The Foreigners, Street Vendors and Whales

Last night was Bingo night at Benchwarmers (not Tombstone), a foreigner bar owned by a Canadian named Troy. I've never been to Bingo night anywhere, so this was new all around. There were 6ish games before the jackpot round, and each preceeding game was worth $20 for the winner. Then the jackpot was almost $250! Each player puts in $20 to play, so winning one game gets your money back - and I won twice! Our lucky girl table won almost all the games amongst ourselves, and Kate walked with the jackpot, which was reduced to $100 since no one won in the allotted time. Bingo night happens every 2 weeks at Bench, and I'm totally hooked. While I was there I met a bunch of other teachers:

Lindsey - arrived 3 weeks ago, from Canada. She's a 'real' teacher and came out here to beef up her resume, since teaching jobs are hard to find in Toronto, where she was looking.

Vicky - has been here 4 months, is from Northern England. Has a fantastic thick British accent and is teaching me British slang. Bollocks! Oh, bugger. What a div! She also lives very near where I do, so we'll be sharing cabs and seeing a lot of each other. She's been wanting to start Taekwondo, but didn't have a buddy, so we're looking into doing that together.

Michelle - from Calgary, Canada. Cute and little, she has a funny Canadian accent and a wicked sense of humor.

Andy - friend of Vicky's from university. Also British, and very nice.

Jeff - teaches at a university for tons of $$ and gets ribbed for working the least and making the most. Kicked my butt at darts.

Phil - Vicky's friend, has been teaching here for 11 months now and also lives in our area. He's from Oregon and is a great help with questions about living here and Korean language.

Fiona - another newbie, from Scotland. Smokes a lot.

Troy - owner/bartender/host extraordinaire. Benchwarmers is his place. He's from Canada, and is a Dolphins and 49ers fan... last night he was wearing a Dolphins jersey and drinking his beer from a 9ers cozy. He learns and remembers everyone's names and is very welcoming.

Then there's Kate and Wendy, whom you've already heard of. Wendy is actually from Red Bluff, CA and briefly attended Chico State. Kate's originally from Vancouver.

Benchwarmers was described to me as a 'dive bar,' the kind of place we all adore and everyone else shuns. With a dark, rustic interior, there are tables and chairs placed at random around the room which are constantly being rearranged by growing and shrinking groups. Although the walls are decorated with sports paraphenalia and quotes, it had a distinctly Nonesuch feeling to it. I don't know if that was due more to the patrons or the bar itself, but it's very homey and comfortable. Foozeball, darts and a big screen tv playing hockey and then korean soaps provide places for different groups to socialize, and last night's music selection was perfect, with tons of sublime and dave matthews. One interesting highlight is the bathroom, which is located off of the staircase 1/2 a flight down. The girls' stall is next to the guy's stall and the two share a common sink area, and the girl's has a traditional korean toilet - over which a person has to squat. You can find it by searching on google images, or clicking here. I didn't think I'd encounter one so soon, particularly in a bar for foreigners, but it was very cool. Thank goodness for my camping/general outdoor peeing skills! Squating isn't for the meek.

After a fairly low-key bingo tourny (everyone was pretty tired, myself definitely included), Kate and Lindsey headed home and I stayed to hang out with Vicky, since we were cabbing back home together. We played some darts, and I didn't totally embarass myself. Then we took off to meet up with Phil at a bar called Route 66, complete with the highway logo in neon out front. This bar isn't far from where we live, and we intended to just stop by for a bit as it was already 3ish in the morning. But, as will happen in a place that doesn't know the meaning of 'last call,' we left at 5. Vicky, Phil and myself walked back to my apartment so that Vicky could see where I live in comparison to her. On the way, we passed a street vendor with delicious stuffed peppers that were spicy and deep fried... just how I like it ;) They were each about .50 so we all got one. Mmm! I'd been nervous to order street vendor food because I don't know how to say "vegetarian," "no meat," etc yet, so this was a good first.

