Flying + First Day

So let's begin with the cross-country flight. I thought that flight was long and it was only 6 hours. I get to the airport and I'm so ready to just plop down and do nothing for awhile. The very last thing in the world I want to do is get on another damn plane for an even longer flight. My last meal in America, fittingly, is a greasy Big Mac and fries. I was so bored at the airport because it was too dim to read, and I couldn't find wireless internet. I kinda just sat there and spaced out for the hour until my flight. When I got to the gate there was a whole crapload of people (young, recent college-grads mostly) sitting in a big circle. I was pretty sure these were all people going to the same place I was but I wasn't in the mood to meet people and make small talk.

Anyway, I get on the plane to Korea and it's much more spacious than the other plane. I end up watching most of "Definitely, Maybe" which was better than I expected, but still not a great one and part of this strange movie called "Penelope" which I'm almost certain was titled "Pig" in the US. Anyway, this movie is about this girl who is cursed with a pig nose and all the outsider problems that creates, blah blah blah. It was a weird movie to say the least, and I could never tell if it was trying to be comedic or dramatic or both.

Ok, sorry if I'm boring you but it'll get more interesting, I promise. So I managed to fall asleep for most of the flight which was nice. We arrive at Seoul around 5 AM and people are practically shoving each other to get off the plane. I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to aiports, let alone a foreign airport, and so just end up following people who look like they know where they're going. I'm pleased to see that I'm one of the most lightly packed people on the trip; most people had about twice as much luggage as me. Not too bad considering I have a tendency to overpack when I travel. I manage to embarass myself myself multiple times while in the airport, a memorable one being the time I tried to walk through the customs inspection without having filled out a form.

The really weird thing about the Seoul airport is that it looked a lot like the way I dreamed about it a couple weeks ago. Anyway, it's chaos as we're all trying to get onto the buses and sort out our massive load of luggage. We finally get on the bus and ride for about 4 hours. I feel incredibly nauseous the whole time and actually still feel nauseous even as I'm typing this. We arrive at the university we'll be staying at for the next 6 weeks and it's not at all like I imagined. I guess I was expecting a typical American campus but it's hard to distinguish the college from its city surroundings. We go to our rooms to unwind for a bit and I'm once again thankful for not having brought a crapload of luggage as I see lots of people struggling with ginormous suitcases. Just so you know the weather is absolutely horrendous right now, super humid and I feel absolutely disgusting--all the time. I'm so very relieved to see working air conditioning in our rooms, the only thing that'll keep me sane in this weather.

My roomie is nice and as it turns out knows one of my good friends from college--crazy how that stuff works. In fact everyone is very nice but I am lacking in the socialization department today. It takes too much energy to make small talk and try to be charming and funny so I don't even really try. I know first impressions count, but I really start to get sick of asking and answering the same 5 questions over and over again: What's your name? Where are you from? What school did you go to? Have you ever been to Korea? What was your major? I'm comforted by the fact that my roomate is also feeling more and more anti-social as the day goes on and on and we can be anti-social together.

I feel like a lot of the Korean guys stare at me (not in a good way), probably because I am a "Korean" girl wearing a tank top that shows my shoulders, apparently a big no-no for women here. I'm thinking, are you kidding me? It's like 120 degrees outside and you want me to wear a cardigan over my sundress or tank top so that my shoulders don't show? I'm trying not to pass judgment but it seems a bit ridiculous in this weather. Somehow though, all the Korean girls here all look dressed up and non-sweaty. They're impeccably made up, wearing earrings, heels and dressy clothing. I don't even want to think about how I look, sweating profusely, baring my shoulders and looking as they say, "a hot mess." Anyway, it's kind of a problem b/c all I really brought with me are tank tops and shorts. But I don't really care if I'm seen as some hoochie-mama here, and besides, I'm not going to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe.

So that was my first day in Korea, seriously the longest day of my life. But it gets better...