Korea

A rough landing jolts me awake as we land in a mist-veiled Korea. As I leave the plane, I feel underdressed: pin-stripe suits seem to be in style, and my light summer wear from Taiwan doesn't suit the chilly weather. I gather my luggage and grab a bus into town, pointing at maps and pictures of where I want to go.

Despite my clear directions, and the fact that express buses should run until midnight, I am unable to find a bus to Jinju city. The ticket vendors, who ramble on in Korean without so much as a nod of the head or a point in the right direction, won't take my money and give me a ticket. I'm pretty sure they are saying there are no more buses, but who knows. Stuck in Seoul - pronounced "Soul", I find out later.

I've been hired as an ESL teacher for a one month English immersion camp at a University in the South Korean town of Jinju. Orientation is tomorrow morning at 10am, don't be late, and Seoul is 4 hours away. Years of similar experiences should have taught me better, but my bank account is empty and I had very little cash because, once at camp, I shouldn't need any. I hadn't figured in a stay at a hotel. Luckily, I ran into some foreigners who pointed me towards a "love hotel", so named because it is used for discreet encounters, I suppose. 45USD got me a nice room, and I stayed up all night watching CSI, Top Model and Die Hard 1. This morning I got up at 5:30 but still missed the 6am bus and had to wait for 7. When I finally got to Gyeongsang National University I'd missed the morning orientation, but. . . I'm here!

Korea is great, so far. People aren't as friendly as Taiwan, (well, at least so far, but what do I know? They're probably just a little more reserved) but I like the climate. Reminds me of Oregon, more hills, trees, agriculture. The architecture is clean and sharp, everything looks like it was put up yesterday. They love hot dogs and drinks come in small cans. It's much more similar to Japan than I expected.

Camp starts on Monday. I can't believe I'll be here for a month, but it should be fine. There are movie nights, sports, outdoor activities, and more. I have a great room, the campus is nice. HUGE tv screens everywhere, I've never seen anything like it. Anyway, gotta go I think. More later.