Made it!

Coming at you officially from the Gangnam district in Seoul! 

Just woke up after my fist night in my new studio apartment. 

I'm not going to lie, it's pretty hot and humid. 

6:20am and I have a lot to do today. 

So the trip all seems like a blur at this point. Asiana was a great airline, I'm glad I used them. The entertainment on the plane was great! Touch screen personal TVs and a wide variety of movies to choose from. The food was also pretty good. I was able to have bibimbap with kimchi. Not as good as Korean BBQ at home but I'll live! The seats were also pretty comfortable! My brand-new neck pillow helped! Great investment!

I felt like I was going to hyperventilate when the plane finally landed after the "short" 14 hours in the air. Realizing I was in Asia and this will be my home (hopefully if all goes as planned!) was a lot to take in. 

After getting my luggage and awkwardly trying to maneuver 2 giant suitcases and a little carry on, which was not cute, I tried to spot who should be picking me up. Finally I see him holding a paper with my name! I felt pretty important, not going to lie. 

The drive to Seoul took about an hour, and after driving for about 10 minutes it started to torrential downpour. 

All I wanted to do when I arrived at my apartment was sleep. It my have been 6pm in Seoul, but my body was telling me that it was 5am and it didn't get much sleep on the plane (I was too busy watching the avengers). When I arrived a woman named Shoomee who works for my school was waiting for me. She and her daughter brought me to my room and then I was given so much information I'm lucky I remembered any of it. Information about the apartment, about school, about the other teachers, about opening a bank account, about getting a phone plan, and about what my schedule will look like today. I was a lot to take in. She then took me to a market about 1 minute away by walking. My area seems like a great location! Starbucks about 3 min walk, restaurants right outside, and a market 1 min away. I needed to buy shampoo and conditioner...HOWEVER everything was in Korean so when she asked me which one I wanted I didn't even know what I was looking at. I could have picked up laundry detergent for all I knew, thankfully she was there to help. 

Picked up some bananas and eggs, wasn't really sure what else to get (mind you I was still in a jet leg haze and all I could think about was sleeping). 

Shoomee told me that me and another teacher that arrived the day before me would be picked up at 9am to start our day. We're going to have health tests run so I was told not to start fasting after midnight. Needless to say I am ravenous right now!!! It's only 6:40 so I'm assuming it's a while before I can eat anything. We'll also be observing a lesson or two. I'm excited to see where the school is and what it looks like. 

One struggle so far that has been notable is figuring out how to flush the toilet...

I'm too afraid to touch any buttons. 

Need to get my day going! Need to shower again because I'm sweating and I don't want to be the weird new sweaty teacher. No idea what the day may bring or who I will meet but I have an open mind and I'm going to take each day as best I can, one at a time. 

Waking up to Seoul. Day 1. August 17, 2015. The adventure begins.