First Impressions of Daehan Minguk

The last few days have been a combination of being withdrawn from the world due to sleep deprivation and going through sensory overload from new places, people, smells and sights. Where to begin? My journey to the Land of the Morning Calm began Monday with a visit in person to the Korean Consulate in Boston (which is really a glorified title for one room in an office complex in Newton) to drop off my passport for visa processing. I ended up spending three days in Boston (well, Concord actually) with my aunt, uncle and two cousins I hadn't seen in years. I had the opportunity to visit the MFA and see the "Americans in Paris" exhibit, which I encourage anyone in the Boston area to go see, as well as the Korean artifacts wing, which is sort of tucked away behind the much larger Japanese and Chinese rooms but has some beautiful pieces nonetheless, especially a ceramic teapot crafted in the shape of a budding bamboo shoot with fully-formed shoots for the handle and spout. By Tuesday, the via had been acquired, my tickets ahd been booked, and it was off to Logan early Thursday morning to begin the onerous aviation process.

From Logan to Hartsfield (which just happens to be one of my favorite American airports, I think because the layout is so logical), and from Hartsfield to Incheon; everything along this lg of the journey went according to plan. I was one of very few, very obvious Americans on the flight to Incheon. However, I think I may have been the only one who didn't have something to do with some branch of the U.S. military (I somehow managed to get seated between an Air Force pilot and a Navy officer, both very nice individuals). It was one of those flights that is so long you forget where you are by the end of it or what your purpose for being on the plane was in the first place. Korean immigration was surprisingly hassle-free, as was the task of catching a bus from Incheon to Gimpo, which has specialized in domestic air travel since Incheon opened in 2001. Incheon is located on an island roughly 45 minutes from Seoul (the site of MacArthur's ill-advised yet somehow successful naval landing during the war) so it is was necessary to bus into the city to Gimpo to catch my flight to Ulsan. Here's where things went a little off-track. Due to bad weather in Ulsan, my flight has been "suspended," and so with some negotiating I was put on an earlier flight. Ok, fine, a quick 45-minute hop to the southeast coast of Korea, over before it began. But my bags did not arrive with me. And then I discovered that the flight I was initially booked on did in fact take off as planned, so what was the need to switch flights? I waited for my bags to arrive on the second flight, in vain as it turned out as they were still at Incheon being scrutinized by customs. No worries, I was met by my school's director Mr. Park, and his two children, who bought me a bulgogi burger and took me to his sister's house in Ulsan for the night as my room at the apartment in Cheonsang was still occupied by James, the Canadian teacher whom I am replacing, who was leaving early the next morning and was still busy packing. I was much to tired to be phased by any of these minor mishaps and just grateful to be out of the air and back on solid ground again.

Mr. Park's sister and her family were absolutely wonderful and if their kindness and generosity is any indication of the general Korean temperment, then I think I'm going to like it here. I awoke from a restless, jet-lag affected sleep to a traditional (and delicious) Korean breakfast of rice, mushroom and potato soup, gim (seaweed wraps), gimchi, and dongkas. And then it was off to Ulsan Grand Park for my first taste of the city. It is still very hot and muggy here as the summer draws to a close, although the clouds are threatening rain, which would be a welcome respite from the heat. Ulsan's streets are ridiculously narrow and I can't quite understand yet how drivers are able to naviagte them successfully, but somehow they do. The family and I walked through part of the park, which has many local trees and flowers, several small recreation areas for children, a butterfly house and a petting zoo... and that's only the half of the park I visited! The whole installation is enormous and merits a few more visits, of which I'm sure I will make. After the park, they took me to a noodle house for lunch where I had gimchi ramen, which provoked a vicious sweat. By the time I returned to their house, Mr. Park had retrieved one of my bags from the airport (although the other is still in transit, I am told it will arrive tomorrow) and he drove me to my apartment, on the 20th floor of a giant building complex which reminds me of Czech panelaks in an odd and unsettling way. Unfortunately, my camera is in the bag which hasn't arrived because I would love to post a picture of the view of the mountains I have from my balcony. Jet-lag finally caught up with me and I promptly made my bed and passed out for eight hours, awaking just in time to meet my roomate Jessica as she returned from visiting friends. And now, I have one more day to recover and adjust before teaching begins. Until then...