Wow.. what a journey.
15 hour plane ride, 3 checked bags (all here safely, by the way!), and a 4 hour drive back to Daejeon. Longest day ever. Oh, and they weren't kidding about the humidity. I'm from Michigan, so we get it pretty bad, but WHOA.. nothing like feeling like you're breathing water into your lungs. Also, with korea being 13 hours ahead, jetlag was soon to kick in. I think I'm over it, for the most part, but it was quite the accomplishment for me to stay awake past 9pm. (and if you know me, I can EASILY stay up until 2am back in Michigan)
So exactly have I been up to this past week? Right when we got here, they had us going every hour. It's a good thing too, otherwise I might have zonked over into my bowl of spicy soup and rice. They took us to some really cool restaurants nearby, and my favorite so far, Manna House. You walk in, take your shoes off at the door, and are immediately hit with a wave of heat, which only got worse as you made your way to the table. You sit down in chairs with no legs, and your feet go down into the floor (the Table is pretty much floor level.) It was so much fun! They brought out raw meat and you threw it into the boiling hot water (which is pretty much blowing onto my face at this point.. condensation building on my face.. yeah.. pretty hot in there.) BUT IT WAS AMAZING! You take out the meat and put them into little lettuce wraps. MMM... so good.
I'm finally done unpacking my suitcases and my goal is to make my apartment look and feel like home. We went to a couple stores to get essentials, like Homeplus, Costco (yes, they have costco here), and homever (which, I might add, has a pretty sweet theme song playing throughout the store.. haha) Oh! The other night we went to Norebong, and if you haven't heard of it, I'm just going to tell you it's the coolest thing ever! Its pretty much karaoke but only for you and your friends. You reserve a room entirely for your friends, lounge on couches, and sing. The only part that was a little unnerving was that they score you at the end. Ha. I guess, here in Asia, they take these things pretty seriously too. (When we went, you pretty much sing at the top of your lungs as lights flash and pretty random video footage is played behind you.) However, they have individual rooms on the side of the road called norebong closets, where you practice for such nights as these. yeah, they take it pretty seriously.
This past week has been ridiculously busy and I'm meeting so many new people and feeling very at home here at Taejon Christian. I met all of my girls who will be on my floor this next year, and I'm even more excited for the year to begin and have them all move in on Sunday night. Thanks so much for your prayers and I'll try and write again soon.
Jetlagging,
Sarah
