Here I am

I have arrived in Korea! I got in last night, the 23 at about 7 pm local time. I met a couple of representatives from the recruiting agency I went through and they helped me get on a bus to Daejeon where I'll be living and working. I'd just missed a bus so I had to wait about two hours for the next one. By the time I finally got on the bus, I could hardly keep my eyes open.

Some initial thoughts and observations on Korea:
-Police officers walk around with rifles. Not guns, but giant rifles, taller than an eight year old if you stood one up. At one point at the airport, I saw two officers walk by a child, the tip of the rifle almost touched the child's chest. It was so casual, as if the contact was normal. My heart almost stopped.
-Korea is quieter than the United States. I feel like in the US there is a constant drone of noise. There's almost always music playing in the background, people are constantly speaking to one another, or on cell phones. Here, people generally speak in quieter voices than I'm used to, and when waiting for my bags at the airport, that huge space was almost silent. A baggage claim carousel in the US is hardly ever quiet, as I remember.
-Everything is new. The buildings are covered in neon signs. The streets are new. The restaurants are new. I knew this coming here. Korea was developed in the 60s, 70s and so on, but I didn't know how strange it would be to look at a place that feels like it has not history in the buildings...
-There was a TV on the bus as well as decorations that looked like Christmas holly: green leaves and berry vines and some things that sparkled. There's also a small Christmas tree looking thing in the hotel where I'm staying...

Time to find coffee.