Finally I'm here.
Seoul, the city I've always longed for.
Months of preparation and hard work finally got me here. I was quite lucky as I got an English teaching job at Berliz, a prominent English academy in Seoul, within a month of searching and interviewing. The rest was history.
Once I found out I was accepted at Berliz, I told my parents that I was going to South Korea for an undetermined period of time. My mom flipped out, as predicted, and told me that it would be just a waste of time and money. Josh was of course on my mom's side, while my dad was a bit skeptical at first but gave in when he saw my enthusiasm.
"Honey, let her pursue her passion. You asked her to get a job, now that she does let's just support her." My dad trying to calm my mom.
"Well, if she really wants to do this, let her do this on her own. I'm not going to give her any money for this."
"Okay, don't worry I can support myself." I said stubbornly.

On the day of my departure, my mom and Josh didn't even say goodbye to me. As my dad drove me to SFO, the enormity of my plan started to hit me.
"Dad, what if I fail? What if I cause more trouble for you? What if I get hurt even more after all this?" Panic started to rise in my throat and I let out a huge sob.
"Lana, I believe in you. You can do this. You just have to be more confident, I'm sure you'll do a great job." My dad smiled warmly at me as he stroke my head. He got something out of his back pocket and handed it to me.
"What's this?" I opened the envelope and there were at least 3,000 dollars in it.
"Dad, I can't take this." I shoved the money back to him, "I promised mom that I'd do this on my own."
"I won't take no for an answer. Just treat this as your emergency fund, use it when you absolutely need it okay?" He gently put the money back in my hands.
"Thank you dad, thank you so much for believing in me. I promise I won't let you down." I sobbed onto his wide shoulders.

안녕하새요, 택시 승차장은 어디 있습니까?
(Hi, where is the taxi stand?)
저쪽으로 가세요 택시 승차장이 왼쪽에 있습니다.
(Please go that way. The taxi stand is on the left side.)
Oh my God, the information lady actually understood what I said! Finally I could put my K-drama and K-pop Korean to good use.
Feeling a bit triumphant, I walked to the taxi stand with a smile on my face.
I guess this is a great start for my journey.

아저씨 이곳이 맞습니까?
(Ajussi, is this the right place?)
네 맞아요.
(Yes, it is.)
아 그래 그럼 감사합니다
( Ah ok, thank you.)
Is this right? It doesn't look a thing like the pictures on the website.
I stood in front of the run down building confused.
Oh well, let's just give it a try.

I hesitantly opened the shabby-looking wooden door into the front yard of the house. I took in my surroundings, a set of old wooden chairs and table were placed on the left side near a tall tree. There was a bucket of washed clothings near the racks on the right side of the yard, but no one was in sight.
"Annyeong haseyo! Is there anyone here?" I called out.
"Ne ne ne, chamganmanyo! Ahh you must be the new student! Welcome to Mirae guesthouse!"
A cheery chubby ajumma wearing a flowery sundress with hair rollers on top of her head came out of the house.
"Annyeong haseyo, Mrs Kim right? I'm Lana who'll be staying with you starting today."
"Ah yes Lana. The other guys are out. Wait here a moment, let me call YoonMi. YoonMi ya, the new one is here, come out to greet her!" She yelled towards the inside of the house.
A petite girl my age with short bob hair came out while yawning. "Ajumma, your voice is too loud." Her eyes lighted up when she saw me, "Ah you're the new renter from America right? Annyeong, my name is YoonMi, I'm a sophomore at Ewha. You understand Korean? Korean ok?" She spoke at lightning speed and I barely understood what she was talking about.
"Hi, I'm Lana and I speak a little bit Korean."
"YoonMi ya, could you please show the new renter to her room? I need to finish hanging these clothes" Mrs Kim said as she started her unfinished task.
"Ne ajumma. Follow me Lana ssi. You don't look like Americans, I mean blonde hair blue eyes. How old are you Lana ssi? You look older than me, should I call you eonni?" I was taken aback by how straight-forward and friendly she was, very different from me who tended to be awkward around new people.
"I'm 22, so yeah I'm probably older than you. You may call me eonni if you want. My parents are first generation Indo-Chinese, but I was born in America, so I'm technically an American."
"Ah I see. Eonni!" She suddenly exclaimed, "You like Bangtan?" as she touched my Chimmy plush head keychain hanging from my backpack.
"Yes, haha, is it weird that someone my age still like boyband?" My face reddened and I hid Chimmy behind my back.
"Ommo, aniyo eonni! I'm an army too! You like Jimin right? I like Namjoon. Ahhh I'm so happy my new housemate is an army!" She pulled me into a hug catching me by surprise.
"Eonni, I'll take you to Big Hit and Bangtan's dorm tomorrow. Ah don't forget their BT21 cafe. I'll bring you to a Bangtan tour!"
Just like that I found my first friend in Seoul.