One last day
The next day would be our last full day together before we had to say our goodbyes at the airport, where the EPIK employees would pick up all of the newly arrived English teachers. It worked out because my family was flying out of the Incheon airport, where EPIK staff was at well. Before I continue, I guess I want to write my final thoughts, as the time in Japan was short, but it was greatly enjoyed. There were a lot of expectations, a lot of ideas coming to Korea. From the time I spent with my brother and mom til now, some time has passed. I have grown and matured in many ways I was looking to do so. I realize some of what I had prepared or thought of was different, but now, looking back at it, there was something behind all this that God wanted me to experience.
The best part, which I have not even mentioned at all this whole time, was how I am able to share all this, primarily, through my oral experience but also my writing, now that the time to really write down and tell what I lived then has happened.
We were in a major shopping area of Seoul, which I would later come to find out some of the foreigners I met were so excited that I went because they wanted to go. Like most people, they all wanted to go to Seoul. I did not know this at the time, but most people did not have a one-week adjustment to the schedule as I did before coming here. Most people came straight from their countries to the Incheon airport.
The two biggest stores we hit our spent most of our time at were one KT store, where I bought my sim card so I could have data in the interim between me getting my Korean cell # number, and my mom bought some cool jewelry at one store. In some of these pictures, you can see this is what people love and enjoy about Seoul in these underground shopping malls.
I would later come to find out that, in addition to these underground shopping malls, most of the places are stacked buildings with multiple floors for people to shop in many of these bigger cities, like Daegu and Busan. We ate some amazing burgers at this Gordon Ramsey restaurant. They were so good. We had breakfast and dinner back at the hotel, which was also good.
Closing remarks
Those feelings I described at the beginning of this journey when I left persisted. I imagine most of my fellow English teacher colleagues could relate to it to some extent to what I had been feeling. Maybe they’re a little more embarrassed and shyer about some of these things than others, but I realized as time went on that most of us came to Korea for the same reasons, whether we all acknowledge it or not. Sounds kind of obvious, stating it, but people get quite defensive when you ask them why they came to Korea.
I mainly came to teach English here; that was really my main goal among a few others. I guess not everyone cares for whatever reason. Most people aren’t meant to be teachers, but that’s okay. It took me a while to find it, but this is one of my talents I will continue to develop for as long as I am alive.
The day we left, we ate breakfast very early. When we were on the elevator, some company executives were with us. Perhaps they were American? The one man was berating the other because he had forgotten to write a report or PowerPoint. They all ate with these other people, but they made him eat by himself. No clue what that was about, but I thought it was a curious note to share nonetheless.
After we finished eating, my brother was a little worried because we had taken a little too long to leave the hotel. My brother thought the Incheon airport was in Seoul, but didn’t realize it was an hour away from where we were. Incheon and Seoul are so close to each other, though. They might as well have made it into another part of Seoul.
It all worked out because I am here writing to you about it. My brother and mother went home, but I had to say goodbye to them quickly or else they would miss their flight. The EPIK staff were located in terminal two while my brother and mom’s flight was on terminal one.
I didn’t think too much immediately after we said our goodbyes. I had to focus and make sure I could find where these people were. For the next month or so, until about the week in which Korea celebrates Chuseok (their Thanksgiving), I did not feel like I could stop. Better said, I feel like I did not have a break until then.
My next few blogs will focus on various parts of Korea/Asia I have seen and what some of my takeaways are from the experiences and the people I encountered. I hope you enjoy and learn from my writing as much as I have lived it. Cheers!
