Touch Down!

Less than 24 hours ago I was just arriving at the airport in Seoul S. Korea after flying 14 hours from NYC aboard Korean air where the flight attendants were beautiful and impeccably dressed women with decent English, striking men and delicious food. My first taste of Korean food was on this flight and what they call bibimbap. They told me it was rice and vegtables but it was so much more. It is delivered with veggies in a bowl and steamed rice and a set of directions. You take the steamed rice, add it to the veggies then add a container of chili paste, my favorite, and sesame oil. You mix it all together and the spicy dish is wonderful. This came served with a side of seaweed soup, not bad for my first meal.

By the time I had arrived at Incheaon airport I had been up for over 24 hours and still had a 4 hour bus ride ahead of me. I left the plane and was immediately stopped by quarantine. Everyone had to pass through a line of medics taking some sort of skin reading. While on the flight I had noticed on average that the Koreans wear a lot more surgical face masks then the average and realized after getting an information card that the Koreans were afraid of Swine flu. They handed out anti-bacterial wipes for everyone and seemed slightly obsessed with national health and the swine flu scare.

Once through immigration I made my way outside to find my bus to Gwangju. I was happily surprised to arrived at the bus and see that they all were like first class. As a confused foreigner trying to read my ticket a fellow bus goer and Korean jumped to my rescue. He showed me my seat and even used his cell phone to call ahead to let my ride know I was on my way.

My Korean bus guide sat next to me during the ride and with his bad English told me his English name was James Chon, like James Bond. He did a nice little gun demonstration so I knew what he was referring to and started asking me lots of questions. He told me all about the baseball we were watching and gave me chocolate and gum. I know its sounds strange, but he was just being friendly, and not looking for a western bride. He was a business professor at one of the University's, and was 49 years old. Telling your age over here is quite normal as your age shows your status and the respect you deserve. After talking the first hour my comfy chair and the baseball game put me right to sleep and I awoke to the Gwangju bus terminal.

I was picked up and brought to my apartment at 11pm where I passed out promptly and awoke in the early morning hour to my first day in Korea...

New Beginings

I am sitting in Glasgow at my boyfriend Chris's place alone and contemplating the life changing decision I have just made to move to South Korea to live and teach for a year. At the moment this undertaking is both exciting and overwhelming, which is making my chest a bit contracted and my stomach a bit loopy.

Three months ago I returned from a six and a half month solo backpacking trip around South America. It was this trip and South America that taught me to follow my dreams and not to let fear prevent me from going anywhere or accomplishing anything. I gained my independence and sense of self during this journey which allowed me to experience the world, make my own decisions and rely on only myself, and now here I am only 3 months later preparing myself for another hurdle.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous and sick with the thought of missing my family who I seldom see, and the possibility of another Christmas away from home. Despite my free spirit and roaming lifestyle I am very much someone that relies on the support of my family and friends to encourage me to take huge leaps and bounds in my life. I love them and the support they give me and I would not be able to do many of these things without them.

I have been told that my lifestyle is irresponsible, but for me it is a way to explore the world, visit new cultures and discover the new and exciting things the world has to offer around every bend. I am 26 and financially I owe thousands to the government for my education, which I do contribute to monthly, and career wise I have found an inability to accept a 9-5 monotonous day job with two weeks vacation a year. I don't have a pension plan, a car, a house or any of those other things normal people have and strive for yet I feel like I am starting to become more complete.

The more places I visit, cultures I see and people I meet the more I feel fulfilled. I know my heart and my head have yet to unite on the same page because my heart tells me to go to Korea and see the world and my head tells me that I should be logical and precise by wanting a stable job, a house, a car, a pension plan, to be married and have kids, but my heart also knows that this will come in good time and there is no need to rush.

I am starting to feel the anxiety is passing for the moment and the excitement is taking over, so here goes my next adventure...