Well, here I am.. sitting in my 150 sq. ft. apartment, far apart from all my new friends and thinking, what the fuck did I do. I have had this feeling before, when I moved to Arizona in the middle of the summer and I didn't know a soul, so it is a feeling I am familiar with. But now, no one around me speaks English and everyone stares at me like I am purple with green polka dots. My alien registration card seems to really put into words how I feel, like I'm from a different planet.

After a few breakdowns on my first day, I decided I needed to man up and explore this crazy world I have landed in so I went balls out and went straight to the subway line. Now, I am from a town with no stop lights in it, so needless to say, I have never been on a subway in my life so I thought I needed to just get it over with. Thankfully, there is English everywhere in the station so I could figure out where I needed to go and when to get off the train. It was a sea of Asian people all around me and as I walked, people were not ashamed to stare or even stop me to practice their English. I'm told I will get used to this but it is still rather odd to me. I rode the subway to Gangnam, the Beverly Hills of Seoul (without the mansions), to go to the bank and open an expat account so I can transfer money home easily. The Gangnam subway station is basically a little shopping market in itself with clothes, shoes, phones and accessories everywhere! I bought myself a watch, my first ever actually, and walked around a bit more before heading back the 6 station stops to my little neck of the woods, Seoul National University in Dongjak. As I stood on my roof and puffed a smoke, I can see my whole neighborhood from the top. I'm not going to lie, its pretty ghetto, I live in a little back alley with fish markets and motels all around me. I have been told that Seoul is one of the safest cities in the world so I am not too worried, but it is discouraging none the less when all my friends talk about how "posh" their places are.. I suppose this is more of a lesson in humility than I thought it would be. Tomorrow I meet all the teachers in my school and start planning my lessons that begin on Monday morning. I will be teaching at Shin Nahm Suhng Elementary School and am the only English teacher, teaching 3, 4, 5, 6th grades. Whew, so much to learn, this year is going to fly by... hopefully:)

I am proud of myself for doing this, I am just going to be frank. This is the craziest thing I have EVER done, and hopefully it only gives me the experience and courage for more crazy things to come:)

Peace from the city of Seoul ♥