Annyeonghaseyo! (Hello!) After 6000+ miles, 21 hours of flying, bus rides and a hike back to Ray's "home," I am here in Korea! Well, actually I've been here for 7 days now, and I am loving it! I am so thankful to have done so much already, it feels surreal.
I started my journey by staying with a sweet friend for a couple days while my apartment got packed up, she threw a great goodbye party for me and I was able to say goodbye to all the sweet friends I made while living in NorCal. I left my car with some friends, and rented a car, packed it full with luggage and my cat, and drove on down to SoCal to stay with my Nana. She so kindly agreed to keep Frankie for the year, and I think he is loving having 4 other friends to play with there. My parents came to pick me up on Monday and took me to L.A. so we'd be closer to the airport in the morning. We spent some time shopping around, playing pool at Dave and Busters and ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant in Marina Del Ray (thanks Dad!). After some bittersweet goodbyes, I was at the airport and on my way to Ray! My first flight was great, I just flew an hour and half to San Francisco. There was a short layover and then I was on the plane to Seoul. Wow, was the plane packed! I wasn't too awful impressed with the flight, but I made it the whole 12 hours without losing my sanity and that's all that counts, right?. I sat in an aisle seat, next to an elderly Korean woman and her American (granddaughter? friend?). They were very sweet and I made fast friends with them. The Korean woman was telling me that she comes back to Korea every year to visit family - I adored her and her stories and wanted to take her home with me! She shared some snacks with me and was overly impressed when I pulled out my Adult "Anti Anxiety" coloring book which made me laugh. When we landed I followed her through the airport and onto the train to immigration. It was actually fast and easy and nothing horrific like I imagined. Ray was right there at entrance I walked through customs and he was such a sight for sore eyes! We walked around the airport waiting for the bus to arrive to take us to base. The bus ride was about and hour and half, and by then I was so done with the day... we were dropped off at lodging, and then we walked to Ray's dorm room, luggage in tow. He so thoughtfully put together a basket of comfort items for me... a new pillow, lavender soap, some bathroom items, a new DVD and some chocolates. What a guy :)
I started my journey by staying with a sweet friend for a couple days while my apartment got packed up, she threw a great goodbye party for me and I was able to say goodbye to all the sweet friends I made while living in NorCal. I left my car with some friends, and rented a car, packed it full with luggage and my cat, and drove on down to SoCal to stay with my Nana. She so kindly agreed to keep Frankie for the year, and I think he is loving having 4 other friends to play with there. My parents came to pick me up on Monday and took me to L.A. so we'd be closer to the airport in the morning. We spent some time shopping around, playing pool at Dave and Busters and ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant in Marina Del Ray (thanks Dad!). After some bittersweet goodbyes, I was at the airport and on my way to Ray! My first flight was great, I just flew an hour and half to San Francisco. There was a short layover and then I was on the plane to Seoul. Wow, was the plane packed! I wasn't too awful impressed with the flight, but I made it the whole 12 hours without losing my sanity and that's all that counts, right?. I sat in an aisle seat, next to an elderly Korean woman and her American (granddaughter? friend?). They were very sweet and I made fast friends with them. The Korean woman was telling me that she comes back to Korea every year to visit family - I adored her and her stories and wanted to take her home with me! She shared some snacks with me and was overly impressed when I pulled out my Adult "Anti Anxiety" coloring book which made me laugh. When we landed I followed her through the airport and onto the train to immigration. It was actually fast and easy and nothing horrific like I imagined. Ray was right there at entrance I walked through customs and he was such a sight for sore eyes! We walked around the airport waiting for the bus to arrive to take us to base. The bus ride was about and hour and half, and by then I was so done with the day... we were dropped off at lodging, and then we walked to Ray's dorm room, luggage in tow. He so thoughtfully put together a basket of comfort items for me... a new pillow, lavender soap, some bathroom items, a new DVD and some chocolates. What a guy :)
The next morning I was up at 2am and managed to stay up for the whole day! We ran some errands to get me set up with everything I needed to be here on base, and then took the train to Suwon for the day. My first day in Korea and I was taking a train and walking 10 miles (exaggeration, but that's what it felt like!) Seriously though, you walk everywhere. The walk from Ray's dorm to the train station is about a 15 minute walk. not to mention all the walking around town and then back. I got a train card, and a lemon water at the train station convenience store and was good to go! I decided to use the restroom before getting on the train and was greeted by a "fun" surprise. The bathrooms at that train station were what we like to call "Squatty Potties." Now, thankfully after living in Japan I feel like a pro and was undaunted. And then I realized there was no toilet paper. ANYWHERE! I then remembered something someone told me a looooong time ago when we first found out Ray was going to Korea - some places don't have TP, you're supposed to bring your own. Sometimes the TP is located outside the door or even outside the restroom doorway, but a lot of times you are expected to bring your own. You are not supposed to flush your TP because a lot of the plumbing systems here are old. The TP goes into the trashcan next to the squatty potty in the floor. I walked out of the restroom with this crazed look on my face, and had to fill Ray in on the experience. Glad I got introduced to that on day 1.... now I know!
Anyways.... we took the train into Suwon and walked over the to Lotte Mall - a seven story shopping mall! It was wonderful and overwhelming at the same time. After shopping around for a bit, we ate lunch at Coco Curry, one of our favorite restaurants from Okinawa, and then caught a movie upstairs (the Martian) which was in English with Korean subtitles. It was fun to be so out and about in Korea, trying to communicate and marveling at all there was to see. We caught the train back to Songtan and walked back to base.
Over the next couple days, Ray had to go back to work so I spent some time cleaning and organizing the dorm. Our friend from back home who is also stationed here knocked on my door and asked if I'd like to help with a fire prevention parade that was going on a little later. I said yes, got ready and before I knew it, I was IN the parade, passing out candy to kids and waving to everyone. It was fun and I enjoyed myself. Ray couldn't stop laughing that I've been here all of 2 days and was already walking around like I owned the place.... I guess I just felt like I needed to jump in! I think we just relaxed and walked around the base for the rest of the day. We went to the base chapel on Sunday and saw several friends we knew from previous duty stations, and then to a fantastic Brazilian Steakhouse out in town with our great friend from back home (missing his wife something fierce!!)
Yesterday we were able to find a realtor and see a couple of apartments. We ended up finding one we really liked and are now in the process of doing all the paperwork. We should be moved in over the next few days! I'll make sure to upload some pictures later.
I also start work soon! I have the great privilege to be a full time nanny this year for sweet 16 month-old twins! I cannot get over how much God has opened doors for me to get here. How blessed and thankful am I, to be the recipient of so much grace and kindness and blessing. Certainly, whenever God calls, He will provide a way and equip us to do His will. I have appropriately named this blog "Following His Call" because not only do I have the great honor of following my husband's calling around the world, but also for the both of us to follow God's call in our lives. It is amazing to watch what He'll lead us to, and how he'll provide for us to get there.
Thanks for reading this long winded and terribly disorganized first post. Hopefully my blogging/writing skills will increase in interest with each new post. I hope you'll stay tuned to see all the crazy things we'll get to encounter here and beyond.
-K