Oh how time flies!

My first couple of days in Korea were a blur. Everything happened so fast and I was trying to keep up. I found out that my apartment would be getting a little face lift the first week I was here. The director of the school (also my visa sponsor), was getting me a TV, phone, cable, Internet, and a few other pieces of furniture to put in my apartment, so that it wouldn't be so bare anymore. She told me that she would get me a bigger refrigerator and a microwave at a later date. At that time, the things that I had were sufficient. I was eating Korean ramen noodles almost every night because I wasn't accustomed to cooking Korean style. You will rarely find a house or apartment with an oven in it here. As most of you know, we Americans love using the oven!! I guess that I am gonna have to get a toaster oven while I am here.

These are pictures of my apartment as it is now and not when I first got here.

I went shopping a couple of times that first week for supplies and groceries. The first time was with Agnes at E-Mart which is a huge supermarket with clothing, electronics, etc here in Korea; similar to our Walmart or Target, only with a lot more groceries. I had exchanged some money at the airport when I first got here, but only enough to get by for maybe a week. The second time I went to E-Mart was by myself. I was a little scared because if I needed something and couldn't tell what it was then I was just S.O.L. In quite a few other countries, at least the ones that I have been to, you can almost always find someone who speaks a little English; in Korea, however, this is not the case! I had made a list of things that I thought I needed and was trying to stay on budget. When I realized that I was gonna need more money, I did some sign language with one of the promoters and figured out that the ATM was on 2nd floor. I left my cart nearby, which was full to the brim, and went to get some more cash out. Apparently you have to find an international ATM in order to get money out from overseas. I just figured that E-Mart would have one being such a huge store where a few foreigners shop. I was wrong. The ATM spit out my card and a nasty note that I couldn't read because it was in the Korean characters. I ran out of there so fast that I left the cart there with one of my work folders in it. Needless to say, I didn't go back there for about a week hoping that they wouldn't recognize me as the girl who left a big cart of crap for them to put back on the shelves in all 5 levels of that huge mart!

That first weekend, Agnes, told me that she wanted to accommodate me as best as possible. Make me feel at home and take me out with her when she went shopping and so on. It just so happens that she was going to the city on Saturday for some shopping and some relaxation time in a nail salon. Now for those of you who don't know me very well, those are 2 things that are very high up on my list of things that I LOVE!! We would also be meeting her American friend and I would have someone to talk to more extensively, relate to a little better. I let her know that I needed some more money out of my account and she told me that there were plenty of Global ATMs where we were going.

Agnes called me the night before our big adventure and told me to get on the bus and meet her at a certain station about 30 min away. She gave me the bus number and told me where I could find a bus stop. My first experience on the bus was a little scary especially by myself. I couldn't understand the stops that the bus speaker was saying so I had to watch every bus stop to see the word written in English letters. I really thought that I had missed it so many times but finally we came to the right stop and I got off the bus. I was supposed to meet Agnes at a certain time and when she wasn't there at that time nor 20 minutes after that time, I thought that I had gotten off at the wrong stop or that there was somewhere else that I needed to be standing. Finally she pulled up, and apologized for being late 25 minutes after the agreed upon time. We parked and got on the subway (another first for me in Korea).

We got off at the appropriate station and I noticed that it was like an underground shopping center, right there in the subway station. Crazy! We got some Starbucks (which is a really big deal here; these people love their coffee) and headed to the nail salon. I got sparkles and little pink stars on my nails, which I love and they last a month. They put on the decorations and then a layer of this clear hard plastic stuff, but you can't even tell. It just looks like clear nail polish. It's awesome! After nails, we went and had lunch at this little market area where it is all outdoors and there are only about 8 stools per counter top restaurant and all of the restaurants are crammed together in this tiny little stretch of area. There are maybe 30 little restaurants in a 50 foot area.

This is where I learned about the pushing and shoving of Korea. Koreans don't stop no matter what. They could be walking in a straight line and if you are in the way of that line, they will plow you over. They like to push in big crowds and they don't care much for waiting. They run red lights quite frequently, so even if there is a green walk sign, you should still be very careful and continuously look both ways. The car horn on each car gets used at least 4 times a day (*This is an exaggeration and is in no way a proven fact. It is simply an evaluation made by a witness to it all; an outsider).

We ate at the little outdoor counter top restaurant, which was famous for it's homemade noodles. It was delicious and extremely cheap. I couldn't finish all the food that we got for around $5. Then we did some shopping at the stores and the street vendor's shops and finished our day back at the underground mall in the subway station. Agnes' friend had to leave so we took the bus back to Anyang, the city that I live and work in. It wasn't until we got on the bus to head home, that I learned that we had been in Seoul all day, the countries capital, and by far largest city!! HA HA!

She suggested we ride the bus, so that I could see the landscape, all the way back to her car. Plus the subway would be too full at that time. She told me that there was a little coffee shop near her house that was having a kind of karaoke night. It was an invite only party though. I agreed after she told me that there would be at least one other English speaker there and that some of the Koreans would be able to speak a little English. We drove to the coffee shop and I realized that this was going to be a very small gathering in a very small coffee shop.

I was introduced to everyone and they tried to make me feel more at home by speaking some English. They brought out this special rice alcohol that Koreans like to drink and is very cheap. Most of the people there were over the age of 40 and were musicians of some sort. Some were singers while others played the guitar, and there were even a couple of accordion players. There were only about 12-15 people there and they were all close friends. They all took their turns singing and playing their instruments. It was actually a whole lot of fun even though I didn't understand most of what they were saying. A couple of them got drunk after a while and were acting very goofy. They kept doing cheers' like every 5 minutes or less.

I was still a little jet-lagged at this time and when I asked if we could leave because I didn't want to fall asleep on them, Agnes told me that it was too late for me to go back to my house so I would have to stay with her at her older sister's house. We got to the house and got cleaned up. When I asked where I would be sleeping, she showed me a spot on the floor where a couple of blankets had been placed. Now, if any of you know me very well at all, you know that I can't sleep in vehicles, or on the couch, or anywhere else that is not a bed...especially the floor!! I had a rough night and didn't sleep much but the fun day made up for that. When she took me back home, I slept most of the day.

That was my first week in Korea!