Sun Chaser

Had lunch with Dad today before I got on the plane. It’s strange, I think we’re becoming friends. I don’t know if you’re allowed to be friends with someone who had a hand in making you, but I’m sure that friendship is better than whatever we had before. Some people don’t even like their dads. I think I was at one time one of them, but now I think we are becoming friends.

The plane was 12 hours. Didn’t seem like it, but there you go. I watched some good movies and also Iron Man 2. Yes, I put it in a separate category. Deal with it.

They keep giving me things on this flight. Everything from apples, to peanuts, cups of orange juice, and hot towels. I wouldn’t even know what to do with hot towels if I had never seen The Wedding Singer. At one point, they even gave me a little zippered bag. When I opened it up, there were socks inside. Socks? What am I supposed to do with socks?

Well, put them on my feet, obviously, but…

Question: why does the bathroom door have an ashtray on it? No one smokes on the plane. Really. Why?

Everyone has been telling me how humid it is in Korea. I don’t know how to gauge that. At least I didn’t until I got off the plane.

Good Lord! I feel like we landed the plane in someone’s armpit. People live here, and I find that fact astounding. I may continue to be dumbfounded by that simple truth until my body adjusts to the new climate.

All the advertisements here have white people on them. Is that Pierce Brosnan? What is he doing telling the people of Korea what to brush their teeth with?

There was a whole group of people in the airport, waiting. Everyone spoke English. A perfectly safe little bubble. I can’t stay here.

I find it difficult to admit that I dislike all of the people I have met so far. The other teachers, I mean. When I got this job, I thought that the type of people that would like to work in a field like the one that I now work in would be a little bit more like me. Perhaps they crave change, fancy themselves to be adventurous, or perhaps there might be a few artists stuck in a rut that needed a change of pace. I forgot to think about all of the cultural know-it-alls, rice kings, former college students still running away from reality, and unemployed slobs who thought the job sounded easy. I’ve had conversations with 15-20 people so far, and I’m one of 3 who have ever taught a class before. I hope there’s a plan for all of this, God, because it’s already not quite what I thought it would be. My urge to learn Korean is now fueled by my intense desire to NOT spend any more time with these people.

Took a shower. I feel the need to wash this day off me. It’s 10:30 AM in California right now. That means I have been awake for 27 hours now. We chased the sun around the globe, and it has finally caught up. What the morning will bring, I do not know. Hopefully new life, hopefully new possibilities. Hopefully hope.