Update August 8th - first full day in SK
Hello from South Korea.
A little long and detailed.
Short look - Smooth flights. Arrival was difficult. Hit my head on a metal door. Talked with a couple of people for nice conversations. An angel helped me with translation and bags. Quarantine is not bad. Settling in well. School orientation starts Monday. Classes start on the 17th. Hoping to be in the virtually at first.
Praying for transition physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Praying for teaching - orienting to the school, grace with English department, grace with students, and ability to plan early and for good planning
Praying for food situation - that there would be something to maintain thyroid health and protection for when I might miss something.
Praying for family as well
Thankful for location, view, balcony, food, Korean friends, friends, prayer warriors, angels, technology, connections (can watch cable website from family - Xfinity), HDMI cable, having a 2nd charging cord for laptop (1st was overheating), God, His angels, Jesus, saving grace, mercy, stamina, perseverance, growth, and the fact I'm still alive and breathing.
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Here's the long version if you have time and would like to continue...
Started out this morning with a very much welcomed shower and then a bible study with Times Square Church via Zoom. Fun to say hello from South Korea.
I am a little over an hour away from the school in Eumseong. I will remain in quarantine until August 20th when I will be released at midnight. (I would imagine that I won't be forced to leave at that time.)
Flights - everything went smoothly. Nice to see some mountains in Alaska. I realize I'm getting older as my knees suffer from sitting for too long. They were aching quite a bit, and then I started getting restless leg. (I'm 41 and a half. I have nerve damage from chemo in my left front lower leg and top of the foot. Neuropathy issues which I nirmally take vitamin B6 to help, but I missed it for two days prior.)
- Alaska. See the mountains? Purple due to window shade/ filter
- blue due to window shade/ filter
Arrival - Went through about 6 lines with 4 only for quarantine. Then I had to wait for the bus to the train station, which was nice as I happened to be seated next to the young Korean man who was on the same row on the airplane. He was fresh from internship in Austin, so we had a nice conversation. Wound up hitting my head pretty hard when loading my bags onto the bus. (The driver was outfitted to avoid infection and everybody was focused on their own bags. I also don't look old, so no one inclined to help and I kept going.) Then there wasn't any carts to carry my three bags at the train station. Embarassing to pull them to the ticket counter. Another new teacher connected with me at the train station, so I had a nice little conversation there as well. (good distraction and kept me going)
I did figure out how to connect two bags but that meant I was pulling about 70 pounds. Pulled the bags when we were called to go to the train platform about 100 feet where we were organized in 4 lines. Directions were given only in Korean. I leaned over to ask someone for translation and another 20 something-year-old Korean man translated for me. He then offered to pull the heavy bag combo! While waiting on the platform I found out that Delta airlines lost his checked bag or else he would've had two bags to drag and couldn't help me. I told him he was an angel and thanked him. What else could he have been given the circumstances? He also helped get the bags on and off the train, piling the two heavy ones in the seat next to me and the carry-on above my head. That's him in the first picture below.
After arrival at the destination station, I road in a patient transport ambulance to the quarantine location and not the health clinic like i had been told. It was difficult not to fall asleep. Outside was mostly black. Inside I noticed the equipment I could see looked the same as in the U.S.
The gentleman who helped me come in was very nice and showed me many things in the room, including how to open the balcony doors and how to turn the lights and and off. He also offered to help me order food if I did not have anyone. (Most people have family nearby to bring them food or order for them.)
Quarantine - I had my first covid-19 test this morning. That sucker burns the sinuses. Took me a while to recover as it seemed to climb all over my sinuses. The nurse helping to show me the cleaning was very sweet. Not sure how much English they knew because she translated everything through her phone. It's not bad. I really appreciate their efforts as I feel safe here knowing that these efforts are what is keeping SK's covid-19 numbers low.
- I will use the green bags for regular waste and spray it once a day with this spray. There are orange bags to for waste in case I become symptomatic. There are also wipes for special cleaning and antiseptic spray for cleaning in the kit bag.
The facility is not too far from the school (a little over an hour). I'm sitting at the desk table with a view of the soccer field, a farm, and mist-covered mountains in the distance. I was given two boxes of food from the Korean Red Cross, half of which I will not eat due to soy sauce or wheat.
I am gluten free to keep my thyroid. (gluten causes the thyroid to attack itself thereby causing inflammation and worsening disease) I don't want to go on medicine and deal with the side effects, so I choose a restrictive diet rather than lose my thyroid and be forced on medicine for the rest of my life. I'm ok though. My Korean friend, Rachel, is ordering food which will be delivered on Monday. Today I had spam, rice, and seaweed for breakfast, then tuna fish, pretzels (brought with me from Aldi), and a jelly snack for lunch.
Right now I have the balcony door open. The room is a bit sticky due to rainfall for most of the day but the temperature is very comfortable. This evening I will cook one of the packaged dinners that I can eat. (Sat with Rachel on video and she interpreted the packages for me.) I will watch a movie and probably sleep early as I have been feeling tired since about 2pm. (No earlier than 8pm)
Exercise in quarantine - I walked for 30 minutes in the room, which equaled out to about 180 laps. I will do this and online classes during this time. I have wifi connection in the room and an HDMI cable to watch things through the tv.
Teaching - Orientation starts on Monday. Obviously I will not be able to be there physically. I'm hoping to get in contact with the school quickly to see if I can sit in the sessions virtually. I am also hoping to learn about my classes and receive material to do planning as classes start on the 17th. I'm nervous about the classes as the content and the type of students are all new to me. Also, the cultural differences will be interesting to start out with. I really am limited in my understanding about a lot here. I understand basic Asian and then Korean references but don't have the ins and outs of the culture.
Overall, I feel good. I'm active as I know how to flip time zones - stay up until local bed time. Don't take naps unless you feel you're getting sick or absolutely cannot function. Staying up forces your body to be so tired by bed time that you can't do anything else but sleep at local night time. Otherwise WIDE awake.
Looking forward to what's next but thankful where I am now. The hills look lovely and challenging. They will be there in two weeks and for many more to come. Every step towards the climb is a step in the right direction. Thankful for the challenge of the climb and that the body and mind are able to pursue.
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