1.19.2006

Anniversary...

On January 18th 2004, terrified and anxious, I boarded a plane at Chicago's O'Hare airport bound for Seoul, Korea by way of Tokyo, Japan. After many hours in the air and additional hours waiting at Nariata Airport I arrived in Seoul roughly 11pm on January, 19th. So, depending on your time zone or how you split hairs, today marks the 2nd anniversary of my arrival in Korea.

Looking back I can still conjure the feelings of that first night. I was picked up by my recruiter and driven from the airport to the city I would live in for the next year and a half. Despite the excitement of my first time in Asia and my fear that I was, in fact, being driven to sex-slave camp and not to an English school, I managed to sleep for most of the car ride. My recruiter quickly shuffled me into a hotel room, complete with black-light and circular bed ("Oh, shit! I'm a sex-slave!") and promised to return in the morning.

Upon his departure, the fear and anxiety kicked itself into high-gear. I vividly remember peeking out of my seventh-story window and gazing in awe at the sea of neon lights before looking down and discovering, in my windowsill, a two-sided full-color business card featuring a photograph of a naked lady and a phone number. I slammed the window shut, fearful that someone might see into the room and spot the strange, young white man who was clearly out of place and ripe to be taken advantage of. However, they might see fit to do so.

The following week I did not work since I arrived during Chinese New Year. My recruiter had returned on the second day and was nice enough to introduce me to the person I'd be replacing. Fortunately, he gave me his phone number and I was able to call him whenever I wanted to eat (since at this time I was still too afraid to even walk into a restaurant alone). I spent most of the week in my hotel room flipping through numerous programs on the television, none of which I could understand. Though, I did get out for the occasional beer with my only contact in Korea.

Needless to say, things have gotten much better since that time. I realized, quite quickly, that Korea is not a scary place and, in fact, is rather enjoyable. However, being an anniversary it's been a time to reflect on all that has transpired since those fateful early days. I have, of course, managed to accomplish a few things in the past two years. I can now use chopsticks like I was born with them in my hands. I can speak a passable amount of Korean, though not near fluent and possibly not even intermediate. I've seen most of what this country has to offer, including a trip to the DMZ. I've traveled to Thailand and nearly missed being in the path of the tsunami thanks to botched airline tickets. I've made some great friends, discovered that I enjoy teaching and developed a taste for kimchi and corn on my pizza.

All around, it's been a wonderful two years. There are certainly more things I wish I had accomplished and things I regret doing and not doing (need to travel more and save some money), but I look on the previous two years with a sense of excitement and pride. I have had more fun than a person should be allowed and it is far from what I expected boarding that plane in Chicago.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what your 10 year anniversary blog entry will be like.

Alf