Leaving Hawaii for Korea

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I left Hawaii Saturday night and got into Incheon, Korea on Monday in the afternoon. The flight was long an grueling because I had to stay overnight in the Honolulu airport. Elevator Hawaiian music and security guards, not a soul in sight. I finally checked in with China Airline at 5:30am. They weighed my carry on and determined it was too heavy so I HAD to check it. $32 later, I was on my way to Taipei. 10 hours with the least amount of leg room I've ever had on a plane...and I was miserable because I had just left Hawaii....I'm airsick and I haven't eaten in 24 hours...it just gets worse and worse.

My flight into Incheon was only a couple of hours but let me tell you, it was the longest 2 hours. My luggage was first on the carousel, so I was pretty surprised. Exchanged some of my dollars into Korean Won and got this wad of cash. Everything operates in thousands here, it's crazy. Waited for awhile before I found some man holding up a sign with my name on it. For a moment there, I was worried they forgot about me. As soon as I saw Allison (the recruiter), I immediately felt better. We were driven back to the airport, it was extremely foggy out so I couldn't look out but apparently, we're in a very industrial part of the city and it's not really like this.

We're Chinatown. The hotel is decent. I got in and met my roommate because they only have ONE key per room, which is ridiculous. I settled in and went to sleep at 9 after trying to call Tom a million times, convinced that he had probably been eaten by a shark. Went to look at the buffet dinner and just went straight back up the stairs. I might just starve to death in Korea.

The next morning was "lectures" all day, which was really just guest speakers telling us random shit about Korea. We covered the war, Korean exorcism, Korean emotions, and co-teaching. It was weird. I've met a bunch of people now. Not too many people in my area (Yeonsu-gu) that I've met, just one other girl.

I managed to keep my eyes open long enough throughout the day and even ventured out to the bar at night with the whole lot of us. I'm pretty sure there were disgruntled Koreans on the train. Korea is lots of lights and shiny at night. It's a little overwhelming. I thought it would be a lot more toned down especially since I'm not in Seoul. Soju is deadly. I'm writing this under the influence of Soju. I need sleep now.

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