Here!

Yesterday was definitely the longest day of my life, since I got to "time-travel" during my trip.  I think I was awake for around 27 hours straight.  I definitely couldn't sleep on the plane, despite my attempt to drug myself.  My flight plan took the plane through Canada and Russia and then down toward Korea.  It was so cool to fly through Russia (where, according to my computer screen, it was around -54 degrees Fahrenheit!)  It was so barren and untouched - it gave me kind of a creepy feeling.  


Landing was somewhat of a disappointment, since it was completely cloudy and rainy and I couldn't see anything.  Also, as we landed, of course the rain/condensation from descending came inside the cabin only right above my seat and dripped all over me for about 20 minutes.  That was awesome.  Seriously, my seat was the only spot in my cabin.  But that stuff always happens to me, so it's okay.  Surprisingly, the flight didn't feel all that long - I was surprised when we had less than an hour left.  Maybe it felt short because the crew passed out around 4 meals throughout the flight - way more than I was expecting. It felt like every time we finished one, the crew passed out another.  And they were not great. 

My arrival!  Not very sunny, you'll note.

After settling into my room in the girls dormitory with my roommate, Hong, I showered (you would not believe the humidity here) and then we toured the city with Scott, his roommate, Kan, and Kyler, Scott's friend who has lived in Seoul for a year.  Walking around was nice, despite my tiredness.  It felt good to be able to stretch my legs, especially on all of the insanely steep hills of the campus.  We explored the subway system (which was not only a new concept for me, since I live in a city without one, but also very interesting since I'm in another country).  The subway system looks fairly easy to grasp.  Walking around the city gave me an odd feeling in my stomach- I guess what most people call culture shock.  I've never been in a place where I can't read much of anything (despite the English signage, which is more prevalent than I thought) or understand what people are saying.  We stopped at a popular Korean restaurant (and I'm kicking myself for not catching the name, but that was probably because I couldn't read it) and ate this (ddokbokki):

Ddokbokki

Again, a very exciting feeling being in this environment as a foreigner.  Apparently, this restaurant was not tourist-y at all - it looked like we were the only foreigners there!  The food was awesome, but paying was slightly embarrassing.  As most of you know, my math skills are a little weak, so figuring that out was a little rough.  My Chinese roommate, Hong, showed me how to use chopsticks (which was probably the third or fourth attempt throughout my life, but this time I am dedicated to really learning!).  I could only pick up approximately one noodle with them, so I switched to a fork so I wouldn't starve.      


After eating, we took a subway to Myeong-dong, a huge shopping district in Seoul.  This place was amazing and I want to go back!  There are roads and roads of the cutest stores imaginable, plus a four story Dunkin' Donuts, which I've never seen before (Dad and Mom, maybe I will try to pick you up a bag of Korean Dunkin' Donuts coffee!)  If I hadn't been totally exhausted, I would have explored this place more.  I definitely will soon - the shopping is absolutely amazing!


I went to bed around 12:15 a.m. (in Seoul) and woke up around 6:00 a.m.  Luckily, I was able to fall back asleep until 9:00 a.m.  Now, it's time to shower and continue exploring the city!  We don't have any official school stuff until Monday, so I have plenty of time to meet other students and sight-see :)