The Cattle Drive

Last Wednesday, after a day of travelling from Winnipeg to Chicago then Chicago to Seoul, I had the good fortune to arrive in South Korea. Upon my arrival I made my way through the Incheon International Airport with a fellow EPIK teacher, Brent, who I met while on the plane. My new found friend was actually a blessing in disguise since he had the directions to the meeting place in the Incheon Airport, which I carelessly forgot to bring. When we entered the terminal, we were quickly separated by a wave of people going every which way. My friend melted into the crowd within seconds, but not before I saw him entering the men’s washroom as he forded the river of travellers. I waited outside of the washroom for a few minutes and we were on our way bracing ourselves for another wave of wandering souls. After forging through the masses, we picked up our bags and made our way to the EPIK desk in the main lobby. There we signed some papers and were immediately herded onto a bus like an old fashioned cattle drive. Unbeknownst to us, this method of crowd control would become a regular practice for the EPIK staff. Other notable labelling techniques include the infamous number system and the color coded group categoriser. My group - the BUSAN squad, got orange t-shirts! When amalgamated, all the teachers formed a beautiful rainbow. It is yet to be determined whether the orange squad is going to be made into hotdogs or ground beef. We shall see...