Immediately I am greeted by the one of the many beautiful and friendly hostesses. All of the Asiana hostesses looked like they came out of a factory - they all were tall, skinny, pretty, and super-polite and welcomed everyone on the flight with a nice bow.
I remember seeing another Caucasian a few rows to my left. He was about my age and dressed up in a suit.
I was wearing basketball shorts and flip flops. I wondered if he was a TaLK Scholar like me. I hoped he wasn't. I don't want to compete with that. I started second-guessing myself as a teacher and if I was doing the right thing. I felt super unprepared again, but then came Darrel.
Darrel was a Filipino-American college student from California and . . .a fellow TaLK Scholar. As it turned out, Darrel sat right next to me - wearing basketball shorts and flip flops as well. Cheese and crackers - I was glad to meet Darrel. He felt as unprepared as me and shortly after talking with him, I felt confident that I could do this.
The Meals!
Oh, the food was amazing! I remember my first meal - well first I need to tell you the options. I had the choice of a Bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef) or a steak. I ordered a steak - thinking "This is amazing - I'm going to be eating a steak on my flight to Korea!". Darell ordered Bulgogi - I thought to myself, "Sucker." Previously, the only thing I'd eaten on an airplane were those nasty cookies or snack mixes - which I always ask for 2 ha ha.
My steak came and it was awesome. Then Darell's Bulgogi dish came and I am sure he was thinking, "Sucker." He had had twice as much food - rice, marinated beef, lettuce (used to wrap up the beef and rice), kimchi, eggs, soup, and a bowl of fruit.
I told myself to never choose an American dish over a Korean dish again. My steak was amazing by the way, but nothing compared to the Korean dish.
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