Well, I successfully made it to Seoul! I don't know if you've ever traveled that far by plane, but let me tell you, it really sucks. It was 12 hours of sitting. And watching the same movies over and over again. And there was more sitting. A few uncomfortable, interspersed naps here and there. I think that Lewis Black can better describe it than I ever could. So if you would like a little taste of what overseas flights are like, you can check him out here

I landed at about 6pm local time, and the airport is so big, it took me 20 minutes just to get to customs! Which by the way is nearly as big of a process as it was in Australia. Of course, Korea doesn't have nearly the unstable and vulnerable ecosystem that Australia does. Just a quick stamp on my Passport, a walk through the quarantine temperature scanners, and a breeze through customs declarations. I never know what to put on my customs card, I mean, sure the thign i have once cost money, so I guess they do have a value, but how can I estimate what three bags full of clothing and nicknacks are? I just declared nothing and they guy glanced at my card and let me through. Simple as that.

I was met at the airport by two nice young people who drove me into Seoul. Everyone has nice shiny cars with GPS systems. And most of the street signs are in English as well as Korean which was nice. It took about an hour and a half to get to my apartment. There was a ton of traffic once we got into the city. Soeul has 12 million people, and a lot of them also have cars!

Since I got a new school that means a new apartment. My new address is Dobong-gu, Ssangmun 4 (sa) Dong, Han Yang Apartments. The apartments here are gigantic. I don't remember how tall mine is, but I'm on the 13th floor, and there are a few floors above me. Now, while my apartment definately is not a slum, it's definately not the creme de la creme of apartments. It's probably about the size of my kitchen and family room back home. There are three rooms, kinda. It's more like two rooms, with no border from the kitchen into the "family room" I would call it, and there is a slide door into the bedroom. There's also this enclosed balcony type thing where my washer is, and there are windows and a place to hang my clothes to dry.

I've got a stove in the kitchen, and a sink, along with a few pans and some dishes. Then in the next room is a couch and a comfy chair, along with the (little out of place) refrigerator. And next up is the bedroom, with a twin bed and a pillow, a book case, a closet type thing, and a table with a TV. I can tell you this for sure, I have the most god-awful, uncomfortable bed in existence. I have only come across one other bed that might compare to this one, but it only takes second place by a fraction. I went out to day to try to find new sheets, and maybe one of those egg crate things, but alas, I cannot read the signs on the shops, and so far I have not come across anything like a Target or Khols, or any department store in general. I'm definately hitting up the couch tonight.

And now for the bathroom. I have a shower in my bathroom, thankfully. But rather than in the bathroom, it's more like the shower is the bathroom. There is no shower door or wall or ledge or tub. the bathroom is a tiles floor with a removable shower head, a toilet, and a sink... all in one. I don't understand how you're supposed to keep stuff in the bathroom, because if you drop the shower head, everything will get wet. And knowing how much of a klutz I can be sometimes, that's bound to happen. I guess I'll just have to figure it out.

While I was writing this, one of the teachers that I'm working with came over. She took me to a super market in town and showed me around a little bit. I'll write about all that next time.