First Full Day in Korea

My first full day in Korea was good. Ryan came over at 1:30pm to wake me up - he bought me breakfast (some stuffed dumpling thing - called Mandu- good) and we went to a soccer game- the league is a bunch of foriegners - our team, Ulsan was playing a team from Busan. We lost, but it was a good match. Everyone (well all the foreignrs) drink ALL the time - it is a little shocking- everyone drinks Soju and many straight from the bottle -UGH!I was pretty tired and hung over- so no soju for me!
After the game we went to this restaurant that had bamboo all around and had "gogi" which is Korean BBQ. We had pork and veggies, kimchi (that cabbage stuff) and what seemed like a million unidentifiable side dishes - I forgot my camera but some night I will take a photo- when you order food they bring a ton of free sidedishes- aparently if you order it you will pay for it- so if they bring a ton of other stuff it is free. Cool!

The only hard part was the chopsticks- they are all that crazy flat metal kind- hard for me to get used to - but it definately means I won't be pigging out on food - it gets a little exausting to keep dropping your food every time- eventually your just not hungry anymore.
The restaurants are fun- most you take your shoes off and eat sitting on the floor on pillows - comfy and it seems very social. Dinners are cheap cheap - we had tons of meat (probobly like 20 steaks - there were 15 of us- plus beers, soju - plus all the free dishes- and the bill cost less then 10,000won each- that is like less then $10 nd it was a HUGE feast. The best thing is that I have not spent any money here yet- all my friends are refusing to let me pay for anything the last 2 days - everyone is soooo nice here.

My apartment is nice- I have 3 bedrooms- they are small but I think I am going to use one as a reading room- try to get some furiture once I make some $$$...Maybe some mats and pillows. It is cool sleeping under a mosiquo net - I kind of feel like a princess when I am in bed. It is a little cool this morning - aparently the only heating I have is the heated tiles in my bedroom and kitchen...but evryone has told me it doesn't get that cold for too long.

Yesterday was warm during the day - people were in shorts and t-shirts. At night it gets pretty cold - you need pants and a jacket. Clothes here are REALLY cheap - the girls I met told me if I pay more then 15000 won (approx $25) for a shirt I am being ripped off, jeans cost about 25000-30000won ($25-30).....all the clothes are reall trendy- the shops are all neon and play loud English hiphop/rap music - so funny.

The bars that I have been to are both foreigner bar - one called Mackenzies, it reminds me of Mikes at Carleton - they serve popcorn for free when you buy a drink - and it is the best popcorn I have tasted. The other bar is called "bench warmers" - owned and run by a Canadian guy who has been living here for a long time - sot of a college sports bar atmophere. The only thing I don't like is those toilets in the bathroom that are in the floor - it is pretty gross. But if that is my only complaint, I am doing ok.

I am a little nervous since they don't speak English- it is really intimidating to even say Hello in Korean. I know that I know how to say it but I am afraid I won't say it properly- funny eh? Anyways, I am going to practice this morning over coffee and go for a walk around my neighborhood- I start work at 2:30pm today - Gareth is going to introduce me to the kids etc.
Anyways, I should go - life here i good and I know it will get easier-
I wish I could tell you what it feels like to be here - all this is so hard to explain - happy, scared, excited, sad, nevous ....whew! Anyways I promise to take it all in stride.
Ciao for now

Colleen