The Korea National Museum.

I did it.  I put myself out there today.  I'm now open for rejection.  Like making that first call to a crush and hoping they'll call you back.  The ends of every nerve tingling...waiting for a response and ready to jump towards the phone the minute it rings.  Your logical brain arguing with your nervous system to calm the ef down - it's likely to be a long (if not disappointing) wait.

Only thing is, I'm not waiting for a boy to call.  I'm waiting for Annie the tour guide to email me back.

Let me explain.

It all started with the Korea National Museum, a coupon, and their special exhibit.  See, I'm a sucker for a coupon - and a 20% discount for a special exhibition boasting a title "Princely Treasures:  European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum" draws me like a hipster to PBR.  Besides, I'd just started to feel comfortable using the subways and each little train trip was like boasting to myself I CAN DO THIS - I REALLY CAN!

Before rewarding myself with the Victoria and Albert pieces, I was going to do the right thing and get culturally educated by taking the 10:30 English guided tour about the most important pieces of the permanent Korean collection.  I was told where to stand and wait for my tour guide...the only one waiting at the designated spot in the huge, beautiful lobby.  When Annie arrived, I was embarassed to be the sole tourist taking up her time - I apologized profusely and offered to wander around by myself.  Not only did she refuse my offer to let her off the hook, but she proceeded to give me the most amazing museum tour I've had.  We bantered about Frank Lloyd Wright versus traditional hanok and the relative benefits and similarities of the world's major religions as Annie led me across the marble floors in her silver lame heels, couture dress, and open grey suit jacket.  With heels on, Annie and I were eye to eye as I tromped along in my Converse sneakers.  Did I mention that she worked for an international company, traveled the world, has a daughter my age who also wants to live in New York and avoids wearing heels, and in her retirement chooses to volunteer as a tour guide to benefit poor shmucks like me?

As we walked, the tenor of our interactions progressed from Annie insisting I email her if I needed anything or had any questions about Seoul to  ->  me suggesting we should get together for coffee sometime to  ->  Annie offering to take me out to dinner to  ->  me insisting that I buy HER dinner as she had done all the work of being the tour guide ("Oh, no," she replied, "I buy.  I think I am richer than you."  We both laughed at her wisdom.) to  ->  her inviting me to her house for dinner.  When the tour ended, I walked away with Annie's phone number and email address and a bounce in my step that hadn't been there since leaving Wisconsin.

In case you're interested, here's the website for the Korea National Museum.  Not only is it the 6th largest museum in the world, but it's another great reason you should come visit.

http://www.museum.go.kr/main/index/index002.jsp

Here are some highlights from the museum:

Big enough to cover the side of a building and on SILK!  The colors were so much more luscious than the photo reveals.

10-story marble pagoda from 1348...Japan stole it, then Korea got it back - can you imagine shipping this beast?

I gasped audibly when I entered the room and saw this Buddha.  Kind of embarrassing, but I don't think he minded.

Just trying to fit in over here...

Pensive Bodhisattva - the most amazing piece in my eyes that day.  Seriously, add this to your bucket list as something to see in person if you're a lover of art.  It's only 36" tall, but I kept wanting to circle around and admire it minute after minute after minute.  It's something like a millimeter or two thick as far as the walls of the sculpture...completely hollow...and yet so fluid it looks as if the little dude might get up and walk away at any minute.

More intriguing than the Mona Lisa.  I know them's fighin' words - bring it on, peeps!

Ceramic bunnies!  Little ceramic bunnies!  Can you find them?

More vegetable bibimbap!  I tried to order the octopus version, but they were out.  Bummer.

The museum also has extensive outdoor gardens with works of art, tomb markers, and pagodas.

Dragon Falls - protected from wanderers by a lovely decorative fence.

Dragon Falls again!  I didn't notice the symmetry until I looked at the photos at home.

Reflection Pond

All that dignified cultural enrichment makes a Ricki hungry...so I headed for some street food.

Check out the sign above their truck.  How could whatever they're selling NOT be good?

Yum!  Baked, crispy and hot on the outside - sweet, cinnamon-y goodness on the inside.

