The journey has begun!
actually i have been in korea for 16 days now, but there has been so much to do getting settled in that i haven't had a chance to start the blog before today. so thanks for being patient....
from March 20th to the 25th i slept in 4 different beds, a makeshift pallet in my now vacant home on the hill in san diego and a plane, all in preparation to uproot my life as i knew it and move to South Korea for a year.
my precious little 'love on a leash'-luca is living in denver now with my best friend, edyie and her family. i took luca to edyie a week before my departure for korea. although at the time, i had expected that i would be stateside for two more weeks. however, my new employer had other expectations. thus, upon a fretful and tearful departure from luca, my family and friends in denver, my 'new walk' became a fast and furious expedition, having one week to obtain a work visa from the korean consulate in los angeles, emptying my house, getting the cars stored and saying tearful farewells and giving hugs for life to dear friends and family.
korea would not have initially been my choice, however it was destined for me to be here. i don't yet fully know my full purpose (other than teaching english of course), but my eyes and heart are wide open to receive and experience it all to the max.
my flight on asiana airlines was exceptionally comfortable for a 13 hour direct flight. not only did i have my own personal video/music viewing screen, but i was privileged with a bulk head seat, thanks to my podiatrist who generously wrote a letter for me to have leg room accommodations. I was able to prop my feet up on the wall in front of me, thereby minimizing swelling. for those of you who are not aware, i had bilateral bunionectomy surgery on my feet in january and was immobile for many weeks and had to re-learn to walk all over again...but if you saw me now and here, you'd never know it. Thanks to God my convalescence and healing was smooth and i am now walking at my normal pace with no isssues, and 'tis a good thing, because here in korea i have no vehicle. my feet are my primary transportation and occasionally a bus or taxi.
upon landnig at the Seoul-Incheon airport , i was welcomed to korea first by a magnificently mandarin sunset and then by Goe, a person courier hired by my recruiter to 'collect' me and transfer me to the airport 'limousine'. goe was very nice and spoke fairly clear english. within 10 minutes of meeting him, he transported me to the airport 'limousine' which is actulally is a luxury motorcoach. i can't complain, i had a 2.5 hour ride to my home city of Daejeon, and i was able to recline the seat, elevate the leg rest and sleep for a good portion of the ride, considering i didn't sleep much on the flight, being my usual high strung and excited self [that characteristic is so inconvenient reallly on long flights! but it's me. and i'm used to it. :-) ].
i arrived at the daejeon bus 'station' at 10pm. it was dark and resembled a poorly lit alley way. others from the bus, not many by the way, scurried on their way. i was standing on the curb with my 4 huge and heavy suitcases (i had to pack all my clothing and shoes, because they don't have sizes here over 8--(and the average shoe size is 5) except for perhaps in seoul in hard to find stores, which subsequently as you'll recall, is 2.5 hours away by bus...but only 50 minutes by high speed train--but most people know that i couldn't care less about shopping for clothing anyway). i petitioned someone walking past and gestured with body language to have them call a number for me on their cell phone. the woman passed her phone to me. i dialed the number that goe gave me for my 'pick up' in daejeon (my coordinator, hana). i called the number and botched up her name, but she was kind and forgiving and knew immediately who i was and said she was on her way to get me, and that i should wait inside the bus terminal because it was cold outside (she was right about that! bitterly cold). i hung up, thanked the lady for her phone by bowing and looked for what might be the bus terminal. when i realized a very dimly lit entrance that looked closed was the terminal, i started binding my suitcases and dragging them there, and just then a man came to the door and started chaining it from inside....i left the luggage and ran to the door calling out "no! wait! please!" the man simply waived me off with his and walked away. i looked around me again, wanting to get out of this dark place and my only outlet was two flights of steep stairs. at the base was life, lights, people and traffic. there was no one around to ask to help me lug the suitcases and when there were people coming from other buses arriving, they saw me lugging the suitcases one by one , but no one gestured to help. i finally got all four to the bottom and stood in a parking 'round' in front of a restaurant, hoping that hana would find me. she did within about 15 minutes and she helped me get the suitcases to her car which was down the street. she said "ugh, what do you have in these?" i wanted to laugh, but i held back and told her that i had packed all my clothes. she smiled and said, "oh, ok".
