Like the first day of my life.

Hello Friends!
I figured teachers' prep time was the best time to fill you all in on the past week.

My E-2 work Visa arrived (finally!!) on Wednesday, January 31st. This was a great relief, as my recruiter had already booked my flight, and the New Year holiday would have delayed the mail until after my departure date.

Late, late,late on Saturday night, after 24 hours of airplane travel and changeovers, I arrived in Seoul. After retrieving my luggage--two bulging suitcases meticulously packed to get me through the next year, I looked out into the crowd of smiling, anxious people waiting in arrivals for a sign with my name on it. My recruiter, the amazing Anna, was supposed to meet me at the airport. However, when the crowds parted, I did not see the perky young Korean woman that I expected. A worried elderly gentleman holding a sign with my name on it was arguing with a young American woman. It turns out that this woman, also a brand new English teacher in Korea, was named Kristin Parsons, and believed that the gentleman's sign was just an error. After insisting that I was, in fact, the real Kristen Pearson, he called my recruiter and extended his cellphone to me. Anna explained that this gentleman, a chauffeur who often drives for the school, would be taking me to the apartment. My principal, Mrs. Kwan, would be waiting there to welcome me and show me around.

During the 70-minute drive into the heart of the city, I watched the neon lights, skyscrapers and unfamiliar street signs passing by with tired eyes. As we left the highway and moved through a maze of inner city streets I noticed the hundreds of restaurants, bars and street-food stands that create Seoul's electric landscape.

When we finally reached my building, my principal and her husband were waiting outside. They brought me up to my apartment, welcomed me to Korea, and did their best to make me feel at home. They left wishing me rest and promising to pick me up at ten the next morning for my first Korean breakfast...at Dunkin' Donuts.

After they left, I wept. I don't know if it was hunger, jetlag, or just the realization that I was thousands of miles away from the people I love, but I could not imagine staying in this place for a year. As I sat in my new living quarters, alone, surrounded by linoleum and fluorescent lighting, I began to question my decision for the first time. A phone call home left me with the suggestion that maybe all would look better in the morning, after a shower and a long, long, sleep.

My mother was right---throwing back my curtains the next morning, I saw my tiny apartment flooded with sunlight. I opened the window and leaned out over my new neighbourhood. Motorbikes, and giant, honking SUVs battled for the narrow roads between buildings, while bicycle couriers brought oranges and eggs to the shop at the corner. People shouted and greeted each other in a strange and magical language that I don't yet understand. Signs were marked with characters in a mysterious and beautiful script over shops selling fruit and sea creatures I had never seen before.

That first morning in Seoul was that of my 24th birthday. In so many ways, I experienced that day as I did the very first of my life---scared, seeking comfort, curious and alert, breathing deeply, and feeling very, very alive.

I am ready to start this new life in Seoul, South Korea.
kp

***Coming soon: I will update you on my first galbi dinner, my wonderful students and school and how I got lost on the way home to my apartment. Twice. kp