I couldn't figure out how this treat was created, so I sat on a bench and watched a little while.  First he would make balls of dough.  After stuffing some cinnamon-looking mixture in the middle, he would twist it closed (you can kind of see him doing that here).  Then he would roll the ball into a pancake shape, slap it into one of the flat cookers up above, wait for it to brown, then take it out.  He had about 8 burners going at once - as soon as anyone would come out, another customer would be waiting to buy it.  He was busy.

There's an interesting lack of photos here regarding the Victoria and Albert collection, don't you think?  You see, it seems that the history and culture and art of Korea kind of kicked the Europeans' collective figurative ass today...which is something I never expected to think OR say.  I have a feeling that this is just one of many dominoes to fall in a little domino design I'd like to call "Look at How Awesome Asia is and Boy Were You Silly Enough Not to Notice".  In fact, doesn't life seem to show us things eerily suited to contradict statements or thoughts we've claimed as absolute fact in the past?

Self:  I'll never be one of those people who have failed marriages.  I am college educated and I believe in marriage therapy and I am generally a good person - the 50% failure rate of marriages in the US is such a shame for those other people, don't you think?

Universe:  A cocky little thing, ain't you?  Let's see...a divorced woman living with her cat.  That seems ironic and funny.  Let's make that happen.

Self:  After two years of chronic pain, I give up.  I'm never going to belly dance again, I have a ruptured disc in my lower back, and after 6 specialists and 3 physical therapists, I'm obviously never going to get better.

Universe:  Hmmm...that doesn't sound like much fun.  Instead, let's put in motion some lovely nature walks.  And throw in an amazing yoga teacher.  Yada yada yada...pretty soon, it's the best shape of your life - seriously, you're down to your high school weight - and the most body confidence and athletic ability you've ever had.  Bloody good fun.

Self:  I'm not really that interested in Asian culture.  I mean, English castles and royal bloodlines racked by insanity are just so cool...plus, there's all sorts of fun American history and those Mayans were pretty wild.  No offense or anything, very large area of the world, I've just never been motivated to learn a whole lot about what you've got goin' on.

Universe:  A little Western-culture-centric, are we?  Hallo, Governor Walker, how do you do?  Press down the weight of those student loans a bit.  Oh, wait - here's a job offer by an International school in Seoul that will lead to paying off your student loans eight years earlier.  Throw in Annie at the Korea National Museum, and my job here is done.

Don't ask me why, but I kept hearing an English accent while writing the voice of the Universe.  Go figure.

Now if Annie could just call me back, that'd be great.  I'll be here waiting by the phone...

The Grand Day Out. *more pictures!*

Thanks for the pictures, Noah!

Mixing up my bibimbop...yum!

Posing with ice noodles.

Rained OUT.

I didn't make it to my cooking class this morning.

This was on my walk to the nearest subway station this morning...those are cars.  In the water.

Although last night's decision to skip yoga was a bit on the wussy side (a steady downpour for hours and a missing umbrella) the reason for today's skipped activity was no fault of my own.  My suspicion is that I arrived on the scene shortly after it transpired - a few Korean girls and I ended up standing under an awning and taking pictures, one of them pausing to pull off her flooded rainboots and emptying them into the street.

The girl with the rainboots...notice the biker on the left.  I thought, "Well, that's ballsy!"  And then...

...once the water level reached their bike seat, they turned back.  Oops!

 When I had first started trekking in the direction of the subway station I continued into water up to my knees, considering the thunder as I rationalized that surely no lightning strikes could hit the ground in this forest of tall buildings.  Besides, I had a cooking class to get to!  Then my father's voice popped into my head...something about the possibility of damaged electrical lines and water not being a good mix - about the same time I noticed the flooded cars and buses.  I guess I'm not always the most observant person.

It's wet here in Seoul.  *insert good 'ol Minnesotan accent*  Makes ya' want to come visit, eh?

Darn.  Giggling at my foolishness, I retreated back to the awning - and was rewarded by one of the Korean girls who started a conversation with me using an impeccable British accent.  Adorable.  Everything about her was adorable - from the accent to the fantastic rainboots.  As we watched the very drenched, thin line of people coming from the direction of Hanti Station, one man noticed my foreign face and very considerately filled me in on what he had seen...no going to the subway - water up to chest level - and why yes, he would of course take a bow for the silliness of his drenched appearance (he was soaked head to toe).  A smile, a wave, and he was gone.  

