Heart In Seoul

Arrival

17 hours and 10,721kms later we arrived in Korea, Seoul South Korea if you must know, "Alysa! This is beautiful!" I said to my best friend with such excitement, all the planning and dreams I had prepared me, I can't speak fluently yet but I learned behavioral tics And imagery to help, Alysa was the one that knew fluent Korean.

We arrived a week early so that we can adapt, Alysa will teach English language at an academy. Alysa got us a cab and we went to our home, stepping in I was in awe, we had a traditional Korean style home, minding our manners we took our shoes off in the doorway. I stepped into the living room, bamboo placed in every corner, classic korean furniture, it's amazing. "its free because i'm teaching, well not really we still have to pay for utilities because we use them but that we can manage" Alysa said. I hauled my bags into my room and unpacked all my belongings. I couldn't stop smiling, I was right, I needed this, we had a week of free time on our hands. The plane ride made me exhausted so i climbed into my bed and drifted off.

I woke an hour later in a cold sweat, having dreamt that what happened didn't happen, i felt sad and trapped, though upon opening my eyes i realized i wasn't in the states anymore. I was in korea, i felt at home here. I wasn't used to the silence in my room so i sat up and evaluated my surroundings, my stomach growled loudly in protest, "ugh.." i said and walked into the hallway, the tan walls looked so pretty with its oriental trim on every door way. i trailed my hand across a wall as i walked to the living room, alysa was gone, likely to buy food but i couldn't wait so i sent her a text and slipped my shoes on.

i stepped outside and locked the door behind me, alysa had two sets of keys made for us. it was early spring in seoul south korea so the cherry blossoms were very vibrant, i snapped a picture and uploaded it to instagram for my friends in the states to see. Mom is already at work, i will be getting up when it's dinner time for her. I walked a block to a cute little market that had some interesting food, i skimmed thru the shelves and found what looked like what is called "potato chips" in the states. "excuse me ma'am, i just came here and i don't speak korean very well, can you help me?" i spoke to an elderly lady and proceeded to bow in respect, "help? I help, nice young lady want fish?" she said in her broken english. "Anio, ma'am, thanks but i am a vegetarian, do you have tofu? soy milk? carbonated drinks?" "Ne, i have tofu for lady, soda in cooler stand and milk fresh from cow" she said politely and gathered the things for me.

"5737.47 won please" the lady said, 5737.47 won equals 5 american dollars, i pulled my shoulder bag and dug out some paper won and a few coin won from the zipper bag that was stitched to the inside of my purse. I walked back to the house with my things and cooked my food, it wasn't the best but it was food i could eat, i am still learning how to prepare korean food.