First Day in South Korea

I have arrived in South Korea! The last 36 hours have been filled with many different emotions and pure exhaustion. On Friday, the day I left for South Korea, about 4 hours before my departure, homesickness fell on me. I had completely forgotten how it felt to be homesick and how awful it is! Saying goodbye to my parents (and Louie my dear papillion) was rough, but as soon as I entered into O'hare International airport, my homesickness went away. Both of my flights were timely, which was great! For any of you who have flown an Asian airline, you know how silly and fun they are, all of the uniforms are very exaggerated however expect excellent service on your flight :). I enjoyed a traditional Korean dinner on my flight over, but did not have the same courage for a breakfast of green tea porridge...something I need to try. When landing into Seoul, the plane played Canon in D...and so my marriage to South Korea began!

I arrived at my offictel (which basically means studio) at 5 AM on Sunday morning. My officetel is located two blocks from la feista (main shopping, eating, going out area) and two blocks from Lake Park (a large lake), the wikipedia link I provided in my email talks about both. Upon arriving, I talked briefly to John, my academic coordinator, who also went to U of I (GO Illini!). After he left I went up to Christina's room (who is a friend of a friend that happens to live in my building!) and we talked for nearly 2 hours about life and Korea. We spent a large part of the day at the equivalent of Wal-Mart which was quite a trip! First of all, many Korean woman would look inside my cart, Christina told me that because I am white and American, they are very interested in what I am buying. All of the sales associates try to sell you products, though I am not sure why because they do not work for the brands but for the store. Buying shampoo took forever since this sales associate kept on talking to me in Korean and opening bottles of shampoo to smell! Lucky for me, Christina came with me and was able to translate and was so patient as I found my way around the store. The brands here are very different, for example, they have Dove and Pantene Pro V for shampoo and conditioner, but that is it! The rest are Korean brands, one of which I tried. The only western toothpaste they have is Arm & Hammer, which is very expensive, so instead I aimed for one that had a large mint leaf on it, since mint flavor is not as common of a flavor here. Other quick notes are I have learned that the water is non-drinkable, even by Koreans because they have so much bacteria in it, they put it through such a process that it is instead filled with chemicals. I was also told that because I am 'super white' that my employer and the student's parents will like me, who knew my pale skin would come in handy. Christina is officially my angel, she has walked me through so much of Korea already and has explained so much, I cannot imagine doing this without her. Off to check out la fiesta for some grub and for some more purchases!

Shown is a picture of what's outside of my window. Once I get my place up to par I will be posting more. Love you all!