Korea- Day 1

12/26/08

First rule of living in Korea- You do not talk about living in Korea
Second rule of living in Korea- You do NOT talk about living in Korea
Third rule of living in Korea- Treat pedestrians as targets while driving.

I'm sitting in a PC bang a couple blocks away from my hotel, ecstatic that after 40 minutes of toil and sweat, I finally figure out how to get to the American internet. Key words "MeGook Yahoo" (spelled out in Korean of course, which took another 45 minutes). The time is now 2:54 in the morning and I just got up about an hour ago after falling asleep at 8 pm. Jet lag's a bitch. But the good thing is that I get up, walk around expecting empty streets and find that there's so many places here that are open 24 hours. I can eat Soondae, play WOW, sing "Crazy for You", write a boring blog that noone's going to read, or get a massagey- at any hour of the day. Not that I would do these things but it's just nice to... actually, I probably will... I probably will tonight as a matter of fact. It's an exciting place, brightly lit, with a lot of energy and youth wandering the streets. For instance, today.. er yesterday was Xmas. All the stores were open and the streets were packed with people. Off the main streets, where all the little stores and shops are, people walk around in the middle of the streets and part like the Red Sea as cars work there way through the throngs. In this sea of humanity, cars have to fight their way through the crowds and almost have to threaten to hit people to have them stop long enough for them to pass. Cars will stop inches from pedestrians but the pedestrians just stop or move to the side like water. But no one gets angry. It's a strange sight. Maybe if they get hit they'll say something. Maybe it's like blacktop basketball, "no harm no foul". From a higher point of view, the city would definitely look like a blacktop. There's so many damn Koreans!

To live in Korea, one must get to Korea, and getting to Korea in the most efficient manner possible involves a plane and if you're gonna take a plane, take Korean Airlines. The 14 hour trip was pretty painful I must say but the service on Korean Airlines relieved that pain as much as possible. They've installed monitors to the back of every seat just like Virgin and have a lot of current popular movies to choose from. You could keep yourself occupied watching movies that you always meant to see but never had the chance. Movies like Hancock, which had me laughing out loud. If you haven't seen it, Hancock kept threatening to stick people's heads into other people's asses if they didn't stop pestering him. It was getting less and less funny the more and more he said it until... he finally did it. Now, I'm no expert but if that's not top rate comedy I'm not sure what is. Or you could choose from a smaller selection of Asian movies with English subtitles. Or listen to music you've never listened to (but the music selection is pretty lacking). The stewardesses keep busy bringing you drinks, hand sanitizers, hot towels and meals. It seemed like they were always bringing something or another around and definitely earn their keep. In regards to the stewardesses, there's only one suggestion that comes to mind, thongs. If there were a suggestion box, I'd put in my 5o cent. Other than that, perfectamente. I'm not sure how the other airlines operate but you can't go wrong with KAL.

Alright, I guess that's enough for my first entry. There's other things I could write about like my trip to the department store to buy an electronic dictionary and cell phone but I don't want to make your heads explode with excitement. Out of those experiences, let's just say I've realized that the language barrier is going to be a huge obstacle for a little while until I get adjusted. I've expected that I'd get treated with some kind of disdain by the locals here but I haven't encountered any incidences yet. People are nice for the most part but I'm sure that sometime soon, some ajussi or halmuni will say something to me and I'll get to unleash my Angry Asian American Male on the world. Hell hath no fury like an asian man scorned. until then, i'll just chill and wait silently for my chance to attack. lurking like a moray eel in my dark cave... waiting... waiting...... preciousssssss. Another thing that I have to get used to... the term "mahn," 10,000. When somebody wants to say 50,000, they don't say 50 thousand, they say 5 mahn. It takes my feeble mind a bit more time to process a price and it's equivalent in dollars when that word is thown in with it.

Some interesting facts about Korea from my first day. I'll try to make this a regular occurrence.
1. The highest bill dished out by the banks are 10,000 won bills, the equivalent of roughly $8 with today's exchange rate. The reason for such small bills? So that people will stop carrying around cash. Debit cards are used here to pay for everything. Here, making it rain doesn't carry the same effect.
2. I've mentioned this before but Xmas is no big deal here. It's a holiday but no stores close and everyone goes out instead of staying home with the family. I like the way they do it here better.
3. PC bangs- Dude, I'm here at 4:00 am and there's like a quarter of the room filled. Nerdizens unite!!
4. In Korea, there are lots of Koreans.
5. Korean males do not prefer the short hair that their Korean American counterparts prefer. Their hair, for the most part, is long and luxurious... and homo.
6. American business I've seen so far- Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Hooters
7. Things to do tomorrow- Go to Hooters.


I'll have to take and post some pics soon.

I'm out,

MeGook








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