Samsongdong, my section of town, is quite alive at night (or morning...), and the neon is urbanly pretty. My apartment is in a cute, quiet little neighborhood, but 8 minutes away is this pulsing nightlife. All the other teachers were so jealous that I get to live right there, since they're forever taking cabs.

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Today, I grumpily got up at 11 to get ready to meet my director so that we could go to the immigration office for my resident card. Now I can rent dvds! (Because although I'm the popular dvd player girl, US dvds don't work in Korean machines - it's a block the companies put on their dvds to discourage countries with cheap labor from inundating the other markets.) Mark (the other foreign teacher at my school) came too, since he only got here a few weeks ago. After being driven by the accountant down to the docks, we came to the office only to find that it was closed for lunch. So, Director Yoon took Mark and I to a whale museum, which just happened to be down the street from us... and from a long row of restaurants specializing in whale meat. I asked Mark if he thought the restauranteurs appreciated the placement of the museum, because he said it was fairly new. The museum was cool - some great mis-translations on exhibits, one of which I photographed because it was so completely muddled. I was a bit confounded to realize that the museum actually was promoting the whaling industry and the consumption of whale meat. One sign describing the many uses for whale by-products claimed that "pencil lead, corsets, bacon and ham" all came from whales. Hm. Most of the pictures in the displays were of dead whales with proud Korean men standing on top or sawing pieces off. There were boots on display that are worn by the butchers, and they creeped me out. They look like regular tall rubber boots, but there are spikes on the bottom that put golf shoes to shame. Gross.

After the museum, we were able to get our resident cards at immigration. They printed my address on it in Korean, so hopefully now I can just show that to the cab drivers and avoid the madness of yesterday. Once we had our cards, Director Yoon treated us to lunch at TGIFriday's (Koreans call it TGI - if you add the "Friday's" they don't know what you're talking about), since the school was paying and she loves it there. Their menus are funny, with some Engrish (the alcohol menu's beer section was titled "Beer Friends"), ONE Korean dish, and a smattering of foreign foods. I had pasta, which was actually very good, and Mark had pizzadillas. Haydee also met us there (she's the foreigner who worked as a liason between myself and my school to set up my job) and offered some great tips for getting around, vegetarian restaurants, and teaching. We were also extended an invitation (read: obligation) from The Accountant (that is what everyone calls him, and I don't know his name, so he gets caps now) to his home for the Chuseok holiday, which is next week. Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving, and is celebrated on the lunar calendar to honor the harvest and ancestors. I had read in my Lonely Planet Korea that an invitation to a local's home for Chuseok is of great value and should be highly appreciated. I'm looking forward to experiencing a real Korean home and holiday, but am a bit nervous about the food (veg, will I like it, turning down meat/dried squid) and customs (don't put the chopsticks in the rice, don't pour your own drink, accept a poured drink with both hands, don't eat until the elders have begun, etc etc etc).

Today I discovered the joy that small Korean children find in saying "Hello!" to a foreigner and receiving a 'hello' in return. They clutch each other and fall over giggling. Now I try to say 'hello' to any friendly-looking kids I see, and watch them collapse into silliness after they automatically reply. I see kids all the time since my apartment is across the street from an elementary school. I met one of the students at my school today, Harry. He was decidely not hairy, and a bit shy, but was able to say "Nice to meet you too, teacher" after Director Yoon had introduced us.

Tonight Vicky has invited me to poker night with some friends of hers I didn't meet last night, but I may beg off due to low funds and low energy. Tomorrow Kate and Wendy are coming to my place to watch some dvds and lay low, because Saturday we're planning on going into Busan (second largest city in Korea). $5 each way for the one hour bus ride is fine for my budget, and we won't spend much once we get there. AND tomorrow I'll have a phone number, and possibly a phone card.

Oh - I also found out today that for October, Mark and I will each be teaching 10 hours a week. Yes, 10. I still have to be at the school for the full 30, but I will be able to be on the internet (for free!!) when a computer's available, and can read a little too. Hopefully I'll get started on studying Korean and can use that time for practice.

