The Korean Dimension

Mary Hamilton Hall Collins

Adventures in South Korea

1995-2011

Chapter 3

JULY 16, 1995   KOREAN TIME

Arriving in Korea

We landed at Kimpo Airport (Incheon Airport had not been built.) I remember having to pick up my heavy bags and carry them down some stairs.  This was almost physically impossible.  When one bag fell, I asked a group of Korean pilots to help me.  They just walked on.

Later I learned that in Korea men in uniform did not carry heavy things or stop to help women in distress.

Going through customs took a long time.  I had to take all the production equipment, computer and cameras out of my bags. They almost didn’t let me into the country because I was carrying a computer.  Computer parts piracy was a big issue.  Since I had not pre-registered to bring a computer into the country I was detained and questioned.  This was interesting because of the lack of language skills on both sides.

Finally, I was able to go out the doors and meet my new supervisor and some teachers from the school.  They were a bit irritated that it had taken so long for me to get through customs….they had been waiting for over an hour.

My supervisor told me that the apartment assignment had been changed and said that I would be riding in a van that the school provided.

Kimpo Airport in those days was out in the countryside.  We saw lots of farm land along the road.  Then, we started seeing many white high rise apartment buildings.  Next we were surrounded by the hilly country of Seoul. 

I felt very homesick the first night.  Each of our bedrooms had a black, dial land line phone.  However, we could not call long distance.  So, I used my primitive computer to email my husband.

Internet as we have today was still being developed.  If you were a member of a communications group (you had to pay for this) then you could do a primitive sort of email to those in the group. 

The emails did not go through quickly…sometimes they took a day to two to be received.  So, you could not get an instant reply….you had to wait.

Of course, to use this service you didn’t have to have an internet connection….it worked through the phone line.

Chapter 4