Arrival sa Korea as a Missionary English Teacher

 I wanna compile my experience here in South Korya, marami nakakatawa experiences and new learnings. Ito yung time na di ko inakala makakarating ako ng Korea. Hindi ko sure if okay ba mag Tagalog nalang ako dito sa story ko or English ba? hahaha mas madali kasi mag kwento pag Tagalog.

I'm gonna start this story right here at Incheon Airport. But if you want me to share how I ended up here, I’ll write another blog for that—about my missionary journey here in Korea.

Our flight was on May 21, 2025, and I think it was around 7:00 AM. Of course, we had to be at the airport much earlier to settle the travel tax and pass through immigration.

We left Silang, Cavite at around 1:30 AM, and we arrived at the airport by 3:00 AM. Most of us were new to traveling abroad—except for Ate Charisse. After we weighed our luggage, we headed straight to the check-in counter to begin the process.

I was picked up at the airport by Teacher Kwon (Social Studies Teacher) and Teacher Melody (co-missionary/English Teacher). They were the ones who welcomed me when I landed around 12 noon. As soon as the plane touched down, I got a text from Smart—apparently, my roaming number was still active. 😂 I even received a welcome message from them!

After passing through Korean immigration, we just waited for our baggage downstairs, and then we exited through Bay 3—I think? Haha, I can’t really remember anymore.

Since it was already past noon and I hadn’t had lunch yet, Teacher Melody asked me if there was food on the plane. I said yes, they served breakfast around 8:00 AM. So, we went up to the 4th floor of Incheon Airport to look for food. They asked me what I wanted to eat, but I just said, “Anything is fine.” They still wanted me to decide. I told them, “Let’s just go with the closest food place nearby.” 😂

They suggested burger and fries, and I agreed right away because I was already super hungry.

We just left my luggage outside the store. The name of the place was Shake Shack—my first time trying it! Their burger was so good, and the fries were super crispy. But their iced tea had no sugar! 😅 I didn’t know that Koreans don’t like sweet iced tea. I didn’t complain though—I just drank it anyway since it was already there. 😄

Grabe apaka laki nong burger at ang dami ng fries halos hindi ko maubos, so pinilit ko ubusin ung burger at dinala ko nalang ung fries tapos iniwan ko ung Iced tea na walang asukal., hahahha bumaba na kami sa ground floor tapos pumunta sa parking lot, para hanapin ang sasakyan ni Teacher Kwon.

It took us about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to the school. When we arrived, they immediately took care of me—they prepared the dorm I’d be staying in and gave me the essentials I needed: beddings, winter jackets, a mini fridge, and a rice cooker (even though there’s a cafeteria, just in case I need to cook rice myself).

Supposedly, Pastor Kim was the one scheduled to pick me up, since I’m here in Korea as a missionary teacher. It would’ve been fitting for him to be the one to welcome me. But he was busy and had other matters to attend to, so he couldn’t pick me up at the airport. Good thing, though—when I arrived at the school, he arrived shortly after too. He even helped me fix the doorknob in my room, because apparently the previous student had broken it. 😅

He told me that we’d go to Daiso to buy the things I needed for my stay.

Not long after, we went there—and hoy dzai! their Daiso is HUGE and so nice! We started shopping for my essentials: indoor slippers, shampoo, body wash, tissue, and all that stuff. They told me, “Just get whatever you need,” but honestly, I felt shy. 😂

They even wanted to buy me the big bottles of shampoo and body wash, but I said, “I’ll just get the smaller ones for now.” I told them I wanted to try first if it would be okay for my hair or not. 😄

Hindi na nila ako pinilit, hahahah so nag pay na, hindi ko sure magkano binayaran nila, pero kunti lang naman yata kasi hindi naman ako kumuha ng mga hindi ko need at saka sakto lang naman ung mga price nong kinuha ko, pero syempre dzai Korean Won yan., Mukhang mahal kasi wala na yatang item dito na bababa sa 1000K.

So, yun super welcome naman ako at feel at home, they said if I need anything just tell them.

Next time na yung kasunod na kwento hahahah... ang gulo ko mag kwento diba, sana na intindihan mo., mag talk din ako soon about my life as an English Teacher dito sa Korea.

Thanks for reading, see you again.  Stay tune sa Diary ng Gwapo sa Korea (DGK) more stories to come...