she put me up in a motel for two nights. the motel was the equivalent of a 3 star hotel honeymoon suite in america....it was a little freaky with the big circular mirror on the ceiling above the circular bed! but it was such a comfy room. it had many amenities including two computers and the internet, men's and women's socks, cologne, soaps and other beauty items to name a few. hana told me to help myself to any and all of it, that it was free for me. the socks would never be used....way too tiny. haha
when we entered the room, there was a tiny little alcove where hana and her male friend quickly discarded their shoes before walking onto the heated wooden floor. i had to pause and think, because i haven't been accustomed to taking off my shoes in a 'motel' or anywhere actually...except in the mosques in egypt. even in china no one removed their shoes in public places. so i was thrown off. i had to bend down, untie my tennis shoes and remove them. i sat them neatly next to hana's itty bitty shoes, while she and her friend stood from inside watching and waiting for me so she could explain things about the room. she wanted to take me for a late dinner and brief me about the next two days, and when she reentered the alcove for her shoes, she paused and stared at my boat size shoes. it took all my energy to refrain from laughing out loud. in fact i turned my back and acted as though i were positioning a suitcase so she wouldn't see my expression...but you should have seen HERS!! ha ha.
hana is tall, as are many other koreans, by asian standards that is, at approximately 5'7" without her heels (and she wears them everyday...even on the weekends when we go out for fun), but her shoe size is 5 and i am guessing her clothing size is a zero or 1.
unlike in china, i don't feel out of place by my height and stature, only because the people do not rudely stare and talk openly about me as the chinese did. people here are more fascinated with my hair ( i am wearing twists). the principal of my school, by the way, told hana to tell me that she really likes my hair, and i subsequently have used it to educate the children on levels of diversity starting with hairstyles. the kids are fascinated with me and the hair. more on that later.
anyway, hana and her friend took me to dinner where again i had to remove my shoes and sit on the floor at a table that was about 12" from the floor. thank goodness my sister michele and friend trynetta taught me and made me practice getting down and up from the floor just before i left the states (since the surgery my toes don't have full range of motion which makes such gestures tricky). the food was delicious and super plenteous. everything is eaten community style in korea, so if anyone has a phobia of using their chopsticks in the same dishes with everyone else at the table, then korea is not the place for you to dine. never the less with three of us eating of the smorgasborg of 8 or 9 side dishes and what seemed like two entree servings, we had a lot of left over food. no! there are no 'doggy bags' :-)
this first night was my introduction to the world of 'bizarre foods'. i ate silkworms, and they were actually quite delicious. i didn't know what they were initially, as they kind of resembled pecans, and hana only said to me before i ate one that she really likes it, and that it is good for you. so i of course i put one in my mouth and by the texture which was crunchy outside and then mushy and squirty inside, i said to her "this is bug". she smiled and said, 'yes, they are silk worms. very good for you." i doubt i would have tried them if she had told me first what they were. i did have limitations you know....but not anymore i guess. haha for any of you who watch the travel channel, you should be familiar with the Bizarre Foods show with Andrew Zimern. well since arriving in korean, i've eaten many strange foods....including the poisonous puffer fish.....watch out andrew...i may be taking over your job! haha
well everyone, it is late and i must rest. tomorrow i am going to church (i found an international christian church) and having lunch with a foreign friend i met there and korean language class afterward . . and my precious little students have so generously shared their cooties with me. they are all sooooo cute. they call me Kimberly Teacher and they like to touch me, hold my hands, stand as close as they can and hug me and meanwhile they are coughing all around me and putting fingers where they shouldn't be. i have spent more time in classroom saying "ew. that's yukki. cover your mouth when you cough please." and "ewww! that's gross and yukkie. put your boogeys in a tissue and not the table or your mouth OR ME" what they don't understand i demonstrate. haha
so needless to say, i have been battling the cold which is on it's ending cycle and i want to keep it that way, so off to bed i go. by the way, i don't have my phone working yet, but when i do, i'll send the phone number so those that want can keep in touch via voice and moreso by text i expect. those of you that will call, pleasse note that i am 14 hours ahead of pacific time, 11 hours ahead of eastern time and 13 hours ahead of mountain time.
i have so much to share with you all already about what i have experienced, the life, the customs....oh so much, but i shant try to share it all in one entry, otherwise i'd exhaust myself and overwhelm you. so i will space it out and right a bit each week. i'll also load pictures periodically. i took some pics yesterday of some of my students and my apartment.
much more to come soon.
p.s. i think you can subscribe to this blog (on it's main page) so that you can receive notice each time i update it. however if that is not functional, please just save the blog url address in your 'favorites' and check it weekly, because i will update it at least that much.
please keep in touch. contact from 'home' is essential for me.
