not so far out

I woke up this morning and it was pouring rain. This did not bode well for the potential outing we had planned for the mountains, but things cleared up around noon and we got the heck out of the city. No matter which direction you look in Taegu, you can always see high rise buildings and you can always see mountains. The city pic above is from my hotel room. It's easy to forget with so much concrete around, that if you can see the mountains, you can probably get into them fairly easily. ha.

First you sit in traffic with the rest of the Koreans who are also trying like heck to get out of the city. Then you become nostalgic for the slow move of traffic when you get into the country and the roads are about the size of sidewalks and feel as if they were laid out by a drunk with vertigo. Oh, but it was so worth it. Once you leave the traffic behind, it's immediately rural, and you feel like the city must be ages away, but really it's not so far out. Twenty minutes got us out of the city and forty-five got us into the middle of nowhere.















The mountains here are gorgeous as you can see in the pics I included. The roads are lined with crepe myrtles, climbing roses, and lots of beautiful little wild flowers. And many of the valley areas have water that was dammed above them, so you can go up on the berm and see out over the whole valley in one direction, and you have a beautiful little lake behind you. It is also a bit of a status symbol to go and dine in the restaurants that are out in the mountains, so there are tons of cute, interesting, and even strange places to eat lunch. This mushroom looking place is a restaurant! We had a wonderful time.

I went with Julie, the special ed teacher here and her chihuahua Roc-kay. I have met so many fun people at my school. And I even met a DOD guy today who wrote a nonfiction book about Haiti! Korea is full of interesting english speakers. I can only imagine how much broader my world will be when I defeat my illiteracy and mutism. I'm really having a hard time with not being able to communicate. Me being me, I just want to talk to everybody. So far I've only added thank you and excuse me to my one word repertoire of hello. My next acquisitions will definitely be good-bye and I'm sorry.

Blending in

I realize that the Koreans are the normal ones here and that I am the weirdo. This was driven home to me when I exited the train station in Seoul into a street full of people and cars. I had pre-arranged for a taxi to pick me up, so I was looking for my name. No need. Before the car was even close enough for me to see a sign, the guy rolls the window down, starts waving frantically at me, and calls my name. ha. So much for my anti-terror training and blending in.

I also wasn't aware that I need an enormous umbrella. Not even small children use regular umbrellas, so you can imagine how silly I look with my regular umbrella. I took the cake today though because I completely forgot my umbrella. I did however have my bright green pack-cover to keep my bag dry (thank you John!). So the crazy American is walking down the street getting totally soaked, and all she has covered is her backpack?! And me being me, I'm grinning ear to ear because I know how silly I look, and I think it's a pretty good joke. People were crossing the street to avoid me. :) The pack was dry though!

The whole walking-to-work thing has been great besides the rain. It's so nice to not have to drive...but I still seem to be fighting traffic! Not that there are really any traffic laws here, but I did think motorized vehicles would at least have to stay on the roads.... Apparently scooters are not only allowed, but rampant on the sidewalks. Parking your car half on the sidewalk is necessary because people park on both sides of the street leaving less than one lane for two-way traffic anyway. AND a lot of the parking here requires you to drive up on the sidewalk and along it for a bit to get in spots. People pull right out over the curbs on purpose! I'm considering getting a helmet and pads for my walk, but that would make blending in pretty difficult. Besides, if the little Korean kids can walk to school, so can I.

just kidding

Well, the four bedrooms really was just too rediculous, and you all knowI'm not a big shopper. So after further thought, I just couldn't do it. I think I'm the first person who has complained about a place being too big here. So after much reassuring that no, I really didn't need so much space, I managed to find a conservative 3 bedroom with just under 1400sq ft. Yes, this was the smallest one I looked at!! It is also perfect. I have nice sized sun porches on all my rooms. I'm on the fifth floor so I can walk up or take the elevator. I have a nice view of the city, and I'm the only person lving there! The bottom floor is a restaurant and the 2-4 are businesses. Mine is the only apartment...which means that I get the entire roof of the place to myself! I never thought I would have such a large outdoor space here. It is within walking distance of work and groceries and all other basic necessities so I won't have to get a car. The kitchen is pretty well appointed too. I even have my oven on the back porch so it won't heat the house up.