How cute is this?  Some random Korean kids were posing for each other for pictures...so I took one, too!

A note on the rainstorms here - they feel different.  (DUH, Ricki - everything feels different here.  You're in Korea, for frack sake.)  But still, imagine the really heavy rains we get in Wisconsin once or twice a summer, when the raindrops feel as big as dimes, the sheer mass of water coming from the sky is a little awe-inspiring, and the streets fill to curb level and ponds form in the corn fields.  The kind of rainstorm that would have sent Grandpa Cudnohowski running for a bar of soap and heading outside to get clean.  Now imagine the intensity of that rainstorm lasting for 14 hours with some kick-butt thunder boomers thrown in, and you've got my most recent bit of night and day.  

As it's lightened up a bit outside of the coffee shop I'm writing in, I'm off now to buy a new umbrella.  And maybe I'll have to find me a pair of those fancy rainboots, too...

What to Pack When Moving to Korea.

If you're moving to Korea, please skip ahead a paragraph and join me there.  To avoid my commentary and get to the nitty-gritty, scroll down until you hit "The List".

If you're NOT moving to Korea, and this topic bores you - no worries.  Just enjoy the many other delightful and witty blog posts I've spent inordinate amounts of time on.  (Unfortunately for me - and ultimately you, the reader - when it comes to the written word, lots of time spent on my part does not necessarily translate directly into quality.  Hopefully I get points for trying.)

When I was preparing for the move to Korea, I had exactly 2 months and 5 days to do the following:  sublet my apartment, find a home for my beloved feline, sell off as much furniture as I could, pack up and store the rest of my belongings, move to my parents' house (eek!) and pack for a two-year teaching stint at an International school.  Calmer and more worldly folk than I have, I'm sure, done more in less time.  But for me...well...I was freaking out.  Lucky for me, there's a LOT of great information on the web that I'll pass along here along with personal notes of my own.

First of all, I know it's wrong to have a crush on a couple, but these guys are my heroes:

www.eatyourkimchi.com

Their specific post about what to pack when coming to Korea is located here:

www.eatyourkimchi.com/what-you-should-pack-to-korea/

Not only are their videos about living in Korea horribly informational, but they have a delightful sense of humor and so much charisma I couldn't help but hope some of it would leak out of my computer and land on me like fairy dust.  Obviously I've been reading too many fantasy novels.

Other websites that I found helpful were...

http://hiexpat.com/korea-blog/a-teachers-prep-for-moving-to-korea.html
http://www.chikorean.com/the-ultimate-packing-list-what-to-bring-to-korea/
http://grrrltraveler.com/2010/04/costco-kr/
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-what-teachers-workers-need-bring-korea.html
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-what-to-bring-to-korea.html

PLEASE IGNORE THESE IDEAS FROM THE ABOVE WEBSITES:

-Books...I lugged lots of books with me only to discover that "What the Book?" in Itaewon has a fantastic selection of new and used books in English.  They will also order anything you'd like and offer FREE shipping.  I love this place!  (whatthebook.com)

-Contacts...Just bring your prescription with you.  No need to make an appointment with an eye doc here - just walk into a store that offers eye glasses and contacts, show them your prescription, and your contacts are likely to be much cheaper than they are in the States.

-Shower curtain...Check to see if your new place will have a Western or Korean style bathroom.  If it's a Korean style shower, you won't need a shower curtain.

After perusing the above websites, your list of possible things to pack is probably running off the page.  If I had to pack my bags all over again, these items would be my top 10 choices...

THE LIST:

1.  Clothing and Footwear - Bring enough for a year that will keep you comfortable in four distinct seasons - including cold winters and hot, humid summers.  If you are slim you should be able to find a wide selection of clothes here...even tall men can find pants that fit and good quality, custom-made mens' dress shirts can be constructed for as little as $40.  But...if you are a BIG, tall man or a woman who has some junk in the trunk (like me) or around the middle you may want to bring any and all clothes you will need.  Shoes are nearly impossible to find if you have really big feet.

