Korea: Year Two.

Between my last job in Korea and this new job, I went back to the States for two and a half weeks on vacation. The time absolutely FLEW BY!! It was crazy how quickly July 19, 2012 came up! I spent time in Tampa, visiting my family, and drove to Orlando for the majority of my time to catch up with my friends and other family. I realized pretty quickly that time management is not one of my strong suits. It was difficult for me to balance my time among friends and family, and still see everyone I wanted to see. On a GOOD note, I had an absolutely incredible time!! I had pretty high expectations for this vacation, and even created a “To-Do” list with a group of my friends. This list included some local hotspots where my friends and I used to hang out, the beach, amusement parks, and some of my favorite restaurants with food that I can’t find in Korea. I had a BLAST!!

On my last day in Korea, I hung out with two of my close friends, Aleah and Brandon. Around dinnertime, they asked me what I wanted for my “last supper,” and I decided on pasta. After a few minutes of choosing the perfect place, we all agreed that we would be pulling an all-nighter! We drove out to Cocoa Beach and went to an amazing Italian restaurant called “Italian Courtyard.” I had never been there before, but had heard amazing things about it. The three of us decorated the paper tablecloth on the table, and I packed it in my suitcase to take to Korea with me!

After dinner, we decided to go to Ron Jon, a personal favorite which just happens to be open 24 hours. Woot! We bummed around there a bit and then walked out to the beach. There’s something incredibly special about the beach at nighttime. You can hear the waves and see the stars. It’s like the sky is endless.

After our beach walk was finished, we decided to head back to Orlando and stop for coffee. (I had some light packing to do still, and wanted to get home in time to do that.) I feel asleep in the car – SHOCKER!! – and Brandon and Aleah managed to find a Dunkin’ Donuts open 24 hours. We ordered coffee and donuts and then headed back to Brandon’s house so Aleah and I could pick up our cars. We all drove to my sister’s house, where I had been staying for my last week. It was about 1:30am when we arrived. I headed upstairs to finish packing, trying so carefully not to wake up my sister and brother-in-law, Jena and Kyle. Aleah and Brandon took naps downstairs, and I joined in when I finished packing! It was nice to catch about an hour of sleep before heading to the airport.

At 3:30am, Jena and Kyle came downstairs, ready for the day! We loaded up the car with my suitcases. Kyle goes running every morning really early, so I said goodbye to him. Aleah and Brandon followed my sister and me to the airport. I had to drop my rental car off at the airport, and after circling a few times, we finally figured out where we were supposed to go. It was SO CONFUSING!!

We managed to find short term parking and made our way into the airport. I had two suitcases with me. One of them, I wasn’t worried about. I had packed it well, and I knew it wouldn’t be over the weight limit. My second bag, however, was a different story. I had packed that one well, too. But, at the end of the packing, I was throwing in all the last minute things that I had forgotten about: charging cords, leftover laundry, bathroom stuff, and a few random things that wouldn’t make it through Security at the airport. My bag ended up weighing 50.0 lbs exactly. WHEW!!

I checked my bags and headed to the Security gate. It was only 4:15am at this point, and my flight wasn’t until 6:40am, so I decided to hang out for a bit. The three of us talked until 5:45am, reminiscing about the vacation, talking about our childhoods and sharing funny stories. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. It wasn’t really sloppy and boogery liked my first departure was. It was bittersweet though, and it was definitely hard to leave. I’m excited for my new adventure here, but at the same time, my vacation was so fun that I wanted to stay longer. I said goodbye to Jena, Aleah, and Brandon, and went to the Security line.

I’m so blessed to have such amazing friends and a big sister who are willing to sacrifice sleep to go with me to the airport. (My family was vacationing in the Keys, so they weren’t able to be there to send me off.) I had the best last day and night, and was able to see some familiar faces of people I love before I left for another year. Bittersweet.

My flights were fine. I flew from Orlando to Chicago, and Chicago into Seoul. I had really great seats for both flights, and wasn’t too uncomfortable, so that’s always a good thing! After I arrived in Seoul, I went to Baggage Claim and then bought a bus ticket. I rode the bus for about an hour and a half. When I got off the bus, two of my new Korean co-teachers, Ellie and Stella, were waiting for me. They helped me carry my bags a few blocks to the hotel where I will be staying. I will be here for five days, until I can move into my new apartment on Thursday. I think the teacher who I am replacing hasn’t left yet, but once they do, I will move right in! Ellie and Stella gave me the paperwork I needed for my training, which begins on Monday. They also gave me $250 from my school, which covers me for the first few weeks I’m here until I get paid. That’s a pretty sweet bonus if you ask me!

I went right to sleep when Ellie and Stella left because I was completely exhausted. I'm now awake at 1:45am, updating my blog. I'm doing the best I can to force myself to get back on the right schedule. My body clock is way off, and it's always a struggle for me to get back on track. Hopefully when I finish writing this, I can catch a few more hours of sleep, so at least I'll be waking up at a decent hour! We shall see. Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm going to head to Metapolis where Johnny lives. We don't want to do anything crazy since we're both exhausted. It will be nice to just relax and catch up. It should be good! I'm not sure how good my Internet access will be here, so I will update as much as I can! Also, it is a personal goal for me this year to continue blogging about this journey I am on as much as possible. Here's to my first day/night back in Korea!!