Thursday, May 28, 2009

holy kimchi, here i am again.

after spending a week in england, i boarded a plane, and next thing you know was spit out right back where started: ilsan, south korea.

i am tired of packing my suitcase. especially when the day before i leave, i find out i can only take one bag, of 20 kilos, with me. I SHAKE MY FIST AT YOU LUFTHANSA AIRLINE!!! i nearly had a mental breakdown. this is my life i'm moving people! everything i own! 20 KILOS IS NOT GONNA CUT IT! but i calmed myself (lie: ali calmed myself) and i took out everything i wouldn't need for the next week, then about 10 kilos more, and packed two boxes and sent them to korea. (lie: ali packed two boxes and is sending them to korea today. i was on a time crunch, alright?) i also packed one box and sent it home to good ole mom and dad.

i am also tired of boarding planes sobbing and unable to see because my smeared mascara has clouded over my contacts, which will stay clouded the entire journey so that i have to make a sort of squinty face to watch the movies on the plane.

i am also tired of....oh wait, no just tired. i had a 14 hour overnight flight in which the sleeping i wished i was doing was replaced by a pulling sensation in my neck muscles that left me unable to move my head for about 12 hours after my flight. then last night i did not sleep one wink. not one. and then this morning i left at 8:30 for my first day of work. exactly 21 hours after i landed!

shockingly, my first day of school went really well! i like it. it's small, the kids are cute, it's laid back, and no one really seems to be looking over my shoulder. i think i will fit in there. i'm teaching the same age of kids again--kindergarten (3 through 7 year olds) from 9:30 till 2:30 and then elementary aged classes from 3 till 5:15. it's pretty easy anc chilled out. the teacher i'm replacing was uber helpful today in prepping me for what i am to do.

its really wierd to be back here. i miss my family, and i feel a lack of energy reserves to cope with inevitable difficult beginnings. but today was better than yesterday, and experience has told me that things get easier. i kind of feel like i never left, and at the same time i feel like i was never here at all.

i think what would really help my mental state is a really really really good night's sleep. afterall, sleep + sleep + sleep = ability to adapt!

oooo, and lastly, i forgot that koreans SHOVE! so pushy these little guys are...

2 comments:

DebinNZ said...

Well, I'm glad you made it back there finally. Looking forward to more kimchi blogs...lol.

Amanda said...

haha! oh the shoving... the trick is to walk with your elbows high and out, especially when trying to get out of the tram/metro/any exit that other people are trying to enter at the same time...