And that's it for now! There's a vendor on this street whose food I've been eyeing, and I may see what she has that I can eat .... ah, Lonely Planet, my friend:

"Kogi andurogan umshik issoyo?" (Do you have any vegetarian dishes?)

Flights!

Hi again - sorry, I keep forgetting to add this in: The Chinese woman I met on my flight to Seoul says that the cheapest way to fly to Asia is to use an Asian travel agent. Smart! She goes to Chinatown, and as long as the flight is booked 3 months in advance, she is able to get RT tickets for $500. She paid $700 for the one I was on w/her bc she only made the arrangements a couple weeks in advance. So I don't know if you guys will be able to make use of this system, but it certainly makes sense to me. And it saves a BUNDLE.

Gluck!

Lex

Homeplus and blisters

Aha! This internet cafe is MUCH closer to my place... but the other one is across the river, which makes for a pretty walk, especially at night, so I may still use the other sometimes. Tonight, however, my dogs are tired.

Today I woke up at 4am (blech) and then was finally able to fall back to sleep until 6:45 and that was it. I got up and watched some crazy Korean game show while eating my balance bar breakfast (didn't get much at the market yesterday) and then showered, got dressed and fiddled with stuff around my place until 9, when I decided to set out on my mission for
1. A public phone
2. Phonecards
3. A grocery store
4. A store carrying homegoods

For #4, Kate and Wendy teach next to a place called "Homeplus" and through my active listening skills I was able to file away the directions to it from my house. So I took off in the direction of this Homeplus with my vegetable cheese cracker friends and a bottle of water in my purse. About 3 blocks from my apartment, I realized that newish shoes had been a bad choice. But, stubborn me didn't want to turn around to change, so I pushed on. Half an hour later, I thought it was quite possible that my shoes were filling with blood and amputation would be the only remedy for the intense pain and damage I'd caused my feet. I ducked into a little convenience store to give them a rest from walking and to find something cold to drink. This is worthy of note for two reasons: First, because it was there that I found the most delicious pineapple juice in little bottles. It had real pieces of pineapple in it, and there was as much chewing as drinking. I also bought some apple juice that turned out much less delightfully. Secondly, when I walked in, I greeted the woman at the counter with a succint bow and a quiet "Annyong haseyo" (hello). When I brought my two drinks to the counter, she told me the total in Korean, and I had to shake my head and shrug. She looked so surprised that I didn't know Korean! Woo hoo - my accent is passable!

After leaving the store, I was riding high with my pineapple juice and passable accent. But that only lasted a couple blocks, and then I was contemplating taking my shoes off and walking barefoot the rest of the way. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of having to put them back on when I got to the Homeplus. To spare you my misery, I'll just say that this went on for 15 more minutes before I finally caught sight of the GIANT building with "HOMEPLUS" printed in big red letters. I went inside, and was greeted by a foreigner's dream - food, cosmetics, home supplies, clothes and shoes (ick and ick though) all in one place!! First problem - The carts were attached to one another by some sort of lock system which I couldn't figure out. Finally, a worker came over and showed me that a coin (100 won, about .45) needed to be placed in a slot, which was then inserted into the lock. This popped a little key out of the cart, freeing it from the rest. Later I discovered that when you replace the key in order to leave your cart at the store, the slot pops back out with your coin.

Once I had my cart (with all 4 wheels swiveling), I headed for the produce section. It was there that I found my first of many funny Engrishes. I wanted greens with which to make a salad, and there was a perfect small package of assorted lettuce-type greens. On the bag, the only english word was "Vagetables." After I had my own little laugh I decided they definitely were going in the cart. Hobbling through the enormous store, I found far more than I had money for, and had to economize. There are such interesting things here! First, I LOVE asian pears. Here, these are the size of small soccer balls. I bought one, and it will easily last me a few days. I also managed to find whole wheat bread, pepper jack cheese (from Australia, not so good - their cows must not be happy ;)), broccoli, bell peppers, tomatoes, vegetable ramen (again with the pictures), Barilla pasta, Kraft parmesean cheese, more of the good pineapple juice, nice wine glasses, Dove conditioner in a bag from which you are expected to refill your old bottle, something I hope is laundry detergent (the only English on there says "Yellow" next to a bouquet of yellow flowers), wasabi, soy sauce, a dish drainer, hangers, butter on an un-refridgerated shelf, wild/mixed grain rice, mandarin oranges, and canned corn. I had a bit of a hold-up at the checkout because apparently I was supposed to get a barcode sticker for my broccoli and tomatoes, which was the only produce that wasn't prepackaged (Koreans LOVE packaging!). I still don't know how I should have done that - someone else came and got it for me. There's a lesson for next time!

