the butcher is in korea!

It started with a tearful goodbye at JFK, followed by a 6 hour flight to San Fran, a quick burrito during my layover, a 14 hour flight from SF to Seoul, and a 4.5 hour bus ride to Daegu. The flights themselves weren't so bad. But I didn't sleep at all. On my flight to Seoul I sat next to a kid that had just joined the army. He had never been out of the country, let alone to Asia! We swapped sob stories about how we'll miss our significant others, but quickly had to cease because we were both almost crying. Then we looked at trashy gossip mags. I think I bought one of each.

I made the mistake of wearing my green army jacket and a pair of black canvas boots during the trip. When I landed in Seoul I was greeted by no less than 37 cab drivers asking "army? army??" I almost had to laugh, but I was too tired and bloodshot to do so. After picking up my 3 large bags off the baggage claim and clumsily carting them through the airport, I purchased a bus ticket to Daegu. A kind employee noticed I was struggling and on the verge of tears trying to figure out a payphone so she let me borrow her cell to call my boss who would later meet me at the bus "station" (really just a lot on the side of a building).

I got into Daegu well after 1am (roughly 35 hours after I left NYC). I'm staying with my cousin Ashley for a few days until my apartment is ready on Saturday. I've gone into my school the past 2 days. Currently I'm just shadowing the guy whose position I'll be taking. The kids are really nice and VERY curious. One even stroked my hair today. I didn't know how to react, so I simply said "it's ok!" and another one handed me a sausage stick wrapped in cheese. When I left it on table at the end of class he ran after me and gave it to me again.

I'll try to post pics soon. I'm still not in my own apartment. I've been sleeping on Ashley's floor! The jetlag is worse today than yesterday. I remember when I went to Hong Kong 2 years ago- I could fall asleep fine, but I would be wide awake around 4am and just stare at the wall until it was time to get up. In a few days that'll all be gone.

Time to go back to class! I miss everyone terribly and hope you're all well. xxxo