Fly little birdie

With the risk of this becoming a “life journal,” here’s how I will get from YFC to ICN — which happens to have been named the world’s best airport (again) by Skytrax.

I will make my way there via YUL and YVR. The problem with coming from such a small town is that I need to get to a major city before I can get on a real international route. From here, that was either going to be Montreal or Toronto. Seems like Montreal was the cheapest at the time of booking. It also seems that YUL could be given the title of having the world’s least informative airport website.

We begin the trip with a turboprop..

YFC – YUL
de Havilland (Bombardier) Dash 8-100

YUL – YVR
Airbus A321-200 (refurbished cabin w/ in-seat audio/video on demand)

YVR – ICN
Boeing 767-300ER (refurbished cabin w/ in-seat audio/video on demand)

Those Airbuses are a bit crashy these days, but let’s hope AC has their mechanical bits all in order.

Steps 3 through last

Since the last post, I have graduated from the University of Toronto with your standard issue Honours Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and East Asian Studies. I stayed in Fredericton for a few weeks before graduation then went up to clear out my junk, do some touristy business with my father, attend convocation, then make the 16-ish hour trip from Toronto back home.

I began looking for a job on the 18th of June (two days after convocation), and had a job by the 21st. I entertained a few offers, but settled on a position with Big Blue hagwon. That’s not the real name of the business of course, but I’ll leave it up to you smart kids to figure out which that is. I’ve learned from Mr. Kimchi, that talking about your employer on the interweb may not be the best idea.

But, I will say that I will be working in (living near) “affluent” Mokdong (목동), and have began to plan my routine using Daum Local to find department stores, convenience stores, and subway stations in the area. Using their “Road View” function, I simulated walking through the neighbourhood, to get a feel for the place.

Here’s a few places of note I found which are walkable (to me walkable means within an hour or so from my house):

목동야구장 (Mokdong Baseball Field) – Home of my new local team, the Heroes, of the KBO. I believe I’ll be attending games here quite often.

지도를 클릭하시면 위치정보를 확인하실 수 있습니다.

HomEver (bought by HomePlus, but as of this picture, still HomEver, and a big one at that. I was hoping for an E-Mart, but this will do.

Once I find some more places of note, I’ll add them here.

Now I just have to wait for my visa to come.

Steps to Korea: Steps 1 and 2

As I see it, the process through which I must go in order to arrive in Korea to be with my future wife began with my last exam (in Korean Modern History) at the University of Toronto and ends with my arrival at Incheon.

Step one was completed on Tuesday, April 28th 2009 at about 4:10PM. That was officially the last academic business I had to complete at UofT. It was a mediocre beginning due to my misguided studying and lack of sleep. But, it was one of the last mental hurdles I needed to overcome.

Step two was quitting this here part time job that I have had for the past three years or so with very little (save for financial) satisfaction. I did that part today. I gave my two weeks notice anyway, and I will be completing this weekend and next weekend to call an end to this step.

Step three is getting rid of all the junk in my apartment (of five years) and packing up.

I probably won’t talk much about that one though. It’s rather boring.