Annyeong Haseyo

I left Canada one week ago.

The first thing I realized since boarding the plane in Vancouver is Asia isn't really that far away. It seems far because of the date line but otherwise it is merely a short 9 hour flight. Now a 9 hour flight with Japan Airlines is actually a reasonably pleasant experience complete with many movies and a constant tea/coffee service.

My night at the airport hotel in Tokyo, Nikko Narita, worked really well in terms of adjusting to jet-lag. As far as experiencing Japanese culture the most I did was buy supper from the convenience store across the street. Which is to say I dealt with traffic coming from the wrong direction and a talking refrigerator.

From the air Tokyo looked almost like Ottawa! Everything was flat and I could see yellow squares of fields. My first sights of Tokyo city were from the plane the next morning. That was when I finally saw the world's largest city. Crossing the country I saw pointy, snow-covered mountains and even Mt. Fuji!

Pusan looked exactly as I had expected. Probably because I had looked it up on Google Earth. It is a coastal city of tall apartment buildings and pock marked with hills that are bare of any development. 

Immigration, customs and baggage all went off without a hitch. My boss met me immediately outside customs and whisked me directly to school (hagwon SSS) were I will be teaching for the next year. Julia Teacher has arrived.

 

I spent my first night at a motel in my new neighborhood, Gwang-ali, just one street from the beach. There I found the first cultural quirk of Korea. They don't use bottom sheets. The bed was beautifully made with pillow cases and quilt and a completely bare mattress. I thought this was odd because other than the missing sheet the room was quite well equipped with robes, slippers, TV and Internet.

I went looking for breakfast by the beach. I am essentially illiterate in Korean society and rely largely on pictures. I figured it would be a safe bet to go somewhere with other people as well. However, every café I passed was entirely deserted at 9 am on a Friday morning. I am told Koreans don't go out for coffee until the afternoon. I wound up with a bagel and latté with a view of the beach and the Gwang-an bridge. Not bad for my first day.