No Smelly Food Carrying-in, It Will Disturb The Starbucks Aroma

So, week one is drawing to a close (don't worry, I won't be sending 2 updates a week all year- probably just until the novelty of new stuff wears off). And the learning has come quick. My pointing fingers have gotten a good work out this week, so I was able to get by, although not necessarily always getting what I want. I feel like I've entered a time warp. Everywhere I look, women in long skirts and high heels- men in business suits. Louis Vitton purses surround me in the land of knock- offs. So convincing are the purses and even Puma and Adidas knock offs, you'd swear they were real, except they're sold by a guy in the metro and they're lined up on the floor... Apparently it's because there are no copyright laws in Korea (although I'm not sure I believe that, I think it has more to do with no one caring). They love their brand names here. Yesterday I saw a Hyundai with Porshe stickers on it, and today a BMW with Harley stickers. I have five year old kids in my class that wear Prada and Burberry to school. Why? I can't answer that, but I wish I could. If you're wondering what Hollywood celebrities do in their off time, it's ads in Asia. Drew Barrymore is the face of Baskin Robbins, and Gwyneth Paltrow Beanpole (I've never heard of this before, but it's everywhere). Apparently Wesley Snipes is in an Audi ad, but I haven't seen that yet, so it doesn't count. Even the hair salon by my house has Jennifer Aniston and Britney Spears on their sign. Gender differences are huge here. Women still don't smoke in the street- and although it's become more acceptable, they still prefer to huddle together in bathroom stalls for their cigarettes. There are ashtrays in every bathroom and apparently cigarettes are 2$ a pack. A far cry from Canada's over-inflated prices.
I went in search of an answering machine the other day- and determined as I was to do it all by myself, I told the Korean teacher I didn't need help when she offered to come with me... Seems like an easy enough task, does it not? I found the department where the telephones were, and as far as I could see, there was no answering machine to be found. I spent the next fourty minutes opening up every box hoping for English instructions that would tell me if there was a built in answering machine. No such luck, so I left, with no answering machine feeling pretty stupid and not looking forward to the long list of things to do like opening a bank account or acquiring a cell phone... But today I was approached (only 5 days into my Korea experience) for the first time by someone looking for English instruction, so that made me feel a little better. I also had my first experience with a crammed subway today. Not pleasant, don't wanna talk about it.
And today I ventured beyond my neighborhood into tourist land and the music market of Insadon. I had planned on buying a guitar here since it seemed like too much hassle to bring mine- but I found an acoustic in the street my first night here, so I bought some strings in music land. Apparently they like to make districts in the city so you know where to get stuff- next week-end I'm heading out to the Electronics market. Anyway, when we got off the subway there was an amazing group of performance artists who had made instruments out of bottles, jugs, tire rims, tubes and had two enormous home made xylophones. It was incredible.

24 Hours in Seoul

Hello Everyone!

So, I've just arrived in Seoul after a week in Calgary. I have to say I'm relieved and excited as everything seems to be legitimate and the people at the school are really nice and quite helpful. So, my first impressions of Seoul- I got off the plane and the first thing I saw were three giant LCD screens (Samsung, of course) that played looped Samsung commercials for what are called 'hand phones' in Korean. The first bit of culture shock occured when I tried to get my luggage off the carousel, and I had gotten one bag, but was waiting on a second. An airport official came over, yelled something, and everyone grumbled and dispersed in different directions. I was left standing at the carousel, confused, with two other Canadians. It's okay- my bag came out a minute later and I guess I'll never know what the fuss was about. My recruiter picked me up and drove me to the school- and it was a long drive. We passed over the Korean Sea- which at low tide, is so low that it appears red from the plants on the bottom. The school is located in Mok-Dong, which still means nothing to me- but it is at the top of an office building near such western conveniences as KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald's and a French bakery. Apparently school children in Korea go to a different school for every subject, which I didn't realize, so our school is strictly for English instruction. I arrived exhauted, and everyone talked a mile a minute because apparently new teachers are very exciting things. The entire administration of the school- four other teachers, the director and his wife piled into the mini van to drive me to my new home. Along the way, I learnt that traffic laws are non-existent. Or at least they aren't enforced. Scooters take over the sidewalks- cars drive the wrong way on one way streets, so I've decided the metro is all very well and good for me, because I want nowhere near a car in this city... it's even worse than Montreal, if you can imagine. Anyway, I was pleased to learn that I would not be living in a Samsung building- of which there are many, many. Samsung, Hyundai and LG own most of the country, including many apartment buildings. I hear that Samsung apartments are prone to malfunction, as are most things Samsung, so I was quite relieved to find I would not be housed in one. No blinking, collapsing apartments for me! So I arrived home- my apartment is a cute 3 1/2 (1 bedroom for those in Calgary). My shower is my whole bathroom and that's just weird. My washing machine has a play and pause button, which I can only assume means that it plays MP3's, although who knows. I can't figure out my TV for the life of me, as all the buttons are in Korean- but I did manage to turn it on. Out back I discovered a bonsai garden, and what I think is a peach tree. So this morning, after some serious unpacking, I ventured out... Seoul has no street signs, so I sincerely hope I am able to find my way home. I walked passed the dep (Mac's for those of you in Calgary) on the corner of my street - where I discovered two elderly men intently leaned over a game of Go! And I thought of you, Dave- I'll get a picture, apparently they're there everyday. I was starving, so I thought I'd experiment with some Korean food... I approached a street vendor- pointed at something that I thought looked interesting, yet non-threatening and it was at this moment that I felt very unprepared for my trip. She rattled off for a minute in Korean- and I just nodded, shrugged and held out god knows how much money. I think I paid her about 30 cents, but I have no idea. As I walked away, satisfied and excited I had gotten through my first Korean transaction- I bit into my recently purchased lunch and discovered, to my dismay, that my first Korean meal was nothing more than a heavily breaded and fried corn dog. Well, second meal if you count the odd tasting McDonald's burger from last night. Not to be dissapointed, I continued on my way- hoping to find something that resembled a coffee shop... I found instead a PC Bong (Internet cafe) where I tried to communicate 1 hour and paid the man 80 cents for that hour. I made my way to the coffee machine in the corner and attempted to purchase a coffee, which proved impossible as I had no idea how much money it was asking for... the man sensed my fear and bought me my coffee, for which I would pay him back if I could figure out how much he put into the damn machine... anyway- here I sit drinking my coffee with milk and sugar because I was unable to communicate black coffee in Korean...

Anyway, those are my first impressions of this crazy city. This morning I tentatively peared through my window when I was awoken by people screaming in the streets and the sound of loud trucks. I thought the North Koreans were after me- but it was just a vegetable truck driving up my street...

Anyway, that's all for now- keep in touch and update me on all things Calgary/Montreal...