Arrivial and Integration at my Asian Destination

Inaugural post. Arrived in Seoul a couple days ago after a 17 hr flight through Chicago, Tokyo, and finally Incheon. No problems meeting up with Kevin, who showed up with his friend Boram. The airport looked like a space station. No joke, trusses and beams and glass and moving sidewalks and mini-trains to arrival terminals and baggage claims abound. Everything talks to you, escalators, doors, elevators, sidewalks, toilets, sinks, mirrors, fridges, etc. Everything is very clean, but there are no garbage cans.

I'm living in a basement apartment with Donger, nice spacious pad. It's in Gimpo at Gaehwasan station, west of Seoul just south of the Han river.

Still exploring this blog idea. Not sure yet if it'll end up just documenting my activities or more comment on my experience. Probably a bit of both. Quick highlights since I've arrived:

- Food is just as cheap to eat out than cook it yourself. Breakfast-sandwhich thingers cost 1,800 won, about $1.50.

-So is Beer and Soju. An $8 pitcher at a restaurant was criticized for being too expensive. The beer is actually decent, significantly better than American fare even. Soju is consumed with wanton abandon; it has very interesting drinking rules and protocols associated. Will describe more later.

-Seafood, Seafood, Seafood. It's pretty ubiquitous. Octopus and Squid v. common. Went to a huge fish market with several of Kevin's friends. It was, to put it mildly, insane. We were there at 11 PM, and it was still hoppin'. The vendors sling King Crab and Flounder like dealers push coke. Bought a bunch of tiger shrimp and a couple of other kinds of fish. Took it to a large sit-down restaurant where the fresh raw fish is eaten as Hoejip, the Korean form of Sushi. Got my Soju 101 with Kevin, Vincent, Olivia, and Boram.

- I am Ehbuun. There is no V in Korean phonetics.

-Largest dept. store in Korea is Lotte. 10 Storeys of vertical consumer goodness. Every Brand name in North America, and then TONS of Korean and Asian ones you've never heard of. Most over-lit interior space ever seen. No natural light to speak of, but the store is blindingly bright and all surfaces and reflective. Better to see the designer handbags I guess.

-Samgyeopsal is super. Large slabs of uncured pork belly (basically thick bacon) that is bbq'd at your table with Kimchi, soup, banchan (side dishes, they're free, you only pay for the meat), and of course, copious amounts of Soju. Had my first Samgyeops with Kevin and Boram at a restaurant overlooking the Myeondong shopping district.

-The private school across the street here had some sort of festival this morning. Woke up to passionate speaches on a loudspeaker, racous cheering and traditional drumming. Went for a walk with Kevin's Mum Kim, she gave me the lowdown on Korean students and Hakwon's (private schools). Catcalls of "Hi Handsome Man!", "HiHelloHi!", "HelloHowAreYouIamFine?" abound from gangs of teenage girls. They giggle tremdously if I smile and wave, and laugh hysterically if I so much as say "Hi" back.

That's enough for today. So much is worth telling a story about. Heading to an International Club tonight, which means Expats and Koreans who speak english. Apologies for no pictures, there are some on Kevin's phone but he's a plug and can't get them on his mac. I'll do some wizardry and see if I can.

Also, Kudos to Sukhpreet for the blog name. I couldn't think of anything remotely interesting through my Jetlag-Fueled haze.

Cheers,
Evan