Getting home from the Homeplus was almost as much of an adventure as getting there. As I came out with my two enormous bags, a taxi pulled up and parked. I waited to see if someone else had called it, but when no one approached it, I did. The man nodded when I gestured to the backseat and I piled in with my monstrous bags (and no help from him, which was weird). I had brought my boss' business card, which has the address of my school in Korean and English, and was planning on walking home from the school. I handed this to him, and he nodded and then chattered away in Korean, with me shaking my head the whole time. Finally he said, "Samsongdong?" And I know that this is the section of town where my school is, so I said "Ne (yes), ne, Samsongdong" and he seemed satisfied and drove off. He took a slightly different way than I had come, so I wasn't able to help him when he pulled over and asked where to go next. He took the card from me and took it to other drivers on the road, and people walking by and didn't seem to have any luck. Finally he pulled out his cell phone and dialed my director's number, but I guess there was no answer. For 30 minutes we went a block driving, then pulled over for 10 minutes to ask people, call the director (he finally handed me his phone and instructed me to call, but she didn't pick up then either) and punch things into his GPS system, which evidently didn't know where my school was either. Finally, I was able to get my bearings and looked at Kate's taxi-talk cheat sheet for the word for "left." Even after I insisted that I lived to the left, he took awhile before deciding that he might as well listen to me. Another left and we were there. Phew! The whole thing cost me $8, but I gave him a $10 and let him keep the change.

Even with that minor frustration, my raw heels, and my 16 mosquito bites (I WILL find the last one...) - I am having a fantastic time. From my work with GDI, I know that culture shock has stages, the first of which is euphoria. I know that this is temporary, but I'm certainly going to enjoy it while it's here. I've walked miles in the last two days, and been braver than I thought I could be. So far, this is just the challenge that I wanted. And I haven't even started work yet! I did stop by today, and met another teacher in my department. I think her name was Grace. She's Korean and very nice - her English is great, too, which helps. She gave me a loaf of bread from her boyfriend the baker. She said it has chestnuts in it, and I'm curious to try it. Glad I bought butter today! OH - and I got my stove working. I followed the gas line to the wall and found a valve that I had to open. After that it was smooth sailing. My stove also has what appears to be a toaster oven, but is called a "smokeless grill" built into it, so I'll make the toast in there tomorrow morning.

Earlier, as I was flipping Korean channels (I don't get any English channels) I caught a runway show for a mink coat company. My favorite part was the music they were blaring as the models strutted: "Summertime, and the livin's easy..." Hahaha. Summertime... in a mink coat? I also saw a show that was being interpreted in sign language by a little guy in a bubble in the corner of the screen. Some of the signs look similar, but I didn't understand it, so it must not be the same. It's also difficult to watch his mouth moving with Korean words, and try to decipher American signs, if they're there.

Tonight is the bingo night at Tombstone, and I'll be meeting Kate at Homeplus and walking over with her.

