Whew....my first day in Korea....what a process

Whoa! My first two days felt like 2 months. It all runs together.....



My flight over to Korea was quite long. Countless hours of movies, TV shows, ipod and naps aboard the plane. Once I stepped off the plane, I had no clue where to go. For the first time in my life, I was totally confused, lost in the Korean text/symbols that surrounded me all over the airport. I somehow managed to make my way down to customs and found my 140 pounds of luggage. My new supervisor and 1 co-worker met me at the airport. Finding each other was quite a process. They were not sure what I was going to look like, and I had never seen them either. Apparently, I walked right by them. They never noticed and neither did I. They were playing the "do you think that is her" game for every female that got off of the Korean Air flight. There were only a handful of Americans aboard the flight so their options were slim. One of them expected me to be Asian...and the other expected me to be White. No wonder they did not find me for 30 minutes after I landed :) We rode in a government vehicle from the airport to the military base, Camp Casey. The entire trek took almost 2 hours given the traffic and our need to stop for gas. From my backseat view, Korea looked nothing like what I had envisioned. There are lots of cookie cutter high rise buildings that Koreans live in. All the buildings look alike despite the beauty of the mountains that surround the cities.



Long story short, I made it in. I am now being housed at the hotel on the base until one of the Realtors helps me locate an apartment that I like. I am excited about the idea of having my own place. However, this hotel location is incredibly convenient. It is located right on base in the middle of everything. The military base is like living in America. Everyone speaks English (even the Koreans). People can easily live here and never leave base (meaning they never experience Korea). There is a Taco Bell, Burger King, Popeye's (that delivers) Subway, Starbucks, hair salon, travel agency, car dealer, Bank of America, grocery store, concert hall, movie theatre, bowling alley, taxi stand, cleaners, department store, (best of all) the are almost 5 gyms on this one base. All of which I will head and get to see on Monday.....


I'll keep you posted....


-Christi Lee