The First Day

I have arrived in the Land of Morning Calm after a 14 ½ hour plane ride over the Pacific and a total of 24 hours of travel. The weather so far is similar to Missouri. It is the mid-80s and pretty humid; there’s even the buzzing of the cicadas around. I have a day off before training begins. Then after three days of training, I’ll make an overnight trip to Japan to get my work visa this weekend, and then I’ll report to my school next week.

I’ve already run into a few funny things. The hotel room I’m staying in for training is nice, though small. The air is nice and cool and I’ve even been able to enjoy a few American shows/movies (Star Trek with Korean subtitles). One funny things (funny as in yikes) is the “Fire Escape Device" next to the window. My room is on the 8th floor and has a really tiny window. The device is a repelling rope to get down the 8th stories in case of a fire. One big problem is that my window barely opens up wide enough to get my hand through—much less my body.

I also had my first taste of Gimchi—the national dish of Korea. Gimchi is made by taking pickling cabbage with salt, vinegar, garlic, and pepper. It is amazingly spicy. I had just a few pieces on the side of my lunch. It is also traditionally served as a breakfast item along side fish soup. This morning I opted for a pastry at one of the new coffee shops that are sprouting up across the country.