And away we go!

Long story short, I got all my bags, piled them on a baggage cart and wheeled my way towards immigration (again.). I swear, I went through immigration checkpoints three different times. They had to make sure Pookie had all her documents so she wouldn't have to be quarantined (yikes!) for an undisclosed period of time. Through all of this, I had been looking for Mr. Choi, but couldn't find him STILL. At this point, I began to slightly panic because I had absolutely no way to call him if I couldn't find him. So I'd be pretty much screwed. As I went through the last final immigration checkpoint however, there was Mr. Choi holding a sign that said "TRISHA." FINALLY! We shook hands, tried to awkwardly communicate a little bit, then he took control of the cart and off we walked to his car.
Now I wish I had taken some pictures of the airport, but to be honest, it wasn't that special. It was definitely new and had some restaurants, but nothing that is worth mentioning. We walked in the airport a little bit, then we turned to go outside and I thought, "Finally! I can't wait to get into cooler, drier weather. This is going to be awesome. California weather, here I come!" I walked outside and the bright, sunny smile immediately fell off my face. It was HOUSTON ALL OVER AGAIN. Hot, humid, cloudy, sprinkling and gross. I. WAS. PISSED. This was not what I was expecting AT ALL. Ugh.
Anyway, we got into the car for a joyous three hour car ride to Daejeon. I was completely exhausted and stinky, and I was really starting to feel bad for Pookie who had been in her cage for 17 1/2 hours - and that's not including the three hour car ride. Double ugh.
Mr. Choi is really nice but, as I suspected, doesn't speak English very well. As I was trying to not fall asleep, we tried to communicate via one word sentences and a whole lot of hang gesturing. Had I not been so tired, it would have been pretty damn amusing.
Three hours later, we got to my apartment. Yes! Victory! I could let Pookie out so the poor thing could use the restroom; I could shower and GO TO SLEEP! YES! Not so much.
I got out of the car and there stood all the teachers from the school. It was a grand welcome party, but I felt and looked like I had rolled around in dookie for the last 24 hours. I was in no mood to meet and greet, but you gotta do what you gotta do. And I did. Jude, who is the Korean receptionist/caretaker of the school had my bedding. Maria and Jason, the other Korean teachers stood there and smiled at me the whole time. Vincent and Patrick, the native teachers, did their manly duty and brought my extremely heavy suitcases up four flights of stairs. Haha. In my sick, sadistic, exhausted mind, watching them bring up my suitcases filled me with glee. They were panting and sweating (stupid heat and humidity) and had to basically bend over with their hands on their knees after they got to my door. I was in heaven. I JUST WANTED TO SHOWER PEOPLE, give me a break. I felt a LITTLE sympathy, but not much.
I walked into my apartment, then immediately got scolded by Mr. Choi to take off my shoes, so I ran back to the door to take off my shoes, then ran back to the freaking AC so I could get some cold air into my extremely hot and stuffy (but cute) apartment. As I was trying to get Pookie's litter box out of my suitcase, Mr. Choi again scolded me for taking too long because apparently, we were going out to eat! OH JOY! I guess I had to prolong my shower for another two hours. What's another two hours after a build up of germs, grime and airplaneness on my skin?
Anyway, the place we went to eat at was just lovely. (I've been hanging out with way too many Irish people). We had some yummy pork BBQ with soup, rice and yes, Soju. Soju is Korea's staple liquor, made from distilled rice. Mr. Choi poured me four shots, so by the end of the meal, I was feeling pretty giddy. (I couldn't let my boss down by not drinking!). Everyone was super nice, seriously. They all talked to me and asked me questions and acted really interested in my answers. I talked the most to Patrick (who is Irish and well, flamboyant) who promised to take me around to help me get all my stuff. He's a sweetheart. Sam, another Korean teacher, joined us while we were eating dinner. The Koreans have this traditional way of pouring soju, which I think is really cute. The men pour it with their right hand, and while they pour, their left arm is bend across their chest so that their left hand is on their left breast. The girl accepting the soju has to hold it with both hands. It's cute.
Anyway, after dinner Patrick took me to the Family Mart (basically a convenience store) to get some goods like water, liquid yogurt (weird?), cereal and milk. Girl's gotta eat!

Weird yogurt stuff - but actually tasted nice

Finally, finally, I got to shower and open the litter box for poor Pookie who sprinted for it once I opened it. Poor thing. She's amazing.
The next day I had to be at work at 2:00 (crazy Korean work ethic) so I went to sleep immediately after my much anticipated shower (which was amazing). The shower, FYI, is my entire bathroom. EVERYTHING gets soaked when I shower. The sink, counter, toilet, everything. There's no curtain anywhere. It's totally weird, but I don't mind. Just don't keep anything perishable in there!

This is my bathroom and see the cord connected to the sink? Yeah, that's my shower head.

I went to sleep that night quickly, but woke up during the night because my throat was absolutely killing me. I got up the next morning around 11:30 and yup, I was already sick. Damn Korean viruses! Patrick, who lives a floor below me, knocked on my door around 1:15 to tell me that they ordered lunch at the school and we were all invited to eat. Yummy!

The school is literally a four minute walk. And I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I got there. It. Was. Awful. But we had Pizza Hut to look forward to, so that kept me in high spirits, despite my nasty cold. My duty for the next two weeks was to observe Vincent, the teacher that was leaving the institute September 3rd. So that's what I did all day. I sat in the corner like a child in trouble and watched him teach the cute Korean kids. 

The Korean kids, as previously mentioned, are adorable. They pretty much all wear glasses and if they don't have a prescription, they just wear the frames. The Simpsons is also really popular with them; they have pencil cases and backpacks with Bart or Homer on them. I thought that was hilarious. The kids were all very interested in me and were basically giddy and shy around me. Some ran at the sight of me, others stopped and said hello, others gave me candy (offered, of course, with both hands). They're sweet. 

Getting tired again! I'll write more soooooon!