SAT 8.7.04 Driving to Taejon & my new home

After a minor communication/luggage issue with Asiana Helen and Mrs. Jung took me out to the taxi that they had hired for our return trip to Taejon. The very first thing I notices was the sea smell of the air and the wall of humidity that I walked into and it was only 6:30 in the morning!! Yep, I was seriously wondering if during the night someone had rerouted our flight back to KC. Once the shock of being out of the AC had passed and I had been put back into an air-conditioned vehicle I was fine. Helen and Mrs. Jung left me to my own devices for about a half hour while they sorted out the luggage stuff. It seems that many people had gotten here without the same number of suitcases they had left home with. At some point in all of this the traffic police told the taxi driver that he had to leave so without a word to me he just turns the car on and began to drive off. Now being as I have been in crazier situations I did not fear that he was driving me to some deserted alley where he would steal all my possessions and leave me to fend for myself, but I must admit that the thought did reside in a small corner of my brain. And holding true to my first belief he merely circled the airport and went back to pick up Helen and Mrs. Jung.

So we were off and I was tired! Korea looks so much like anyplace else I was shocked. I recognize the plants I see, the highway is a plain old highway and the cars, well that takes me back to So. Cal. Close to the border, but still America all the same. The differences are subtle at best. All the cars are either Hyundai or Kia’s, no “domestics” here J, the building are mostly high rises that are numbered in English and Hangeul as well as the signs on the highway. This is about all I take in before I get sleepy and opt to let the car lull me to sleep. Sadly I am not the only one that the car is speaking too and Mrs. Jung is in dire need of carsickness bag or a stop along the highway as the case may be.

When we do stop again at a “convenience store” the only thing I can liken it to is the “Ozarkland” stops along Highway 70. It’s this big shopping area with all these food stalls out front. After taking a bathroom break we got some grilled potatoes and were back on the road. The potatoes are sm. bite-sized, golden potatoes that are whole and grilled so that the outside is a little crisp and the inside is soft. YUMMY! Try it at home you’ll love it!

Once we got off the highway and were in Taejon I could see that this was no small city, it’s like any big city I have been to in the states and FULL of cars and people. Driving here is a little different and maybe I’ll go into that in detail later but basically what you need to know is that U-Turns are the main way to get anywhere on the roads. It wasn’t far to my apt. I right off the Expressway that runs through the city to the right on an overpass. I know sounds pretty lame but easy to find and that’s the important part right now.

First impressions of my apartment complex were, “Wow this place is tight.” And I don’t mean that in the slang way! The drive way to get into the complex is about 3.5 cars wide and there are ALWAYS cars parked on both side of the road so really you have about enough room for a car and a walker or a car and a bike at the same time. In the evenings I think that there is “valet” parking so they wedge cars into the driveways that are dead ends. I’ll take a pic and show you. I really can’t explain it. Anyway, my apt is up 11 floors and was at the end of a hallway. I really was surprised at the size of my apt. I was preparing for something much smaller so I was happy to see that I had separate rooms for everything and a balcony. Once again photos will help make it all clear. Once I began talking with people I realized that the variety of apartment sizes varies from closets to two bedrooms “mansions”! But I had prayed for a bath tub and so I received one. True it only holds about half my body and to sit down it would require me to kiss my knees, but hey God provides! Ah but the true horror was the temp of the apartment. You see AC is still a luxury here and one that I had not bought yet so my apt was about 90 when I walked in with a hot desert breeze blowing through. Yeah Steph think our upstairs ALL THE TIME! I suppose God was once again prepping my for what I would face here, amazing how he does that.

Once Helen and Mrs. Jung left I dropped all my luggage in the kitchen, sorry no pics of that but I’m sure you can imagine, and hopped into a COLD shower. This would become a regular pattern for the next few days. I could only stand about 3-5 hours between showers depending on how much AC was present. So I end up taking about 3 showers a day. Anyway I took a cold shower and was ready to leave the sauna I call an apt, so I called and joined the group before lunch for their tour of campus