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Found the original entry for Day 1 in another text file, figured I'd post it.
Day 1 supplemental
Woke up my coworker around noon, after doing some unpacking and basic cleaning (my closet was filthy with dust). He came up an hour later allowing me to do some more unpacking, and we grabbed some lunch of a wierd combination of Korean and Japanese food. the cold noodles were the low point of the meal. (Edit: now I know that they were yakisoba) Bi-bim-bap was the strangest, and the soup was pretty good, even though I couldn't identify a couple of the things floating in it. Then we got on the subway (my first time ever, despite a trip to New York and another to London) and rode up to Itaewon, the foreigner district, after lunch. My coworker got me my first subway pass with 7000 \, which seems to be able to be read right through my wallet if I slide it across the scanner. It took maybe 20 minutes to get there, and I saw the 63 Tower, the tallest building in Korea, from a distance. The goal was to get there today, but plans always change. Instead we found a money changer that was open on a Sunday and I got a pretty good rate on the exchange. Either the \ is up or the $ is down. we then found a PC bang (¹æ, internet cafe) and took up an hour or two screwing around on the internet. it's about a buck an hour, I'm not sure how they all stay afloat. then we grabbed an overprice chicken sandwich and pitcher of beer at a pub that caters to foreigners and headed to a much nicer PC ¹æ to wait for a korean coworker and his date to show up. On the way out the attendant made me wait to recieve my change because he was playing World of Warcraft and something rather important must have been happening. After my coworkers got a Kabab from a stand in a van, we headed to Seoul Pub for quite a few rounds of Never Have I Ever, and billiards. Drinks are around 5000 \ and nobody knows what a pint, standard or imperial, is. But then again, it's not too bad because nobody at the bar expects a tip. Still, drinking a 500 mL Guinness just seems wrong. The taxi home cost surprisingly little, and I was able to stock up on bottled water, because the tap water here is bad for you. Tomorrow, my first day of work.
Day 2:
Went to Lotte Mart after I got up, which is just down the street from my apartment building to stock up on some necessities. I was accosted at the door in stereo by greeters whom I couldn't understand, but they made clear that my backpack needed to be in a shopping cart, presumably so any stolen items in it could be detected on the way through the sensors. I wandered around for a while looking for a power adapter and finding myself unsuccessful, went downstairs to the grocery section. I got everything I needed except for a windex approximation because I couldn't find it, and didn't have the patience for charades with one of the sales people located in nearly every single aisle, whose sole purpose is to sell me whatever is on that aisle. I suppose it's an American thing to want to be left alone while I'm shopping. The meat section was almost entirely fish to my eye, most of them whole and still scale-y. The bakery was small and over-priced. Also, I was unable to buy less than a 24 pack of TP, not sure if that's a Lotte thing or a Korea thing. The taxi to work was less than $2 and further split two ways. I could walk, but I honestly think I'll get clipped by a car while I'm crossing the street before my year is up. I saw somebody driving on the sidewalk right in front of the police station yesterday, and nobody thinks twice about running red lights if they don't see any cars coming. I guess my presence before classes start at 5 is mainly out of respect, because I don't have anything to do or add to the meeting conducted entirely in Korean, though this being my first day I was made to stand up and get clapped for, then I didn't know when to sit down until my more immediate boss told me. All my downtime afforded me some study time from the better of my tow Korean language books that a friend gave me before I left the states. Eventually I got to sit in for 3 of my coworkers classes and allayed most of my fears that I wouldn't be able to do the job. Then I got a little bit more downtime before clocking out and coming here, to the PC ¹æ. It's 1AM now, and the plan is to get some gal-bi from an all-night stand with the coworker in my building and maybe snap a few pictures of my street at night, then go to bed. Hopefully back to Lotte Mart tomorrow with the help of my more experienced coworker who said he knows where the power converters are, so I can type the next one of these on my own computer. I still don't have a cell phone yet, which means I'm basically a non-entity in Korean society, once I get that, and some pointless dangly things to put on it, I'll be a lot closer to a human being, by Korean reasoning.
