When I eventually woke up I noticed the man next to me had already done so and was eating some food the stewardess had brought him. He stared out the window and a smile grew on his face. With wonder I looked out the window too. A beautiful sight filled my eyes. Was there a place like this left on earth? My thoughts were interrupted yet again by an announcement that we were landing soon. I felt excitement run through my body. Finally Seoul! I fidgeted in my seat once again. Happy that we were almost there. The elderly man next to me gave me a funny look. Similar to the one I had received from the man back at the airport in England. But I didn’t care. 6 minutes and I’d be in Korea. Nothing was going to bother me now. The plane slowly started to descend from the skies and I could see the Korean airport that we were landing at. It looked so high-tech compared to over airports I had been too. I slumped back into my seat full of glee. I was here.

After I retrieved my luggage once getting of the plane I took care of all the necessary procedures were done, like having my passport checked which went horribly wrong. Yeah, I know what your thinking. ‘How could something as simple as that turn out so horribly wrong?’ Well…I went to give the lady my passport and I accidently dropped it and when I tried to pick it up I dropped my shoulder bag and all my belongings fell out. Honestly I can make a mess out of any situation. Not that I try to. When I had finished embarrassing myself I decided to have a look around the shops before leaving the airport. I shuffled around flipping through books and discovering Korean fashion. After 40 minutes I decided I better leave. I called for a taxi and when it showed up I jumped in the back planning what to say to the Korean driver. “So where are you wanting to go?” the driver asked nicely. “Here please” I replied passing him a piece of paper with the directions to the dorm I was meant to be staying at. “Sure” was the drivers short reply after that he turned round and started the journey. I stared out the car window the whole time. Admiring the Korean life style. Men in business suits hurriedly walking to work and school students in their uniforms walking in groups to their school. Although I had seen many scenes similar to this in England it had a different feel to it. Maybe because it was South Korea. A foreign world to me.

When the taxi dropped me off at the dormitory, I was welcomed by the attendants for they had been expecting my arrival after instructions given from my school. They led me to my room in which I was to be staying I felt a strange sense of ‘home’ come over me. I felt so comfortable in these surroundings. The sliding doors the low beds. That whole Korean room style thing, it just worked for me. I commenced lessons at an International School that welcomed students abroad to study. Although I had been eager to get up and get ready in the morning I was still a little late for school. As soon as I entered I apologized to a member of staff who appeared to be waiting for me. “Don’t worry” she reassured me. “Just don’t make it a habit she joked” I replied by nodding and with that she showed me to my classroom. I sat down at my desk in the classroom, I found it overwhelming. I enjoyed the days lessons very much. The teacher where comical and made the subjects more enjoyable to learn. Over the weekends, where I had no lessons or school, I began to investigate around the streets. And I began my quest as I visited shopping centers, walked about the streets and listening to street performers performing. It felt so good to be able to do this and understand what most people where saying. Rather than going somewhere and being completely clueless.

*NOTE*

I wrote this story a while ago and when re-reading it I noticed I wrote 'Sliding doors and low beds'...That's not really Korean. haha But oh, well....