I have arrived!

This computer thing is a bit more complicated than I bargained for!! Anyway... Flights were just fine. MSY to SFO had my friend Kristi on it, so contact with familiar Americans lasted longer than planned. In San Fran I managed to get myself to a little Mexican place for lunch before hauling my LSU t-shirt-wearing and bright orange booksack-carrying self to Coit Tower (per Kurt's suggestion, and he lives there) where you get a magnificent view of the entire city, including the Bay Bridge and nearby islands. Flight to ICN (Incheon) wasn't bad. I somehow got the lady at the desk to understand that I wanted more leg room, so I had front row! The flight attendants (on Singapore Airlines) wore these very cultural uniforms with an oriental pattern and shoes to match. Each chair had its own DVD player, headset, etc. You could look up where the plane was on route-- pretty handy as long as the entire screen isn't blue. Crashing in the middle of the Pacific would not be convenient. So I got here, through customs, past the taxi drivers who apparently feed on foreign morons, and to the Korea City Air Terminal where I couldn't figure out how to use the phone (I don't have the card it called for, and it doesn't take money) so this random man understood "telephone" and gave me his cell to call my HR guy to come and meet me. I'm in Hawaii Hotel. If I put my room key where it says to hang it up, the lights turn on for me. The foyer has a motion sensor and does the same. There are little slippers so that I don't have to walk around in my sneaks... and I have a computer!!, DVD, VCR, TV, fridge, water purifier, small table, etc. Small but nice. We had dinner at a place that served beef (which is apparently fancier than the places serving pork) and sat on the floor. People so far seem very accomodating. Monday is their Independence Day, so I have 2 days to explore. Yikes! Woo! I've learned that I like dwen jang, which is some sort of flavorful spread (comparable to ketchup I guess, but homemade) that has some kick. A guy who will be teaching at my school (which just opened-- this institute is starting to franchise out) arrives tomorrow, so I'll be able to meet someone else. I'm going to read some more of my customs and etiquette book before bed and see if I can't check my other e-mail (you have to do a search to get to the pg, and everything's written in these symbols that mean nothing to me, so I either luck out or try plan B!)... Oh, and the time on this blog is Korean Standard Time (KST) so it is correctly 11:15 here.


Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed