It's officially been a whole week since I've been in Seoul, Korea and describing it as a whirlwind is an understatement. The week has simultaneously felt infinitely long yet flew by quickly at the same time. But let's get started with what happened!
Saturday, Day 1: I arrived at Incheon airport at 4:30 in the afternoon after what seemed like a never-ending 14 hour flight. Aside from the slight panic attack I had on the plane about how uprooting my whole life was, in that moment, a completely idiotic and insane decision, everything else was hunky dory. After passing through border security and fetching my bags, it was time to catch a bus from Incheon into Seoul.
This was my first encounter with bad air.
Immediately as I headed outside, I was hit with somewhat of a dirty odor. The sky was visible a little hazy and it clicked for me that misehmunji (미세먼지), or fine yellow dust, was festering in the air. Regardless, after 20 minutes of waiting, I hopped on the bus and hit the road to Seoul.
The whole trip took about an hour and a half, as it was Saturday night and traffic was bad. Then after being dropped off at a transportation terminal, I needed to catch a taxi, which proved to be apparently impossible as none were around. Uber was my friend that evening. After arriving and checking in at the hotel, I promptly passed out.
Sunday, Day 2: Sunday marked the first day I was plagued with jet lag. I woke up at a brisk 4:30 AM and continued to toss and turn until about 6 AM. (My day didn't really start until 7 though because that's when the only coffee shop opened, Starbucks.) Sunday was also another day with bad air, so I spent it meandering around Lotte World, Seokchon Lake, and Songpa in general wearing a mask.
Sunday was also the day I decided to start speaking Korean almost exclusively to all Koreans and man, was that difficult. Everyone was very understanding but it showed me how much I need to work to improve my skills. Still so, much, to, learn.
Monday, Day 3: Training week started on Monday. While I had technically been offered a contract with my school that I will be teaching at, my job position was contingent on passing of training. As I'd heard that training week was very intense, I was very nervous to start.
Especially because bright and early Monday morning, I and all the other 13 trainees were whisked away to a medical center in Seoul to get poked and prodded for 1 hour.
What a well-oiled machine.
Blood test, height and weight, urine test, chest X-ray, dental exam, vision exam, hearing exam, blood pressure test, EKG. Let's just say the other women trainees and staff at the medical center got to know me up close and personal on Monday.
But after being examined for an hour, we all were shuttled to the training center to start learning and orientation.
My trainer was a tall Korean women who spoke near perfect English and, funny enough, actually lived in Chicago. From the get-go, I took my teacher being a former fellow Chicagoan as a good sign. After learning for about 3 hours and an hour for lunch, my fellow trainees and I began our first day of prep. Prep lasted 4 hours before we all headed back to the hotel, ate some dinner, and went to sleep.
Tuesday-Thursday, Days 4-6: To be quite honest, days 4-6 were quite repetitive so I won't write them all out. Training days were long, mocking was hard, and prep time was horribly tedious. But I got to know my fellow trainees and became friends with them quickly. During the week, we would eat dinner together, usually Korean barbecue, and review the material we'd learned that day. While this camaraderie was great to form, I felt sad knowing I'd probably not see most of these people ever again. While 2 of the other trainees are teaching alongside me at the same location, all the others were assigned to other company locations in Korea.
Friday: Day 7: I passed training! Actually, my whole group did. After reviewing until 11 the night before (and gnawing our fingernails down to nubs) we all pushed our nerves aside and passed training. From then on, everything happened fast. We all signed our contracts, those who had to leave to go to their branch had to depart quickly after, so we all said our goodbyes and parted ways. I went apartment hunting (which is a whole other story that I will write on later...) and then attended another quick orientation back at the training center. While I don't start for two more weeks, I have more training to become comfortable and ease my way into teaching. Excited and nervous at the same time.
Over the past week, I've tried so many new Korean foods that I'd never had before! I have yet to have a bad meal here. Koreans have (mostly) been extremely warm, friendly, and so accommodating while I've been here. While I've of course already had my bouts of missing home, wondering while the hell I picked up my whole life and moved to another country where I hardly know anyone, and overwhelming anxiety at times, I've also had so many wonderful experiences in this first week that I know will continue as time passes.
I intend to write more (and maybe do that whole stereotypical YouTube thing!) as times passes and more things happen.
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