jan 22nd, 2011

6:00am korean time
- aunt wakes me up, telling me to get ready. my flight is at 11:40 orz
7:10am
- leave the house for limousine bus. maybe korea knew i wouldnt see snow in sunny california- so seoul decided to sprinkle snow on me and my heavy luggages.
8:40am
- arrive at icn. again, my flight is 3 hrs away... i find a scale near where i check in bags, so i decide to put my new bag on it. 22.3kg. whew, close call. i weigh my other bag. 25kg. shoooooot. i quickly try to take out any heavy, non-liquid things out and put it in my 'just in case' 3rd carry on bag..
9:00am
- fortunately, i was able to check in both bags, no extra cost :D pass security & shop around duty free for awhile.. no nature republic though so i wasnt able to buy more presents D:
10:45am
- board korean air. watch the korean movie jinho recommended :)
2:20pm
- arrive at narita airport. find a wifi spot that failed me; find a free wifi cafe, and check fb instead of eating..
4:10pm
- board american airlines. definitely realized the differences between korean flight attendants and american flight attendants. the korean fa are normally in their 20s, polished with no hair out of place; always smiling & they usually speak 2+ languages. the american fa's however, were more... humanized lol they were older and were not 'asian-sized.' they also weren't too friendly and spoke only english (think there was one fa who spoke japanese, since this was a flight from japan). i caught them complaining and showing frustration with fliers who couldn't speak english well, but one thing i liked about aa more than ka- dessert. on ka or other korean planes, you get fruits or rice cake as dessert with your meal. with aa, i got brownie cake w/ whipped cream :D i also got cinnamon roll, bread, fruits, with juice for breakfast instead of rice! the seats were uncomfortable and the ent. system was a joke, but i was able to sleep from time to time..

8:35am u.s. time (1:35am u.s. time)
- land at lax! home sweet home~ there was a problem so they wouldnt let us out of the plane for another 10 min, but no matter~ i was just excited to be in california againnn. but little did i know, my mood would go wayy down from here...
so i had my backpack, with all the books and macbook; my carry on bag; and 'just in case' bag. with duty free stuff i bought for my parents.. i finally got to security point #1, where they told me to walk all the way to the other side. i kept on walking when another security said "all visitors, keep on moving!" =__= shoot. i walked back to the other side and waited in line for 30 minutes or so.. then to pick up my bags... since i transferred planes, i asked where i should pick up my bags. security told me to go to korean air, and after waiting for awhile and asking a ka worker, i found out i was waiting at the wrong carousal =__= thanks lax. i finally got my bags and waited in line once more...
9:48
- still in line for last security check... then the security dog came and sniffed around the bag of this japanese guy standing right behind me. apparently he had oranges and apples in his luggage -__- the security guy told him to leave the fruits in the bag [don't know how they didnt catch them in japan o-o] but as soon as he left, the japanese guy took out the fruits and started eating them -___- security already marked his paper, so i really didn't see why he did that, but meh..
10:25
- finally leave lax~! and omg. weather where i dont need 3 layers, gloves, and a hat (seriously, i never got why korean people wore hat all the time till spending winter there;;). i ran into a girl wearing a t-shirt with shorts and flip flops. and she didnt seem out of place... missed you socal weather! neways, i got my in-n-out, picked up my new smartphone <3, met more family and started to unpack! well, it just looks like my suitcases blew up in my room;; but i'll organize everything later... it's good to rest for a bit hehe

this is what i did on the 22nd; my trip from korea to socal!
what am i doing now? eating leftover baby back ribs johhny got me <3
yes, i know its past 1am here =___= yes, i know my classes start tomorrow =___=
meh i'm still on break mode :/

xoxo

so i'm now 22 years old in korea o-o
new years was great and though it was horribly freezing and i was dead tired at the time, seeing the first sunrise of 2011 at haeundae was awesome! the dramatic theme music, combined with release of new year goals and wishes attached to thousands of yellow balloons as the sun was about to peak its head was pretty cool. so since jeju... ooh! secret santa christmas dinner in seoul! & TaLK farewell reunion last week... so i have less than two weeks left i korea now :( though i miss family&friends back home & i cant wait to see them, i'm sad to be leaving korea.. today [well technically yesterday in korea] was my last day of teaching and i'm definitely going to miss my kids :( especially my 3rd graders, who were dragging me out of the class so they could take me home with them [awwww].

i will miss the convenience of public transportation, the delicious food, freedom, and most of all, the friends that i've made. this experience has been amazing, with many firsts and great memories, with people i will never forget. as one of my kids was telling me today, "teacher, go america, me [points to head], ok?" and i definitely will remember her and others. i cannot believer it has already been six months and though i came to realize that this is just temporary and my true life is back in california, it has been a great experience. if i could go back, i wouldn't change a thing. ok jk, i may change tiny things here and there but still.. i know i still have 10 days in korea, but it's already so busy that i may not see all the people i want to see before leaving :(

this experience has helped me learn more about korea, especially about its culture&people. i definitely feel more like a Korean American now, two cultures combined. from time to time, i was homesick or sad, but the good times outweigh the bad times by like a thousand. i can't wait to drive again & go eat in-n-out [then hit fuji's, olive garden, eat ribs, chili cheese fries, nachos, & mom's cooking] and it will be nice not having to use the sink-shower or take busses&subway for hour and half to get to work. but i will miss the 50% off ice creams [specially my new fav ice cream, 'wild body,' thankyou soowan sunbae&sam], cute make up products [tony moly ftw] with free samples [and boy, there so many makeup stores everywhereee], restaurants with free desserts, online shopping&super quick delivery system [taekbae], having the convenience to travel from one side of the country to another in just matter of hours [thankyou ktx], and coffee milk&sweet potato latte.

it's almost 2am here but i'm not sleepy since i took a nap today [first time in months].. i am getting hungry though so i probably should sleep [i can't gain any more kgs T-T].. anyways, i hope i've made a positive impression on people i've met and hope they [you?] have good memories with me. it's time to get back to reality, but this has been amazing. TaLK isn't for everyone, especially for people looking at just the benefits instead the whole package itself, but i'm glad that i have been part of TaLK [exchange]. i have been dreading and pretending not to notice the amount of time i have left, but it's time to face what's here now.. even if i don't get to see you before i leave korea, definitely keep in touch; if you're waiting for me back home, definitely meet up and let's catch up :)

xoxo agnes