Day 1: The Adventure Begins

Thursday/Friday February 21st/22nd (We Crosssed the International Date Line!)

So, this whole time change deal has already thrown me off, significantly. Jenna and I are on hour ten of the twelve hour flight to Seoul, Korea. We were just debating whether or not it was Friday the 22nd, or Thursday the 21st. We asked our cute little flight attendant, who hardly speaks English, what day it was and she explained that it was in fact Friday, and two o'clock pm (eleven o'clock US time). I feel like this day has gone on forever, because every time  someone opens a window, it's still light out, just wondering if that'll change anytime soon!

My dear mother dropped me off at the Salt Lake City airport this morning, at six am, and I dragged (and really struggled doing so) my two fifty pound bags into the airport. One tipped over as I tried to get it over the bump into the door, and well, I went down, bags and all. I decided to wear a maxi skirt to the airport, and that proved to be an obstacle in itself when getting back up. (Rocky, you were right, I apologize, You're smart, I'm dumb, and there's nothing I can do about it). The flight from Salt Lake to Seattle was painless and quick, I slept the entire time. We arrived in Seattle and then had a three hour layover and got to know the other individuals we would be teaching with in Zhongshan, China for the next four months. There are four different schools that are in Zhongshan; it's a pretty decent sized city I guess! Our school, Kaiyin, has the most teachers (16 to be exact) and the only one with boys, holla. Even though we are banned from dating anyone (fellow teacher, Chinese man, noodle vendor on the street, etc.), it is still nice to have them around to travel with and teach with, I really think it'll add to the successfulness of this volunteering experience. Also, as I got to know the others that I would be with, I could instantly tell that I am in for quite an adventure. We have already discussed skydiving, going on a slide off of the Great Wall, maybe scuba Diving, camping on the Great Wall, etc. I've been put into the perfect group: adrenaline junkies always seeking new adventures. 

As we boarded the plane for Korea, we saw the flight attendants board right before us. Typically when I fly in the US, the flight attendants are dressed in some navy blue buisness-like suit and tend to be quite sassy. I was not expecting them to be perfectly groomed with perfectly pressed neck ties, little chopstick things in their hair, and the kindest/most polite individuals I have ever met. These ladies were seriously perfect. Since we are on a twelve hour flight, the attendants served lunch and dinner. For the first meal, the flight attendant came to Jenna's and my row and asked us if we wanted beef, chicken, or Korean style. Naturally, Jenna and I chose Korean style (not having any idea what it was, but hey, we are trying to be adventurous). I can't even explain to you how excited the cute Korean flight attendant was that we ordered that. She set up a tray in front of us, and gave us instructions on how to prepare it; Jenna and I weren't quite ready for this, but we were thrilled to try it. This Koresn dish was called Bibilama, and it turned out to be quite delicious, actually. Who knew airplane food would be the least bit appetizing, let alone pretty tasty. Korean's know how to do it right.

As we prepared this little meal, we tried to mimick the Korean man in front of us, he seemed to know what he was doing. As we finished prepping it, the flight attendant, who so excitedly served it to us, came back and asked how we liked it. She was so sweet and so happy we were branching out from chicken and beef and trying something from her country. We were also served a bowl of seaweed soup, alongside the Bibilama. Jenna and I were skeptical about this, but we decided we would at least try it. An American man sitting next to me, who claims to live in Korea and slept almost the entire flight, said to us that it was a delicious soup and that he only gets it on occasion. I thought the "on occasion" comment was because it was such a treat and that he only gets it every so often. However, we were unpleasantly surprised by this "delecacy". We each took a large spoonful of soup and took in every bit of the rank tasting concoction. If I were to explain the taste, I might compare it to something like drinking a big gulp of seawater with dead fish with wet, slippery seaweed inside of it. As you can tell, it was exactly the treat we had expected. We eventually did choke it down though, we didn't want to let those around us down. Besides the seaweed soup, everything else was surprisingly deish and we enjoyed our experience of branching out.

I think I have watched a total of four movies on this flight so far. Fortunately for us, they have all these new releases and they're FREE! What!? Nothing on airplanes is ever free these days, but not here. It seriously is quite a dream. I managed to watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wreck it Ralph, Liberal Arts (horrible by the way, don't waste your time), and of course, Pitch Perfect. This kept me occupied for quite some time, but movies got old; I am anxious to get to Seoul and take a shower. Sitting in this seat for hours on end does not bring about the most desirable feeling or smells around you (and maybe on you). 

Throughout the flight, our beloved flight attendants (seriously, I love them, and am kind of obsessed with them) brought us little treats like bananas, brownies, peanuts, etc. throughout the entire flight. They also brought us extremely hot towels, to either wash our hands with or place on our faces. Due to the attendants lack of English, Jenna and I weren't quite sure what they were for, or that they were scalding hot when they handed them to you (with tongs I might add, we could've and should've assumed they were hot, but it didn't cross our minds). After we grabbed them, we each kind of burned ourselves and then quickly held them only by a corner to let them cool off a bit. They were actually quite refreshing to use after such a long time; not only were we given hot towels, each passenger got a pair of slippers, a travel toothbrush, and a canister of toothpaste. Fancy livin', we have arrived. 

About halfway through the flight, Jenna and I got kind of ansy, so we went to the back of the plane, where we disovered a large stretching group. There was this old man getting his stretch on and others, and myself, decided to join in in the little waiting room area. We all discussed what we were doing in Korea and where our final destinations were. The older man explained that he was going to Mongolia, with 10 others, to build schools. We then went onto telling him that we were traveling to schools in China to teach children English. He was so excited and happy for us, such cool opportunities there are for all kinds, types, and ages. 

We are approaching the last hour of our flight, and I can't wait to get off. As much as I love the attendants and their sweet presence, my booty is becomming (slash has been for the last two hours) numb and I think I need more of a walk than to the back of the plane. We are staying the night in the Seoul, Korea and taking off for Hong Kong tommorrow morning. After that four hour flight, we will then be driving to our final destination, Zhongshan, China to school number one, Kaiyin! I have anticipated this for months and really can't believe that it is finally real life. We will spend the weekend settling in and learning more teaching techniques. Then, the plan is to begin teaching our sweet children on Monday/Tuesday! I can't wait to meet these little ones, I feel as though I have a connection with them already. Ok, enough talking for now. I am going to re-organize myself and take these awesome slippers off before we land. Ahn Yung (Korean, since we're not quite to China yet. :)