Arrival

"Oh, man.  What have we done?"

It was hazy as we landed in Seoul and stepped off the plane.  Perhaps it was just an overcast day, but I was hoping it would not be a symbol for the rest of the year.  Our first impressions of the country came from the bathrooms.  Automatic toilet seat covers.  Nice.  They probably have those in America, too, but I've never seen them so I'll give Korea a point.  

We were told the director from our school would pick us up at the airport.  If we had any problems, we were to call a woman named Cho.  As soon as we stepped through customs, we began looking for someone who might be looking for us.  By the time we got down to the baggage claim, our bags were the only ones on the carousel.  It took all the strength we had to pull them off and load them onto a cart; two carts actually.  A woman at the information desk told us to step outside and there we would probably find our director.  She was half right. Someone was waiting for us outside, but it wasn't Mr. Kim.  The man said nothing, but handed us a piece of paper.

Dear Holly and Andrea,

Welcome to Korea!  I hope you didn't have any problems during your travel.  For your convenience, I have sent a van to pick you up at the Incheon airport.  Even though the driver can't speak English, he will drive you safely to your destination and then I'll meet you when you arrive in Ansan City.  For your reference, you can call me on my cell phone at ###-#### at any time after your arrival to Korea.  I am looking forward to meeting you soon.  Best Regards, Mr. Kim.

Ha!  This was a perfect beginning to our trip.  The hour long car ride from the airport into Ansan was very quiet.  The lull of the car put both Andrea and I to sleep leaving the driver alone with his dashboard T.V.  When I woke up, it was dark outside and we were off the main highway.  We made a quick stop at the school (so the driver could get paid) before heading to our apartment.  Mr. Kim was waiting for us as we pulled up.  

Most of the apartments in Ansan look exactly the same - very tall with not a lot of outside pizazz.  Ours is no different.  Luckily, they all have elevators so getting our bags to the 13th floor was not difficult.  Mr. Kim commented on how heavy our bags were as he pulled them into the apartment.  We were pleasantly surprised when we first entered our new place - fully furnished and very spacious.  There are two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen/dining room, living room, and an enclosed balcony/laundry room/storage room area.  Thankfully, our bathroom is Western style with a shower/tub combination (it is usually typical in Korea to have the shower head directly over the toilet with slanted floors for draining).  

While we walked around the apartment, Mr. Kim pointed out how to use the washing machine, heating system, and gas stove.  He fixed a broken fluorescent tube bulb and then offered to take us to dinner and show us how to walk to school.  We accepted and stepped out onto the streets of our new city.  The school is a 10 minute walk from our apartment.  Many shops and restaurants line the streets along the way.  Mr. Kim led us to a place called, Paris Baguette where they set out breads and pastries for customers to pick from.  Confused about the procedure, Andrea and I hastily chose a long baguette and 2 cookies for our dinner.  This also acted as our breakfast the next day until we were able to go to the mart (grocery store).  

After Mr. Kim left us for the evening, we inspected our new apartment further.  There are a lot of interesting details about the place like, our many sliding glass doors.  My bedroom has an attachment, separated from the rest of the room by sliding glass doors, that opens to the outside with another pair of sliding glass doors.  This is where my closet is located.  Our living room also has sliding doors that open onto an enclosed balcony where we have storage shelves and a washing machine.  Opening the outside sliding doors lets in a cool, refreshing breeze. The heating system Koreans use heats the apartment from coils underneath the floor.  We've been told this system is amazing and when clean, can actually be used to dry your wet clothes!  :) Our only disappointment are the beds.  Thankfully, they are long enough, but the mattresses are rock solid.  This will take some getting used to since it feels like I am camping outside on the ground every night.  Again, this is a typical Korean nuance.

Our set up is above average and I'm relieved to feel so comfortable in our new place!  I will post pictures soon.