I have finally arrived safe and sound in Korea. To be perfectly honest, the whole thing is very surreal. I had about 30 hrs of travel time from Erie to Incheon and that includes all the layovers. The layover in LAX was 5ish hours--needless to say I watched a movie. I think understanding the full impact of this trip, that is spending a year away from "my life" and allowing myself to be deprived of certain creature comforts, prevented me from really relaxing during my travels. I sat near amiable people on the different planes, but I just didn't have the energy to talk very much. My 12.5 hr flight to Korea was spent mostly as one long attempt to sleep. And the movie selection was sadly very thin. The food was great thought, I'll give my flight that.
I landed at 5 AM Korea time (4 pm the day before Erie time) and it felt like afternoon for me. I was among one of the first planes to land in Korea and thus had the lucky opportunity to have one of the longer wait times while everyone steadily trickled out of their respective gates. I received a welcome packet with my weekly stipend among other things. The bag I received it in was labeled "13" and to me that was another sign from God that I had stepped onto the right path. 13 is by far my favorite number and it will be my label for all of orientation. I made plenty of conversation while we waited and that was cool too. I met a buddy, Anna, and we rode on the bus together from the airport.
We had some time to refresh and settle in before we had lunch and launched into a really long informational session about the rules of the road and expectations of the next 2 months. Overall it was a good session, but by the end I was dying a little inside from exhaustion. I really had to use my will power to keep my mind responding to the various stimuli I needed to focus on . Our campus tour was fun, especially since the campus is just one giant building. Afterward we had samgyupsal for dinner! My favorite Korean barbecue. Now, I have collected my official Fulbright t-shirt and I am preparing to go to sleep. It 7:40 pm Korea time and I don't care one lick that it isn't 10 and I'm going to bed. My eyes are barely open as it is.
Right now I'm trying really hard to think of this as school and not as the beginning of a totally different life. Whenever I let my mind expand, the whole idea overwhelms me. One day at a time for me. I'm hoping quite fervently that I'll be able to visit my friends or visa versa really soon. Thanks Fulbright, for bringing me back here for round 2.
I landed at 5 AM Korea time (4 pm the day before Erie time) and it felt like afternoon for me. I was among one of the first planes to land in Korea and thus had the lucky opportunity to have one of the longer wait times while everyone steadily trickled out of their respective gates. I received a welcome packet with my weekly stipend among other things. The bag I received it in was labeled "13" and to me that was another sign from God that I had stepped onto the right path. 13 is by far my favorite number and it will be my label for all of orientation. I made plenty of conversation while we waited and that was cool too. I met a buddy, Anna, and we rode on the bus together from the airport.
We had some time to refresh and settle in before we had lunch and launched into a really long informational session about the rules of the road and expectations of the next 2 months. Overall it was a good session, but by the end I was dying a little inside from exhaustion. I really had to use my will power to keep my mind responding to the various stimuli I needed to focus on . Our campus tour was fun, especially since the campus is just one giant building. Afterward we had samgyupsal for dinner! My favorite Korean barbecue. Now, I have collected my official Fulbright t-shirt and I am preparing to go to sleep. It 7:40 pm Korea time and I don't care one lick that it isn't 10 and I'm going to bed. My eyes are barely open as it is.
Right now I'm trying really hard to think of this as school and not as the beginning of a totally different life. Whenever I let my mind expand, the whole idea overwhelms me. One day at a time for me. I'm hoping quite fervently that I'll be able to visit my friends or visa versa really soon. Thanks Fulbright, for bringing me back here for round 2.
Can't wait to hear more! Once you get over your jetlag, you'll have a lot more energy. That's hilarious that they gave you an intense information session right when you got there... honestly, how can they expect you to remember it? :)
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