Ne, Anio, Juseyo, Kamsa hamnida, and All That Jazz.

Welcome to South Korea. The land of girls wearing short skirts and leggings in freezing weather, delicious foods, PC bangs, and soju.

When we arrived in Seocho, we went to this restaurant right around my apartment. It was delicious and the environment was pleasant. The restaurant was on a side street where they cook the meat in front of you. Next time I eat at an establishment like this one I will take pictures. I also tried soju for the first time at this restaurant. It is potent. I only took one shot--hehe--and I felt the affects quickly. It has a slightly odd taste to it, it isn't something that I would want to drink by itself a lot.

Sunday we went to Yongsan to check out one of the largest, if not THE largest electronic stores in Seoul. If I remember correctly, there was one entire floor dedicated to just cell phones. I managed to buy a hair dryer and an iron for 35 bucks...The guy wanted 40 for the two...I still think I could have gotten it cheaper.

I also went to the Army base in or near Yongsan...it was useless to get on base. I can't do much of anything. The PX now has the rule, if you don't have a "ration control card" you can not enter the facility...At least we got to eat REAL Popeye's.

We went to the Costco in Yangjae, it is gigantic! I had never seen escalators that accommodate buggies. I spent about 30000 KRW for a year membership....it'll be worth it since I can get cheese, meat, and foreign food items there...but the prices are not impressive.

Koreans like to hand out stuff for free on the street. Cards that advertise their bar that have candy with them, international calling cards, sewing kits (which I got), etc...They also like to sale stuff to you--while you are eating, riding the subway, inside the subway station, etc.

Looking Korean and not being able to speak Korean has been interesting and some what of a challenge...One girl started laughing and laughing when she realized that I could not speak it. She was pleasant though ;) It is hard because I don't want to be rude and ignore the people when they speak to me, but I also don't want to say anything either because it just confuses them even more.

Before training today I went to go get some noodles from the 24hr Mini Mart downstairs...The cashier was very helpful and spoke a good bit of English too. He showed me how to mix everything together and showed me where the hot water was. Many of the Koreans that I have had interactions with have been very nice...

Yesterday I rode the subway by myself and did not get lost! I was so proud of myself for being able to accomplish a task such as this. On the way back to my apartment I was listening to my mp3 player and "Tell Me" came on...If you don't know what this song is, it is a song by Wondergirls, a Korean Pop group....it was popular for awhile and still is.
Anyway, it made me smile and made me feel like a real Korean for a moment on the subway.