day uno.

i have officially been living in seoul for over 24 hours and i have not yet died. congratulations, pussycat. i have, however, felt out of place, retarded, and at times, helpless. while i was in the shower this morning, i heard my phone ring. i assumed that it was a mistake and made no sudden effort to answer it. (by the way, i did not cause a small flood in my shower, yet it was quite weird to shower sans a shower curtain. i do realize that i am alone in my hotel room, but my shower was lacking a sense of privacy. privacy from what, i am not sure, yet i now am beginning to understand the oddities and paranoia that comes with being an american, such as feeling uneasy about taking a shower without a curtain.)

the phone rang an hour or so later. i took a deep breath and hoped that when i answered, an english speaking voice would be on the other end. ‘checkout, checkout’ was all i heard. ‘no, i want to stay for a week or more. i will come down.’ ‘come down?’ ‘yes, come down to the desk.’ (sigh) i went to the desk, armed with the phone numbers of two korean friends and my australian supervisor, ready to make a call in order to have someone translate for me. luckily there was an elderly korean man who knew some english and i was able to tell him that i would be staying for a few more days. suddenly the front desk man said, ‘ybm teacher?’ and i said, ‘yes!’ with a large smile on my face. apparently at this hotel, you are either looking to get laid for a couple hours or you are a lonely teacher looking for a place to crash for a few days before a real apartment has been found. (on an aside, while i was waiting for the english speaking guy to come out, a businessman and his woman rented a room. he made sure to buy two toothbrushes from the front desk man. condoms are free. toothbrushes are not.)

i met up with my korean friend, oah, at 2 this afternoon. i cannot tell you how good it felt to see someone i knew. it has finally hit me that i am not in america anymore and that i will not be seeing my friends or family for at least a year (unless all of you fabulous people decide to come get your own dose of seoul). and the fact that i am really jet-lagged and constantly tired does not help. ‘fatigue makes cowards of us all’ was once uttered by a friend, and i repeatedly remind myself of this fact when im tired and begin to hate on my life (and those around me).

i met oah outside of my school and we wandered around a bit before settling down for some real korean food. i ate bibimbap (be proud of me, i actually spelled that correctly the first time), a mixture of rice and vegetables that you put chili sauce on. we also got this big korean pancake with green onions and squid. i quite enjoy squid. i am eating with chopsticks. i am not very good at it, but oah said, ‘oh don’t worry, we think it’s cute when foreigners can’t use chopsticks.’ well, i guess that i can suck at everything korean and still have koreans think im darling. like hello kitty, i guess...

after lunch, i went to one place i hate when i am in america, yet always end up at when i am in foreign countries. yes, star-fucking-bucks. it is so sickeningly american, but that makes it so refreshing when you are not in america. and hell, i needed a cup of coffee jolted with a shot of espresso to keep me sane and prevent a migraine. coffee is kopei, basically pronounced just like coffee with a p replacing the f sound. yes, i am learning. slowly.

i bought a korean workbook. i have decided that i need to spend an hour a day studying this crazy language if i want to stand a chance getting by on my own. otherwise, all i will be saying is, ‘it’s all korean to me...’

i also bought an iron. (this is korea and my rumpled clothes will not do.) stores here are really unique. in america, we buy an iron from a target-like store, selecting one from about ten potential options. we pick it out on our own, almost always without help from a sales clerk. in korea, you go into a building with teeny little stalls, each owned by a particular person and generally specializing in one type of product. im not sure what oah said to the iron man, but i ended up paying about thirty bucks for an iron. i hope it is a good one. are irons generally that much in the states?

the rest of the day was spent wandering about, people watching and window shopping. there are certain words that are universal. among them are gucci, vuitton, and dior. i felt a sudden comfort after seeing a large shopping center with these names. i opted to not go in, at least not quite yet. but after that first paycheck...watch out.

it is really odd being a tall foreigner in a sea of short korean people. it wasn’t always too obvious, but i did notice several people looking at me, curious as to why this weird westerner was in their land. actually, i found myself looking at other western people in the same manner, wondering if, perhaps, they were fellow teachers that i would be soon meeting them at my school. it’s entertaining when you meet eyes with a fellow expat, knowing that both of you are wondering what the other is doing in seoul.

oah helped me get a subway pass. as always, the koreans stick to being cute, even when it comes to subway passes. i now have a small plastic rectangular van gogh subway pass. it is on a little elastic strap that will be attached to my phone once i get one. i also used the subway and buses today. it is not hard, quite similar to paris, but knowing the correct stop to get off will always prove to be rather challenging. i have learned a few more words in korean and have even used them out on real korean people. i say kamsa hamnida and they look at me with this amazed look. i will learn this language, even if i don’t find it to be overly pretty. this is my quirky language. french is my pretty one.

and after a lovely dinner of korean noodles, i am now in my love room, forcing myself to stay awake for two more hours (watch out, until 10 pm) so as to avoid prolonging my jetlag. i guess this would be a good time to start on that korean workbook...anyong!