First Impressions

Four weeks into life in the Republic of Korea and we feel well settled in.  Stacey hit the ground running as she had only one day between landing at Incheon and reporting for duties at Asia Pacific International School in northeast Seoul.  It was a rather remarkable flight over here on Asiana Airlines.  Left Spooner one day, spent that night in Menomonie connecting with Tyler and then onto the Twin Cities where we caught an early flight from Minneapolis to Chicago the following morning.  We proceeded to fly right back over Spooner as we embarked on a direct flight to Seoul (many flights into and out of Seoul use Incheon International to the west of Seoul on the Yellow Sea).  So we had about two days into our travels and had gone absolutely nowhere excluding straight up.

From there, things got interesting from a geography buff's point of view, thanks to the in flight progress monitor.  We headed northwest over the westernmost tip of Lake Superior bound for the skies over Canada's Northwest Territories.  Passed directly over Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake and aiming west flew along the entire length of Alaska's Brooks Range.  We lost a day crossing the International Dateline before heading out over Siberia.  Giving North Korea wide berth, we flew well into Siberia before swinging south into China's airspace over Manchuria.  Hundreds of places en route, I thought how fascinating it would be to be able to yoyo down, look around a bit, and then rebound back onboard.  Leaving Manchuria, we headed out over the Yellow Sea and approached Incheon headed east on a fourteen hour westbound flight.  We arrived safe and sound, a bit weary and well fed.  We were greeted in the terminal by school staff and escorted to our new Seoul home.

So, one month in, we do of course have first impressions which I'll divide into categories of people, place, and things.  Addressing place first, the small slice of Korea we've seen is a beautiful land well taken care of by its inhabitants.  Most people love home but we get the feeling Koreans especially love their home.  They work hard to keep things clean and inviting.  Seoul is a well-kept, bustling, energetic city.  You can't help but feel alive here -- the buzz of the city is intoxicating (or is that the soju?).

The native Koreans outside of the school setting come off as somewhat indifferent to our presence.  Why shouldn't they be?  Two more people in an area of twenty-four million inhabitants.  Big deal.  Two weeks in, a young Korean mother and her maybe five year old daughter pass me on the street.  The girl's eyes light up and she beams a brilliant smile, very proud to blare out in her best English, "Hellll--ooo."  Let me just say, Koreans have a way of growing on you.  

Things are abundant.  Gadgets abound.   Lots of packaging but recycling takes on a religious fervor.  Korean consumerism is every bit as rabid as in the USA.

We're feeling very much at home in our new environs.  The only thing we're lacking is the native tongue but we'll continue to work on that.