I had two interesting experiences yesterday. The first occurred at Costco, the second while on my run that night.

1. I decided to visit Costco yesterday. It's only two subway stops away and I figured they might have some good deals on western food. So I get there and this Costco literally has 7 floors. Enormous. Anyways, usually when I'm out I just listen to music and get in my zone, it also helps to alleviate the fishbowl effect: Basically Korean's just stare at you. I'm browsing the home section, turn the corner, and what do I see? I see a little boy (age 3?) pissing into a plastic water bottle. Fortunately, I was there just in time to witness his mom shaking it off in the middle of Costco. So as I walked passed I nearly burst out laughing at the "shaking sight." As I walked away I thought to myself, "This is normal in Korea." So now I never leave home without my nalgene.

2. Running in Korea feels like running in a smokey sauna. On a scale of one to hot...it's SO HOT! So I run at night. Koreans are a nocturnal people. They're afraid of getting a tan because it means that you're a poor rice farmer who works in the field all day. But luckily I've found some great running paths and trails around where I live. Koreans love their public park and recreation areas. Every sidewalk and pathway is covered in this soft green matted material. Basically, it's like running in heaven. Or, like that feeling you get when you get a new pair of running shoes. Anyways, it's great for runners. Last night I was running through this park area where there were people doing their typical Korean speed walking. I'm going about 6:40 pace. All of a sudden I hear this pounding come from behind me and immediately realize someone is trying to race me. The only reason I don't think anything of it is because this is not the first time a Korean has tried to race me on my evening run. So I look over my shoulder and this little boy looks up at me with a wild craze in his eyes. Once he passes me he immediately drops from exhaustion. End of story.

Parent Presentation

So today I'm in the middle of teaching and my boss comes in and informs me that I will be giving a presentation to the mothers of my students at noon. The fact that they don't even speak English only scratches the surface of this conundrum. I've always been told that being flexible is an essential attribute for teaching, so I've been trying my hardest to be calm when I'm told to perform without warning. I know my boss understands that in the U.S. we aren't so last minute, but at the same time, we're in Korea. So the good thing about giving a presentation to Korean parents last minute is that as long as you smile and look nice it doesn't matter what you say. They can't understand you anyways. I had a translator field questions for me. It was nice having a lot of visuals in my room, so I could gesture to the pictures and other student work. I guess it went well because they were very happy and kept saying how much fun their kids were having in my class. A few minutes ago my boss came in and said they sent me really expensive cake. It was probably fanciest cake I'd ever eaten (besides maybe at Jon & Suz's wedding). It actually had a couple flakes of real gold in middle to adorn the frosting. We didn't eat the gold. But on the whole, I'm getting used to how Koreans in general are very last minute. It's actually kind of exciting, I get to come to work everyday and not know when I'll have to give a high stakes performance!

Chick Fight

So I had to post this right away while the memory is still fresh in my mind. Just a few minutes ago I was coming back from lunch break with my coworker Thomas and we see this girl fight underway. At this point, both girls (presumably mother Vs. daughter) are rolling on the ground, while it seems the mother has the advantage. Hammering forearms and insults on her daughter while they both scream. Actually, the daughter is the one doing most of the screaming. It's more of a shrill. A constant shrill still echoing in my mind. The funny thing about this kind of situation is that it seems in Korean culture that you kind of mind your own business, even if someone is being molested on the sidewalk. People just turned their heads and walked on by, pretending they were oblivious. The girl was screaming "kill me" in Korean. Hmm. I'm assuming the mother is ashamed of her daughters lifestyle, since she wasn't dressed very modestly. Anyways, not something you see everyday in Korea! On a lighter note, today it is a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze in Korea, I shall go for a run later!

Hwajeong

I live in a city named Hwajeong. It means "Flower City" in Korean. I know, quite manly. But I'm told it's actually a very beautiful name in Korean. I'm in a northwestern suburb that was created to alleviate the population of Seoul. Hwajeong a small Korean city, yet it's population is approximately that of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I found out rather quickly how few people speak English here. I've decided that there are good and bad elements to this. Good because it forces me to learn Korean and I have job security, bad because it was a nightmare trying to do simple things my first week.

Exhibit A: doing laundry. "Ok, so the button with two chicken scratches over what looks like a temple next to a greater than sign means spin cycle?" WHAT?! Exhibit B: buying food. Supermarkets here have great customer service, almost too good. There is a little Korean lady in practically every isle to help you out. I'm thinking, "great!" As a side note, Koreans are very helpful. They will go to the ends of the earth to help you out. Just be a caucasion, look confused, and stand on a street corner with an open map and you will have a million Koreans trying to help you. Anyways, I learned to pretend that I knew what I was doing so that they would leave me alone. The funny thing about my supermarker encounter was that after explaining it to me and Korean, she proceeded to speak louder thinking I was merely hard of hearing. I've been here 3 days. No matter how loud or clearly you speak Korean, lady, I'm not gonna understand! So finally I just got this surprised look on my face like I had a revelation from above, and that I understood EXACTLY what she was saying. I smiled, nodded, said thankyou. End of conversation. That was a good lesson to learn.

Arrival

Ok, so this is it. I'm here! I'm actually living and teaching in a foreign country. I still wake up every morning, look outside, and get that weird feeling of being somewhere foreign and coming to the realization of where I am. Korea is wonderful. I'll try not to use ambiguous words such as amazing, incredible, and great since they do not aptly describe my experiences here. But that is often the case.

I've actually been here for a little more than a week, so I'll try to recount the main events since then. I arrived at the Seoul/Incheon airport at 5:25pm, grabbed my luggage, went through customs, and called my boss. Exchanging money was easy. 40 minute bus ride = $2. It's funny how exhaustion affects how you view the world. Like being there, but not really. The rolling mountains in the background reminded me of Tuscany in the summer time.

At 11PM I found myself in a supermarket of sorts desperately trying to keep up with a Korean man whom I just met. I made my first official purchase: bed sheets, blanket, pillow, pillowcase. That's all I needed and that's all I wanted.