Time: 5.59 am (Seoul Time--which we will be on from now on out)
The bus just started for Jeonju--We are off!
So, the plan elanded in Seoul right on time: 4.59 am or some similiarly Gosh-darn aweful. I was one of the last people out of the plane. I lost my chapstick (and I love my chapstick!) (Luckily for me, a few outs later I see the Nivea brand on sale so I know I can get some new ones)
I make my way into immigration--basically following the crowd. I don't have a Korean passport so I filed in line under "Foreign passport" and that was a very quick process-only 1 person in front of me. The only snag was that I didn't know what to put for my "address" since I will not be finding this out until tomorrow. So the immigrations guy put simply, "city name, Jeonbuk."
Greeting me after immigration was a beautifully familiar face: Bond, James Bond. Peirce Brosman can welcome me to Korea any time he wants--even if he's selling casino time.
Then I proceede to baggage claim with a quick pit stop to the bathroom to reapply make-up, put in contacts and bush my teeth. My duffle was out immediantely on the turn-a-wheel-baggage-depositor, and about 5 minutes later, out comes my black hard case.
I grab them, followed the "EXIT" signs, and passed through customs. I got asked if I was an American (which was my printed nationality on the card). So I said, "Yes." He said, "Ah, you have very pretty eyes. Yes, you very beautiful." "Thank you." and then through some double doors and a line of men stand waiting with poster cards. Luckily, one just happened to have my name. Enter John--JJ Recruiting's boss.
He's a very nice guy; he takes my luggage--which is heavy!--and, after I exchange some money into won, we are off. We exit the baggage claim, walk across the street, and there is a little hut with "Bus Terminal" printed above a window. It was closed, but in about 10 minutes it opened up.
This was light up next to the ticket purchasing window: shows the general direction of what I will be doing.
I bought my ticket, with JOng standing next to me--but I was the one who did the work. It was hard; I said, "Jeonju?" and handed my debit visa card over. Then, 2 seconds later, she hands me my ticket. My first purchase in a foreign country:
I even said "Thank you" In Korean--but don't ask me how to spell it phonetically right now. I'm lucky to get it pronounced right, let alone try to type it. Anyway, John smiled encouragingly at me and it seemed like I had done the right thing.
Anyway, with bus ticket in hand, the bus pulled up the curb literally about three seconds after I bought it. We stowed my baggage under the bus, John asked the driver a few questions. I was a little confused, there might be one stop--but basically, I get off at the last stop. There are no other cities that the bus stops in. Which was nice. (Since I am typing this after I was on the bus, we made one stop at a rest area, but then proceeded to Jeonju.) (The trip started on the dot at 6 am, and we were at Jeonju around 9.30).
The whole process--from getting off the plane to getting on the bus--took less than 1 hour. (This is where i apologize to my parents because I promised to call them after I landed in Seoul, but there really was no time to try an connect to the internet. I tried while I was on the bus, but nothing would register.)
But I'm safe and sound in Jeonju. I actually just got back from visiting the Hanok Traditional Village--but that is another post altogether!
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