United we flew.

    Well, we made it to South Korea in one piece! (Or, rather, two…) :) The flight was long but fun, and very accommodating. Ed and I had a row of three to ourselves as the back of the plane was not as full as planes can get back there. So that was nice to sit and chat and look out the window. First, it was the San Francisco bay passing by beneath us, then it was the ocean… more ocean… and then some more Pacific ocean, beyond finally crossing the International Date Line (which we think it is called? We saw a line on the in-flight map-tracking thing), and entering into Russian and Asian territories. It is so fascinating to us that flying is such a constant all around the world. It is amazing how so very often, there are planes in the sky all around the world all around the clock. But very rarely do we ever think (we just may be overthinking this because we did have 12 hours to kill) about them up in the sky unless you hear them on a quiet day or near an airport. And what’s more, to think of how these ginormous but intricately-built flying vessels transport a person from one place to the next; one minute you are boarding the plane in one place and when you step off the plane however long later, you are in an entirely different location and environment altogether. It boggled our minds and we were in awe. Time-travel we related it to-because we are nerds, yes.

    In any case, the flight was lovely (and the meals, too, yum!) and with the entertaining sass from the stewards and stewardesses to keep us company, the 12 hours airborne was a perfect start to our trip abroad. This time also offered a great break during our transition as well! While preparing for our departure, these past weeks have been filled with going-away shindigs, generous gifts, support from all the loved ones in both of our families, a bit o’ subbing (guess who?), a bit o’ beating video games (guess who?), and a week-long vacation we saved up for in order to spend time with both sides of the family. All in all, we have with us now in South Korea many fond memories made in recent weeks and gladly carry them as we have embarked abroad (finally!!) to teach English.

    For those reading and involved in anything from the aforementioned weeks, we want to thank you sincerely and graciously because we would not have been as set to be here in South Korea now. We love you dearly and appreciate you greatly. Thank you. <3

    After landing, we had a bit of a run to get through immigration and get our bags and go through customs so that we could meet up with our recruiter before 5 o’clock Korea time. It was lovely to finally meet her in person and be mellowed out with her Canadian accent, which is sweet. Even though we haven’t chatted face to face since our interview, Andrea has been fantastically helpful with our constant questions and Ed’s general impatience to get everything done for our visas.

    She sent us off down the terminal to get our bus tickets and after another run (we were helped by an airport security lady because our bus was almost leaving), we were on our bus to Gwangju, where our training would be. This was quite a long bus ride, probably about four hours, but with a nice pit stop in between. On our trip, the bus driver kept the television tuned to the news because the awful crash of the Seoul had just happened that day. For those that don’t know, this was a tourist ship that was carrying high school students from an area around Seoul which sank on its way to Jeju Island. It was a terrible tragedy, as a Korean man on our bus explained to us, because a great deal of the students were still missing and presumed trapped on the ship. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families.

    Eventually, as our 30 or 40-hour day started to come to a close, we made it to U-Square in Gwangju, where we stopped for a quick hamburger at a Lotteria (Korean McDonald’s basically). After scarfing down the burger (guess who?) and all of the fries (guess who?) we grabbed a taxi to the SBC building on the outskirts of Gwangju (where this first week we are staying for the teaching orientation and training). It was a rather harrowing ride, as the driver went about 120 kpm the entire time. Around corners. Through traffic. Scraping past truck drivers. Yep, it basically initiated us into the life flow of South Korean city life.

    But we have arrived! And our rooms are beautiful and everyone is very nice and friendly and tired, like us. We have a lovely room with a large window that looks out onto the main building and the mountains around it. We can see the walkway and the gardens outside the halls of the educational center. We are so thankful for how clean and comfy it is and though it has been rainy here most of the time thus far, it is quite cozy in our little room.
   
    As for now, our week-long orientation is going well and we will post more after this weekend (still catching up on the jetlaggedness). We must be getting to bed as we need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for all that is in store for tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) “cultural field trip!” We will let you know how it goes soon for sure!

 Wishing you well wherever you are, and we’ll chat soon!

Love,
E + K