Floating

Chapter 2

After 12 hours of flying, screaming babies, smelly sandwiches and snoring people I finally made it to Seoul.

I watched almost all the Disney movies that were available and I also ate all the food that was free. I have to say that the flight was not the best but more pleasant than flying with Ryanair for a second.

I even tried to get some sleep but the slightest turbulence shifted me back  and reminded me how much I hate flying. But if you want something you sometimes have to do something you hate.

That's what my mother would have said. I miss some of her little sayings and comments that she still knows from her great-grandmother. Sometimes they can be inappropriate but sometimes you would rather have a saying than a 3-hour explanation why life can be so unfair and that you have to live with it.

I was even able to listen to my long Spotify Playlist, which I had quickly created two evenings before.

Yes, I can be very organized. Maybe only in the last second but still. The few friends I had always laughed at me because of my spontaneity. They could not understand how someone who organizes so many things on one hand can be so spontaneous on the other.

I don't know if I will still be in contact with my old school friends but I think it is definitely easier to keep in touch with Twitter and Instagram than it was with letters.

How could they wait so long for an answer when nowadays some of them would almost send the police to your home if you don't answer for 3 hours because you're doing another one of your naps?

The airport is much bigger than the one in Nancy and there is much more activity here.

Nancy was a small but nice town with many families and grandpas and grandmas who spend their retirement here.

I don't know if I ever want to spend my pension in this city or if I will ever really go back to France.There are many possibilities in Korea for me now and I would ,of course ,enjoy them to the end. Although I must say that I will miss the smell of fresh baguette and hot croissants in the morning. 

My father is usually a late riser but on Sundays he always got up much earlier than the rest of us and brought us fresh croissants. I think I will miss it especially in the cafeteria on campus where there will probably only be bread and muesli to eat as breakfast.

I try to get an overview where the bus of the Seoul National University is.

The university offers a shuttle bus to students from abroad to get to the campus easily. Other universities should take this as a model, especially in France.

I am already completely fascinated by the airport alone.  It is huge and even has trees in it. There is beautiful architecture everywhere and plenty of different restaurants and shops. As a soon-to-be product designer I am overwhelmed by all this. It is like a place of inspiration.

Okay, I should pay less attention to the architecture and more to the signs before I miss the bus. So I'm going to look for signs that can help me.

Since I am not very good at Korean I may not be able to read the signs, but I at least can ask someone. Although I hope that here, other than in France, English will be no problem.

After I quickly bought a tasty Hotteok, that I have smelled from afar, I knew I would buy these Korean pancakes more often if the food on the campus is as I eypect it to be. Luckily the typical Korean shop I just bought my food at the right end of the airport, where the busses wait.

Five minutes later I finally found the right shuttle to my university. There was already a small queue in front of the bus on this deserted area.

It was quite noisy because of all the planes taking off and landing and I consider myself lucky that I would not live nearby. So I stood in the queue and waited for my turn.