The first part isn't too exciting. Left for O'Hare at 4, had a little hiccup when checking in, but got on the first flight fine. I then endured a 4 hour, 45 minute flight into San Francisco, only to think that my second flight would just be twice as long, and then a couple more hours. JOY. Anywho, I didn't have trouble navigating myself to the international terminal, where I was bombarded by what? Stores. Lots of stores. And not just lame stores like, say, those cheesy gift shops (although there were a couple of those), but stores like Gucci, Burberry, and Coach(!). I thought about stopping in Coach, of course, but didn't have much time before boarding started for my next flight.
The second flight was, simply, long. It was 11 hours, so by the time I landed, my body felt like it should have been 2 in the morning. Somehow I managed to sleep a little on the plane, so I wasn't completely wiped. The worst part was that I couldn't take sitting down anymore! We were given lunch on the plane, which was super good considering it was airplane food! I had a chicken dish that had some kind of sauce on it, with rice and peas. It was soo good! Moving right along, we finally landed in Incheon, where I then followed the herd of people towards customs. Everything went swimmingly, I got my baggage, and headed for the exit. I had to buy a bus ticket that would take me to Mokpo, and a very nice airport worker asked where I was going and pointed me in the right direction. It was a little after 3 pm at this point, and my bus wasn't until 6:20. So I got to wait! Let me tell you, it was very exciting...but not really. The bus finally came, where I got to sit some more! This time it was more exciting because I could see the country. There are mountains! They're not the Rockies, but remind me very much of Appalachia.
The bus ride took another 4-5 hours, but thankfully there was another person who knew English. He translated what the bus driver said for me. At this point I was so tired, I couldn't not stop falling asleep. We made a quick stop somewhere ( I don't know the name), but it was a ginormous rest stop with a bunch of stores and there were so many people there! I finally made it into Mokpo a little after 11 pm (9am central time), where I met my director as well as one of the teachers and her friend (also a teacher, but at a different school). We made a quick stop to pick up some groceries at a store called E Mart. We were trying to be quick; Susan and Rhea were directing me around the store, gathering what I wanted, and telling me what was going to happen in the next couple of days.
I am currently staying in another teacher's apartment while she is gone for the week. I don't have my apartment yet, but I will be getting it very soon. It's pretty nice for a studio. Naomi (the girl whose apartment I'm staying at) has a dog. His name is Jack. Susan told me that I wouldn't have to do anything in terms of care; he's just here. They keep him in the bathroom so he doesn't get pee all over the floor because he has a problem piddling. Sure enough, he's already gone a few times because he's so excited that a new person is here. The ONLY problem with Jack is that he's a brat! I tried to go to sleep, so I put him in the bathroom and closed the door. He would not stop whining! For serious, it was beyond annoying. I ended up bringing him out for a bit, and putting him back in, but the whining just got worse afterwards. So I thought, made he'll sleep on the bed. Bad choice. It tots didn't work, so I ended up putting him in the laundry room and left the light on. There was still some whining, but it wasn't as bad, and I got to sleep!
I am very badly in need of a shower now. Speaking of which, there is not shower! The entire bathroom serves as my shower, and there is only a hose type thing that I use to shower. You know, like those detachable things that also spew water? Yeah. So that is how I will take showers! I will thus embark on that and see what it is like. Today I am on my own; Susan and Rhea had to go to Seoul for the day, but thankfully Susan left me her phone in case I need to get in touch with her via Rhea's phone or Sunny (my director). Susan said Mokpo is a very safe city, so I think I will walk around for a bit. There's a walkway by a small river that I'll probably take and start to get a feel for the city. Tomorrow I am heading to the school to see what it's like before all the kids come.
