In Busan

I arrived last night around 9:30PM local time. My school director met me at the airport, which was nice. She seems pretty friendly so far, which is good. I've heard some bad stories about directors here and am hoping I end up with something better. The school is putting me up in a motel for about a week. I guess they literally pass apartments from one teacher to the next, so I have to wait til the person I am replacing leaves. The motel is alright - it's clean anyway. They give you all sorts of perfumes and lotions on a tray that get used from guest to guest. I have a feeling it's one of THOSE motels. Although they may all be like this. Needless to say, I'm not touching much.

I can't figure out how to work much of the electronics in the room... including the heat and the TV. But I have my laptop and DVDs and internet that I am hijacking off a neighbour, so I am surviving. I did manage to figure out the fan so the heat was more bearable. I made sure to open a window a bit so I wouldn't die of fan death.

I skyped mom and dad this morning which was nice. The homesickness sucks right now, especially because I will be so unsettled and out of a routine for a bit, but it's good to know how easy it is to talk to home.

I have most of the day off today. I'm supposed to be at the school for 3 o'clock to get a better idea what is going on for the next few days. Apparently I am heading back to Seoul tomorrow for a few days to go through training with all the other December 1st start teachers all over Korea from my company. Then it's back to Busan on Friday night, weekend off, and orientation at my school on Monday. Tuesday, they throw me to the wolves - my first day of teaching.

I'm going to venture around the block in a bit to grab some food and scope out the area. My body is all out of whack from the time change, but hopefully getting into an eating routine will help get me on schedule. Sleep was rough last night. Even with the exhaustion of the long trip, I was still awake at 3AM for most of the rest of the night. Part of me misses the ability I had to sleep at any time of day I had when I was sick. Or in university, come to think of it.

So far, so good. This is going to be a tough first few weeks, I think but it is going to be an adventure which is what matters.