Jet lag

Before I left, I told my friends that I didn't believe in jet lag. I had decided it was mind over matter.

Ha.

I arrived in my apartment a few hours ago, and the very first thing I did was pass out on the bed. I did manage to get the table cloth-like sheet down before I fell asleep, but I couldn't be bothered with blankets. Now that I'm slightly better rested (I'm still planning to go back to sleep here very soon), I'll try to give a little better of an update.

My apartment is pretty nice. I'll get pictures posted soon, but I'm too lazy to get out of bed and try to find my camera. Plus, I'd like to set a few things up around the place to make it look a little more homey when you all see it. Here are some apartment fun facts:
- The landlord came by and talked to me in Korean. I tried to explain to him that I didn't understand any Korean, but he didn't seem to know any English. We both just smiled and giggled nervously until he finally gave up and went away.
- My shower IS the bathroom. The bathroom IS the shower. There's a drain in the floor, and I'm assuming I'll have to become very coordinated to hold the water thingy and wash my hair simultaneously. Shaving my legs will be out of the question for a while.
- The refrigerator smells like something died in it. I don't know where to find cleaner, but it's okay because I don't have any food at the moment.
- I'm not sure if it's safe to drink the water, so for now, I'm just going to be very thirsty. If you know me at all, you know I can drink a gallon of water with dinner, so this is a tad bit painful, but I'd rather err on the side of safety than end up puking my guts out.
- I don't have any dishes, but it's okay because I don't have any food at the moment.
- My window looks out at a lovely brick wall. The roof of the building next to mine has a plastic kids' play thing on it, and once it's light out again, I intend to find out if mine does too. Also, I'm hoping to jump from one roof to the other, SpiderMan style.
- I have a washing machine, but the directions are in Korean.
- Ditto for the stove.
- And the air conditioner.
- And the tv remote.
- I found a Chanel bag under the sink and have been using it for trash. For some reason, this strikes me as very funny.
- We passed a Starbucks on the way to my apartment. I think I can find my way back to it in the morning? I surely hope so.

Sitting here on my table cloth bed, it's easy to imagine that I'm just in a new apartment in Cincinnati. In fact, when I was asleep, I dreamt that all my friends were here, in this new apartment, and we were exploring the city together. It was quite sad to wake up and find myself utterly alone. I think things will be easier tomorrow, when I have something to do and people to meet. Right now, I'm in an apartment that's much too cold (but I can't fix it) that smells a little funny from being closed up for a while, and I'm just lonely. It's a weird kind of lonely; being in a city of 11 million people, yet the only person you've tried to talk to in the last six hours doesn't speak your language. It's lonely with people all around, and in my experience, that's the worst kind.

Oh, but this is exciting: when I very first started thinking about moving to Korea, I found a picture of this bridge:

and knew I needed to find it as soon as possible. Well, it's practically right outside my door. We passed it on the way in, and I started bouncing in my seat. People looked at me funny. Korea's either going to stifle my joy, or I'm going to learn to not care what people think. Please God, let it be the latter.

I'm still feeling really sick from the plane food. I originally thought I was just sick because I was trying to type on a moving bus, but I get a little dizzy when I try to stand up, so it can't be that. I'm going to try to sleep it off; I have to work in a few hours, so I don't have much choice.

Until next time...