Getting Started

Today is my second day in Korea. Really my first full day here. I had a great day. It started with 2 hours of orientation. I have a great little classroom. I'm excited to make it my own and put up decorations and what not.

After my orientation I went to E-mart. That is basically like Walmart. They have everything from groceries to clothes to wine... the list goes on. Mom, they have familiar wines here! I got a bottle of Little Penguin Merlot for 9,600 원. (9,600 'won'). I also bought chicken, a garbage can and some cleaning materials. Oh, and they have lactose free milk here which is wonderful.

The whole experience was really interesting. There are 3 floors to E-mart. The bottom floor is groceries. I went down there, and there were sample people, just as there are in Canada. But. These sample people were yelling about what they were selling! It was very noisy! Anyway, I was walking along, and I saw things like chicken, beef, bean sprouts. Then I smelt something odd so I looked and saw a sample guy who was cooking up fish on one half of his grill, and squid on the other! It was certainly interesting! I saw the tentacles and walked away before he pushed his sample on me!

We also went to the mall, which is called "The Mall".

We went to another great restaurant. It was like the restaurant yesterday, but more modern. I'm starting to get into the habit of saying thank you in Korean instead of in English. It's sort of automatic, so I'm trying to be conscious of when I say it. "Kam-sam-nida".

Also, bowing is a huge part of their culture here. When you meet someone new, or if you are meeting with a person who is older (more specifically an older male), it is necessary to bow and then shake hands.

Bowing also happens as you enter and exit restaurants and stores - you bow and say "Anyong Haseyo" if you're entering and if you're exiting you bow and say "Kam-sam-nida". It's all very confusing, but when you're here you catch on pretty quickly.

I have taken a few more pictures:

At the entrance to my apartment building. To the left is the elevators, and to the right is the door outside.

Just one of the many buildings out on the street. There are so many lights around here!

This was dinner. These are the side dishes. You are given a main dish of meat (today we had pork), and all of these side dishes. So. You take either one piece of lettuce or a leaf (top left bowl)... I'm not sure what kind of leaf it is. It kind of tasted like Fennel.. I wasn't feeling it. Or you can take a piece of those rectangular things in the black container just under the lettuce. Thoes are pounded rice sheet square things. In those things you put your meat, the kimchi, and any more of the side dishes you wish. The small bowls contained sauces, marinades and powders. The white bowl at the top of the screen had a radish in it, and the bottom white bowl had a cold soup sort of thing. It was sweet and salty, but had the consistency of a slushie from 7-11!

This is the grill. It is right in the middle of the table. Lots of Korean restaurants are like this. The kimchi is on the left, pork in the middle and potatoes, mushrooms, an onion and a piece of tofu is on the right. Notice the brought us forks :) They probably saw me struggling with the chopsticks!

A picture of my Coca-cola bottle! This is an example of an English word that has been translated phonetically into the Korean alphabet (Hangul).

So when you sound out the characters, it actually reads "Koh-Kah.Kohl-Lah"

And the last picture I took today was of the plug. I have a power converter that allows me to plug in my laptop though. That's good.

So that's all my news for now. Tomorrow if E-mart is open I will likely go back because I have to pick up a few more things. Also, I will try to take more pictures. I will take some pictures in E-mart as well!

I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable around here, but being the foreigner, I will probably always feel a little out of place. I plan on taking Korean lessons with my teaching colleagues also. That way I will be able to do simple things like ask for directions, order food etc.

Hope everyone in Canada and elsewhere is well!