2.  Medicine - This seems to be one of the most-argued about suggested items.  I would recommend bringing 3 to 6 months worth of your prescription medication...that should give you enough time to find out if you can get it here (if you can, it will most likely be cheaper) or if you need to ask someone from home to send it to you.  Be sure to bring your prescriptions with you!  I also brought over first aid supplies, vitamins, and over-the-counter cold medicines.  Although these are items you can find here, I'm glad I brought over a basic (if small) stock of these things it will give me time to locate comparable products before I run out of what I'm familiar with. 

3.  Toiletries - Enough deodorant for your time here is a MUST.  I also packed enough cosmetics, toothpaste, Pantene Pro-V conditioner, hair gel, and perfume for the year because my school provided enough of a shipping allowance that I could afford to bring over my favorite brands.  These items ARE available - just think big city prices for similar products with an added price jump if you have to have a particular American brand name.  

4.  Ladies' Items - If you wear a C-cup or larger, bring enough bras to last you.  If you're a fan of thongs, pack 'em.  If you prefer tampons, schlep over enough to last the year - they're uncommon and you might not be, um, comfortable with what you can find.

5.  Towels - I would recommend bringing one or two of your favorite towels with you as well as a washcloth.  These won't take up much space in your luggage, and finding towels you like for a good price here can be a challenge (depending on how picky you are).

6.  Alarm Clock - As many American cell phones don't work in Korea you may be leaving yours behind.  If you need to wake up for a school or work function, you'll be shocked that the smallest, cheapest alarm clock you can find here that has English directions is three times what it would cost you in the States.

7.  Bedsheets - Trust me on this one.  Bedding is EXPENSIVE here, and their sheets are not similar to ours in comfy-ness.  Even if you can only fit one set in your luggage, you'll be glad you did.


8.  Spices and Dry Goods - If you're an avid tea drinker like I am, bring some with you!  I packed mostly loose tea because I could fit more tea vs. less packaging in my suitcase that way.  When I arrived in Seoul, I noticed various boxes of black tea bags (15-30 bags each) at my local Lotte for $9 to $15 per box.  Yikes!  Salt and pepper can be found easily here, but you may want to bring any other spices that you like with you.  Also, if you have extra room in your luggage at the end, you could add some bottles of maple syrup and/or honey.  I brought a few bottles of each that were made in my home state of Wisconsin to bring as gifts for new co-workers and my new boss, but since I've seen the prices on this stuff here I'm considering squirreling it away for myself.  *insert evil laugh here*  I'd heard about Americans who on trips home would fill entire suitcases on their return trip to Seoul with dry goods such as soup mixes, gravy and spice mixes, brownie mixes, etc.  I thought they were crazy at the time, but what I wouldn't do for a box of pancake mix or macaroni and cheese right now...Seriously.  Stuff like that from home that is familiar and easy to make and understand when everything else around you isn't can be SO comforting.

9.  Passport Photos - These can come in handy when you least expect it.  Again, it's something you can get here, but when you're starting a new job and trying to adjust to a new environment, do you really want to be running around looking for a place to have passport photos done?

10.  Random Items That Make You Happy - If you're an avid biker, you may want to bring your favorite bicycle.  Some airlines only charge an extra $50 to check your bike, and that's much cheaper than buying a bike here at big-city prices.  I brought a few card games as I've heard that English language board and card games are hard to find and expensive.  Pictures of friends and family can help make a new place feel more homey, and the simple plexiglass frames that I packed three of mine in traveled really well and weigh next to nothing.  If there's ONE additional item I could have fit in my luggage, I would have packed my comforter.  They're at least twice as expensive here in Korea, but the darn thing was just too big to cram into my last suitcase!  I have heard of folks having success with packing their down comforters and saving a mint by bringing one from the States.

Please feel free to comment with any and all thoughts and suggestions.  Happy packing!

The Hike in Namhansanseong.

I thought I'd play a little game when I arrived in Seoul.  It's a bit distasteful, so if you're easily offended you probably shouldn't read on and hear about the details.  In moving from a country - in particular the Midwest - where seeing overweight people is common and a claim to fame is the ridiculously funny and alarming People of Walmart (http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos/top-rated/page/2) I thought it would be interesting to notice how long it took me to see a fat person in Korea.  Sure their diet is based on rice and fish, sure their genes seem to lean towards slim lines, sure their national pastime is hiking - but in the second largest city in the world surely it wouldn't take long.  Ha!

