We've arrived!

Hello all! Gavin and I made it and we’re in Busan! It’s been a crazy few days getting here and settling in (as much as you can in one day).

The trip itself was mainly uneventful. 24 hours of travel turned out to be much less intense than I was expecting. Because it was either very late at night or very early in the morning when we got into the Vancouver, Beijing and Busan airports, they were all quiet and actually quite peaceful. We spent the flights watching movies and sleeping, with a few rounds of Crazy Eight Countdown thrown in.

            All this is not to say that we were not eager to get our stuff and get to the school by the time we got to the Busan airport. We waited with the crowd around our flight’s baggage carousel until we were the last people there. My stomach dropped when the conveyor belt stopped and the baggage handler started to walk away. We got his attention and a quick exchange of gestures let us know that our bags had not arrived with us. All we could do was file a report, so after that we found our ride and were at the school building about 30 minutes later.

            I was trying not to utterly freak out, and having Gavin there was pretty much the only reason I was able to stay calm. Losing all our stuff meant that we would have to buy all new clothes in a country where the women are about a foot shorter than me and size 10 shoes are non-existent. It would also mean that I’d have to figure out how to get my medications re-prescribed and filled here, and that I wouldn’t be able to use my camera, iPod, or computer the whole time since the adapters etc. were filed away in my “electronic stuff” Ziploc bag. Needless to say it was a worrisome situation.

            Right away we were greeted by the director of our school, a very nice woman named Chelsea, who immediately got on the phone and did her Korean thing with airport to help figure out the bag problem. She then took us out for a lovely lunch at a traditional Korean spot. The deal is you sit on the floor on pillows and eat off a very low table. We were brought “appetizers,” consisting of various bowls of salads and stuff. Koreans eat somewhat communally, so everyone has a metal spoons and chopsticks and a small plate that they use to eat from the bowls on the table. The main dishes were more substantial, but still served in the same style. You even eat soup out of a communal bowl. This meal was particularly significant because it was Gavin’s first (voluntary) meat eating experience in 15 years. I won’t go into it and steal his thunder; suffice to say he started with jellyfish, ended with fried whole herring (minus the heads) and had lots in between.

            After lunch we went to the bank and the to “Lotte Mart,” a department store nearby. Chelsea had to get us bedding and a few odds and ends, and we had to get stuff to get clean with. The only dud purchases were our towels. Koreans use towels that are about exactly the same size as a tea towel, if not smaller.

            We got back to the school and it was time to go over our teaching schedules for the Friday (today)!!!! That evening the very helpful Lisa from down the hall, one of the three Canadian teachers already here, took us to a place to get dinner and we ate it in our apartment and watched "Wolverine" on TV.

I haven’t started yet, but Gavin is currently in teaching his second class of the day. This place is an extreme example of learning by doing. I don’t know how it will go, but we’ll post more about the teaching later…

            So anyway, all in all it’s been a bit of a whirlwind! And oh yeah, we got the call this morning that our bags have been located and will delivered to the school late this afternoon! The relief I feel is so immense that I won’t care if the kids tie me up and hang me upside down from the rafters this afternoon.

More later...

Beth