One Month Anniversary in Korea

Whoo hoo! It is officially my one month anniversary in Korea. And I have celebrated with four nights of Halloween and costumes. BALI! This sums up my first month in Korea perfectly. It means hurry. Hurry to enter school the first day and teach kids, hurry to get your groceries, hurry your walking, hurried driving, hurry and drink more you’re too slow, hurry and plan a million things into every day (which I fit into very well since I do that in Canada). Hurried eating however, that is a no-no as eating is often a two hour, leisurely and social experience that I always look forward to. These are a few of the more interesting things I've learnt about here.

My Apartment
My apartment is alright, especially since it’s being paid for by boss Steve, but there are a few things I would like to change if I had the power. First, there is no oven. In the past year at home I had become more interested in cooking, and was actually becoming an alright cook (put away those shocked expressions family and friends). Now I’ve got no oven, which means no cookies or cakes, no spinach healthy mixed pancake things, no stuffed mushrooms, or anything else that should be cooked with minimal effort. Secondly, I have a monster washer that sometimes cages my clothes in and refuses to open. But I have no dryer, so to the dryer rack the clothes sit, and often means I am drying off with a wet towel due to poor planning. Lastly I miss the simplicity of hot water that stays hot. I have to push a red button to turn on the hot water, wait, and eventually shower. In the mornings and evenings when I wash my face I’ve given up on hot and settle for cold.

Expat Community Closeness

The expat community is extremely close with one another, and very connected. I never thought I would experience the kind of social opportunity university provided again, but living in Korea as an expat has given that to me again. Most days a week I message our huge group of friends to go to a bar, coffee, or to a restaurant. Weekends we usually visit another city on an adventure. The best part is that everybody values making more friends, so each night out we find ourselves expanding our friend group and getting invited to even more different events.

Bars Closing Time

Several bars in the downtown areas don’t really have a closing time, they just shut the doors when the last people decide to leave. Often on the weekends this means they’ll stay open until 3 or 4am. The best part of the nightlife may be how completely safe I feel. Getting robbed or attacked is something that nobody ever thinks about. Even leaving a purse or phone at a bar or restaurant isn’t really a cause for concern I’m told by the Koreans because most Koreans are very honest people.

Traffic Lights = Guidelines

By a certain time of night, most of the lights just blink yellow or red (with the exception of the very busy roads) and cars just use their discretion. Ie. they career through the lights narrowly dodging each other. If someone is in a hurry and are stopped at a red light you'll see them sorta turn right and then dodge back into the direction they were  going.  

What's Cheap?

 Not as much as I had imagined. Clothing can be quite cheap in some areas. Restaurants can be very cheap! The most I think I've ever spent on a dinner was 10$, but usually it's about 6 or 7 even with some soju or beer. The generous portions of samples you can get whilst wandering around E-mart to do your grocery shopping may just fill you up for your next meal (like a Wal Mart). At restaurants, multiple different side dishes accompany every meal. Better yet, most restaurants allow unlimited refills for these side dishes! Rarely will I go out for supper and not be well fed or even stuffed by the end. Busses move pretty quickly here, but if you’re a group of 3 or 4 people you may as well just get a cab because they’re very cheap. There is also no tipping or tax added onto prices in Korea, so what you see on the tag is what you pay. Smokes are much cheaper here, apparently lower than half the prices in America, so nearly everybody I know smokes. Gotta stay strong and hold my ground!

Google's Inefficiency

Bad: google maps has not reached Korea. Some locations can be found on google maps, but the vast majority can’t. A lot of businesses aren’t even online, which shocked me, and made me realize how much I relied on google to find locations, opening & closing times, and prices of businesses. My boss finally helped me get my phone this week, and google actually works a bit better on that, but I'm working on using the Korean version, naver.

Interesting Manners

Little boys whip out their junk to pee in the back streets. And not so little boys do sometimes. Koreans also don’t say excuse me or sorry (which coming from Canada let me tell you is something you get used to). People ram into you on every street and through doorways with nay a second glance or sorry murmur.

I've loved the whirlwind of a first month, but it’s a bit sad to have the opposite schedule of family and friends. It means waking up even earlier on school days (or worse, post-drinking days) to skype in and keep in touch. Sometimes I convince people to wake up earlier on their morning for me. Skyping home will be even easier now that I've got a real person phone. Loved my first month, and I can happily say I am falling in love with Korea.