Jet lag is a killer

I arrived in Korea on the 24th of February around 5PM. We were about 50 minutes ahead of schedule - yay for that. Customs took 45 minutes, which is ridiculous. My buddy from school, Youna picked me up at the airport, and we rode the 'limousine' back to Ewha. This limousine turned out to be a coach like bus with a flat screen t.v. in the front. It was an experience. Somehow, seeing everything written in Korean didn't really phase me. It's always slightly bizarre to have Koreans talk to me in Korean and assume I speak it fluently.

I crashed shortly after arriving at Ewha, which was around 8 or 9. Jet lag is a killer. I woke up around 2:30, couldn't sleep until 6:30 or so. I roamed the halls and wished I had thought of bringing food with me. By this time, my roommate had returned to the room and fallen asleep with her loudly ticking clock.


MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25th, 2008
9:30am rolls around and there's a knock at the door. Who knocks on someone's door at such an early hour! :-P It was a girl from next door, who was supposed to meet with my roommate. We quickly got the awkward delayed introduction overwith. (Unfortunately, I don't really remember her name. It's okay though. She's moving to another dorm on the 26th, and I get my official semester roommate.) Later, we all went to eat breakfast. I had something that resembled bibimbop, seaweed soup, tofu block, and kimchi.

I met with Youna at noon, and she helped me get a cell phone. It's actually decent and far better than the piece of shit I've been using at home. I paid 50,000 KWN, which is about $52. Later, I had an adventure with Erik, who you will meet shortly, to Dongdaemun. We got my phone working, which was absolutely fantastic. Youna also bought me coffee at Starbucks. I am glad to inform you that the cafe mochas taste the same here as they do at home.

Erik Hagen knocks on my door and gives the quick intro. He's from Oregon State and has been here for 3 weeks already. He is super enthusiastic about life and appreciates the small things, as far as I can tell. He can be super sad and super happy about the little things that most people just pass by. It's overwhelming at times. Anyways, he helped me buy a TMoney card for the subway. I think it's 900KWN to use the subway. Sweet, huh. Like I mentioned earlier, we went to Dongdaemun. He wanted to find a phone, and I just wanted to get out into Seoul. As we're leaving, it begins to snow. I left Minnesota in hopes of not seeing snow until the next winter.

I severely needed a nap. Again, jet lag is a killer. Erik came later and asked if I wanted to join a group of them going to the movies. We saw Across the Universe. Turns out the Korean title is the phoentic version of this. I thought it was funny. (We left the movie around 2am, and the snow is still coming down. Although, it's lighter now.) The Dutch people thought it was interesting to see the subtitles. They are an interesting bunch of Europeans.

I'm not really homesick at all. I miss eating bread, but that's about it. This has been great so far. I'm excited to meet all the other international students today. Brianna and I are meeting for lunch tomorrow. I'm also very happy that I get to see her.