In the last twenty-four hours, I flew across the Pacific Ocean and moved to South Korea. Probably the biggest life-changing decision in my life but I don’t feel nervous… okay maybe I just don’t get “butterflies” in my stomach but I sure know that I am indeed nervous and excited, even if it’s just an ounce. You’re probably wondering by now like “what the heck is she talking about?!?!” huh? Let’s backtrack to two weeks ago.

On September 11th, just a little after midnight, I received an email from one of the program coordinators of TaLK. TaLK, short for Teach and Learn in Korea, is a program for native English speakers to teach English at a public elementary school in rural parts of South Korea. I had applied for this program back in May for the Fall 2012 semester but got my application deferred to the following semester, Spring 2013, due to incomplete documents. I wasn’t expecting any contact until probably October for the re-review of my application but I suddenly got a phone call from a Korean number during the first week of September. I listened to the voicemail and it turns out that it was a program coordinator from TaLK and she wanted to talk to me about my application and intent/interest to continue my application for the following term. I was at work so I couldn’t return her call right away so I decided to call her back over the weekend. Turns out, the phone number is their office number so nobody picked up during the week. After overcoming the time difference and my work schedule, I finally returned her call on Sunday the 9th sometime in the evening. I was nervous, stuttered, and totally did not make sense (or so I felt…) at various points in the conversation but the call ended on a rather… happy note? I guess? I mean a phone call cannot possibly end on a bad note… you know? While I had thought that that phone call was just an inquiry phone call, it turns out that that phone call was my interview. Like WOAH!? I was not prepared for an interview but I guess if I had applied in May and went through an interview then, I was supposed to be well-prepared by September. You would figured right? So I had my interview. No big deal. Results of my acceptance or rejection would be out by the end of October. But no. Totally wrong. I got that email on September 11th. Two positions had opened up and I was offered to start early. I hesitated for a couple hours and decided to send an inquiry email about the details. I got the answers to my doubts and worries the following day. And then… I accepted the offer. Within the next week and a half, I quit my job at Knott’s Berry Farm, applied for my visa, hung out with my friends, and packed. Now, I am in Seoul, South Korea getting ready for my 2-day orientation before I move down to North Chungcheong.

How do I feel? No butterflies. But I can tell that to some degree, I am both excited and nervous. It is a rather big change in my life. I feel bad or actually more like guilty for quitting from my job at Knott’s so last minute. It was a five-day resignation notice but my supervisors were very understanding.

I had a very pleasant experience flying with Singapore Airlines this time. Last year I flew over with Delta Airlines and that was just… okay. When I landed at SFO for my connection, I went to the international terminal to check in. The ticketing agent that helped me was very bubbly and full of smiles. I guess because she’s young and rather new to the job (how can I tell? a more experienced looking agent came over and showed her something on the computer) that she’s so friendly and welcoming. I asked her about my one checked in bag from American Airlines and she told me that it should be transferred automatically. She checked for me and it was all good. I asked her about my carryon and backpack and she suggested that I check in one of them. Since they’re rather heavy, I decided to check in the carryon too. I mean, my backpack was pretty heavy already with my six Korean language coursebooks… I then proceeded to my gate. I lounged around there for like an hour and once again I saw the same ticketing agent! I guess now she’s helping to queue the lines. When she passed by the people she recognized, she would wave hi (or bye). My first impression of Singapore Airlines? Very VERY good. Can it get any better? Definitely. Not long after the plane took off, the flight attendants gave everybody a hot towel. I mean WOW. Already?! They also gave everybody a little baggie with a hand towel and toothbrush inside. Unfortunately I did not get to use that but eh, whatever. We also received a little booklet with the menu for the day. That’s actually a very nice gesture. It’s nice to know what my options are before they come around with the food trolley. What was also very unexpected and very awesome is the selection of movies and music that they have. I got to watch the 2012 Korean film “Helpless” (화차) starring Lee Seon-gyun, Kim Min-hee, and Jo Sung-ha as well as the 2012 American sci-fi film “The Hunger Games”. What was even more lovely is that Singapore Airlines had quite a nice selection of k-pop albums under their music selection. I put some Girls’ Generation, 2AM, IU, and T-ara songs into a playlist and listened to it while I was “sleeping”. That certainly made me feel a lot happier. On a side note, the flight was rather empty. I would say almost every row had an unoccupied seat. Luckily for me, I had an aisle seat and the seat next to me was unoccupied. I was able to use a little bit of the empty seat to stretch a little.

Now it’s 7:40AM and I must get ready for breakfast and my first day of orientation. Adieu!~