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Well we have finally made it! Have to say we are glad the trip is over and we can now relax a little. As much as we enjoyed visiting friends and family, going to Disney, going to all the food places we are going to miss (Chipotle, Olive Garden), we are very glad that we are at our final destination. As Seth said a few days ago he was quite ready to not be an intruder anymore and to call a place our own again. Now to tell you about our wonderful adventure over here!
Our adventure began at 2:30am on Tuesday morning where we were told to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight. Now take into consideration how tired we are here. We stayed up till 11 repacking and taking care of some last minutes purchases. I had to leave a few things behind simply because my suitcases wouldn't hold anything more. But all our suitcases were under 50 lbs! Thats including a year's worth of deordant for both of us (they dont sell any quality items here) and 5 tubes of toothpaste (again no quality toothpaste here). Now our flight out of Tampa leaves at 5:20 so we get there at 2:30 like we were told. The US Airways desk didn't open till 4am. So we waited around and hung out with my parents and brother for a little bit longer. I enjoyed that. :)
Our flight from Tampa took us to Charlottle where we had enough time to get breakfast at Eistien Bagels. Then it was off to JFK, New York, where we had a 1 1/2 hour layover. This made me excited because I have always wanted to visit JFK after one of my architecture classes taught me that Eero Saariden built it (famous architect from the 50's). Not too bad of a layover right? Plenty of time to explore except we had no idea where we were going. Luckily Seth had been through that airport before. We had to leave the terminal, go to the Asiana check in desk and then go through security again. Not much time to explore the airport like I wanted but I soaked in as much of the architecture as I could. I have to say that I wasn't that impressed but later realized that the airport had probably done many renovations to include new security protocols. I could imagine the place looking a lot different in the 1950's and looking very awesome. Anyways, beacuse of all that we had to do we didn't get a chance to eat anything. We were more worried to get a seat together on the plane than eating. At the gate we got our seats changed even though it was a full flight. I wouldn't have enjoyed that flight if I couldn't sit next to Seth.
Next our 14 hour flight to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Didn't sleep much. Food was good. Most movies were in Korean and all had Korean or English subtitles. We were able to watch the Hunger Games and Journey 2 in english. This was the longest part of our journey but it was quite boring. All I can say is that flight will not be a regular occurance if its up to me. But we made it to Seoul at 4pm Wed and went through immigration and customs quite easily. We then met up with someone our school had hired to meet us. Mr Kim met us at the gate and then bought our bus tickets and showed us where to wait. Then he was gone. It wasn't much but I'm still glad he was there to show us around. I know we were both a little on edge at that point and finding things on our own might've been too stressful for me.
We then waited for an hour for our bus that drove 4 hours south, a direct bus to Mokpo. The bus station is right ourside the airport so I went and got us drinks from the food court. I noticed that they had a McDonalds and KFC right in front. As hard as we try to leave the US we can't get away. We arrived in Mokpo at 10:20. We were met by two of our co-teachers, Vanessa who was the one who interviewed us for the jobs, and Annie, who has only been here a month but who I've been talking to on facebook for awhile. I wish I could've been a little more excited to see them but I was ready for a real bed to sleep in. They told us that we would have a hotel room to stay in for the next three nights and then we could move into our appartment on Saturday. A little sad that we dont get to move in now, but we have an awesome view of the waterfront! Annie and vanessa helped us to the hotel and check in, they were a huge help with our luggage! Vanessa told us we had a great view of the water because at night Mokpo has a great light and music show right in front of our hotel! Very excited to see that tonight!!
Well we slept through the night somewhat and now at a cute coffee/ bakery across the street for breakfast that has free interent. The coffee shop is called "Angel-In-Us Coffee" and has a soglan "the world best coffee". Of course we had to try right? It was very good. Now we are just waiting for 2 pm to get here to go to work and shadow the teachers and see what we will be doing. We officailly start teaching ourselves on Monday. I'll update you guys soon and tell you how our first few days go!!
~Jessica
- comments
Dina Fox I am LOVING that you have a blog! It is wonderful to see you as a grown up lady Jessica. It's good to know we can live over in Korea via your adventures. Keep writing.
Meredith I know you'll be tempted to stop blogging when you get even busier... But don't forget that all your state side friends want to know how things are going! Miss you :)
Bailey I am glad you posted this! You'll be glad, too, when you want to remember that first day! I'm so excited for both of you!
Jacqui So thankful you arrived safely and everything went smoothly! Keep us posted.
Camille So glad that you are safely there. We miss you! Can't wait to hear more about your adventures. God bless you both.
Holly Your mom got us hooked up to your blog so we can see what's going on. I hope you enjoy your weekend and get to do some exploring. Love you, Aunt Holly