Korean Potpourri

dinner the first night of my homestay

"little fishes", one of the dishes, served at every meal (found out it is little anchovies)

picture of my homestay house

from the garden looking out to the gate at the sidewalk

my room

I don't know if Koreans use potpourri, but here are just some observations about Korea so far, a little bit of this and a little bit of that:

• Today I spent over four hours trying to get my F4 visa. Go here, get a form, go there, get more forms, go see this person, see that person, get this, get that, pay fees, pay more fees. Oy. I guess government red tape is the same everywhere!

• I'm directionally challenged, so I got a bit turned around today on my way to InKas, an organization that will rent a cellphone to me while I am here. I arrived at their office at 12:05 pm, and it was closed (for lunch) until 1 pm. Arrrrggghhh!
  
  
• The Paris Cafe doesn't really have Parisian-style food or coffee. For instance, they sell hot dogs in pastry, not exactly a bon appetit kind of meal, I think.
  
  
• Motorcycles and scooters are allowed on the sidewalks. I think it's more of a self-preservation thing for them, but watch out pedestrians!
  
  
• All the sidewalks are made of the interlocking pavers. Initially, this seems like a good idea, as you can repair an area without pulling up the entire sidewalk, however, as the ground moves, tree roots grow, etc. the sidewalks are no longer level. In fact, they have rises and dips everywhere. If you're gawking around, like I am, it's really easy to stumble or nearly stumble. If anyone is watching me, I'm sure they must think I'm very uncoordinated.
  
  
• It's funny, but nearly every store plays English music. I guess it's too difficult to dub all the music into Korean...but it seems funny to me.
  
  
• Everyone seems really helpful and are quite tolerant of the people who can't speak their language.
  
  
• The wine selection in Korea is pretty bleak.
  
  
• Washers are prevalent. Dryers are rare...I guess they take too much electricity and folks just opt not to buy them, or if they have them, they don't use them.
  
  
• Love the ondol heating. The heat (via a boiler) is run through the concrete floors...and radiates up through the room. My feet are never cold! The homestay where I am can heat specific rooms, and not heat others...very efficient, but when I leave my room, it's pretty chilly.
  
  
• I went to the World Cup Stadium today. It's a huge, impressive stadium. I think it was used in 2002 for the World Cup (that's soccer for you non-soccer fans) competition. They have tuned the bottom floor into a huge megamarket, with food and household goods. I just thought that was funny...a huge stadium, now a supermarket.
  
  

I am really enjoying my stay and the challenges it brings. Tomorrow I go to visit several different schools. I'm not sure if it's more of an interview or just a visit. Thanks to my cousin, Audrey, I will be prepared with wonderful flash cards for my classes. I also volunteered to help in the office at the Holt's Post Adoption Services on Fridays. They desperately need more hands, and I'm happy to offer mine while they are in Korea. Goodnight.