I think that brings us up to date... hope all's well Stateside!

xoxo

Miss Ulsan

I'm finally here! Let me bring you up to speed:

While packing and getting ready to go, I wasn't nervous about my trip at all. My only concerns were money (having some would be nice) and packing the right things. Bear in mind that I was packing for an entire year, in a climate with NY's extreme weather conditions, in a culture I was unfamiliar with, for a job I'd never done before. On top of those concerns, airline regulations for checked baggage limited me to two bags, each not exceeding 50lbs. I had to bring sheets and a towel, plus sheets for another teacher and various and sundry other items, so I got out Kanika's trusty bathroom scale and carefully balanced my huge suitcases on it every few minutes as they got full. By Thursday night I had effectively packed one bag, and was banking on the Alaska Airlines counterperson's sympathy since it weighed in at 55lbs. The second bag refused to cooperate, however. I unpacked and repacked that stupid suitcase umpteen bagillion times on Saturday night, and (leaving SR at 7:30am Sunday) once again in the morning. Carolyn brought me to the airport, and panic set in as we approached the drop off zone at Oakland Int'l. Suddenly I didn't have all the extraneous stuff to worry about. What was in my suitcases was what was coming with me, the money I had was the money I had, and once I got past check-in, I had nothing to occupy my mind except the abject terror at moving halfway around the world by myself. After the wave of nausea passed, I was able to get my suitcases out of the truck and say a tearful goodbye to Carolyn. I wrestled my bags (plus the biggest carry-on backpack EVER - thank you REI for having a Labor Day sale) to the ticket line and crossed my fingers as they weighed my suitcases. Luckily, she only slapped some bright orange HEAVY stickers on them and sent them on their way without charging me the overweight fee.

The flight from Oakland to Seattle was very short after becoming accustomed to the bicoastal route, and we were landing before I'd even settled in. Once I got to Seattle, I had a little trouble figuring out where I should wait for my connecting flight. Who knew Seattle was an international hub? Their airport rivals Atlanta for sheer enormity. I had to take 2 trains to get to the Korean Air terminal. The second instance of rising panic occured when I got there and saw only Koreans waiting. This was it! Time for me to come to terms with being the minority, being 8 feet tall, and being unsure of who can speak my language. I camped out with my big packpack on the floor and made phone calls. Interestingly, on the flight I sat next to a Laotian man, and a Chinese woman was next to him. Both had lived in the States for 20+ years and made great seatmates. The flight was 11 hours long, but was certainly not horrible. Exhausted from lack of sleep in the preceeding days, I took a nice nap, and enjoyed a long list of free movies which I controlled. I watched The DaVinci Code, Over the Hedge (eat your heart out Carolyn), and then Kinky Boots (yes, Mom, that WAS excellent!). I also got about 6 more inches of scarf crocheted while listening to my ipod. They served two meals (one American and one Korean) and a couple snacks and were always coming by with orange juice and water. The flight attendents were like Korean barbie dolls - all thin, gorgeous and dressed impeccably in white pencil skirts with pressed aqua shirts and scarves. They also had some strange piece of headgear that resembled those "support the troops" ribbons, only with thin lines, and attached to their heads sideways above a low bun. Also aqua.

Dropping into South Korea after flying over boring Russia forever, we saw mountains rising out of a thin mist. Beautiful.

After making it through immigration without a hitch (although waiting behind LOTS of ppl with hitches) I had to pick up my luggage and go through 'customs' which is actually where I had to fill out a form (no, I'm not bringing agricultural items, explosives or porn) and hand it to a woman who didn't even glance at it. THEN came the fun of finding my ticket counter so I could get a boarding pass and re-check my luggage. Seoul airport has a spa, grocery store, arcade and quite possibly a football field inside. What it doesn't have are signs indicating where sweaty foreigners should take their inordinately bulky luggage so their arms don't fall off. I lugged that crap in and out of narrow elevators for 25 minutes, following Engrish instructions ('second' and 'third' sound a lot alike with the "th" sound is pronounced as an "s") before I finally found the domestic departures Korean Airlines ticket counter. After I happily gave my bags back, I headed to the restroom and freshened up. There was an interesting type of toilet seat cover there - it was a plastic cover that stayed on the toilet, and with the push of a button, rotated through a sanitizing machine on the back of the seat. It's reminiscent of the European hand towels, only less openly disgusting.

