Long overdue update

After nearly 5 days in Korea, my room's internet is finally working. I am currently in Jungwon University in Goesan, South Korea. It's in the middle of Korea and a 2 hour bus ride from Seoul. I arrived at Incheon International at about 5 am local time on Sunday, which is 4 pm Saturday in VA. The 15 hour flight wasn't too bad except the older man sitting next to me had some serious B.O. 

The Fulbright Coordinators picked us up from the airport and we had some time to check in and meet the other ETAs. The group is very big, with 88 total ETAs, and there is a surprisingly diverse mix of people. There are only about 10 Korean-Americans, a few African-Americans, a few other Asian-Americans and the rest Caucasian. Anyways, we took 2 large buses from the airport to Goesan.

Each Fulbright ETA has a Fulbright number, used to take attendance, and the two large buses were split from 1-42 and 43-88. However, I did not hear these instructions and, of course, went on the wrong bus. About one hour into our ride, the Orientation Coordinator, clearly irritated, comes up to me asking if I am "Bruce." She then tells me that the other bus had noticed I was not there, thought I was still at the airport and turned back to retrieve me, setting half of all the ETAs one hour behind schedule. Mortified can not even described how embarrassed and guilty I felt. Oh yeah, and it was pouring rain outside.

So when my bus arrived on campus, a hour ahead of the other due to a complete moron who went to the bathroom at the wrong time, our bags were waiting for us, along with the other Orientation Coordinators who are all former ETAs. Of course, my roommate was on the other bus, great first impression I know, so I got the first pick of the room, desk, etc. The room is kinda small but there is a great view of the mountains (I'll post a picture once my camera starts working). 

After about an hour, the other bus arrives and I am now aware that I have pissed off half of my coworkers within the first 30 minutes of meeting them, with whom I must now spend the next 7 weeks. There was a definite tension in the air and I was honestly embarrassed to introduce myself and didn't wear my nametag for the first few hours. After a while, the awkwardness was unbearable so during one of our introduction meetings, I got up in front of the class and apologized to the entire group. It was an Oscar-worthy performance, and luckily most of the group just laughed and accepted my apology (I think).

I'll share my other stories, there are several, from my first few days here later.