The Flight

Whew! Listen to this itinerary:
I have an 8:45 a.m. flight to Atlanta to start with this Saturday. I will have to amuse myself in the airport gift shops all the way until 6:35 p.m. when I catch my plan to Chicago. At 1 in the morning I board my flight that will take me to Korea. I will make it in at about 5 a.m. Korean time (about 4 p.m. Florida time) and I will be flying through Asiana Airlines.

My suitcase is already packed and now it is an anxious wait until Saturday. Friday is my 22nd birthday, and I plan on baking my traditional birthday carrot cake from scratch (in my brand new KitchenAid stand mixer-woot!) and grillin some of the absolutely fabulous red snapper that my Uncle Ed gave to us.

This past month has been the perfect opportunity to catch up with my parents and tear through some fun summer reading, but I am ready to be working again. My first month in Korea is akin to being back in college. I will be living in a dorm at a Korean univesity, taking classes on how to teach in a Korean Elementary school while simultaneously learning the language. I guess the TaLK program has had some bad experiences before because we have a curfew for the entire month of August- be in no later than 11 p.m.!

When we land, we have to undergo a medical examination for- you guessed it- Swine Flu. We also have to get tested for all kinds of diseases too including HIV, hepatitis, malaria... everything!

Since orientation doesn't begin until the 4th, it's looking like I will have 2 days to get situated, so I plan on going to the Korean equivalent of Walmart called "E-mart" to do some critical shopping: hair dryer, hair straightener and a pillow :o) I'm also going to try to open up a bank account and russel up a cell phone if I have time.

I know you all have been waiting with baited breath for my departure ;) and the day is finally here! So keep reading because things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Changes to the Plan and New Orleans

If you have not heard already, there have been some changes in the Korea Plan. I am now rocking the trip solo. Originally, my friend Karissa and I were going together. We were both interviewed in Atlanta together and were assigned to the same city. Our intention was to live in an apartment together and basically conquer the country as a team :o). Karissa recently met a guy named Zach, who is her boyfriend now. Zach's sister, Tina, recently had a baby but has had severe respiratory complications as a result of developing pneumonia during her pregnancy. Tina is currently in an induced coma in the hospital, which is putting incredible strain on Zach and his family. Karissa feels like she needs to stay home in case Tina takes a turn for the worse.

So, the plan is that I am still going. It was a bit of an overwhelming realization at first considering I don't really know anyone over there and the plane tickets will be purchased in a matter of days... but after some soul-searching I have decided that it is still something that I want to do. While being unemployed and living with my parents is nice (I kid), I still have this itch to go and be completely outof my element, out of my comfort zone.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I wanted to mention our insane weekend road trip to New Orleans. Karissa and I wanted a last hurrah before I leave, so we decided to head to the Big Easy for a few days of debauchery. And by debauchery, I mean dragging Karissa through orated history tours and taking hour-long bus rides to visit famous cemeteries.

Our hotel was smack dab in the middle of the French Quarter, called "The Provincial", which we discovered was actually an old military hospital. We kept worrying that we'd see dead soldiers in our room at night but thankfully we didn't see any ghosts.

Daytime was for touring. We visited Lafayette cemetery, St. Louis Cemeteries 1 and 2 and we walked all over the Garden District. Probably my favorite spot in the city, the Garden District is where Anne Rice's house is.. and it was for sale! Nightime was for walking around the French Quarter. Karissa and I sang karaoke at a bar called "The Cat's Meow." We sang "Eye of The Tiger" and "Love Shack" and the bar was sooo rowdy after both songs- an absolute blast . Bourbon Street was everything you'd imagine it to be, replete with beads, beer and scantily clad people at every turn. Great for a visit, but after a night or two I was ready to go.

We also took a tour of a plantation home named "Oak Alley". It was breathtaking, with 300+ year old live oak trees on either side of the sidewalk that led up to the house. Ironically enough, this plantation was where "Interview With A Vampire" was filmed, which is a movie based off an Anne Rice book.


All in all, New Orleans was a nice trip, but I don't think I will eat any more gumbo for some time!