Day 1 in Korea!

i have arrived. I had a last minute visa issue but it was solved by a motorcycle, train, and taxi ride and I got to the airport in time for the flight. The plane ride was not horrifying! Each person had an entertainment system that contained music, movies, tv shows, games, and cameras on the bottom and front of the plane to watch the ride. I did not let this go to waste (I watched invictus, the lovely bones, the rebound, princess and the frog, grease, an episodes of house, and an episode of friends) because I couldn't really fall asleep, even the food was good. I was traveling for 27 hours and only really slept one or two hours so I was out like a light when we finally got to the dorms.

Right now i am at the Hubo lab. We havent figured out the internet in our rooms yet and have also managed to short all the power to the rooms so sarah, lauren and i have taken refuge in a conference room here for a while catching up on news over the past week, getting in touch with people, and the typical hour or two of stumbling. Everyone here is so nice and helpful! even when we were waiting at the korean air gate at JFK two separate ladies came up to us while we were practicing korean and coached us through our pronunciation. We have perfected the "im lost and need help" look once we got out of the airport. Instantly someone will walk up and offer up anyway they can assist. It seems koreans are very eager for foreigners to have a good experience, which is great for us!

For dinner tonight we went out with the alumni of the hubo lab. Today was a special day where the alumni came back to the lab and got to see the progress of hubo, socialize, play a lab soccer tournament and then have a great dinner. I sat at a table with the guys who work in the lab and danielle. it was so much fun : ) I got to know everyone a little better and it seems like this is going to be six weeks filled with lots of good times. I was expecting to get to Korea and feel like an outsider but everyone is so sociable and genuinely interested in us (and everyone speaking english helps) that it feels like hanging out with friends as opposed to being in a foreign place all the way across the world. Maybe this feeling will wear off or dissipate as we get further away from the lab but regardless it has been really easy to talk to people so far. A 15 year old daughter of one of the lab alum brought a group of friends to the party and i spent a lot of time with them. There weren't any awkward silences, we bonded over harry potter, and had just as many questions for them as they we asking me. I was glad to have such a successful interaction with koreans who had no idea who i was initially.

Professor Jun Ho Oh is also awesome. I am not sure what I was expecting but he is funny and very welcoming. Perhaps my mental image of asian countries being serious and all business was influencing my assumptions that i was confused when a guy in jeans was joking around with us in the lab. I am excited to work with him and everyone else too : )

It was an exciting first day but I am looking forward to having the day off tomorrow. thankfully no jetlag!! or not yet... but i am real excited to go to bed tonight.
I am not worried about feeling alone anymore and look forward to a lively 6 weeks!