My first day in Korea and it has been a GREAT welcome! I LOVE this place already! I arrived at about 7pm and one of the other ICEV teachers from Canada, met me at the airport and was great about helping me get money and schlep (sp?) my bags through the airport, onto the train, into a cab and then up to my studio apartment. She's going on her third year teaching in Korea and has been extremely helpful. After dropping my things off at the apartment, we met up with a couple from New Zealand, also teachers here at ICEV, and went for dinner. We had shabu-shabu (thinly sliced beef, vegetables, broth, rice and noodles) DELICIOUS!!!, kimchi and soju! They went out for ice cream afterwards, but I had to pass since I needed to buy a sheet and a towel so I could take a shower and sleep in the bed. Luckily the Home Plus store (kind of like a Walmart) is right across the street from the apartment. We're situated in a busy part of town, lots going on. Lots of shops, cafes, etc. Time for bed. After getting only three hours of sleep Thursday night, I only got about two hours of sleep on the plane. I ended up with a middle seat (on this 12+ hour flight) next to a nice gentleman from India who was listening to Indian music on his headset and would occasionally break out into spontaneous bursts of loud singing. When he wasn't singing, he was loudly clearing his throat and nasal passages. The elderly lady on my other side kept asking me when we would be arriving, what flight this was and if I was going to Korea or India. Since sleep obviously wasn't an option, I watched four movies. The weather is great, in the 70's.