Six days.  Six days of shopping, walking, sightseeing, eating out, getting caught in crowds of hundreds in the subway station.  Six days of seeing fried chicken places on every corner, bakeries within 20 feet of each other, and more Dunkin' Donuts in a one mile square radius than all the sightings I've racked up of the chain in the States combined.  And yes, I even stopped at Walmart.  Twice.  Though their version of Walmart is E-Mart.  And to be fair, I should elaborate.  This person was not obese, just a bit overweight - chunky, chubby, pleasantly plump.  And it still took me six days! 

Hoping that the national pastime had something to do with all the sveltness around me, but mostly because I was hoping to get a respite from all the urban hustle and bustle - I decided to go after my first hiking experience in Seoul.  Thanks to this website - http://www.seoulstyle.com/fitart_hikingKorea.htm - I found my hike.  It mentioned butterflies, was on my side of the city, and claimed to have an easy hike (jet lag is a b*tch).  Really, it had me at butterflies, but whatever.

Here's what it took to get there for me:

12 minutes = Walk to Daechi subway station

33 minutes = Daechi to Suseo (4 stops), transfer to yellow line and go to Bokjeong (1 stop), transfer to pink   line and go to Namhansanseong (2 stops)

25 minutes = Walk to trail head.  I could have ridden the bus.  But that would require the necessary courage to try the bus system.  Hiking shoes?  Check.  Backpack with snacks?  Check.  Courage?  Nope.  Used that all up for the flight here.

Total time to get to hike = 70 minutes well spent...check out this kick butt park that I got to wander around in.  Not only did I spend 2 hours hiking and exploring, but I didn't even see half the trails!  (Although I tried to keep my pictures here to a minimum, it was very hard - seehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/65633043@N08/?saved=1 for more.)

Butterflies!  There was a tree covered in these orange flowers and thus covered in butterflies...amazing!

After nothing but concrete, traffic noise, and people everywhere for 4 days, this was such a welcome sight at the beginning of the park.  What this picture doesn't show is level after level of gently flowing falls and streams and the many older Koreans soaking their feet in the water.

In fact, the entire beginning area of the park seemed to be dedicated to feet.  That's right - feet.  Permanent-quality diagrams and posters about feet mounted onto stone display forms, all-weather towering cupboards with racks for shoes, walking paths made with intricate designs of varying sizes of rocks and wood surfaces...presumably to lend a reflexology experience when walked on?

As I had arrived at the park in the early morning, it was just me and old people - on a Monday morning everyone else in the city must have had jobs or school to attend to.  Everyone, that is, except this guy:

Yup...that's right.  This dude is literally sitting at the top of one of the waterfalls, working dutifully at his laptop.  I'd like to think that if our dear Justin Pitts was an old Korean guy, he would be this one.

Although the water looked nice, I wanted to HIKE...and hike, I did.  It was all up hill.  Remember the description said "easy"?  Bah.  If easy is a consistent incline, sure.  Still...totally worth it.

Steps leading to the temple.

More steps leading to the temple.

Dragons and prayer lanterns, oh my!

A feast of colors...

A view from the top of the temple - you can see the juxtaposition of the old in the foreground with the new in the background...the concept of the old being blended with the new is one commonly referenced in Seoul.

I just couldn't get enough of these things...imagine wandering the grounds of a temple practically alone, the prayer lanterns swaying in the breeze, the vistas amazing, and the only company a small gray-haired woman tending to her incense and prayers as she went on her rounds to the different altars.  Hers was the only path I crossed.  It felt both magical and intrusive...that I would be there. 

Did I mention that Koreans know how to picnic?  It's an art here, I swear - and I'm sure I've only seen the beginning of the craft...

