The day to day

Ok, only 20 day this time between posts lol! Its funny, I know that evenyone back home is interested in how my life is different from back in the States, what makes Korea different. But to me its one of those things - you get so involved in your day to day life that it becomes natural and you don't think about it. Thats why I seldom think of anything new to post. This is my life now and I take it for granted that there are other lifestlyes. I'll try to talk about a few differences now...

Everything here is cheaper than back home. Where I go to get groceries looks like any western grocery store, but its a bit different - more fresh food and much more seafood (because of Busan's location on the coast). A 2-liter bottle of water costs less than 50 cents, a bottle of soju (rice alcohol, 20%) costs less than one dollar for about a 20-oz size. Imported beer costs a bit more than back home, and there is plenty of wine. Hey, am I talking about alcohol too much?

Public transportation is cheap and clean. Bus is 90 cents and subway is 1 dollar, to take you the whole length of the city. But otherwise the city doesn't look all that clean - lots of dirty buildings (ie. no power-washing buildings), except for the nicer areas. My school is 3 minutes away walking time, the gym is 5 minutes, grocery store is 5 minutes, subway is 10 minute bus ride, bus stop is 5 minutes walk. Everything I need is close by. I'll try to get some pics of these places soon.

In my free time I make it to the gym maybe 3 times a week, sometimes I meet up with my friend John (Canadian) and maybe get a few drinks on a Thursday in Seomyon, which is 30 minutes away, bus/subway. In fact, me and John always meet on Fridays and Saturdays and hit the bars. Its fun, but sometimes it gets out of hand :-) He's my drinking buddy.

I've been dating one Korean girl for a few months, and others come and go. The lifestyle is a bit slower here. We're all pretty busy during the week and only meet up on the weekends, usually because of the distance. So if I stop seeing people on a regular basis, its not a big deal. Its a big city, but it doesn't feel like 3.8 million. Until you go shopping on the weekend. The main shopping areas are packed, especially in the winter. Everyone is out shopping, watching movies, street vendors selling food and merchandise, underground mini-shoppes packed with Koreans! Sometimes it seems like everyone is going the other way, and I can't dodge them all. No wonder people here don't say excuse me, because you're always bumping into one another. I still try to dodge people, but I'm the only one who seems to care haha!

I know, you guys want pics. I usually forget my camera at home, but I'll make a conscious effort to bring it out with me sometime on a weekend and take some pics of the sights and people. Until next time, thanks for visiting my site :-)

Lazy Me...

Yea, its been a while since I posted, but not much new here. Holidays came and went without much hoopla. I got really sick the day after Christmas, eating bad food. This was the first such incident in Korea, and it was my own fault for eating leftovers that had been sitting longer than 2 days. Generally the food here in Korean is healthy, albeit weird to the western pallette. So I am skinny now. I'm kind of afraid to go back to the states and put on a belly again :-(

I was at a Korean bar on New Years Eve. When the clock struck 12, nothing happened lol! I had to look at my watch to realize it was New Years. So I started whistling and yelling, no one seemed to care, like it never happened. When I was yelling, koreans knew why, but no big deal, because they celebrate the lunar new year.

In an effort to combat this laziness, I bought a classical guitar yesterday from a friend. That should be some cheap fun, creative activity. I also ordered Pimsleur Korean, in hopes of helping my conversational skills. If it works well, I may buy more of the same after that, for Chinese, Japanese, whatever. Apparently Japanese and Korean have the same grammar structure, so its easy for Koreans to learn Japanese.

I'll try to keep up with posting for those of you who faithfully check this site. Speaking of faith, remember how I was talking about Christian Science? Well, I've done nothing with that, I'm still without religion, and thats ok.