Also: check out my Flickr account for photos of various things that I think are worth documenting when I have time and a camera on me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seoulinlimbo/
Day 1 supplemental
Woke up my coworker around noon, after doing some unpacking and basic cleaning (my closet was filthy with dust). He came up an hour later allowing me to do some more unpacking, and we grabbed some lunch of a wierd combination of Korean and Japanese food. the cold noodles were the low point of the meal. (Edit: now I know that they were yakisoba) Bi-bim-bap was the strangest, and the soup was pretty good, even though I couldn't identify a couple of the things floating in it. Then we got on the subway (my first time ever, despite a trip to New York and another to London) and rode up to Itaewon, the foreigner district, after lunch. My coworker got me my first subway pass with 7000 \, which seems to be able to be read right through my wallet if I slide it across the scanner. It took maybe 20 minutes to get there, and I saw the 63 Tower, the tallest building in Korea, from a distance. The goal was to get there today, but plans always change. Instead we found a money changer that was open on a Sunday and I got a pretty good rate on the exchange. Either the \ is up or the $ is down. we then found a PC bang (¹æ, internet cafe) and took up an hour or two screwing around on the internet. it's about a buck an hour, I'm not sure how they all stay afloat. then we grabbed an overprice chicken sandwich and pitcher of beer at a pub that caters to foreigners and headed to a much nicer PC ¹æ to wait for a korean coworker and his date to show up. On the way out the attendant made me wait to recieve my change because he was playing World of Warcraft and something rather important must have been happening. After my coworkers got a Kabab from a stand in a van, we headed to Seoul Pub for quite a few rounds of Never Have I Ever, and billiards. Drinks are around 5000 \ and nobody knows what a pint, standard or imperial, is. But then again, it's not too bad because nobody at the bar expects a tip. Still, drinking a 500 mL Guinness just seems wrong. The taxi home cost surprisingly little, and I was able to stock up on bottled water, because the tap water here is bad for you. Tomorrow, my first day of work.
Day 2:
Went to Lotte Mart after I got up, which is just down the street from my apartment building to stock up on some necessities. I was accosted at the door in stereo by greeters whom I couldn't understand, but they made clear that my backpack needed to be in a shopping cart, presumably so any stolen items in it could be detected on the way through the sensors. I wandered around for a while looking for a power adapter and finding myself unsuccessful, went downstairs to the grocery section. I got everything I needed except for a windex approximation because I couldn't find it, and didn't have the patience for charades with one of the sales people located in nearly every single aisle, whose sole purpose is to sell me whatever is on that aisle. I suppose it's an American thing to want to be left alone while I'm shopping. The meat section was almost entirely fish to my eye, most of them whole and still scale-y. The bakery was small and over-priced. Also, I was unable to buy less than a 24 pack of TP, not sure if that's a Lotte thing or a Korea thing. The taxi to work was less than $2 and further split two ways. I could walk, but I honestly think I'll get clipped by a car while I'm crossing the street before my year is up. I saw somebody driving on the sidewalk right in front of the police station yesterday, and nobody thinks twice about running red lights if they don't see any cars coming. I guess my presence before classes start at 5 is mainly out of respect, because I don't have anything to do or add to the meeting conducted entirely in Korean, though this being my first day I was made to stand up and get clapped for, then I didn't know when to sit down until my more immediate boss told me. All my downtime afforded me some study time from the better of my tow Korean language books that a friend gave me before I left the states. Eventually I got to sit in for 3 of my coworkers classes and allayed most of my fears that I wouldn't be able to do the job. Then I got a little bit more downtime before clocking out and coming here, to the PC ¹æ. It's 1AM now, and the plan is to get some gal-bi from an all-night stand with the coworker in my building and maybe snap a few pictures of my street at night, then go to bed. Hopefully back to Lotte Mart tomorrow with the help of my more experienced coworker who said he knows where the power converters are, so I can type the next one of these on my own computer. I still don't have a cell phone yet, which means I'm basically a non-entity in Korean society, once I get that, and some pointless dangly things to put on it, I'll be a lot closer to a human being, by Korean reasoning.
Also: check out my Flickr account for photos of various things that I think are worth documenting when I have time and a camera on me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seoulinlimbo/