Seoul, Day 1

Day 1: January 3, 2008
My first day in Seoul: absolutely overwhelming. I am going to disregard the fear of hearing an, “I told you so”, from my parents and be completely honest, I am experiencing profound shock and utter exhaustion. Here are a few of my first day’s events:
1:00 am to 6:00 am: Seven people with jet lag awakenings and diarrhea.
6:00 am to 9:00 am: sifting through suitcases, again. Thankfully only one suitcase got left behind in Seattle. It should arrive tonight.
9:00 am to 12:00 pm: While exiting the plane in Seoul, we misplaced Margaret’s amoxicillin. Ugh! We spent the morning trying to find a doctor who would look at Margaret and reissue the med. Thankfully, my neighbor went with me. She was my interpreter. (Somehow I was under the false impression that everyone here speaks English; chalk that up to my naivete or my ego centrism, which ever you like.) The doctor was nice (seemed to be nice, I couldn't understand much of what he was saying) and wrote a prescription for an antibiotic. Okay. We paid $18 for the visit (I thought that was very reasonable) and stopped at the nearest “pharmacy” (I include quotes here because it in no way, shape, or form looked like a pharmacy to me). The “pharmacy” then filled the “antibiotic” (same reason for using quotes). The antibiotic was a series of little plastic envelopes filled with powder that was to be mixed with some yellow liquid and given four times a day. I was now standing clearly outside of my comfort zone. Whatever happened to good old American amoxicillin mixed and ready to be refrigerated? Oh yeah, that’s on some airplane probably half-way around the world. Ugh.
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm: My nice interpreter friend across the hall calls in some Papa John’s pizza. I start some wash (you know how laundry calms my nerves).
1:00 pm-3:00 pm: Sleep. Ahh.
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Jim informs me that there has been a major misunderstanding as to how to apply for a working visa and he has to fly to Japan in an hour. What? I am going to be left here in Seoul, alone with five children, no food and no car? I cry. I feel like I am going to panic.
4:00-5:30: I gather up the children and we walk about a quarter of a mile away looking for the grocery store. It’s cold. They are tired. Again, no one speaks any English. We walk back home with $13 worth of oranges from a street vendor. We found no store. Maybe I should have been looking for a “store”’.
5:30-6:30: Exhaustion settles in. Hunger settles in. Thankfully my neighbors flock to my aid and help me once again to order Korean takeout and $40 worth of fried chicken. The smells of the food, the looks of the food were so overwhelming that I lost all of my appetite. I had to get it out of my house. Somehow we survived that “dinner”.
At this point, I looked around me and I felt the most depressed I have felt in a very long time. I went in my room and prayed. Miri came in and put her arm around me. And I did what I know how to do: clean. I cleaned and cleaned.
9:30-10:00: I fell asleep in the chair attempting to read the Book of Mormon.

For the benefit of my parents, I want to just add, that my children say they are very happy here. They love Seoul. Why? Because of the heated toilet seats that squirt water! What else could a person want?