It's got to be Red Bean...!!!

Hitting the one month mark in S.Korea tomorrow.... Time flew by indeed. I'm looking forward to explore all the things Korea has to offer- as of now it has been all about getting used to the draining work schedule of a foreign teacher, figuring out the subway, and learning where I really am. I've also been doing a lot of "self-reflection": what are the long-term benefits of staying here for a year? Do I really want to work this much in a foreign country....should I just bail & travel???? Go back to school...well yes that's a given (MBA with a concentration on global management is the decision).

We recently went to the movies at Lotte Mart (I think Lotte Cinema..) to watch "Kick Ass". Not a bad movie...definitely forgot I was in Korea. The films are in English with Korean subtitles. Korean previews are VERY entertaining!!! They're more like commercials.. They had a couple for telephones. One in particular was rather odd/awk/funny all in one. I guess they have 'her & him' cell phones; so in the commercial there was this girl singing and rubbing on windows then on a guy. I did not understand how rubbing up on people was promoting mobile phones, but I'm sure it works in some way shape or form. Ahh,....another one. They're really big on cheese sticks. Not the cheese string cheese though, which they actually do sell at the numerous minimarts, but little sticks or cheese. The packaging doesn't make them look appetizing at all and the commercial doesn't help either. it was something with a girl in a short skirt who would bust out with these cheese sticks for her lunch and in random situations....apparently eating this magical cheese makes your day all better! haha.

Back to how I was saying that I had forgotten that I was in Korea...well this kid, part of the clean up crew, busts into the theater right when the film ended. Very normal in the US as well...but they aren't forced to wear character outfits/suits while they roam around on their wheelies (tennis shoes with wheels on the bottom) cleaning up the entire theater.


This was the only odd thing about the movies. I had to pull a tourist move and take a candid of him. Besides this, going to the movies was pleasant. Yes they do have popcorn; you have a choice regular salty popcorn or kettle corn.

The last couple of days have been interesting to say the least.

Friday night began once I got off of work, around 8'ish. Step-anie (thats how the kiddies say it) jumped on the Subway to Ansan City. This is was the first time I felt odd...culture shock I'm assuming. EVERYONE just stared. The people sitting waiting for the subway, the old geezers inside the subway- pretty much anyone above 30 years old stared. It was if they had never seen anyone that was not Asian! Well....actually they probably haven't. The young Koreans do not act bothered by the presence of non-Koreans, but the oder generation definitely does. The disgusting men in their business suits with rhinestoned ties enjoy the sight (se hechan taquitos de ojo...nasty). It is rather disturbing, but we take it like champs. Nothing more to do. I did get stared up-and-down by an old lady. I believe she might have been telling me off or asking me something. No idea what she said. I simply smiled, laughed a bit and turned away.

But besides the disturbing stares the Korail, as it is called, is genius. Lightyear speed.


I was a bit surprised that the subway station was ridiculously clean and had a mini-market. Literally.....a market. Fresh veggies, not so fresh fish and goodies.


Nothing else really worth mentioning about this place. Well...we had legit overpriced Indian food. Very delicious.

Saturday was an adventure to Hangdae. It was initially described to us as an Asian "Westwood" (which is the college area where UCLA is located). And yes....it was the Korean version of Westwood but 1476347617 times better. There was an Apple store,
NewBalance, some fro-yo joints, Ridiculously overpriced Coffee Bean & Ice cream places (the bean was about $2-3 more than in the US). But did get some very cute clothes made by Korean designers at good prices (good quality as well). There were a lot of people hustling around and running around like busy bees.

We did enjoy ourselves. The live music was good and entertaining.


After almost taking the wrong train back to Ansan...we made it back to my place. Passed by a local chicken wing joint & we were very very tempted to taste. We went inside, and of course, have no idea how to inquire about the different types of wings. The old man that worked there came up to us & we began attempted to ask in English. Of course I attempt to ask for Boneless...silly me. Long story short. He made it very clear that they chop off the feet, & that we would get a mix of wings & baby thighs. lol. Picture this while he was making actual wing signs (well more like miming wings)....Steph wanted to bust out in a Napoleon dove dance. hahaha. Anyways- the wings were AMAZING!!! Wings-n-things has nothing on these!!! Crunchy & too spicy=delish.

wk. 1

I'm about to finish my first week in South Korea. So far I have not felt "culture shock." Well at least I do not feel that way. There are obvious, and expected, differences in everyday and the social life of Koreans compared to 'Americans'. Here are some examples that I have noticed:

1) The majority of places do not open until 11am, with the exception of 24 hr mini-marts (these are everywhere) and the local coffee shops. It is a late night culture. And I mean that in every way. I was having dinner/drinks around 9:30pm and the streets were pretty packed. You could spot your business men stumbling on the sidewalks, the women getting piggy back rides due to their drunkenness & the older school children barely leaving the English language schools (texting on their phones like always).

As I was glancing out of the window, I saw the most hilarious thing...some man, after 5 too many soju bottles, standing there repeatedly doing some sort of taekwondo kicks. He literally did this for a good 5 minutes. CLASSIC!

[back to my 'list']

2) You do not tip at restaurants or anything actually

3) Finding healthy, delicious, authentic food is ridiculously easy. Most restaurants price nothing higher than 5,000 wons..a bit less than $5. Ex. This made to order ramen and rice ball was a mere 3,500 won (around $3 friends!!!)




4) The home heating systems are AMAZING!!!! Hot water pipes run under the flooring....you turn the dial & wham! your floor is heated! Loving this...



There is so much more I can mention but that would take way too long!! I am too descriptive for my own good at times.
Weekend updates will be up sometime soon... I might go to a fortress, folk village, hiking or Ansan City.......decisions decisions

Welcome to Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, S.Korea!

Initially I did not want to begin a blog being that I don't want to spend a good portion of my trip sitting on my computer....BUT blogging is the easiest way to answer every one's questions. So here we go!!!

I arrived in South Korea (please do not ask me if I'm in North Korea. Americans CANNOT go into N.Korea.) Saturday April 17th. It was a short 1 hour car ride from Incheon International Airport to Ansan where I am teaching. Ansan is in the Gyeonggi-do province and roughly about an hour from Seoul. The school, SLP, arranged for me and my bestie, Stephanie, to be picked up from the airport and taken to our places. Little did we know that after sitting on a 12 hour flight, going through immigration, & customs...we would still have to be dragged around for quite some time. This is a quick run down of our first couple of hours in Korea:

Airport to the school, SLP, to pick up our supervisor. Then to our individual apartments. After seeing the apartments and Mr. Kim realized we were missing some essentials. He then took us shopping & let me tell you, this man's driving is ridiculous!! It wasn't really that he drove "crazy", but we went in circles and circles, up some small streets, under bridges, then to simply bust a u-turn to end up a block from our where we started. I seriously had thought that we had left the city....but I was 5 minutes from my place. haha. I had to chuckle to myself for a second. After, we were dropped off at the school once again and had dinner with the Supervisor Luke. No we did not have Korean food- we had Italian. Very delicious by the way. Thin crusted garlic and mushroom pizza with garlic bread. Once we finished dinner, we walked back to our places. I'm very glad that I am a short 5 minutes from the school. It will be a life saver when I start getting off close to 9 pm and still have to walk my behind home. I was expecting myself to be tired, exhausted, something...but no. I was wide awake! Thank you jet lag!!! So I was unpacked and semi-settled by 10pm on my first day.

This is where I live...Reminds me like something from Ikea. Definitely not what I was picturing in my head.