What have I done?!?

Now that I've had a good cry over all your thoughtful comments and emails, I try to summarize the last few hours as best I can. I'm sitting on the faux wooden floor of my rather adorable apartment after being awake for more hours than I care to count.

I slept for two hours on Tuesday night and maybe two hours in total on the brutally long plane ride(s). The first leg of the journey, from Toronto to Vancouver, had me sitting next to an exceptionally friendly Korean man on his way back from Lima, Peru. We spent five, yes five hours going through my various Korea books and practicing vocab. I think he was working on his English while I worked on my Korean, but I appreciated his interest and warmth. He shaved his face with an electric razor blade as our plane made its descent.

Between landing and taking off for Korea I chatted with another foreigner at the gate who was heading towards some city I know nothing about to teach an adult split shift and reunite with his Korean girlfriend. He seemed cool and we exchanged email addresses. A grade ten boy overheard us chatting in English and joined in the conversation. It was some kind of friendly atmosphere, let me tell you.

On the plane I was seated next to a 12 year old Korean girl whose parents have sent her away to live with her aunt and uncle in Calgary so she can have a good life. We spent the 11 hour plane ride chatting about The Hatchet and Harry Potter, playing hangman and SOS, and doing other 12 year oldy type things. I also quickly retrieved gravol from the stewardess when Tina threatened vomit.

I arrived in Korea with popping ears and an aching behind, not to mention the return of my cold that hasn't gone away since before Mexico. My nose is full and my throat isn't far behind. Walking along with my vocabulary friend from the first flight, I attempted to pop my ears clear. Somehow this caused extreme dizziness and I had to stop myself from fainting by grabbing onto a bar. I felt like crap for a five second instant and then everything was okay.

My director who's name I have yet to recall, picked me up at the airport holding a name sign of course. He looked a little hesitant at the sight of me. Maybe it was because I'm a giant. Maybe it was because I was sweating like crazy because of the dang humidity, or maybe because I neglected to follow Paul's advice of applying lipgloss or something before meeting him. Ugh.

The drive from the airport to Suji took about two hours. Two hours I'd rather have spent plucking each hair out of my head one by one. Awkward conversation, uncomfortable sinuses, and a terribly jet-lagged self made me want to crawl into a ball and sleep for hours.

Finally we arrived at the school where I met two fellow teachers who seem very warm and welcoming and got a look at the facility. It's very charming and well equipped - just wait till I take some pictures. The colours, the computer room and gym... all very nice.

Then, horror upon horrors, my boss took my out for dinner. I ate some nasty cheese based spaghetti and we conversed about breakfast cereal.

I was then taken to my room where I now am, my bags full, as well as my head. I'm exhausted and am about to hit the hay. Hooray for an internet connection in my room. Hooray for a cute apartment and school.

Boo for a long walk to school. Boo for an uncomfortable experience with director. Boo for teaching tomorrow... did I forget to mention that? Yeah. I'm starting tomorrow.

I miss you guys.