too small. Yeah. Mom - can you send me my old ones, the green ones I showed you from NJ? No, I have no idea where they are. Psht. That would take all the fun out of you looking for them!
Well I think that's it for now... I will certainly try to keep this up. This internet cafe is pretty far from my apartment, but I'm sure I'll find one closer soon. Tomorrow the trek is on to find calling cards and a public phone on which to use them... also, my phone is supposed to be connected tomorrow, so soon you'll all be able to go into massive debt calling me all the time :)
Love you all, miss most of you ;)
Cheers from the other side of the world,
Lex
posted by pixelpulp at 4:38 AM
1 Comments:
SO COOL!
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