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.