A Rainy Arrival...

I got off the plane not knowing what to expect. I didn't know where to go or how I would even leave the airport. It was an odd feeling. So I followed the herd and ended up at customs. They questioned me in Korean and broken English. They were not happy that I didn't know my Korean address or phone number, but after seeing that I had no idea what to tell them, they stamped by passport and sent me on my way. The next task for me was finding my bags. Luckily I saw Robert and located my bags without any trouble. Now I was ready to go through another checkpoint where I was to declare what I was bringing into Korea. "Guns, knives, explosives, biological and chemical weapons, fruit, vegetables, pornography, and books about North Korea" were all on the list. I checked "No" for all of them and handed it to the Korean military man. He barely glanced at it and pushed me through. I should have packed my Agent Orange. Only kidding, but it struck me as odd to ask such questions, especially with the rigorous security measures taken by the US and Korea.

Once again, I followed the masses and ended up standed in front of a large crowd of happy cheering Koreans. They had balloons, placards, camera and huge smiles. This was not for me, but what a welcome! After panning the crowd I saw a tall Korean man in a nice suit holding a small sign that read "Mr. George Hogan". I had told my mom that I wanted to take a picture of this moment, but when it came time to do so I was too late with the camera. Plus the batteries were dead. Typical. So this man came over to me with a huge smile and helped with my bags that I was clearly struggling to navigate through the masses. He went and purchased our bus tickets and told me to wait where I was. I peered at the other people around me and was amazed my the amount of smokers. Everyone was smoking. In the States you can't even smoke within 30 m of the door, but here it seems you better light-up right next to the door. (Don't worry mom, I didn't smoke there.) So the man returned and both of us boarded the rather modern looking bus. After the long flight I was not happy to be on the bus, but I didn't really have a choice.

The bus was nice and loaded with TV's and all sorts of other useless amenities. At this point I was still not sure who this man was. I thought maybe he was my schools' director, but didn't know for sure until he handed me his buisness card. His name was Yong Jin Lee and he was the President of the recruiting company I used to get over here. So we continued down the traffic-filled highway and I looked out the window during the pauses in conversations with Jong. He told me what I was looking at and tried to make small talk, but there was only so much the two of us could talk about.

The airport is only 15 km from the bus station, but this ride took us an hour and a half. The bus driver weaved in and out of traffic without any regard for the other vehicles on the road. I don't know how he didn't hit anybody, but he didn't. Interestingly enough, the drivers who came close to being hit never expressed any anger or aggression. I looked hard too. They wouldn't hit their steering wheel, raise a hand or a certain finger, yell or even honk the horn. I thought that these people must be the calmest people in the world. In that kind of traffic I would expect some emotion to be displayed, but not here.

The city of Seoul is hard to describe. It doesn't really have a city center. It's spread out in between mountains and literally is developed wherever the space allows. There are rows of huge apartment complexes that reach hundreds of feet into the air. They are stacked on top of each other, squeezed in between each other and built right behind and in front of each other. It's hard to describe, but if you can picture this, than you can understand Seoul. Of course, different areas were built at different times and each district has its own style. I'll explain mine later.

Finally we make it the bus station in what most would consider to be the downtown area, but as I said there are many areas one could consider downtown. One place that I saw that might be considered downtown was an area where the focal point was Trump World. Even in Korea you can't escape The Donald. Either way, in the bus station I needed to use the restroom, so I told Jong to hold-on for a second. I spotted a sign that said "Restrooms >". I walked towards the sign and stopped when I saw the Korean symbols on the door. I figured I'd peak in and see if there were any urinals. Of course, I chose the wrong one and was greeted by an older Korean woman yelling at me and pointing towards the door. Perfect start right? I went out the door and studied the two symbols to make sure this wouldn't happen again.

Finally we arrived at my apartment and were greeted by my supervisor Rhett and one of the Korean teachers named Terry. Oh yeah, it's about 8:00 pm by now. My flight landed at 5:40pm. (Alot of younger Koreans have Western names.) Rhett is a bigger guy with wild shaggy hair and an unshaven beard. Terry on the otherhand was neat and clean shaven. Rhett is 26 and from a small town in Sasketchewon (my mouse doesn't work yet and I am having trouble using the spell check). He was very friendly right away and helped me carry my stuff to my new place. I said good-bye to Jong, thanked him and extended my hand in hopes of shaking his. He looked down at my hand with a puzzled look on is face and then back at me. I immediately recognized the cultural error I just made and proceeded to the infamous Asian bow that I've seen in movies and TV. I wasn't sure how low to go so I was conservative about it. He bowed to me, so naturally I bowed again. Of course, he bowed back, so I bowed again. This continued for a few more rounds and if Rhett didn't take me out of the bowing repetiore I'm sure it would have continued for several more rounds. I couldn't believe that they will continue bowing if you do.

I finally had made it to my new home in Korea. I was so tired and when Rhett asked if I wanted go out I knew what I should have said, but alas, I accepted the offer. He lives less than a ten minute walk from me, but had rode his mototcyle over there in case of rain. (July is monsoon season, so it rains all the time.) I hopped on the back for my first motorcycle ride ever and started my first night in Korea...