Mama We Made It

I have officially landed in South Korea! After a 14.5 hour flight from Dallas, I'm finally in Seoul.

The flight itself, while long, wasn't horrible. We were provided with two meals (including bibimbap, a Korean rice dish!) and two snacks that were better than what I expected from airline food. The hardest thing was trying to sleep with the turbulence and time change. Thankfully, the movie selection available inflight was immaculate.

Once we landed, we were sent to the Korea University dorms via airport vans. The drive (about 1.5 hours) was absolutely gorgeous. It was amazing to see such a big city nestled into beautiful, green mountains right by the water. The vans also had TV screens in the back that were playing a Korean singing competition that we all quickly became invested in.

The Korea University dorms are located on a steep hill in the northern half of Seoul (I promise I'll get a good picture eventually). Once checked in, I was able to settle in, meet my roommate (a full-time student from Hungary), and run to the convenience store on campus for a quick dinner. After setting up my Korean SIM card, I proceeded to sleep for a good 10 hours. I woke up with a start an hour in with the lights still on and the clock showing it was 11:15- I was fully convinced I had already slept over 12 hours and was late to everything. In other words, time is a human construct and jet lag is no joke.

My First Full Day

Today, the 23rd, is my first full day in Seoul. This morning, we had to travel to a nearby community health center to do a PCR test. This was the first test of our ability to travel through Seoul. Some of us stopped at a local coffee shop on the way to the station that had this AMAZING little sweet waffle. Before leaving, I had to check everything in at least 4 apps as Google Maps and Apple Maps aren't as effective here and other apps are mostly in Korean. Fortunately, the subway system is very similar to that of New York- except MUCH cleaner. Most signs have both Korean and English on them, and they even have a cute song that plays every time the subway arrives.

After finishing up our tests, we walked around the Hawolgok-dong area, visiting a skincare store and several convenience stores that have pretty much anything you could ever need (including hard liquor??). For lunch, the TEAN program all met at Samsung Chicken where they served us Korean fried chicken. We were given some chicken cooked traditionally and two other varieties tossed in garlic or Korean spice. If I'm being completely honest, it was better than most of the fried chicken I've had in the states.

Final Thoughts

The first 24ish hours of my time in Seoul has been exhausting, stressful, and absolutely amazing. My first night, the jet lag and "what am I doing here" thoughts hit me hard, but after restful sleep and traveling through Seoul, I feel much more capable of living in this city for the next 4 months. This is by no means the end of my stress, but it feels good to see the beginning of new friendships and adventures.