First Day on Mars

Where do I begin? I was homesick before I left Austin, but was too tired and rushed to realize it. Waiting for 3 hours in the San Francisco airport gave me a lot of time to actually consider what it was that I was about to do. Many people asked me why I was going, and I gave them some pretty good answers (fame, fortune, adventure, etc.), but when I was alone waiting for Singapore Airlines flight 015 to arrive at my gate, the first thing I thought of was...well...Lost actually. I mean, how cool would it be to crash land on a mysterious island and build huts out of salvaged airplane parts on the beach and fight polar bears in the jungle and...anyway. The second thing I thought about was how uncertain so many aspects of this move were, and when it came down to it, I really did not know what I was getting myself into. I started to wonder if I was so desperate for a change that I was about to get involved in something that was way over my head. Zero sleep in 2 days didn't help either. In the end, the question to go or to stay was overruled by the determination to not be a punk. I said I was going to do this thing, and people were counting on me, so I'm doing it. I got on the plane.

If you've never flown internationally before (it had been 4 years for me, so I had forgotten), let me just say that these airlines do their best to make you feel comfortable,and in my case, help you forget where you're leaving or going for 12 hours. I was initially dreading the long flight more than my destination, but I actually had a blast. We're not talking American Airlines here; Singapore Airlines doesn't charge you for meals or peanuts or air to breathe. They brought us pillows, blankets, headphones, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, 2 full meals, snacks...not to mention a tv for every seat with new movies (I watched Couples Retreat and Law Abiding Citizen), shows and video games. I probably only slept an hour during the whole flight.

When the plane landed I just followed the signs which were in English and Korean, passed through customs, grabbed my bags, changed some US dollars into Korean Wons so that I could call my ride from a payphone to pick me up, and off we went. It was so easy, I think I fooled myself into thinking this whole thing was going to be a piece of cake. I was driven to the apartment where I would be staying in Ansan, which is about 40 minutes from Seoul. I am in the middle of the city and everything I need is in walking distance. They have 2 Walmart/Costco type places near me called Lotte Mart and Home Plus (or Tetco). They are both 4 stories high and Lotte Mart has a movie theatre on the top floor. I might see Alice in Wonderland this weekend just to find out what the movies are like here. I also discovered a McDonald's near by. A Big Mac and fries over here tastes exactly the same as in the U.S. (Yes, I do like their food), plus they deliver! I had arrived on Saturday evening, and all day Sunday felt like I was on vacation. Then my first day of work happened.

Monday was a disaster. I realized that the reason I was so comfortable during the first few days was because I hadn't really been forced to talk to very many people. The few that I knew here spoke English well enough, but that's not the norm. It was a rude awakening for me when I found out that not only was I the only native English speaker in my school, but none of the teachers or faculty spoke english well, NOT even my co-teacher. I was freaking out. Then I was taken to the bank to open up an account and I almost lost my mind. The bank teller didn't speak english, and the forms that I filled out were all in Korean. If I hadn't had a makeshift interpreter there, I would have been screwed. I realized that I was going to be almost totally dependent on other people for much of my time here because of the language barrier. It was a horrible feeling.

Afterward, my co-teacher (her American name is Sally) could sense how frustrated I was, so she said she'd do her best to ease my transition. She's done a lot so far. She took me shopping, helped get my fridge fixed, she's taking care of my paperwork at the school, translates for me and the principal, and many other things as well. She's married with 2 kids by the way, so this is just the job for her, and I respect the effort she's making to get me settled in.

Day 1 of 365 is in the books.