In the land of Morning Calm

Here I am , back in Korea and living in a land of mountains....well at least a city surrounded by mountains.
My flight was uneventful and surprisingly not as ghetto as I originally expected. My recruiter had booked my flight on Korean airlines, which I had flown domestically and to Japan, but never internationally. My previous experiences included questionable food service (lets just say it was a choice of fishy sandwiches or fishy salads) and corny Korean television that lacked any English subtitles (fine for domestic travel, but something I could do without during a 13 hour flight). Luckily I requested the vegetarian meal (to avoid any fishy entrees) and there were 2 English films and a pretty funny Korean one (avec subtitles).

My recruiter met me at the airport and managed to put me on a bus to Yongin. She is admittedly a little high strung...apparently I had just missed a bus to Yongin which seemed to put her into a frenzy of phone calls and discussions with the lady behind the ticket counter, after which she put me on another bus to Yongin that left 20 minutes later. Not sure why there was an issue - but it was pretty amusing to watch.
I arrived in Yongin, after an hour and a half bus ride. I was soo tired, don't remeber much of the ride from the aiport since I slept most of the way but woke up surrounded by lush green mountains. Thankfully, my director, Mr.Park, was waiting for me at the roadside bus stop.Kind of a funny story here...I actually didn't realize I was at the right stop - my ticket said one thing, but my recruiter told me to get off at another stop (just to add to my already disoriented/jetlagged confusion). The bus had made a few stops already and I was just about to ask someone which stop this was when my director came on the bus and called my name. It's funny beacuse I always feel like the bumbling foreigner...guess somethings never change.

My director gave me a tour of the school and went over a few details with me, then he and his wife drove me to my apartment. They seem like a really nice couple - she bought me apples, bananas, bread and milk for the morning.
My apartment is pretty basic. A lot smaller then my previous one, it consists of one main room...kitchen and bedroom together, a separate bathroom (which is actually quite big) and a narrow sunroom at the front which holds my wash machine and closet. The apartment looks clean and new and is in a low-rise...4 floors (I'm on the third). My neighborhood is all apartments like mine and little restaurants...same as just about anywhere in Korea I guess.
I fell asleep right away last night - kind of in and out of consciousness all day (gotta love the effects of flying)
I took a walk around my 'hood this afternoon...got some groceries and managed to get lost on the way back ( too many small streets that all look the same) ...now in a PC room but it is just down from my apartment.
Tonight I am joining my 2 of my coworkers for a potluck and a party with some other foreign teachers. It'll be good to meet some other teachers and check out the night life.
Going now to sort out some dinner...maybe some bibimbap (rice and veggies)....will blog later.

Colleen