Once I felt less like a wrestler in the 8th round and more like myself, I got myself to the gate to wait for my one hour flight to Busan. Surprisingly, my domestic flight had less Koreans on it than my international flight to Korea... I even met two French women and bumblingly chatted a bit before the flight. However on the plane, I was seated next to two Korean women who spoke virtually no English. I took out my scarf and started working on it. The yarn I'm using is made from recycled Indian silk saris, and as such is brightly colored. The older woman reached over and was touching the material, so I told her it was from India, which she understood. She also understood when I said it wasn't a good scarf, because it was my first try. She laughed. The rest of the flight was less successful in terms of conversation. She also hooked a few loops for me on the scarf, but she may be worse than I am at crocheting, so no improvement there.

Funny Engrish: The line we all know, "Be careful when opening the overhead bins as contents may have shifted during the flight" becomes, "Please be careful as the contents may fall out" on Korean Airlines.

After arriving in Busan, my luggage took quite awhile coming out and then I went out and faced the sea of expectant Koreans. I tried smiling at everyone and no one as I walked slowly and hoped the director would be there and pick me out. Sure enough, a (young!) woman came running up to me - "Alexis?"- and took a bag right away. Then the other foreign teacher Mark (from Michigan) took a suitcase and so did the school's accountant, who had driven them to get me. They had a car waiting and we were on the road to Ulsan before my head stopped spinning. This was at 10pm, so unfortunately there wasn't much to see. Mark and I talked a bit about Ulsan and Korea in general. The accountant didn't speak any English, and so he and the director (Director Yoon) spoke to each other in Korean most of the ride. On the plane, I had been gettng hungry and VERY tired, but I had power bars in my bag and just wanted to get to my apartment, so when Director Yoon asked if I wanted to eat, I told her no. We went first to the school for a moment and Director Yoon introduced me to her boss - no name, just "This is my boss," who apparently doesn't speak English either. She confirmed with him that I'll start on Monday, and we left. My apartment isn't far from the school - maybe 5 minutes walking - and we were there quickly. I'm on the second floor (stairs) and the key is the funniest looking little thing. They whirlwinded around my apartment, showing me the things that were bought for me and where the hot water was (you have to turn it on everytime you need to use it, and turn it off afterwards), then left. I was so glad to be by myself in my apartment, but it was suddenly very lonely and I wished I could at least call home, but unfortunately my cellphone doesn't work here, and I don't have a phone in my apt yet. I got out my adapters and plugged in my ipod speakers and tried to turn on the ipod so I could listen to music while unpacking - no juice in the ipod! And I have no way to charge it, without a computer. That was probably the most disappointing thing. It's lonely with only Korean tv as company. The director had given me her cell phone, though - someone (not sure who) was supposed to come to my apartment to hook up my washing machine the next day, so they would call that phone when they were coming. I thought calling the US would be a bit much from my new boss' phone, but calling Kate in Ulsan didn't sound so bad. So I gave her a call and it was SO nice to hear someone who I was at least familiar with. She also sounded excited that I was there and I was instantly more comfortable. She wanted to come over and see me, but I didn't know where I was! That is a truly bizarre feeling. I didn't know my address, what section of town I was in... nothing. Street signs are only in Korean, too, so I couldn't even give her an intersection. I could have gotten in a cab and gone to her place, but I wouldn't know what to say to get home. So we talked for a few minutes and decided to meet up Tuesday (today). That went wonderfully well - she was downtown at the only Starbucks in town, and I had said that I thought my place was also downtown. She told me to look for a ferris wheel (yes, there's a ferris wheel in downtown Ulsan), and then we'd figure it out from there. I called her when I got out of my apartment, and turned a corner while talking and there was the ferris wheel! Then, she said the Starbucks was in the Hyundai Shopping Center, and I could see that too- turns out, I'm only a 10 minute walk from Starbucks (I said Hi for you Jessica - it looks exactly the same and costs even more) and the section of town where everyone hangs out! On the way, I passed a wine store and earmarked it for a visit later on.

