Friday, May 11, 2007

A Few Days In...


Integrating ourselves into the Korean Society...

We have only been here less than three days and have already had some amusing experiences! Since the Asian equivalent of Michael J. Fox picked us up at the airport, there are sure to be good times coming up! There is another couple here who are awesome and have been showing us the ropes and their contract is not up for another 5 months, and they are extending it a month, Leah and Andy.

Two nights ago Ian and I went to the Outback Steakhouse for some familiar cuisine. One thing we noticed about every restaurant here, was that every place has too much staff. At the Outback, a girl was literally stationed behind our table, pacing the entire time, in case anyone "needed" anything. The food was actual pretty good, and we had a nice bottle of wine to wash it down with. At one point, I got up to use the washroom. When I got in there, a toilet with several buttons and a heated seat stared up at me. Upon exiting the stall, I turned back on my heel and decided to press one of the buttons on the side of the toilet to see what it would too. So I stood there, pressed a button and a mini bidet (bē-dā') emerged and started gushing out water right at me I started laughing and freaking out at how ridiculous the situation was and got out of the way of the water, while it continued to shoot out at the the stall door as I was vigorously tried to figure out which button would make it stop. By the time I stopped it, the entire stall was flooded and I was pretty wet. I went back to my seat and all Ian could do was shake his head and laugh. Needless to say, after dinner, he checked out the high-tech toilets as well.

Our school is called Plus Academy. It's two floors of a tall building, and is renovated and modern inside. We work with 7 other foreign teachers right now, but most of their contracts are up soon, and Ian and I are replacing two of them, so the only ones we will be hanging around with out of the crew that's there for the long term is Leah and Andy, who have helped us since before we even arrived!

Apparently the "big thing" in Korea is to hang out in front of "GS 25's" and drink on their 'patio.' Sounds normal, until you realize that GS 25 is a parallel to 7-11. Can you imagine sitting in front of 7-11 and drinking with all your friends? You buy the beer inside the store, and then come outside and drink it. Pretty basic, yet hilarious. So that's what we did last night with Leah and Andy. We met a lot of foreigners just sitting in front of the GS because where we will be living (as of tomorrow) and where our school is, it is a major Hagwon district, so there are tons for foreign teachers. We met some other Canadian last night, some from Vancouver.

Tonight, we are going out with new friends for Korean BBQ in another town and to a "singing room"--- Should be interesting!

Well, that's it for now... more adventures coming soon... we are so anxious to get into our apartment and start teaching!


7 comments:

MDF said...

Hey what's up? I had to join the site by signing up with Google. Nice pic! You guys are going to become even better writers keeping up with the blog. But a good idea. Just a teat. Will write more when I know it works!
love daddy

Nicole said...

I can't stop laughing and crying while I sit here at work reading your blog!!!!!!!!!! OMG Kel only you would come out of the bathroom soaking wet!!!!! Great blog and I can't wait to hear more. Good luck moving in and starting school. Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!

MDF said...

test

tara and scott said...

good idea re: blog.
do not know what it is with bathrooms over in asia. you have a shower in the stall, i got a neck massage when i took a leak in china (only my neck). i walked into the bathroom and while i was standing in front of the urinal, this male attendant came up behind me and starting massaging my neck - freaky! the next time i had to go i went outside!

how is the bbq? have you learned any korean yet? have you tried korean noodle soup (can't spell the name but is spicy and has a lot of seafood in it)?

tara and scott said...

updates please......tell us about teaching, KTV (we all know how you like to sing - i am sure the korean men love your hip movements when you sing), food, anything!

sunday is tara's 40th - taking her somewhere special to celebrate - cannot tell just in case she checks the posts before we go. hope all is well. do not know when i a going to taiwan / china next but could be soon - things are happening quickly with work. if i do, will try to arrange to stop in korea

pete lao said...

Whats this about you being mugged?
Post, please

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this.