Praise the Lord...

So there's alot of things that I need to be thanking the Lord for lately but here's the big one...I walk into this galleria in downtown the other night and what do I see? A CLINIQUE COUNTER! Then I realize there's 12 glorious floors of basically a Nordstrom-like department store. We're talking brands that I can read. I about pooped my pants when I saw that there was an entire floor dedicated to North Face and Columbia. And I'm totally not a materialistic person, I don't think, even though I am American...so ya I guess I am. Anyways though, isn't that the greatest thing you've ever heard? Maybe not but I about had a coronary.

The downtown here is ridiculous...unlike anything I've ever seen. And yesterday a friend and I took the subway to an underground shopping mall. I wish I had a picture to show you what this madness looked like but picture Pike's Place and multiply the length of it times five, then add one million people.

So I've gotten alot of comments about the eating a dog scenario and I want to make something really clear...I was tricked people! I'm seriously considering becoming a semi-vegetarian while I'm here. But guess what else! Costco is normal! I'm going tomorrow and am going to buy FOOD. I can't tell you how stoked I am. I look forward to not feeling my ribs when I lie on my stomach...just kidding! Maybe...

Ok, and I've got a pretty funny story for you. First you need to understand that in Korea, the majority of bathrooms don't have baths. Or showers. Well, they do have showers but the bathroom is basically a sink, toilet, and then a shower head coming out of the wall above your head near your sink. And then there's a drain. So if you want to get technical you could actually wash your hair, brush your teeth (in the sink), and go to the bathroom (in the toilet) all at the same time. Fun? Not so much. But you have to first turn your sink on and then turn this nob thing to make the shower turn on. Well, the other night we all met up in downtown and I had experienced this earlier that day but not as bad as one of my friends...he got totally ready and went to brush his teeth before he left but had forgotten to put it back on the sink setting so he took another shower in his clothes. He's British so I heard the words "bloody", "noob" (meaning idiot), and the "F-bomb" in British accent about 100 times in 5 minutes. So funny. Except I did it to myself last night which was not so funny.

Here's a pic of what the Korean spread typically looks like when you walk into a restaurant. This restaurant was pretty high end and was during our orientation but you get the idea. Again, this is not my pic. I stole it but you can see me in it! So if you forgot what I look like I'm the one who has a blonde pom-pom growing out of the back of my head.

Have a great day you all! God is good:)

So this is culture shock.

Well, Im in Daejeon, which is where I will be living for the next year. And it's alot bigger than I thought it would be. Here's a map in case you are like me and have no clue where anything in the world is.


There's about sixty of us teachers here and I have no clue where any of them are because our internet isn't supposed to be set-up yet but I kind of lucked out with already having internet so that was osom. My house is pretty tiny, pretty standard for Korea, but still tiny. It's basically a bedroom with a small (we're talking tiny) kitchen when you first walk in the door before you get to the bedroom. Then there's a bathroom and basically a closet where my washer is. They dont use dryers to dry their clothes or ovens. It's about as basic as you can get but I can tell that my school really tried hard to accomodate me because I have a brand new tv and all new appliances. And I figure, what's the point of coming to experience a new culture if you don't actually live the way they do. Right?

I went out this morning to kind of get my bearings and it was pretty overwhelming because I couldn't read anything and can't talk to anyone...so I think that is the hardest part about all of this. Not gonna lie, I did just cry to my mom on skype and almost lost it when I was talking to Beth's parents. For those of you who know me well though I'm a baby so it should be no suprise to you:)

One important thing I must note though is that I unknowingly ate dog last night. I felt like barfing all night. My co-teacher took me out to a Korean restaurant with my principal, vice-principle, and all the other teachers from my school so that I could meet all of them. None of them could speak English but they were really fun and every minute or so one of them would yell out "Washington!" So anyways though, when you first meet someone, especially your principal, it's kind of disrespectful to turn down food or drink that they offer you so I tried this meat and about ten seconds after I did this one guy says "you like the chicken" and I said "I have no clue what that is but I know it's not chicken" at which point my co-teacher informed me that I had just eaten dog. So I would like to formally apologize to all of the important dogs in my life: Stuart, Scarlett, Tilly, George and Summerset (RIP for the last two. They passed away from old age. I did not eat them). I even dreamt about dogs last night. There is a slight chance I'll be returning to America very deficient of protein since I might not be eating meat for a year:)

Octopuses are nasty.

Tonight at dinner I attempted to eat an octopus. I'm serious. It was about the size of a gum ball. Kind of a miniature or toy sized octopus if you will. Purple. Head and tentacles still attached. A whole, raw, stinkin octopus. I put it on my tongue, had a friend take a picture, and then gagged the toughest gag I've ever gagged so I spit it out. Well, maybe my intention wasn't to necessarily eat it but putting food in your mouth is the first step of digestion...really. I can't upload a picture because once again, my computer is a party pooper. I find out where I'll be living tomorrow though so pray that it's not a hole in the wall above a kimchi factory! And hopefully I'll get my internet hooked up sooner than later. Talk to you soon and blessings to you!

Our bucket lists...