...hold fast to your dreams,
kimmie
actually i have been in korea for 16 days now, but there has been so much to do getting settled in that i haven't had a chance to start the blog before today. so thanks for being patient....
from March 20th to the 25th i slept in 4 different beds, a makeshift pallet in my now vacant home on the hill in san diego and a plane, all in preparation to uproot my life as i knew it and move to South Korea for a year.
my precious little 'love on a leash'-luca is living in denver now with my best friend, edyie and her family. i took luca to edyie a week before my departure for korea. although at the time, i had expected that i would be stateside for two more weeks. however, my new employer had other expectations. thus, upon a fretful and tearful departure from luca, my family and friends in denver, my 'new walk' became a fast and furious expedition, having one week to obtain a work visa from the korean consulate in los angeles, emptying my house, getting the cars stored and saying tearful farewells and giving hugs for life to dear friends and family.
korea would not have initially been my choice, however it was destined for me to be here. i don't yet fully know my full purpose (other than teaching english of course), but my eyes and heart are wide open to receive and experience it all to the max.
my flight on asiana airlines was exceptionally comfortable for a 13 hour direct flight. not only did i have my own personal video/music viewing screen, but i was privileged with a bulk head seat, thanks to my podiatrist who generously wrote a letter for me to have leg room accommodations. I was able to prop my feet up on the wall in front of me, thereby minimizing swelling. for those of you who are not aware, i had bilateral bunionectomy surgery on my feet in january and was immobile for many weeks and had to re-learn to walk all over again...but if you saw me now and here, you'd never know it. Thanks to God my convalescence and healing was smooth and i am now walking at my normal pace with no isssues, and 'tis a good thing, because here in korea i have no vehicle. my feet are my primary transportation and occasionally a bus or taxi.
upon landnig at the Seoul-Incheon airport , i was welcomed to korea first by a magnificently mandarin sunset and then by Goe
i arrived at the daejeon bus 'station' at 10pm. it was dark and resembled a poorly lit alley way. others from the bus, not many by the way, scurried on their way. i was standing on the curb with my 4 huge and heavy suitcases (i had to pack all my clothing and shoes, because they don't have sizes here over 8--(and the average shoe size is 5) except for perhaps in seoul in hard to find stores, which subsequently as you'll recall, is 2.5 hours away by bus...but only 50 minutes by high speed train--but most people know that i couldn't care less about shopping for clothing anyway). i petitioned someone walking past and gestured with body language to have them call a number for me on their cell phone. the woman passed her phone to me. i dialed the number that goe gave me for my 'pick up' in daejeon (my coordinator, hana). i called the number and botched up her name, but she was kind and forgiving and knew immediately who i was and said she was on her way to get me, and that i should wait inside the bus terminal because it was cold outside (she was right about that! bitterly cold). i hung up, thanked the lady for her phone by bowing and looked for what might be the bus terminal. when i realized a very dimly lit entrance that looked closed was the terminal, i started binding my suitcases and dragging them there, and just then a man came to the door and started chaining it from inside....i left the luggage and ran to the door calling out "no! wait! please!" the man simply waived me off with his and walked away. i looked around me again, wanting to get out of this dark place and my only outlet was two flights of steep stairs. at the base was life, lights, people and traffic. there was no one around to ask to help me lug the suitcases and when there were people coming from other buses arriving, they saw me lugging the suitcases one by one , but no one gestured to help. i finally got all four to the bottom and stood in a parking 'round' in front of a restaurant, hoping that hana would find me. she did within about 15 minutes and she helped me get the suitcases to her car which was down the street. she said "ugh, what do you have in these?" i wanted to laugh, but i held back and told her that i had packed all my clothes. she smiled and said, "oh, ok".
she put me up in a motel for two nights. the motel was the equivalent of a 3 star hotel honeymoon suite in america....it was a little freaky with the big circular mirror on the ceiling above the circular bed! but it was such a comfy room. it had many amenities including two computers and the internet, men's and women's socks, cologne, soaps and other beauty items to name a few. hana told me to help myself to any and all of it, that it was free for me. the socks would never be used....way too tiny. haha
when we entered the room, there was a tiny little alcove where hana and her male friend quickly discarded their shoes before walking onto the heated wooden floor. i had to pause and think, because i haven't been accustomed to taking off my shoes in a 'motel' or anywhere actually...except in the mosques in egypt. even in china no one removed their shoes in public places. so i was thrown off. i had to bend down, untie my tennis shoes and remove them. i sat them neatly next to hana's itty bitty shoes, while she and her friend stood from inside watching and waiting for me so she could explain things about the room. she wanted to take me for a late dinner and brief me about the next two days, and when she reentered the alcove for her shoes, she paused and stared at my boat size shoes. it took all my energy to refrain from laughing out loud. in fact i turned my back and acted as though i were positioning a suitcase so she wouldn't see my expression...but you should have seen HERS!! ha ha.
hana is tall, as are many other koreans, by asian standards that is, at approximately 5'7" without her heels (and she wears them everyday...even on the weekends when we go out for fun), but her shoe size is 5 and i am guessing her clothing size is a zero or 1.
