Jet Lag - Schmet Mchag!

I think the main reason I didn't suffer from much jet lag is because I didn't sleep for almost 48 hours before my flight. Yep, that's right. I woke up Thursday morning and pack, pack, packed, lunched with friends, packed some more, then I went to my going away party, slept from 3a - a little before 7a, packed a little more, moved some of my stuff with a family friend, brunched for my roommate's birthday, packed(?), cried, packed, cried some more, freaked out, packed, birthday dinner and last minute packing purchases, packed, said good-byes :( then showered, and sat with Erin and Christine, ate Froot Loops and 'watched' "Married With Children" (it's weird - I wasn't allowed to watch it as a child, and sometimes I still feel guilty about doing so...) then it was off to the airport.

My beautiful friends, Erin, Christine and Mariko got me Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" because I didn't remember reading it as a child, and wrote amazing notes to me in it. On the way to the airport Erin read me the notes and I cried like a little baby who just had candy yanked out of its hand. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at the airport until we weighed the bags... 54 for one and 75.5 for the other. AYE!! So much for sitting on the suitcases to smoosh everything inside two and keep extra fees down. Rather than take the $500ish overpacking fee for both bags, I got charged $210 to move 30 pounds into a box ($10 for the box and $200 for the "3rd bag"). Then I said my final good-byes to Chicago besties and went off to stand in lines and sit and wait.

Lack of sleep coupled with emotional strain at the thought of moving half-way around the world and massive amounts of tears equaled one mighty cold that overtook me. I lost my voice and had a nasty cough. We boarded the LAX plane on time and I was asleep before we even left the ground. I woke up and was happy to look down over the Grand Canyon - OH WOW!! I've never been, nor do I remember ever flying over it, and WOW!! how incredible. I wanted to go down and shout across it. I gaped at it, interrupted my seat mate's Bible reading to say, "Hey, look! It's the Grand Canyon!" and took pictures for 10 minutes before the pilot came over the loud speaker and said, "Now folks, if you all look to your left, you can see the Grand Canyon." Oh... well, it's pretty big... maybe he was just notifying us at the biggest point? Or, maybe he fell asleep at the wheel and that's when he woke up? There was a little turbulence. Who knows. Then I went back to sleep, woke up to see the hills around LA burning, fell back asleep and we were on the ground.

My friend, Suzy, came to see me off during my lay-over at LAX. We drove around the airport circle for a while then parked after some shuttle driver motioned to the security guards when Suz stopped for .2 seconds - jerk! The Int'l terminal, specifically Asiana Air was a mini introduction of the people landscape to come. I checked in, then Suz and I checked out the Duty Free shop so I could find a gift for my school director (aka Boss Man). I picked out a Johnny Walker Green Label for the boss and got a box of Godiva chocolates for the rest of the staff - Koreans are big on first impressions and love gifts - but who isn't/doesn't?! I said my good-bye to Suz Wuz and off to security I went.

There was more than enough time before the flight took off, so I bought some water and made some calls. I should've brought more water as I seem to get severely dehydrated on planes and the staff didn't bring around as much water as I needed in my sickly condition. I didn't have a window seat (was in the middle section), but I did have a movie screen!! I watched "Aliens v. Monsters" in a Tylenol haze and fell asleep. I woke up just in time for my first Korean meal, and MY!! it was taaaaaaasty! Seriously, best plane food I've ever had (which isn't saying a lot, but it is at the same time). There was more sleeping then I watched my first Korean movie, Castaway on the Moon, which I just loved! I started to get really excited and ancy to land, so I went back to sleep, then woke up and started, "17 Again" - um, I loved it... is that bad? (didn't get to finish it because they turned off the movies for the descent.)

Suddenly, the cabin turned from night to day and we prepared for our descent to the land that's intrigued my dreams for the past three months. It was so wonderful to get off the plane. Just the thought of landing made the old woman (ajema) next to me start clapping. HAPPY TIMES!! Besides the fact that my feet were swollen to the size of a third trimester pregnant woman's, I was in good shape. Groggy and ready to get to my new home. After some searching, I located the baggage claim, but I couldn't find one of my bags... (you already know this story)... Asiana couldn't find it and told me to contact them on Monday. So, I started tearing up out of nervousness/tiredness. I tried to compose myself as I stepped through Customs, but then I couldn't find my name on a poster as I walked through the gate. I walked back and forth, straining my eyes and trying not to cry. Surely someone is here for me. "No, I'm not Amanda.... No, my name's not Charles..." Of course I had forgotten the contact information of the company I was recruited through on the TV in Chicago, so I had to exchange my American dollars for Korean cash - which I needed to do anyway - and get online to figure out who to call. Teary-eyed and frog-throated I went up to the information stand and told the woman my sitch. She called the recruiter for me and he told me to meet the person who was supposed to pick me up at the McDonald's. Disoriented and swollen-footed, I rolled my cart over and sat down next to Ronald McDonald. The guy came about 5 minutes later, smiling and welcoming, and apparently he had been at a different gate... no worries, it's all good. Then, there was a little more waiting, and off to my fancy taxi. I slept on the hour trip from Incheon to Suwon, and stood outside my new school as the driver and I waited for the director to meet us and take me to my new home.

In a couple minutes, the director, his wife and son arrived, smiling and welcoming, and told my driver to follow his car. My apartment is a hop, skip and a jump away from the school, which is great because I tend to forget things sometimes. After carrying my things up the stairs, the director's family left to let me settle in, informing me as they left that the other teachers were excited to meet me and would be over in a minute. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and in addition to the director's family, I saw six friendly faces, all offering names and hands. Whoa! Overwhelming, but great. Then they left and I settled in and went to sleep because I had to be at work the next day...

So, that's how I got here.