Not impressed?  Surely you jest!  Notice the picnic blanket weighted with rocks and prepped with a cushioned butt pad, towel, fan and book.  Now call your attention to the pillars of stone.  Pillar #1 - a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label, silver cup, assorted snacks, and box holding silver chopsticks and spoons.  Pillar #2 - a bag of fried chicken and beer.  Pillar #3 - two purses containing unknown items.  This spread was out and unattended on my way up the mountain as well as on my way back down 2 hours later.  The amount of trust and respect over objects in public places here is amazing. 

 These men, however, won the picnic contest on location alone...

What an absolutely wonderful adventure.  What an absolutely wonderful day.  What an absolutely wonderful way to to bring days of jet lag, loneliness, and timidity to an end...at least for the span of the day.

You see, it hasn't been all fun airline meals and delicious white carbs and beautiful temples.  Jet lag sucks.  Moving to a new country alone kind of sucks.  And I would say that culture shock sucks, but "Culture Shock:  Korea" delineates between that and "Moving-to-a-New-Country" shock, which I'm sure describes more accurately what I've been going through.  Uncertain about simple everyday tasks - how to get to the store, how to decipher the AC controls in Hangul, how to find food that's healthy and nourishing, what all the strange noises mean, coming to terms with being halfway across the world from family and friends and support, being stared at incessently, dealing with the private shame of watching romantic comedies on the English language movie channel just because they remind you of the States...you know, the basics.

When I considered whether or not I believed myself to be emotionally hearty enough to undertake this path, it seemed logical to reflect on my state of mind only two years ago.  At the time, my husband had left me and it felt like my life was a mirror that had shattered on the floor - splitting apart and destroying the image of what I had imagined my life would be.  As I struggled to move forward, to breathe, to accomplish even the simplest of tasks, my soul seemed to leave bloody footprints on the floor as it navigated its way over the shards of glass.  Which makes walking on metaphorical gravel right now seem almost easy.  Almost.

The Grand Day Out.

Instead of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, I was delighted to learn that there were just Three Degrees of Separation between myself and five former Wisconsinites now living in Korea!  This was heartening for yours truly, the cowardly lion, to hear.  And within days of landing in Seoul, I was lucky enough to be led all over the city by the dapper Noah Wilson - also an alumni of University of Wisconsin-Stout and former resident of my beloved Menomonie.  Had I any second thoughts about wearing my close-to-safety-orange asymmetrical dress for our outing, they were quickly thrown to the wind once I laid eyes on Noah's red with white polka-dot shirt and plaid shorts...can you BELIEVE that I failed to take a picture of us in our fantastic duds?  My fail.

Nevertheless, plenty of pics survive from the day, as you'll see very soon.  The days leading up to us meeting went something like this:

Thursday - left for the airport in Wisconsin early morning
Friday - arrived at my apartment in Seoul late evening
Saturday - unpacked luggage and did a trial walk to the subway station I was going to meet Noah at Sunday
Sunday - met Noah at 11 a.m. for our grand day out

After subsisting on adrenaline, shock, and white carbs for three days (see previous post) I was uber excited to find good food and depending on Noah to lead me to some...he did not disappoint!  After getting a tutorial in how to use the subways, Noah and I schlupped around the city for hours before following our stomachs to an alley restaurant somewhere in...well...um...the day was such a blur I can NOT for the life of me remember where it is.  I'm hoping Noah remembers, because I'd sure like to go back!

Where's Waldo - I mean, Noah?  The restaurant was open to the alley, and had these fantastic curtains made of wicker-like rings.  Though environmentally shameful, it was a joy to sit in air-conditioned, shaded splendor while people watching.

Bibimbap (lower right hand corner) is traditionally served with lots of little side dishes.  The side dishes are usually pickled vegetables of one kind or another, and always include at least one kind of kimchi.  There are five in the middle of this picture.  You add any of these side dishes to the Bibimbap bowl, stir, and enjoy!  (The egg gets cooked when stirred.)

The same Bibimbap you saw above - after being stirred, chili sauce added, and doled out onto a side plate.  Oh.  My.  God.  This.  Was.  Good.

Ice noodles!  When Noah wanted to order these, I thought they sounded gross and was questioning his ability to make sound culinary decisions.  Turns out he's a frickin' genius - and so is this dish!  Imagine clear noodles, a broth of crushed ice that's cucumber-y and vinegar-y...now garnish with mystery vegetables, cucumber, Asian pear, and a hard-boiled egg.  Divine.

