This blog is about South Korea....rather my experiences in South korea....
In a way , i feel quite psenti about this place , being my first overseas destination....
My holiday destinations were always within India , but no regrets..Thanks to my dad , who has made me visit places in all parts of India ,right from delhi to kanyakumari...
Neverthless , the mere thot abt travelling abroad was quite exciting,visting new places and people....etc etc...
Korea tops that list , but it was not a holiday destination , first onsite deputation from my company... So its jus not fun but a lot of responsibilities added to that.....
US or Europe is the most common onsite location for majority IT guys,but mine was a little different....
I can still recall the excitement that i had ...Right from shopping ,planning and my folks coming to the airport to see me off....
At workplace i have always stuck to my salwar suits with duppattas.This time i was in my jeans all over again...(Mom must have had a tough time , helping me shop... At one stage , she sat outside the trial rooms permanently ..)The entire shopping phase was fun amidst all the work pressure.....
Managed to gather as much as info possible from my collegues abt the accomodation and food..
Being a veggie, i wasnt prepared to take a risk , so carried a whole lot of eatables....(the usual chips and maggi packets)
Finally comes the D- day.... I was in the airport will a whole lot of luggage and a laptop...blah blah... Thank god ..i wasnt travelling alone...Half of my team was with me, including my lead....
Journey was quite exciting and there was a hop via singapore....Transit time wasnt much , so jus managed to catch the connecting flight to Incheon...(south korea).... Finally my excitement reached a peak when i landed in Incheon.... Our accomodation was arranged in a place called "Suwon", which is a one- hour journey my bus....
Before that came the forex confusion ...Had a few hundred dollars with me and my team mates helped me with the forex.... Korean currency was "Won"...The currency rates and conversions drove me crazy....then figured a simpler way out... 1 $ was roughly 1000 won...
I was shocked to pay 12000 won for a bus ticket...But when i sat back calmly in the bus ,i realised it was jus 12$.The word thousand used to drive me nuts.....First time i converted 100 $ and almost had a lakh won in hand..And i have never carried so much cash all my life...
Thot it would take a while for me to understand this money factor..
Finally reached the hotel and checked in.... Me and another team mate shared a room ..So it was good fun...Was damn surprised at my dinner table..My eyes popped out when i saw "roti and dal"...Never imagined to get such good Indian food in such a place,which has a bad reputation for vegetarian food...Hogged like a pig and went off to sleep (felt like a dream come true...)
Was jus there for a month...Weekdays used to be busy with work...Weekends used to be real fun...
Food was always a problem the moment we step outside the guest house....But i was curious to know about what all they eat..."Ideally anything under the sun.." I even saw fried worms being offered as a "snack"....Check out this one on the left !!!!
The excitement didnt last long... I was missing home and things worsened ,when i had to spend the last week all alone...At work , communication was a big barrier which i slowly learnt to solve... Back in the guest house , i used to be alone becoz my room mate left...
I was desperate to get back and my manager came as a saviour... He accompanied me on my journey back...Managed to tour singapore on the way back and landed in blore with a whole lot of gifts and chocolates....
Was in tears when i landed at the Blore airport.......I missed this place a lot....................
Overall it was a fantastic experience and the stories about korea continue till date.....
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