We, my friend and I flight for Seoul at around 10.30 pm from Abu Dhabi Int. Airport. Happy as we were, our seats were right next to the kitchen…remember how I missed the roast chicken in the previous flight? This was payback time; as I’ll be served as one of the first people by the handsome flight attendant. He had eyes that were the black-flecked deep brown of pecan shells, I bet that was why I lacked sleep that night. I could ask for unnecessary stuff whenever I watched him pass by…hahaha. Mohammed was his name. That’s besides the main point, back to my topic.

My mouth was already watering just by the glance of the roast chicken on the menu. As I took my first bite, my face just dropped!! I just lost my appetite. My grandma would not have even approved that meal. I had never tasted something as tasteless as that. As though I was the only abnormal person on the plane, everyone around me looked so happy and enjoying their meal. Talk of having different tastes.

On our arrival at Seoul, Incheon Int. Airport, we had to undergo a few procedures and health scans before our final flight to Busan. The airport was so big that we had to use a train (TGV kind) to move from one spot to another. The long trip was finally over. We got settled in our rooms. Our older roommate from Vietnam whom we now call ”oma” meaning mother, offered to take us for shopping and at least buy dinner. Culture expects us to call her mother since she’s older but I do enjoy as she always looks out for us. Not a single item in the supermarket was in English. I could not even differentiate sugar from salt!! That’s when you appreciate when your folks used to do shopping for you. I managed to pick rice and beef soup which turned out to have a whole lot different taste. My friend and I almost slept hungry.

The next morning we went five minutes late for our orientation meeting and the person in charge of the orientation almost killed us. Time management is so important. Lesson learnt. Talking to our roommate proved difficult as the language barrier was intense. I laugh remembering how we invented funny gestures just to get a simple message across. That night we decided to cook our own meal, the Kenyan way and share with our roommates. The look on their faces just warmed my heart. They enjoyed the food. Adapting was not so bad after all. Taking baby steps as the days go by. As they say…

Rome wasn’t built in one day.