1 Word... Overwhelming

I am here!! I have officially been living in Korea now since Friday July 10th. After much frustration and many calls to the Korea consulate, I received my passport with my visa in the mail on Wednesday July 8th and left the country on July 9th at 7:00AM!!

The only word I can use to describe my first week in Korea is overwhelming. There is so much going on around me...bright lit signs with characters I cannot understand, hearing no English on the streets, being pushed by Korean women who obviously have somewhere to be, and the always fun and exciting meal ordering at restaurants. This involves many hand gestures and pointing while the waiter speaks Korean. In return, I sit with a confused look upon my face.

My very first day here I met 3 co-workers who took me out for a nice galbi dinner. Galbi is very fun and popular here in Korea. It is a great way to socialize over dinner. In the center of the table is a little grill where you cook raw beef along with garlic and a couple other goodies. Once the meat is cooked, you add the meat, some "salad" (bean sprouts mostly), some garlic, and spicy sauce all wrapped up in a lettuce leaf. The tricky part is that you are supposed to eat the entire thing in one bite - completely impossible. It was very delicious and I got to know my co-workers better. All in all, a great first night.

Another memorable meal was lunch the second day I was here. Many of us on the staff do not speak any Korean and the on going joke is to try and pick places to eat that have pictures on the menu so we don't have to pick solely based on the Korean characters. We call them picture places. We ended up at a restaurant where there were no pictures but we still wanted to eat there. It was an ice cream, smoothie, etc shop that had swinging chairs to sit in. So I ended up with a bowl of ice with fruit and red beans in chocolate sauce and a small dollop of frozen yogurt on top. All I can say is that it was very very interesting. Along side my huge concoction came a side of buttered toast. The entire experience was very different but fun and comical at the same time.

I have been enjoying my time here in Korea and been slowly adjusting to my new life.