I hung out at Starbucks with Kate and Wendy for a little over an hour, and they are great. We have lots in common, and everyone has interesting stories to tell too. Wendy has lived in Spain for the last 6 years, so I'm going to see if I can finagle (sp?!) some Spanish lessons from her. I also found out that I am the only one with a DVD player, so that resulted in instant popularity. We're going to have a girls' movie night this weekend, since I brought The Sweetest Thing and Legally Blond. :)

After meeting with them, I walked back to my apartment via the wine store, and bought a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz/Grenache and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. No wine glasses yet, though, don't know when I'll break them out. I also stopped by a little shop closer to my place and bought paper towels, bottled water, crackers (Funny Engrish: "Vegetable Cheese Cracker Friends") and after a lot of consideration and guesswork, two just-add-water soups. I went for one with pictures of vegetables and noodles and crossed my fingers. I also had to buy toilet paper, because although they bought every other possible thing for my apartment (including "air fresheners" that smell like an attic), there was not a scrap of toilet paper to be found. Luckily, I'm a spaz and always travel with some.

I am madly in love with my apartment. I have three locks on my outside door, so feel very safe. It's technically a one bedroom, but they should find a better name for it. It's a one bedroom, one-other-room-including-the-kitchen. I have lovely hardwood floors with ondol heating, which is the traditional Korean method of heating from underneath the floor. My bedroom is a decent size, my TV is enormous, and I have a cute little dining area with a table that is almost smaller than the Lyndhurst kitchen table (for the uninitiated, that is a feat) and two chairs. They bought me a microwave, rice cooker, two pots, two saute pans, broom, sponge and cutting board. I have silverware service for two, same with the dishes. I'm also reasonably sure that I now have in my possession the cutest vacuum cleaner known to man. It's a samsung and is this little blue bubbly looking thing. (Photos of all of this will be coming once I figure out how to upload photos - without a cord for the camera...) The bathroom is widdle iddle, and has the typical Korean shower - none. There is a handheld showerhead that rests above the sink, and the entire bathroom is designed to get wet as I shower next to the toilet and over the sink. There is an enclosed porch where my washer is, and a really neat drying rack for my clothes that raises and lowers for easy loading, drying and unloading.

As I was checking the place out when I got there, I noticed a mosquito but didn't want the first thing I did in the apartment to be killing a creature. This morning after waking up with 14 (really - I counted) bites, I tracked down the little pest and sent him to his maker. His gluttony made him slow and clumsy, and he went down easy. Later I found his accomplice and gave him the same treatment. Other than those two fellows, I haven't had any unwanted guests.

When I got home with my food purchases today, I tried to boil water to pour into my soup. Riiiight. NO idea how to work my stove. Luckily, they print instructions on it. In Korean. Without pictures. So, I took the microwave out of its box and made hot water in my coffee mug. The microwave also only had Korean instructions and the buttons didn't have any English either, but through a very complex process of pressing random buttons, and then a big round one, I was able to set the microwave. For 6 minutes. That prompted me to discover that the little round button opens the microwave before the time finishes elapsing. That was some tasty soup - noodles, spicy powder and a nice sense of self satisfaction.

I can say a couple words without much thought:
Hello - "annyong haseyo"
Thank you - "kamsa hamnida"
Here - "Yogi"
Where - "Odi"

I'm working on some more - Kate made me a "taxi talk" guide so I can get places, which is nice. Tomorrow is bingo night at Tombstone, the foreigner bar, and I'm going with Wendy and Kate to meet people. Tonight I'm on my own, but as I'm already exhausted and it's only 7:30, I don't think that will be too bad. I figured out how to charge my ipod on the computer here, so at least I'll have music when I go home.

Oh - and after all the stress about sheets, mine are too small. Yeah. Mom - can you send me my old ones, the green ones I showed you from NJ? No, I have no idea where they are. Psht. That would take all the fun out of you looking for them!

Well I think that's it for now... I will certainly try to keep this up. This internet cafe is pretty far from my apartment, but I'm sure I'll find one closer soon. Tomorrow the trek is on to find calling cards and a public phone on which to use them... also, my phone is supposed to be connected tomorrow, so soon you'll all be able to go into massive debt calling me all the time :)

Love you all, miss most of you ;)

Cheers from the other side of the world,

Lex