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.