Today it feels like the entire thing was a dream. I have to look at pictures to remind myself that I'm not crazy-and then, of course, I get excited all over again, thinking about how truly wonderful it was.
Despite the fact that I am now suffering from a cold only two days after coming home and am exhausted, that excitement has caused me to begin writing these accounts of my journey. Sadly I have a really bad computer that is unwilling to let me write while listening to music without locking up and refusing to save my posts, which is inconvenient, but I'm going to get past that and begin writing anyway.
The night before I left was August 2nd. I had a bad cold that week and actually my mom packed all of my clothes for me-partly because she loves making me look fashionable and partly because I was in bed the entire time.
In an effort to adjust to the timezone change before leaving, I stayed up almost all night. I even talked to a few of my Korean friends while staying up, and I finished watching the drama 'I Hear Your Voice' with my mom, who kept me company with her awesomeness while I was about to drop from exhaustion.
I tried incredibly hard to get better before I got on the plane but I couldn't and it ended up being the worst plane ride of my life. I was terrified of TSA, Immigrations, and anyone wearing a uniform. I was even afraid that the flight attendants might charge me for the drinks they were handing out so I only drank the vitamin water I had brought with me. XD It was pretty hilarious looking back on it. I also didn't realize that entertaining myself with a book and my tablet for a 5-hour plane ride wasn't a good idea-I had zero battery when I reached South Korea and I wonder if I will ever pick that book up again. When we began to land the consequences of deciding to fly while sick came to me in full-an intense pain filled my ears and I couldn't pop them no matter how hard I tried. I thought I was going to scream and I couldn't hear anyone or anything by the time we had landed. Thankfully, as soon as we quit dropping in elevation, it stopped getting worse. However, my ears felt like they were full of fluid, I couldn't hear anyone clearly, and every time I leaned my head to the right side it hurt. I was about to drop from sickness and lack of sleep at this point, so when I arrived in San Francisco to board the plane and go to South Korea, imagine my distress when I discovered that Expedia had scheduled my flights too close together and I would never get my boarding pass from Asiana since they had already closed thirty minutes prior. Thankfully, the helpful albeit grouchy U.S. Airways folks managed to get me scheduled for a flight on Singapore Airlines. (I think they were just worried because the lady at International Flight Information had told me to tell them that I had rights to meals and a hotel room near the airport and they didn't want that going on their track record. If I worked in airlines, I wouldn't want to be responsible for it either, but that's the way life goes) I still had to race across the airport without my shoes on-it's funny and really epic at the same time when I look back on it. I was hot and sweaty and in a lot of pain when I finally arrived at Singapore Airlines' desk. I got my boarding pass and made my way down into the crowded boarding area where I heard a lot of people speaking Korean. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief when I boarded the plane. I had already cried in a little corner of the airport earlier when I had thought I would have to spend the night in San Francisco alone. I'm not sure how alone in San Francisco was scarier than alone in South Korea but it somehow was and still is incredibly scary. XD
After my adventure in San Francisco I didn't even think about what it would be like on the Singapore plane. I thought for sure they would starve me and I'd not sleep a wink, but I was shocked when they gave us warm towels to wipe our hands and faces with and fed me two free meals. I slept really well, watched three Korean movies and listened to lots of music, and I thought my stewardesses were just soooo beautiful. I still remember how I nearly cried in my first meal. =P
Then.....I arrived in Incheon. Yes, I still remember when the landing gear first touched Korean soil. It was exciting and terribly scary at the same time, but thankfully I made a friend who helped me understand that you get on a train to go get your luggage and you go through immigrations before coming to the baggage pickup. I'm still indebted to her for being so courageous and speaking English to me even when she was intimidated about doing so. Of course, my difficult entry into South Korea doesn't end there, because somehow my baggage got lost in San Francisco. So I headed off to Hanyang University after the fall of darkness because I was an hour late and then spent an hour in the airport searching for my bags that weren't there. My tablet battery then died so I was no longer able to contact my family and I couldn't get wifi on the subway anyway. I also somehow messed up my subway ticket so that when I arrived at Hanyang I couldn't get in the gates. I didn't jump them, though, instead opting for riding a stop further and asking a security guard there for help (I didn't realize at the time that Hanyang University subway stop actually has a security guard that speaks really good English but of course, I hadn't researched that I could get through the ticket and wrong stop problems with the handicapped gate, either...I learned so much that first week). I made it onto Hanyang University Campus, but then I realized it was 10:30 at night and nothing was open. I had no idea how to follow the map I had to my dorms, so I began walking in what I thought was the general direction and hoping that I could get in someway. I found myself completely lost, hopeless, and worried my mother was pulling her hair out over me. About thirty minutes later I found myself in front of the Engineering Building. I had gone in hoping that someone would be in the office but no one was there, and I was about to give up hope and call mom on the pay phone, when I hear someone come out of the building. I started to walk away in hopes that this strange person wouldn't bother me since I figured they didn't speak English anyway. This was not the first instance of kindness I received while in South Korea but it is one I won't forget easily simply because it wasn't only the kindness of the person who helped me but really the providence of God that the right person came along just when my mother was praying for me back home and I was certain I would be wandering the campus all night.
He said something like 'Hello, what were you doing in the Engineering Building?"
I ended up telling him I was lost. He knew the area where my dorms where and said he was heading that way. He offered to drive me there.
Yes, I thought about being captured and I thought about the prospect of having to pummel him, but then I prayed about it and decided, in my jetlagged brain, that it was about as safe as wandering the campus alone all night.
Obviously, I'm alive today. He drove me to the other end of campus and asked if he could take ten extra minutes to show me where some stores and restaurants were. I was still ready to beat him over the head with my back pack if he said the slightest thing wrong, but so far we had only talked about learning foreign languages and so I figured he was harmless. After showing me around, we drove back toward the dorms. Before getting there he abruptly said 'you know, you're very pretty'. I didn't understand his pronunciation of the word at first (it sounded more like 'fretty' in my mind, which I was willing to concede to as well since I thought I would die from nerves about then), so I asked him to repeat himself. 'You're very beautiful!' he eventually said in exasperation, and I chuckled awkwardly because what do you say when you're in humid South Korea for the first time, sweaty, dirty, and lost, about to fall over from exhaustion, and this guy you don't know just randomly tells you 'you're pretty'? He laughed back at me and commented 'I think you are happy that I say you are pretty', which is true of course (I was thinking to myself that he must be blind to think I was pretty at that moment), but I was also terrified of everything and everyone at that point. XD Looking back it's hilarious; I made it to the area and stood around until I saw two guys-Western and Arab-walking down the street and stopped them to ask where I could get a key for my dorm/where my dorm is. Thankfully, the Western man was a Slovakian who spoke terrific English and some Korean. I made it to the dorm office to get my room keys at last.
I took a shower and collapsed in bed, grateful for my computer, wi-fi, clean hair, and somewhere safe to sleep. I barely said anything to my room-mate (who I became pretty good friends with later!), only discovered she didn't speak much English. At this point I had said one Korean word my entire first evening in South Korea-감사합니다 (kamsahapnida) and it means 'thank you'. Yeah, I wasn't doing so great. =P
Day 1 to follow soon.
-Argentia
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