Oh traveling in a foreign country… what fun that can be! My flight was scheduled to leave Beijing at 5.55pm. J & A took off early in the morning, so I decided to try and catch an earlier flight. I attempted to make a simple phone call and ask if they had earlier flights available… yeah that didn’t go so well. After being transferred to like 3 or 4 different people on the same airline (after I told them that this wasn’t even the airline I was flying) I decided to pack up and head to the airport.
Of course when I get there, there are no earlier flights. It’s 10 am and my flight does not leave for anther 8 hours. I hung out in Starbucks for most of those hours and read a book. For a moment I felt like I was back in the states. Starbucks has the same smell and feel no matter where you are… it’s your little piece of home!
You also cannot go into the terminal until 2 hours before your flight leaves, so I just had to wait out. Waiting all of those hours really started to drain me. I was already physically drained and then just waiting emotionally drained me. I’m going to be honest, I did have my first break down since I have left. Now break down is a strong word… it wasn’t that bad, I just can’t think of any other way to describe it. I think it had a big part to do with the fact that I did not hear any English spoken all day and I wasn’t able to talk to anyone and I had a lot of time on my hands… all of those do not add up to a good combo!
Not that I questioned coming over here, it was more a moment of ‘what the heck was I thinking?’ Let’s just say on this day God and I did a lot of talking. I honestly had nothing else to do but start talking to Him. I guess that’s one way to get through to me right… just don’t give me anyone else to talk to! But, without skipping a beat, God showed me His faithfulness and gently reminded me that He is right here with me on this journey:
I was standing around waiting to check in and I noticed this girl who was also a Western. We started making small talk and she asked me if I live in Seoul. I told her no, but a city outside of Seoul and that I was teaching English. She is actually a teacher in Seoul right now and she is getting ready to start her 12th and final month here. She was able to say a few statements that were very comforting to me. She told me I will definitely have my up and down days throughout the whole process but it’s such an incredible experience! Her few words definitely calmed my soul and I know it was God speaking through her to me. I took a deep breathe and was reminded yet again that He knows exactly what I need when I need it!
That was a boost in my day! We went through the terminal and sat down and waited for our flight. I look at my watch and it’s 5.35 and we were supposed to board 15 minutes earlier. Then I check my watch again and it’s 5.55, the time we were supposed to be leaving. I checked it again and now it’s 6.15 and no one has said anything to let us know what’s going on. Then, finally at 6.30 a bus pulls up and we all pile on and it takes us on about a 5 minute drive around the terminal outside. We finally pull up to our plane, get off the bus and walk up the stairs to get on the plane. It’s 7pm by the time we take off.
We get there, we unload, go through customs, all that fun stuff. You haven’t experienced customs though until you experience it with Asians. As soon as you step foot off the plane, it’s like one big race and people are running and telling people to hurry and pushing their way through. You don’t want to get in their way that’s for sure. We get to the baggage claim and we’re waiting for our bags. I notice that there is a ‘Lost and Found’ sign right by the claim. (Sidenote: On the original trip over to So. Korea, I forgot my CD case full of all of my favorite DVD’s and a few TV series DVD’s… 2 WHOLE seasons of Friends!! I was stressing out majorly b/c a: that’s a LOT of money and b: what am I going to watch when I need a taste of home? I didn’t tell anyone I left them though b/c it made me sick every time I thought about it so I didn’t want to talk about it!) I figured, what the heck, let’s just go up and ask if maybe that might have it. They asked me my flight number and I gave them my stub that I still had. They looked it up on the computer and asked what it looked like. My dad got it for me the night before I left and I couldn’t remember what it looked like. I told them I think it was black and yellow with a bunch of DVD’s. They looked through the inventory they had online and said yes, in fact they did! I was beyond ecstatic!! I went with the lady upstairs to the office and reclaimed it! I was feeling good and was just ready to get on the bus and go home!
Man, I should know better then to get too comfortable with life! So, I go downstairs to get on the AirBus. The lady says ‘No more.’ And I was like what, what does that mean?!? She just kept saying ‘no more’ and I realized she was telling me there were no more buses tonight! I think I might have stopped breathing for a couple of seconds! I had a moment of panic b/c I had no idea what to do. I had the cell phone number of one of the other teachers so I thought I’d call her and see what I should do. I don’t have a cell phone yet, so I was wondering around trying to find someone I could ask. I found these 2 guys who worked at the airport and I asked if there was a phone I could use. My face had this panic look on it and I felt that if I said too many words I might just have an emotional breakdown. I think one of the guys noticed that too, so he just handed me his cell phone to use.
I called Tracy and asked her what to do. I hadn’t gone to the bank so I didn’t have enough won to get a taxi. I debated whether to just stay in the airport over night and wait for the next bus that left at 6.30 am. I figured I’d already spent all day in the airport, why not just make it a full 24 hours?!? She said, no you can’t stay there, I’ll find you a way home. She gave me the address to the University (which I had no clue what it was) and told me to get have a taxi bring me back and she would meet me at the entrance with money to pay the driver. I thanked her over and over and by this time I’m just so emotionally drained that I have tears streaming down my face. I hand the phone back to the guy and he just kind of looks at me and I know he’s thinking what is wrong with that weirdo (I know b/c I was thinking the same thing myself!)
The next task was to find a taxi driver that looked friendly. I walked out to a line of taxi and saw a guy about my dad’s age and thought he looks nice as he smiled at me. So, I gave him the address and 1 hour and 45 minutes later I arrived at KNU. My total bill was 180,000 won, which is roughly about $180! Tracy had called another girl, Brittany, at the dorms and she went around and helped collect money from some of the girls. It truly was such a blessing to see this community who I just met come together and help me out like that! All I could say was “Thank you Jesus!!!” That situation could have been very bad! I am so thankful for that experience though b/c it made me realize I am going to be fine and I can take on a lot!
This past week has been very humbling. I feel like I am a pretty self-sufficient person! I hate putting people out and asking them to have rearrange their schedules for me. This is exactly what I’ve been doing for the past week though! The teachers just keep reassuring me though that they had to do the same thing and I will in return do this for someone else! They buy me dinner and give me 90,000 won to go to the store. I’ve had to learn to accept it b/c I literally have no other choice. It is a great reminder of what true community is all about. We need people around us to help us where we are lacking or to even simply to give us that look that says ‘I understand how you are feeling and I’m here to tell you it’ll get better.’ I feel sorry for those who have not experienced true community. I believer this is what God intended by creating us and wiring us for relationships. It’s also been a great reminder that our community does not have to be just like us and that variety is good. We can learn a lot from others!
I have already seen God’s fingerprint all over my experience thus far! I’m barely beginning and He is so evident in every way! I am so thankful to have this experience and I will try my hardest to not take one moment for granted!
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