Day 1: Complete

I have now been in Korea for 16 hours!
I flew from Cincinnati to Charlotte, NC, then Charlotte to LAX, and then LAX to Incheon International Airport. It was a two-day trip, what with crossing the international date line. Believe it or not, I didn't have a July 2nd! Due to time differences etc., my July 2nd was only a few hours long. I feel slightly cheated to have missed out on a day of my life... But anyway, it will take a few days for me to get used to this 13 hour time difference.

After leaving the airport and surviving our first little mishap (mistakenly lost passenger!) we took a 2.5hr bus ride to Jungwon University, where we will be staying for the next 6 weeks for orientation. The campus is absolutely gorgeous, with statues, greenery, and interesting architecture. Pictures soon! The staff and students have been extremely kind and helpful, giving us tours and answering our many questions. My dorm room is beautiful, all white tile, Victorian molding, and adorable furniture. My roommate is awesome, and I believe we will get along just fine.

Here is what I have realized I should be most worried about: food. At both lunch and dinner I was extremely skeptical of at least half of the dishes. Being a notoriously picky eater, this is going to be a long year.

And for the strangest part of my day: my shower. The showers at this university (tomorrow I will ask if they are like this elsewhere as well) are but a hand-held shower head that hangs on the wall. That you cannot stand under due to the sink standing directly below it. So basically, one must take the shower head in hand, stand in the middle of the bathroom (no separate or defined shower!), and spray oneself down. I'm sure you can imagine the ungodly mess I made. I don't think I'll ever get the hang of taking a shower standing in the middle of the bathroom and hosing down the place.

I know there was more I wanted to say, but I'm exhausted and jet-lagged. More to come. :)