So when I initially found out I was going to Korea, my good friend Beth and I decided we were going to make bucket lists. Well, it didn't happen for several months until we watched the show "The Buried Life" on MTV which by the way is the sweetest show. It is about these guys who have made this bucket list of a 100 combined things they want to do in their lifetime and for everything they accomplish, they help another random person fulfill one of their own goals or dreams. So we were super inspired, kind of like when the Olympics are on every two years and for a straight month I am determined to be either Kerri Strug (the gymnast who landed perfectly on a broken ankle...that one lasted until I realized I was 2 feet too tall) or Amanda Beard. The Amanda Beard one lasted a little longer than the gymnast phase. My mom actually put me on a club swim team for this one...but it only lasted two days because I couldn't get the stupid swimming cap on without breaking it. Anyways, so Beth and I made our bucket lists. I'm not sure what the rules of bucket listing are so I wont share either of ours with you but I will tell you that one of hers is to get famous on youtube. We went to the zoo one day and she got this awesome video footage so I thought I would help her out by posting it on here. Either she's going to become famous for this elephant's dancing skills or her singing ability...although the latter is not likely to happen:)


I just got back from my Korean class a couple of hours ago and after many hours of sitting through these lectures I can honestly say the only thing I remember how to say is "Hello, how are you?" It's such a hard language. When I look at the vocabulary it literally looks like a puppy ran back and forth across a computer keyboard. There's really no other way of describing it.

"Pants" in England aren't what you think...

So, it's blistering cold here in Korea but the other day I wore my normal attire which is shorts and flip flops. It doesn't really matter what the temperature is outside, I think that I just have extra good circulation to the lower half of my body and don't get all that cold. Anyways, this guy from England kept telling me how crazy I was. So I go to my last class and had actually put on sweats and when he sat down next to me I said "I don't know if you noticed but I finally put on pants." He started laughing and says "I really don't need to know those details..." I was pretty confused but after some explanation realized that "pants" in England means underwear. So if you wish to elaborate on your choice of clothes for the day to an English individual...remember that your "pants" are instead called trousers. Just a tip to avoid a pretty awkward mix-up.

Trousers


Pants


Speaking of flip flops, one thing that is amazing about Korean culture is that you do not wear shoes in more formal places such as a house, restaurant, SCHOOL, ect. This means that for the next year, I get to teach in slippers. This is an absolute dream come true. The Koreans are also the most respectful and kind people I have ever met, which means that their children are wonderful! Another great perk to being able to teach over here:)

The last thing I want to mention is that the city I'm going to be living in has a COSTCO! How stinkin cool is that? I have some reservations though and this is why. I've noticed that in every single Korean dish, they somehow manage to sneak some kind of weird, usually raw, seafood into it. Doesn't matter what it is. My first thought when I heard there was a Costco is that I'm just gonna buy muffins (you know what I'm talking about) and live off of them for a year. And then I thought twice and realized that poppyseed/squid or chocolate/fishhead muffins don't sound too great. We'll see what happens.

Oh! And last last thing I wanna mention is that I got the funniest most wonderful message from one of my volleyball girls the other night. She's hilarious and I think this message alone will get me through any funks during the next year. I hope she doesn't kill me for posting it but this is all it said...
"colby and i just got back from the celtics game and it was intense. he wore his paul pierce jersey (nothing new... he doesnt even take it off to shower) and i wore a kevin garnett shirt so i'm pretty happy/shocked we didn't get mugged or stabbed. i expected verbal abuse at least but we didn't even get any of that! and rather than eating a good dinner after our drive to p-town, we drove around for 15 minutes before we found a place called "the plaid pantry" and it had a subway in it... too bad they only had 3 kinds of bread, (dont worry i went first so i got the last loaf of honey oat) they didnt give cups for water, you had to pay at the convenient store register, they couldn't give cash back, and there weren't any tables to eat at... so we ate in the car. but dont worry... parking was only $13."

You know I like Snack Packs. Why can't you just give me a Snack Pack?

All I want is a snack pack.
I wouldn't mind being able to watch Billy Madison either, haha.

Don't get me wrong...so far I love Korea. This place is pretty stinkin rad. The people are wonderful. The city is so cool. The culture is amazing. And I've only been here 2 full days. But, I'm strugglin with the food. Someone asked what Kimchi was and since my computer has serious illnesses right now and I cant access my pictures, I downloaded a pic for those of you who haven't been exposed to this delicious dish.


Yum right? It's actually not that bad at all, it just lights your face on fire.

There are so many cool people here. There's tons of people from South Africa and the U.S. of course, but also New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Canada. One of the guys in my group who is going to be in my city played for the National Volleyball Team in the UK. So rad. Plus he has the greatest accent in the world and says "bloody" every five words so I think we're gonna be great friends.

I'm at Eulji University which is outside of Seoul until friday when I move into my flat. It's super nice and the dorm rooms put PLU's to shame. Big time. Thought I would include a pic of the area right around the university so you can get an idea of what it's like.


Nice photography skills huh!? Just kidding, I downloaded this also since my computer is a ninny. But this really is what the area looks like. Pretty dang sweet!

Coffee in Korea is also known as tea...

So, being that I have been living in the land of Starbucks for the past 8ish years now, when I wake up in the morning having the most horrible headache in all of history all I want is some coffee. However, at breakfast this morning I'm pretty sure that they were ultra clever in trying to please us Americans by labeling one of the tea carafes "tea" and the other "coffee"...both being tea of course. Smart. Veeeery smart.

Had some kimchi and rice for breakfast too...I figure I should start getting used to this. But here's something you wouldn't expect (or maybe some of you who actually know something about geography would) is that Korea is FREEZING. It was 10 degrees last night and there is snow everywhere. Good thing I brought almost all of my flip flops.

Blogs are not user friendly

So I decided I would start a blog back in November...I just figured this thing out last night. And actually I still have no clue what in the world I am doing but we will see how this goes. I also am having a very difficult time with my computer right now as our relationship is extremely strained due to me calling it a number of fairly unpleasant names today. It is slowly dying and won't do what I want it to do so therefore...you know...I punch it and yell at it.

I leave for Korea tomorrow and if at any point in the next two weeks this machine dies on me I'm going to pull an Office Space on it. End of story.

On a different note, I'm pretty stoked for this new adventure but also pretty sad that I have to leave behind so many awesome things. I cannot wait to visit the Mediterranean though...that's gonna be dang sweet!