One of the many fantastic sights from the day...more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/65633043@N08/. 

So...the food was great, the company fantastic, and the sights amazing...could there have been anything more?  Um, yeah.  Duh.  Noah turned me on to a little thing called makkoli (http://www.trifood.com/makkoli.asp).  If you like sake, makkoli is a cloudier version that tastes a bit more malty.  It's served cold and only costs one to two dollars at your local convenience store here - which is good.  Because I sure can't afford this...

70,000 won = $70...Last time I checked, it wasn't that expensive in the states, was it?

The Apartment.

So.  I get off the plane.  I find the Korea International School (KIS) representative who's there to pick me up.  I load my luggage into the passenger van.  And THEN I decide to be alarmed that the apartment we're driving to could be a disaster.  Why didn't I think to worry about that earlier?!  Turns out I would have three hours in rush hour traffic to consider worst case scenarios.  This was the first song I heard on the radio in the passenger van:

http://youtu.be/DO2Y2sGZ1dk

NOTE TO SELF:  Do not laugh and smile when you find it funny to be listening to classic American oldies in Korea or the very nice passenger van driver may decide to attempt to please you by turning up the volume.  Said volume may then be left on the loud setting.  And horror of horrors, Kenny G may come blaring out of the speakers as you're trying to remain calm in a rain storm.  While suffering from sleep deprivation.  In a 3-hour long traffic jam. 

Though I didn't realize it a month ago, I would have liked to have left three things behind in the States:

1.  Kenny G.  (see above)
2.  Spam (it's everywhere here)
3.  Crocs (as in the shoe)

The good news?  The only horror of horrors in this blog post involves Kenny G.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about when it came to the apartment!  It is smallish by Wisconsin standards, possibly a good size by Seoul standards, clean with only a hint of mold smell (not uncommon here) in the living room, and well furnished.  After a full 24 hours of travel, it felt good to be in my new home.  Here's a tour:

View of bedroom from kitchen doorway - KIS even purchased a brand new wardrobe and dresser for me to use!



View of kitchen from the front door of the apartment - it took me a bit to figure out why I liked it so much.
Then I realized...the counters were made for a short person.  Yippee!

A tiny picture of a tiny living room...

I have a Korean-style shower...a drain in the floor and a shower head on the wall.  I'm quickly becoming a convert to this idea...saves important square footage in a city of 9.8 million people, keeps the floor clean, and avoids having to clean a moldy shower curtain.  We just won't discuss the mold along the edges of the window.

  

Even though the bathroom is a bit, um, outdated in terms of decor it's clean and functional.  Hooray for having a Western style toilet - let's just hope it keeps working.  How would you get the back off to do any repairs?!

Front door - I was relieved to find that #101 meant a raised ground floor...not ON the ground floor.  My apartment feels pretty private and safe as all my windows have a frosted window film and security bars on the outside.

Apartment steps going down to lobby and exit.

View as I leave my apartment lobby.

I took all these pictures as soon as I walked in the door...any random objects sitting around were left by KIS.  And delightful random objects they were!  I can't say enough for the thoughtfulness of the business office setting up basic food and supplies before I even arrived.  Can I complain that the food included a massive bag of potato chips, white bread, and lots of sugary blueberry bagels with full fat Philadelphia cream cheese?  My hips are happy, and I'll just take a bit of a break from using that bathroom mirror!  

Other thoughtful touches included a vacuum cleaner, iron with ironing board, phone, trash cans, basic plates and silverware, a frying pan, cleaning supplies and towels.  Boring, trite information to add to this blog, you say?  Ha!  Try bargain hunting for this stuff in Seoul!  Many of these items are three times as expensive as you'd find in the states...culinary snob that I am, I STILL haven't swallowed the shock of the price of pots and pans enough to have the strength to carry any to a checkout line.  An expat I met the other day went off on what sounded like a well-worn rant about the lack of foreign competition to keep prices down in Korea...imagine eyes bulging, hands waving, and a maniacal smile on the face of an otherwise perfectly delightful Candian as he bellowed on about being able to buy Korean products for a third of the price when visiting other countries.  

