Crossing to Korea

It has been exactly one week since I left the United States. The trip to Korea was probably the longest trip of my life, and not one I'd be enthusiastic about repeating very often simply due to the length. However, everything went smoothly by the grace of God.

Friday afternoon I departed from home with my older brother and together we drove to Dallas. Once in Dallas I spent the night with one of my dear friends. It was wonderful to get to see her again, if only for one evening. We went to bed as early as we could, though I had little success in sleeping. After just two hours of sleep we got up at about 3 AM and made it to the airport.

Everything went very smoothly, and I made my 6:30 AM flight with ease. It took us about two and a half hours to reach San Fransisco, and once there I had about a two hour layover. Several other students from my school ended up being on the same flight so we congregated in the airport. It was neat to meet several other exchange students headed to various schools in Korea, and it made me all the more excited (and nervous) about what was waiting for me once I arrived.

The flight lasted around twelve hours. Anyone who has been on a flight that long knows how miserable it can be and how sore long legs become. I sat next to a very kind Korean couple who handled my random outbursts of crying very gently. As expected, the plane meals were nothing to write home about.

At long last we landed on the green island known as Incheon. Seven students from my school ended up gathering at the airport and together we set out for the next leg of our journey—getting to Pohang. We hopped onto a train at the airport that took us off the island and into Seoul. From there we found our next train and somehow managed to get all of our luggage onto it. It was a four hour train ride. I have rarely been as tired as I was on that trip.

After that train it was time for yet another form of transportation—a bus. We barely managed to cram onto it, though we were thankful that we happened to catch the last bus of the night. We stayed on the bus for about forty minutes and then switched to two taxis. Despite slight difficulty due to language barrier, we made it to Handong Global University somewhere between 11 and 12 PM.

Right away we were put into the care of our Korean helpers who were assigned to help us throughout orientation. We made it into our temporary dorm rooms and all I had energy for was a shower. I slept with just a hoodie and towel on the bare, thin mattress pad but I slept all the way through the night and woke up feeling at least a little refreshed.

The journey was absolutely exhausting but entirely worth it. As I sat on that bus staring at the Korean signs passing by, it honestly felt a little bit like coming home. Due to my experiences in Japan, the sights and sounds were almost familiar, but with a very defined sense of starting something brand new. Having been here a week I already feel ready to give Korea a piece of my heart. I think I will be very happy to live here for a semester.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next blog entry which will hopefully be soon.