First taste of Korea

I've been here two days already and it's been a bit of a rollercoaster experience for me and possibly everyone else in my orientation group: what the hell did we get ourselves into? Moving somewhere new is unsettling enough; moving to another country that barely speaks your language, has a different culinary taste and a set of customs that you're not used to is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

So let's talk about my first experience of Korea: I was on the left side of the plane and I thought we were plunging into the water! No kidding: Incheon airport is right next to the water.... the Yellow Sea, I believe, although I do not have a map at hand so I'm probably completely wrong. But anyway, I was kind of jet lagged, getting the shakes from lack of proper sleep, and thinking Holy shit we're like flying dangerously low and I can't see a freaking airport is the pilot drunk or wtf?! But we had a smooth landing. And then I had to run around Incheon airport trying to find the Hanjin Express shop to get my package from the Arrival Store (hello phone!) and oh look there's a play going on in the middle of the airport, and OMG where is this Hanjin Express. And then when I finally found the shop, I was completely crestfallen because I'd been told I'd be able to fit the package in my handbag but truth is, it really doesn't fit. I'll talk about that later.

After the Hanjin thing I needed to find where the limousines were. Now, don't get your panties in a twist, limousines in Korea are not like limousines in the West. They're basically the equivalent of tour buses or Greyhound buses, plain and simple. They have storage areas underneath to put your bags. But before finding the correct limousine bound for Gimpo airport, where I had to catch my connection flight, I was accosted by a very enthusiastic taxi driver ahjussi (uncle or old man in Korean) who told me he would take me... I don't even remember where, but it didn't sound like Gimpo. Yes yes I take you where you want. I take you to [blah blah not Gimpo blah]. Yup. As safe as Korea apparently is, scum still exists here and they will take advantage of young foreigners. Constant vigilance! I was smart and refused, but some guy in my group accepted a ride and had to find his way to Gimpo on his own. Fortunately, he had a bit of time before his connection so it wasn't so bad, but I had barely an hour and a half before my next flight and it takes 30-45 minutes to ride to Gimpo so I was way too strapped for time to take the scenic route to nowhere...

So, yeah. Be smart and if the taxi ahjussi doesn't understand what you're trying to say then you really don't have to just agree not to hurt their feelings. I assure you, they will prey on others. You're not special.

My flight to Ulsan was... well, I dozed off a bit, but the landing seriously felt like a heart attack on my end. The other three on my flight would say it felt like the pilot was drunk but I was too zoned out to remember much (just as an indication of how zoned out I was, I nearly forgot my coat at Gimpo after my security check... luckily Koreans in general are super lovely and one of the guards there spotted my bright red Habs hoodie from my seat at Gate 9 and brought me back to fetch my coat). I just remember my nap felt way too short (half hour I think?) and that I basically decided to grab a nap then and there because the ride felt a bit jerky so I was like Okay, better not be conscious right now.

After that we were brought to our dorms. Now, this. I originally thought we'd be staying in a hotel. I believe that's what it said somewhere in my numerous emails from Footprints. But no. Dorms it is. At UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, I believe). And... this is my first time ever staying in a dorm. I went to school in Montreal and lived in the suburbs of Montreal so I'd never needed to move closer to school because it was fairly close to where I lived. So... yeah... I'm still not used to it. I don't think I ever will be. It's not anything against my roommate because she's fine, but I like doing my own thing and not having to worry about walking around half naked or someone walking in while I'm dressing and so on. I like my bubble, okay.

That first night was... well, I won't ever get used to Korean mattresses. What mattress?! I mean yes there's a mattress but it feels like a rock and oh dear God my poor back. I'm really looking forward to that mattress cover I bought from the Arrival Store. But, alas, I will have to wait for it until I move into my own apartment. That, and my bedsheets and pillow and comforter. Koreans have no concept of bedsheets, apparently. What we have right now is like a quilt for a mattress cover and another quilt for a "comforter". And something like a couch pillow to sleep on. I mean I'm sort of used to it even after just two days but the initial shock really made an impact and threw me off. On the other hand, I don't think I could live on such bedding for a year. Sorry, Korea, but I still like my creature comforts...

First day of orientation was quite lovely. First we got an introduction to Korean customs. I knew quite a few but it's good to have a refresher. And then we got a presentation on some websites that will come in handy for people like us who don't speak Korean (very well, at least) and who might like some normal bread once in a while... And then! Then we got to wear the hanbok and watch and listen to a presentation on Korea's past and present achievements. Did you know Gutenberg didn't actually invent the printing press, but rather Korea did, way before him? Oh, Europeans, stop fighting for the title...

Today was the city tour. At this point I'm a bit too zonked out to remember the first place we visited, but after that we went to lunch at this nice little buffet restaurant in the Hyundai Mall (I think...?). I mean, I'm still not used to the food so I'm not terribly fond of everything, but I rather liked the meat and mixed rice with crab, and the red (bean?) tea juice was amazing and I kept going for more. I did taste a bit of everything, so even though I didn't like everything I still gave it a try! After that we went to the Ulgi lighthouse at the end of the peninsular (we passed by Hyundai's shipyard and automobile construction site on the way... today was export day because they had this gigantic ship waiting for the brand new cars). That was really refreshing. I climbed down to water level at some point but since I was lugging around my heavy purse I realised jumping from rock to rock was a bit too dangerous so I went right back up instead of hanging around and waiting to break my neck!

And then we headed to Lotte Mart. Now that is a huge department store. I mean it's probably just as big as, say, Fairview Mall in the West Island (Montreal), but everything is so cramped that I felt it was much bigger than it really was. And... I forgot to buy Q-tips there. I normally can't really go a day without my dose of scrubbing my ears clean. But I guess I'll have to make do for a couple more days.

Anyway. Good night! Tomorrow's our free day before orientation continues Monday. Hmm. I guess I could go look for some Q-tips tomorrow, actually...