Entry 1: The Start of Something New

“That will be $130” the Korean Air employee said to me after inquiring about my guitar.

“Oh, what the...” I said as I handed my guitar over to my parents, “I guess I’ll just have to do without the guitar for 6 months, I’m sure that I’ll be just fine. I thought that it was just $50 for an extra bag, I must have been mistaken”

The idea of having a guitar in Korea wasn’t the most important thing, I was sure that there would have been plenty of other things to do, but I must admit that it was a disappointment to hear that it would cost $260 dollars just to take my guitar to and from Korea. That was money that could go towards more traveling and food in Korea.

The flight attendant, who shockingly wasn’t Korean like all the other Korean Air, looked at me for a moment and had a thoughtful expression on her face. She seemed to be sympathizing with me, at least that’s what I assumed as she said, almost in a whisper “I’m going to print out three tags for you. Two for your bags and one for your guitar. Free of charge. Just know that I’m not supposed to do this, which means there is no insurance on your guitar and the company is not responsible if it is lost, but if you want, you can take it for free. You just look so disappointed.”

My face lit up, as I sheepishly placed my guitar on the conveyor belt.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I walked to the security checkpoint victorious with passport and ticket in hand. I had never expected and air line worker to be so… to be so thoughtful.

“You are going to have a great time in Korea. Just see how blessed you are from the get-go”, my mom said to me as she pat me on the back. “Just remember to skype when you get there” my dad interjected.

After the hugs and goodbyes, I walked through the metal detector and to my gate.

My flight had been delayed. 3 hours, which interestingly wasn’t that dreadful, as I was able to strike up a conversation and get on friendly terms with the other English teachers that were on my flight. Then the flight was delayed another hour.

The airline passed out lunches and drinks to the people who were waiting since, the 11am flight was now departing closer to 3:00 pm. So we sat there, the 6 of us, getting to know each other with small talk about home towns and majors as we waiting 4 hours for a 14 hours flight.

The flight itself was not the most comfortable, as I sat in the second to last row of the plane, and it had not been one of the planes where you get your own personal tv screen, as it is more common these days in bigger jet liners, but instead I had to squint (due to the distance and the poor quality of the prescription on my glasses) in order to see the movie screen. Instead, I used my laptop to watch The Wrestler, a movie that Harrison had said was a good movie which it was, and slept for most of the time.

The cabin started to shake and one of the white men in front of my lifted his hands and said "touchdown!" in a playful tone. I was here. Korea.

I gathered my things, found all my bags and my guitar at the baggage claim, took the hour and 15 min bus ride to Suwon, and went to my dorm room. I still don't think it has hit me, that I will be in this country, where it seems as if every single car has a gps system, for 6 months, or possibly even a year if things go well.

I am meeting people at a rapid pace, including my new roommate, Brent.

More on that later. It is muggy, and I need to shower.