Merry Christmas from Korea!

Christmas Eve we went out to the bars around Hongik university. If you're going out on Christmas Eve look out for the "special Christmas menu" which basically means everything is super expensive. But we found a bar with really good live music and unlimited drinks for 20000 won. I got to hang of with a lot of Koreans which was awesome, they're so cool and so nice!

Christmas Day my company set up some tours for us, so we toured a Joson Dynasty royal palace and the Korean National Museum. It was cool to see some Korean art and history. Then after that I went out with some guys for a few beers and Christmas dinner. A couple Canadian guys, an American, a Welshman and an Irish guy. Over all Christmas was not very Christmassy in the Western sense but it was a lot of fun! Merry Christmas to you all back home or wherever you are!

First Friday Free Day

Well I'm back at the Paris Baguette writing this post. Super tires, Seoul nightlife is intense and apparently never stops!

Yesterday I set up my Korean bank account, and then my company have us all money for the weekend and a transit card to get around which was nice of them! So a big group of us got together and headed to Hoegi station so we could get to city hall. Once there we realized there were too many of us so we split up. We walked around a giant street market and wandered around the city. We got dinner at this Korean restaurant where the food was nice and spicy like I like it, but a little too spicy for everyone else. Since the food it cooked at your table the spiced filled the restaurant and a lot of people were coughing from the spice in the air haha. The food was AMAZING! After a long time of trying to figure out where we were we ended up in a university district with a bunch of bars. We met a Canadian who had been living here for a year so he was our guide for the night. He was so much fun!

The bars in Korea are different than the ones in Chicago in the sense that there are such diverse bars. We went to a pool hall bar, an underground hookah lounge, a chill lounge where you took your shoes off and sat around a shallow pool with floating candles and incense, an underground trance club that looked like a cave where some people were filming me holding a candle and telling me it's the winter solstice, and then a dance club. All in all it was the craziest night out I've ever had, and I've had a few crazy nights! I met so many awesome local Koreans who were all super nice and so friendly. I can already tell that I'm going to LOVE living in Seoul! Today were going shopping for apartment essentials and then who knows what!

Arrival

So much has happened since my last post! Right now I'm sitting in Paris Baguette Cafe (a coffeehouse chain in Seoul) because it has free wifi and hot coffee (it is so cold in Korea!).

Well I arrived at incheon international airport and found the guy with my name on a sign. He didn't speak a word of English and he grabbed my luggage and bolted for the van with me running to keep up behind him. An hour ride from the airport later and I was on the doorstep of the company headquarters in Seoul. After a very confusing 15 minutes I was set up in my temporary apartment with my roommate. The rooms are bigger than I expected but the kitchen is kind of small. We have heated floors and a terrace almost the same size as our entire apartment. It's only temporary but I like it a lot! Great location and everything.

I've completed day one of orientation which consisted of three huge meals. Introductions, the most thorough health check up I've ever experienced, and lessons on Korean history, culture, and language. After orientation my roommate and I took the bus to the mall to look for some things I forgot to pack. Walking around the city was so much fun and so interesting. I've never ever been in a city like this before. It's so surreal. Sometimes it feels like I'm in a video game or a movie or something lol. After that I enjoyed my first Korean beer on the terrace and then went to bed (still jet lagged!). Now I'm about to begin day two of orientation (banking) and then the weekend starts! Everyone I've met so far has been super cool and so nice. I'm so happy and excited and can't wait to start teaching!! :)


P.s.- sorry for any typos I'm typing this in a cafe on an iPod with limited time. Once I move to my permanent apartment I will have better access to Internet and I can do this more properly!

P.p.s.- photo is of a Christmas tree outside the mall by my apartment and some metal tree sculptures. (I love Christmas! :) )

En Route: The First Leg

This is it! It's actually happening! As I write this post I am sitting in the international terminal of San Francisco International Airport (SFO). This past weekend I had to say a lot of goodbyes, something I hate doing. But all of your visits, texts, calls, cards and gifts mean so much to me. I know I'm really loved by my friends and family back home! Thank you all!

Yesterday afternoon I finished packing (and repacking) just in time to head to O'hare for my flight to San Francisco. *Travel Tip #1: do not overpack your carry on, and make sure to measure the dimensions!* Minutes before I left I realized my carry on was a bit on the bulging side and over the acceptable dimensions. At the ticket gate however the lady told me it would be fine. Then, going through security check, my bag gets stuck in the scanner, oops! Haha but I get through and have my last meal in Chicago (Italian beef, dipped, with hot peppers) and board the plane. Basically slept through the whole flight (thanks for keeping me up so late Katie and Jen!) haha. I got a sweet view of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge as we landed at SFO. I then proceeded to find the warmest, safest looking terminal to sleep in. I wrapped my arms around the straps of my bag and got roughly two or three hours of sleep before the hoards of people came in and the shops and cafes opened up at 4am local time. Right now I've been here for seven hours with four more to go before I take off for Korea. I wont land until 4:15pm local time the next day! This is my goodbye to the USA! See you all in 2014! The next time I post I will have arrived in Asia!

2: "Every World Traveler Needs His Own Luggage"

Every Christmas my siblings and I (brother-in-laws included) do a Secret Santa to exchange gifts. This year my Secret Santa was my awesome-amazing-beautiful-super-cool sister Lisa who lives in Sonoma County, California. So one evening me and my parents were on Skype with Lisa and her husband Mitch and my dad brings down this giant box, my Secret Santa present. I open it up to find that she bought me my first and very own luggage set! It was the perfect present. Now I can fly off to Korea with light, easy rolling, brand spankin new luggage! Not to mention that I'll look a lot more professional with the new luggage than with the old beat up, faded and duct tapped luggage in the attic! THANK YOU LISA!

The First Post: 11 More Sleeps

Hello readers!

     Welcome to my blog which follows the life of an American living for a year in Seoul, South Korea (i.e., me). With only 11 more sleeps to go before I take to the winds I am becoming more and more excited; it's actually happening! Yesterday I received my orientation agenda which made it feel even more real, and I've been packing up my things (feels like I just UNpacked from college).

     To say that I do not feel nervous at all would be a lie. They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. I'll be moving to the other side of the globe, to a country and continent I have never been to, where I don't speak the native language, and I don't know anyone. I live for this! This is going to be another life adventure, larger, longer, and more foreign than any adventure I've had in the past. So read my blog and experience a bit of the ride with me. :)

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