Arrival Days in South Korea

One word that sums this all up....WHEW!!!!!!!!!!! Haha!

First, I have to tell you a story about how I almost missed my connecting flight to Seoul. AHHHH! I was so worried to say the least! The board was either wrong or confusing. The flight board stated gate "INTL" well I had no idea why a gate would be listed as international" only, since there are more than one international countries. Well,this means you are in the international hall...ah okay, so I got to the international hall promptly...I thought... only to know that there are TWO international halls at the San Francisco Airport.At the time I did not know there were 2 international hallways until I decided to stop a flight attended and she told me there are 2 halls for international flights, and the only way to get to the other gate is to go through security again! WHAT!!!! The flight attended told me to come this way and the directions say to come through the gates I just ran through....now you mean to tell me I have to go through security AGAIN & I have to catch an international flight in...Oh let’s say 22 minutes. I will never make it...so I went anyways and I was so worried the line couldn't be any worse. If you've never been to the San Francisco airport think of ATL's. Finally a man calls out last call for "Korean Air!" I could only wish I was flying Korean Air...so finally I spoke up and said "have you called last calls for this flight" The man grabs me and says "come on...excuse me...excuse me" (in an Indian accent (I am guessing)) Then he pushes me to another lady who seemed to be a manager, then they push people out the way to check my bags through security, as the manager is on the walky talky, she pushes me to another man. Who shouts "Asiana? (Airlines)""Huh? Oh that's me!!" He then again says "Asiana??" "Yes, that's me!" He grabs one of my bags and runs me to another staff member, then throws her the bag and then she says here you have to carry your bags...lol!Up until that point I almost felt like the President or a celebrity. She tells me where to run. I then hand the clerk my passport and ticket...he again says "Asiana??" Come on people by now you should get with the picture. Yes, I am on this flight they already told you I was coming lol! So, he just finally says okay and enters me in the system. I run down the hall saying..."Thank God!" I enter the plane and I see the most beautiful stewardess ever! Not a hair out of place, nor a wrinkle in sight. I felt like I got a few stares, but at that point I didn't care. I was just so happy to have made the flight....but hungry I had to pitch my $7 airport priced, burger king food in the trash, since I was expecting to have to go through security a 2nd time.

I have to say things are going better than I could ever imagine so far. I arrived at the Seoul Airport& thank God my mom has taught myself& my sister to READ and follow directions. Everything I did successfully is only because I read directions. I had no idea what I would encounter at the airport as far as if I would be quarantined or not, that was actually a piece of cake they just ask you the same questions the post office ask you when you deliver mail. They want to make sure you are not importing goods & have no hazardous items.

To get to the good stuff once I got through all the numerous gates and down to the baggage claim it was nice to know that luggage carts are FREE at the South Korean airport...how nice! I had 2 full bags of luggage, a pillow, and 2 carryon bags, which one I always fake as a purse lol! I threw my luggage on to a rack then headed for the bathroom as normal. Once I finally got out the doors I felt like a princess. I saw the driver holding my name on a sign and I smiled and waved my hand "that's me Jessica Harris" I think he wanted to say "bring your butt on then..." Ha! He had been waiting possibly 2 hours or better, since the plane arrived late. I wanted to get a picture of him holding my name up, but I decided to let him slide. Lol!

As we drove through the city nothing looked too strange except some of the words looked liked symbols, which I expected, but most of the street signs contained Hangul (Korean) & English. I think this makes Korea more diverse than the U.S...at least in that aspect.

Now, the area I live in is a shopping area.I live in a typical NY or NJ style apartment. The inside of my apartment is okay, decent, better than I could have imagined. Although, I do not like living about retail stores, but so far so good. :) The internet, cable and phone are so reasonable. It is 53,000WON which is about $45 USD to me this is a steal. I didn't pay for any equipment the guy came and hooked it up and I signed nothing. I live near AFB Osan so this is another reason it was so easy for me to get access to a prepaid mobile phone, which most people buy because is not necessary to have a contract. The calling cards are reasonable too!

The shopping in this area is impeccable, the prices cannot be beat. I am amazed at the deals I find. Now everyone told me that the sizes for clothes would probably not be in my category as far as size goes, however the other items I can find are a steal.

I know this blog is getting long, but our world is so big I want to share it with as many people who will listen. Most of you know I use to interpret a few years ago, well yesterday I saw 2 Korean's communicating in Sign Language & then I saw it again today. Oh I wish I knew how to communicate with them. I wish Sign Language was universal. :(

Oh & I have to say this even though I hope to get a diverse amount of readers. I was told that I might get different stares because some Koreans may not be use to seeing Black people. Well, I have had so many welcoming people when I have entered their shops, and I have had some rude people, so I just said thank you to them and left. I remember yesterday I was walking down the street and this man kept starring at me so I bucked my eyes back at him. Come on now you can't tell me you haven't seen black people before, and if you haven't too bad this here...is NOT a museum. Lol! So, today when another man did that to me I turned back and said "hi!" He smiled and sounded as if he was trying to talk back to me. He was nice, then I went up the road and a 3rd guy stared at me, so I said "hi" to him to & I heard nothing from him. This is just a sample of my interpretations of people, ignorance is really bliss and what a person doesn't know can hurt them if we do not bother to teach them we are just as guilty as they are ignorant. I feel one man was willing to be friendly, and the other, probably not so much. :) This is how our world is shaped.

Whelp, this is my Korean life so far, I start work next Monday. I hope to have more to say about this side of the world.