The plane takes off, and I realize, it actually happened. I am on a plane for the far east. There is no more planning, no more discussing or packing, no more anything, but to do the job for which I was hired. The plane lands after 14 hours with 3 seats all to myself to spread out and relax the whole way.

Seoul feels like a giant. It is as if Los Angeles was built up like NYC. Skyscrapers everywhere with Korean script marking a myriad of businesses on every floor of the towers. Neon lights gleam in fantasy swirls, barber shop poles rotate in their blue and red circles (except here, that signifies something else (look it up if you don’t know)), squid squirm through their tiny aquariums, couples walk holding hands as their smiling visages are illuminated by the sparkling lights and a new American enters the mix.

It is a powerful feeling to know you are completely out of your element.  You cannot just go up to someone and ask who what or where. I’m going to have to learn this language quick. My little apartment patio looks out upon a giant gold building and below it a small Asian style house with a fruit tree in the yard. This is a wild place, and no one can prepare you for what you experience during your first day.