unlike in china, i don't feel out of place by my height and stature, only because the people do not rudely stare and talk openly about me as the chinese did. people here are more fascinated with my hair ( i am wearing twists). the principal of my school, by the way, told hana to tell me that she really likes my hair, and i subsequently have used it to educate the children on levels of diversity starting with hairstyles. the kids are fascinated with me and the hair. more on that later.
anyway, hana and her friend took me to dinner where again i had to remove my shoes and sit on the floor at a table that was about 12" from the floor. thank goodness my sister michele and friend trynetta taught me and made me practice getting down and up from the floor just before i left the states (since the surgery my toes don't have full range of motion which makes such gestures tricky). the food was delicious and super plenteous. everything is eaten community style in korea, so if anyone has a phobia of using their chopsticks in the same dishes with everyone else at the table, then korea is not the place for you to dine. never the less with three of us eating of the smorgasborg of 8 or 9 side dishes and what seemed like two entree servings, we had a lot of left over food. no! there are no 'doggy bags' :-)
this first night was my introduction to the world of 'bizarre foods'. i ate silkworms, and they were actually quite delicious. i didn't know what they were initially, as they kind of resembled pecans, and hana only said to me before i ate one that she really likes it, and that it is good for you. so i of course i put one in my mouth and by the texture which was crunchy outside and then mushy and squirty inside, i said to her "this is bug". she smiled and said, 'yes, they are silk worms. very good for you." i doubt i would have tried them if she had told me first what they were. i did have limitations you know....but not anymore i guess. haha for any of you who watch the travel channel, you should be familiar with the Bizarre Foods show with Andrew Zimern. well since arriving in korean, i've eaten many strange foods....including the poisonous puffer fish.....watch out andrew...i may be taking over your job! haha
well everyone, it is late and i must rest. tomorrow i am going to church (i found an international christian church) and having lunch with a foreign friend i met there and korean language class afterward . . and my precious little students have so generously shared their cooties with me. they are all sooooo cute. they call me Kimberly Teacher and they like to touch me, hold my hands, stand as close as they can and hug me and meanwhile they are coughing all around me and putting fingers where they shouldn't be. i have spent more time in classroom saying "ew. that's yukki. cover your mouth when you cough please." and "ewww! that's gross and yukkie. put your boogeys in a tissue and not the table or your mouth OR ME" what they don't understand i demonstrate. haha
so needless to say, i have been battling the cold which is on it's ending cycle and i want to keep it that way, so off to bed i go. by the way, i don't have my phone working yet, but when i do, i'll send the phone number so those that want can keep in touch via voice and moreso by text i expect. those of you that will call, pleasse note that i am 14 hours ahead of pacific time, 11 hours ahead of eastern time and 13 hours ahead of mountain time.
i have so much to share with you all already about what i have experienced, the life, the customs....oh so much, but i shant try to share it all in one entry, otherwise i'd exhaust myself and overwhelm you. so i will space it out and right a bit each week. i'll also load pictures periodically. i took some pics yesterday of some of my students and my apartment.
much more to come soon.
p.s. i think you can subscribe to this blog (on it's main page) so that you can receive notice each time i update it. however if that is not functional, please just save the blog url address in your 'favorites' and check it weekly, because i will update it at least that much.
please keep in touch. contact from 'home' is essential for me.
...hold fast to your dreams,
kimmie
Someone has said that 'Life is a chance to grow a soul'. Your chance looks so amazing.
ReplyDeleteKeep posting
+Param
i will, you can count on it! thanks for reading and staying in contact.
ReplyDeletekimmie
Girl, you ARE adventurous! Andrew Zimern has nothing on U! LOL
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you are still among the living after eating such a potentially lethal dish as puffer fish. What did it taste like compared to other fish?
And...your hair in twists sounds adorable. Photo, please!
So glad to hear from you.
Hugs, Kim Major
Oh my! I fell like I need a nap now after reading about just the beginning of your adventures!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're happy! Dave and I are happy for you! Have fun.....oh and next time look to see if the food has liiiiiiitle teensy tiny legs...or feelers before you eat it! Ha Ha Ha!
I admire you such for your ability to live your best life....
Love Yolie
anneyong haseyo [annie-yong hah-say-yo]
ReplyDeletethat's hello in korean.
kimmerz, the puffer fish is really tasty. it is a milder white fish like cod. but has more flavor...not fishy but absorbs seasoning well. it is very popular here.
i'll send you a photo of me with twists. it's not from here,but close to when i left.
it will come from shutterfly.
kimmie
hey yolie! you always make me laugh....those silkworms didn't have any apparent feet or feelers but check this out...i saw them in the grocery store yesterday in a can.
ReplyDeleteall i know is my skin is fabulously soft here. i scarcely need lotion ...maybe it's the silkworms! ahhaahaha
kimmie