But I digress...the point here is that so far my employer gets major brownie points in helping me with the moving transition.  And I'm ready for guests!  Just let me know when you'd like to visit...

The Transition.

You know you're desperate when you Google "how to grow a pair when moving halfway across the world".  And drive your friends and relatives absolutely batty with questions about international flights, culture shock, and the notion of courage.  For those of you who are still speaking to me - thank you.  No, seriously - THANK YOU.  I may not have grown a pair in time for my departure on July 14, but I've got enough support in my corner that I found myself off the stool and in the ring.

And although I kept asking myself, "What am I doing?!" in the days leading up to my flight, I was distracted by two of the most beautiful souls on the planet.  I mean, look at these faces:

 Thanks for the delighful distraction, Nicky and Natey!

And after all that angst about surviving an international flight, it really wasn't that bad.  Want some tips for moving halfway around the world?  

1.  Have your Gramps drive you to the airport.  He's one of my favorite people in the world, keeps his calm when he sees how much luggage you have, and utters soothing comments when one starts to cry in the security checkpoint line because you don't want to see him go. 

2.  Talk to strangers.  On the flight from Milwaukee to Chicago, I sat next to a man who's been teaching and living in Japan for ten years and loves it.  As a second grade teacher.  (I'm going to be teaching second grade!)  "Not to worry," he said in a comforting voice, " Even if you hate it for a few (six) months, before you know it you'll never want to go back to the States."  Ha!

3.  Fly Korean Air.  I repeat - FLY KOREAN AIR.  The flight attendants are impeccably dressed, perfectly coiffed, and smile at you consistently and without fail...no matter how sick they may get of you during that 13 hour flight.



In the airport before departure...ironically, I had the courage to act like a creeper and sneak up
from behind to get this shot but didn't have the wherewithall to ask any of them to pose for a picture. 

When you get to your seat, those lovely stewardesses will have left you slippers, a warm soft blanket, headphones, a bottle of water, and toothbrush/toothpaste.  Unfortunately, they won't be able to help you recover your self respect as it slowly erodes each time you crawl out of the window seat to take a bathroom trip.  Again.  And again.  And again.

4.  Pretend you're flying First Class.  Consult friends that are more fashion smart than you to help you choose a luxurious-looking but deceptively comfortable outfit.  Wear socks or the provided slippers to keep your toes comfy.  Consult people who actually fly First Class and find out what their strategies are.  Although this can lead to lifestyle envy, it was worth it for me in the discovery of a comforting little ritual - facial cleansing wipe followed by a nice face lotion followed by lip balm followed by body lotion on arms, hands, and neck. You may be able to trick your body into thinking that you were able to stay a little better hydrated in all that dryness!

5.  Bring Dramamine.  This is just one of the life changing suggestions made to me by the ingenious Leah Dunbar.  Stay tuned  for more.

6.  Always choose the Korean meal option.  Bibimbap anyone?  Beef over rice?  Sure beat the fake spaghetti the other poor shmucks settled for!

This would have looked more appealing had I figured out my camera settings earlier - the colors of this meal were actually pretty fantastic.  The top left container contained kimchi, there's a fruit salad to the right of that, complimentary red wine next to it, rice on the bottom right, beef bibimbap on the lower left, and seaweed soup in the middle...the only part of the meal I couldn't make myself eat.



No clue how to eat Bibimbap?  No problem.  Instructions for dummies!  I used them.

7.  Have someone pick you up. 

NOTE TO SELF:  When moving to a foreign country, it may be a good idea to arrive with some of the foreign currency already in your pocket and some phone numbers of local contacts to call in case of emergency.  That fifteen seconds of absolute terror when at first you couldn't find your name on any of the welcome signs in the receiving area?  Yeah.  You wouldn't have been so close to peeing your pants if you would have had a back- plan.

NOTE TO SELF #2:  Don't be afraid to take pictures.  Don't let fear of looking stupid keep you from capturing really cool moments with your shiny blue camera.  Walking into that vaulted receiving area, hundreds of people waiting behind a low wall planted with greens and flowers, posters and signs of welcome in all sizes and colors in the air...I've never been so happy to see "Ricki Millevolte" printed in black and white on an 8 1/2x11 piece of paper.