Touchdown!

I made it to Korea on time and in one piece after a nice short flight from Hong Kong. I was greeted at the airport by a member of the EPIK team, who escorted me straight to what looked like the longest queue in Asia. I proceeded to wait over an hour to eventually be given a number and herded onto a bus bound for Jeonju.

The drive down was relatively uneventful – most people had come off long flights and slept the whole way. I did the same although my slumber was largely attributable to laziness rather than jet lag. The 4 hour drive was quite the introduction to Korean roads. I can safely and unequivocally state that the drivers in this country are utterly insane. Our long and boring trip from Incheon to Jeonju was made infinitely more exciting by our narcoleptic bus driver but fortunately for us the constant blaring of car horns kept him awake for at least some of the journey and somehow we made it to Jeonju without collecting a single truck, car or pedestrian.

My first impressions of Seoul (as seen from the window of an erratically driven bus) were of a much more organised, less haphazard city than the likes of Hong Kong. Even from a distance it gave the impression of being a very modern, efficient place – one I can’t wait to explore in greater detail!

Despite such modern appearances, Koreans have a very strong sense of tradition, honour and pride, or ‘gibun’. I suspect it will take me a little time to get to grips with the complex social systems and hierarchies here, but hopefully any transgressions will be overlooked or forgiven as I am a foreigner!

I have found the language somewhat difficult to grasp, however with so much going on in terms of classes and general culture shock it comes as little surprise. I plan to enrol in Korean lessons when I get to Daegu at which point I hope to be a little more settled and focused. Until such time I will continue to bumble and mangle my way through various key phrases with help from my faithful Lonely Planet book (“bbop chi ma se yo!” I don’t want it extracted!)

So far I am feeling good about being here – nervous at the thought of being chucked in at the deep end but excited at the prospects and possibilities that lie ahead of me. Life as a san saeng nim will be a big change from corporate life in London, but I am looking forward to the challenge. Who knows, I might even develop a liking for small children! But let’s not get carried away just yet...

Bring it on, Korea.