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.