Culture Shock Part 2

The flight to Korea was extremely long. I ended up being in the middle seat for the 13 hour flight. Lucky for me I ended up sitting next to an older lady that was going back to teach English in China and the cutest 6 year old. She reminded me of myself when I was that little. She was really good considering she had to sit there for so long. Getting to know the little chatty Cathy I found out that she was going to Russia to visit her mom's family. She had a 19 hour lay over in Korea and then would get on another 6 hour flight to Russia. She wins.

The flight was normal. The movies were awful. Be Kind Rewind, some movie with Pierce Brosnon and Rachel McAdams, then some Korean movie about a girl that had special fighting skills. The food was alright for plane food I guess. Kind of like a half a step up from a tv dinner. Well maybe same level.

When we landed the first thing I thought about was that I needed to get my bags and check to make sure that all of my stuff was still there. More importantly my money since mom decided to tell me that I should have taken my money out of my carry on bag before I checked it. Anyway my bag was one of the last ones to come out which made my stomach sick. Everything was where I had left it. Mom made me worry for nothing.

Customs was easy and exchanging some money was easy as well. Right when I walked out there was a group of Korean people waiting. It almost felt like they where paparazzi it was weird. I looked around and finally saw my cousin/aunt Hun Jung-Emo. I ended up losing the paper on where to go but they for the most part knew.

After a traffic filled drive that left me scared out of my mind (Korean's may be the worst drivers I've ever seen. I'll never complain about Kansas again) we got to the school where I quickly met the director. I was embarressed because of how awful I looked. Image is everything in Korea. Then Paul, who picked me up, took me to my temporary housing which was a tiny hotel room. I sat on the bed and was amazed at how much it felt like a board. Then we were quickly off to my Grandma, Homoni's, house.

I stared out the window of the car trying to hold back tears. The only thought running through my mind was why had I done this. Everything was so easy for me back home in Kansas City. I have no idea where I am here. I can't read the signs or understand what anyone is saying to me. What the hell was I thinking?

When we got to Homoni's I was pretty much out of it. I had been awake for 28 hours and really didn't feel like talking to anyone. Mom was on skype and she asked me if I regreted going. I told her no that I was just tired but I couldn't help wonder if I did. When everyone left me alone I laid in bed and cried. I was already home sick. I slept for a couple of hours waking up at around 2 in the morning. I couldn't go back to sleep but I really was so tired.

I started feeling better though realizing why I had come. I got some emails that made me happy :). Emo keeps trying to feed me even though I'm really not hungry and Homoni is really helpless. It's so sad. She needs helping walking, going to the bathroom, eating. She keeps saying that she's so happy that I'm there. I'm glad to be able to come help her.