Yes, I know I'm fickle, but I feel much better about this place than the other one. I can't wait to take some pictures of it so you can get a feel for my new home. I'm also excited because I get to go to Seoul on Sunday for a new teacher thing. Who knew I'd start travelling so soon?

getting started

My first day was definitely more than eventful. We got started by going on an apartment hunt. Every apartment that was shown to me was by far larger than my house! What a weird concept. I apparently have no choice but to spend all of my housing allowance, so you just go for the apartment that looks the nicest...regardless of how rediculously large it is. So I settled on a really great four bedroom. Yes, I said four. The smallest one I looked at had three and technically one of my bedrooms is smaller than the average walk-in closet, so I only feel slightly rediculous rather than utterly rediculous. I have a fabulous kitchen with new appliances and tons of cabinets...it even has a machine that dries your dishes. :) I have a toilet seat that heats up and you can choose to wipe your butt, wash it, or air dry it! The coolest thing is that it is keyless entry. I just punch in a number code on the door. I managed to find a spot that is within walking distance to downtown and to work (less than two miles), and is on the first floor so I don't have to go up twelve bazillion stairs. Actually I didn't find anything today. My sponsors scoped it out for me. They are AWESOME. They drove me all over today and have answered so many questions.

Getting an apartment was not enough for one day, so we went and bought a cell phone too. I bought a really cute used pink one. :) It was cheapest and therefore best. We also went to see the school. It's a pretty old buildind or group of buildings, but I have a little office with a window! I still don't know anything about my caseload, but I did meet several of the teachers and staff, and everyone seems really nice.

The other pretty cool thing we did was go to a Korean grocery store. It's three floors. The first is food, the second is home goods, and the third is appliances. They have escalators for the carts! I picked up some Korean milk and some fake coffee for the hotel room. Aparently the milk on base is icky. I'm looking forward to trying random things from the store each week. Since I can't read, I'll just have to guess by the look of things. It should be fun! or lethal. but probably mostly just gross. That's what I've been told anyway.

We've been eating in the restaurants and so far so good. I've had ramen and well, something else that I can't remember the name of. They cooked meat on the table with onions, mushrooms, and garlic, and then you stuffed it in a lettuce leaf with other spreads and things from the table. It was really tastey and our meal ended with a round of peach and apple slices. mmmm. I also had a roast beef sandwhich. It was good too. :)

Pretty exciting for a first day. I can'twait to see what will happen tomorrow.

new tricks

So today I learned how to use my webcam. This will allow me to make video calls! How cool is that? So y'all all need webcams and we can see each other! I'm totally punchy at this point from getting ready to leave, and I'm proud to say that it shows up in my practice video. If you want to check it out, I'll email it to you. I titled it "chubby." I promise not to be this silly if you actually call me. Well, it's me. I will definitely have to make faces at you for at least the first minute or so. :)

Packing it in

Who knew packing could be so complicated when a moving company is doing most of it for you? My firsts 350lbs air freight is gone...and of course after they packed it and left I realized quite a few things I forgot. Oh well. The rest of it gets there in two months. So now I'm struggling with getting my two 50lb suitcased to be well, 50lbs. And I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm allowed on the plane. I'm bummed on the no liquids thing. It would be nice on a 14hr plane ride to brush my teeth or put on some chapstick, maybe even have my water bottle. I should probably count myself lucky that I get to carry anything on at all. I'm also trying to figure out how exactly I'm going to get into the airport with luggage that all together weighs more than I do! Ha. I'll be cute trying to role through customs with all that. :)

Oh, and for those who like to stay in touch, I just set up a Nashville telephone number for Korea! So if you call me, it will be the same cost as it would for you to call Nashvegas. How cool is that? Go Vonage!