I'm Here!!!!

Hello, and Welcome! I'm here!!!! Man, it took us a while, but we have finally arrived to Seoul, South Korea. My year-long journey begins now! Currently, it is 11:40 AM Korean Time, which is about 8:40 back in Texas due to the 15 hour time difference. The weather is about 20 degrees Farenheit, a whopping high of 28 is expected for today, and it is sunny.

After Josh coming up for Valentine's day, and not sleeping a wink the night before, Kristen and I both arrived at the Airport on the morning of the 15 at about 4:30am. We got our tickets from he AA counter, said goodbye to both our families and to sweet Josh, and went to the gate for our flight from Dallas to Chicago. Once we arrived in Chicago, it was about 8:30 or so and we met up with Lora, another teacher our age from South Carolina. I think Lora and I were having a harder time saying goodbye to everyone than Kristen. We all made last minute phone calls (very tearful on my part) and then boarded that steel eagle for our next 15 hours or so.

The plane itself was REALLY nice, there was enough space, it was clean, the stewardesses were very welcoming and respectful, and we had all the necessary ammentities (blankets, pillows, slippers, headphones, etc.). They played a pretty good selection of movies on several channels, and we had a video screen on the back of the seat in front of us. They served us two meals and a lite snack throughout the flight, and I was only able to eat the first due to emotions and anxiety about what everything would be like. My seat was the very middle seat in the row of the aircraft, which made it difficult to stretch out or ever get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I was really only able to nap at all during the flight. Though it was about 15 hours, the flight was not bad unless I tried to sleep. My body did not like all of the stress it was under (not eating, not sleeping, not being active), so I have had a breakout on my face which I would LOVE prayer for :)

Once we arrived in Seoul and stepped off of the plane, it was about 4:30 pm, and the sun was just beginning to head toward the ground. The airport was immacculately clean and neat, not cluttered a bit, and there was NO trash anywhere! We walked for a long time and found the Immigration lines where we got a photo taken(YUK!) and fingerprinted and then let through. Seriously, so much easier than the TSA lines we went through back in America before leaving. We found our bags quickly, except for one of Lora's bags which was missing. We still haven't found it, and it's her main bag, so Please pray God would bring it quickly for her. We were met by a Taxi driver that spoke no English, but was sent from our school with a sign containing our names and we were off!

We drove about 20-25 minutes into the city and met the Master Teacher Sara, another teacher named Kate, and Samuel the "Daddy Fix-It-All" for the foreign teachers at our apartment building. They dropped off the luggage and Samuel took Sara, Kate, Lora, Kristen, and me out to dinner at a japanese restaurant within walking distance from the building. Everything is so compact and easily accessable here! It felt like the alley ways you might find in New York or even in Europe (I could imagine). People were out everywhere, and it was dark at this point. SO safe! Many girls walking by themselves and in pairs, and vehicle drivers (who have no traffic regulations it seems) just wait for you to move or go around you. So neat!

Everything hit me really hard at dinner when I didn't understand the menu, didn't know what I was going to eat, didn't even want to eat, was sitting japanese style at a table that served warm rice water to drink in little teacups (no big water glasses with refills, ugh-my heart broke!), hadn't been able to communicate with my family yet, was physically and emotionally exhausted, and just couldn't hold it in anymore. I couldn't even answer questions without crying! I felt so bad that I could just be a normal human and talk, and I was so hungry but felt too nauseated to eat. I just wanted to go to wherever the heck I was staying and cry!

Rabbit trail: Don (our recruiter) told us a couple of days before we left that Normally, the new teachers stay at a hotel nearby for two weeks until the teachers who they are replacing leave Seoul. Then the housing switch is made. Luckily, there were two rooms available already, and Kristen and Lora's names were drawn to recieve those two upon immediate arrival. Which means that I, by myself, am staying at the hotel about a 5-10 minute drive away from the others. At first is was nerveous about this, especially since I've never been outside of the US. But then I just asked God what His plan for it was, and He told me that He would meet me here in such a sweet place, and that I would feel like Royalty in the accommodations.

After eating a little, Kristen, Lora, and I were nodding off and just unresponsive to anything the others were saying, so we went back to the building and Samuel and I drove to the hotel. It took every last bit of strength I had to not weep everywhere and my voice was not steady at all. Samuel and the Hotel manager explained things to me, took my bags up, and got me a big bottle of water and then left around 9 pm. I lost it. Every emotion that I had left at once and I just cried and cried for about an hour. Soon after I got somewhat settled (crying the whole time), I was able to log onto the internet and connect to Skype and check my e-mail to find sweet e-mails from my mom and dad and Josh. Cried some more, unpacked enough to take a shower, still crying, and then got dressed and was able to connect with Josh via Skype for the first time. SO GOOD!!! Josh and I just Skyped until about 11, and then prayed for each other and said goodnight.

What a miracle, I slept ALL NIGHT and woke up at about 7:15 am. A full 8 hours! It has done Wonders for me :)  I made a quick video tour of my hotel room, but it is now 12:25 and I've got to meet a woman at the Subway to head up to the school and meet the others for a Welcome Performance for us by the kids and other teachers at LCI. I can't get the video to attatch, and I've gotta get to the subway to meet the woman to get to our school, so I'll update with that later.

Welcome to South Korea, Madison Elise!