Wow. Hard to believe we have already been living in South Korea for a little over a month now. It has been a wild first few weeks - getting settled in our new living space, going through orientation meetings, starting up a new grade at a new school, and slowly trying to figure out the new culture surrounding us. (And even this blog spot - why won't it let me align left?)
I had hoped to start this blog during that first week or so, but indeed, there was not much time to catch my breath, let alone write. So I will instead jump to the present, but every so often reflect about something we experienced during our first month here.
This post is dedicated to our first day:
* * * * *
That first night was a bit of a blur. By the time we got all of our bags into our new apartment, the staff support team gave us a quick run through of how to use some of the various amenities, first and foremost: the air-conditioner! Everything is written in Korean, so I was taking copious notes as to what all of the different buttons meant. It was sooooo hot! In the 90's and very humid. The heat coupled with the jet lag made focusing a bit of a challenge. Needless to say, we were all ready to hit the pillows that night and everyone got some decent hours of sleep.
The next morning we got out to see the neighborhood. We live along a charming street. There are plenty of little cafes and eateries, all very small. We went to the top end of the street and stopped into Cafe Gino. Lucky for us, Gino and his wife Cindy just opened their cafe after running a restaurant in New Zealand for several years. It was so comforting to stumble upon a restaurant where they spoke English and had delicious food.
We continued our walk around the neighborhood and then found a trail to a nature area that is right behind our main building. We hiked up a little bit, but it was 95 degrees out and so sticky, so even in the shade we were overheating. We are looking forward to getting some good day hikes in as soon as the weather cools.
 |
| Our building complex - Ramien Towers |
We hopped on the bus right outside of our apartment and headed to the subway station. The subway system is remarkable here: clean and very efficient. I especially enjoy the little music that plays as the subway approaches - sounds like a cross between "It's a Small World" and happy little bells.
 |
| On the bus. Shhh, you are supposed to be quiet. |
 |
| Subway - Migeum station |
 |
| Outside Migeum station |
We went 2 stops up to Sunae (soo - nay) and walked around. There is a 6 level department store there called Lotte which seems similar to Macy's. All the stores and restaurants hover around the subway hubs. It became very apparent that we will have to now adjust our sight line to looking UP since most buildings offer restaurants and businesses on 5 or 6 floors. We took the subway back to Migeum (me-gum) which is our closest hub and found our new landmark to catch the bus stop headed home: Haagen Dazs. Yum!
At the end of the day, I asked the kids to tell me a few words to describe Korea:
peaceful
high tech
fun
confusing
tall buildings
different
exciting
nice people
technologically advanced
exciting
calm
Yep, that about sums it up!
No comments:
Post a Comment