New Digs and Tired Feet

Greetings...

First of all, a LOT has happened over the past couple days but I'll do my best to summarize.

We left the orientation site about 11am on Friday and didn't make it to Busan until about 4 (with a lunch stop in the middle). I was cramped on the bus because some other dude sat next to me so I was much relieved to get out and stretch. They lead us into a restaurant where the food was already on the table waiting for us. The problem was, this was a more "traditional" style restaurant so all 200 of us had to sit shoeless and Indian style on the hardwood floor. We were told to expect this when we dine with our fellow Faculty members at our schools but I was not prepared for it so soon. In short, as I told Rob during the meal, I was uncomfortable from the second I sat down. This was not a comfortable situation to be enjoying a meal--this was like a stress position they put terrorists in to make them talk. Thankfully, other people were also obviously uncomfortable and people started standing up and leaving after about 10 minutes. We took that cue and got the hell out of there--well, we slowly made our way out as the pins and needles in my feet were EXCRUCIATING! It was so bad when I was trying to put my shoes on that I couldn't move at all. It was terrible.

All the Busan people (6 buses worth) made it to this lunch stop but we split up once we got into the city. My bus stopped at some middle school where our co-teachers met us and picked us up. As we pulled in and saw all these teachers with signs with our names, I got a bit nervous. This was very much a "moment of truth" as they say. The person waiting for me outside the bus is going to be very important to my success living in Korea--it's almost like going on a blind date except you HAVE to "call this person again." In fact, it's more like an arranged marriage. You can imagine my relief when I finally found the person holding my name: an attractive middle-aged woman who just looks "nice." She thankfully lived up to this first impression and I've been counting my lucky stars since then.

Her name is Myeong-ju Lee but she thankfully requested that I call her "Mrs. Lee." Our first 10 second conversation was "Hello." and "I've got more bags on the bus." She responded very briefly, with a lot of head-nodding, and I thought, "Oh no, she's one of those co-teachers who's English is really limited." As soon as we got in the car, we start chatting some more and she's actually more proficient than my first assumption. Phew! Here's our first real conversation:

Her: "Where are you from?"
Me: "California. Los Angeles."
Her: "Oh, I live in Los Angeles for one year. And Chicago."
Me: "Oh, really?"
Her: "Yeah. Fullerton?"
Me:...pause..."Fullerton? You lived in Fullerton?"
Her: "Yes."
Me: "Wow! I lived in Fullerton for 3 years!"
Her: "Really? Oh my gosh!"

Later, it also came out that she went skiing in Big Bear once. Crazy. She was there because of her husband's job and came back to Busan in 2002. She misses America and wants to go back. She also doesn't want to teach English but her Principal said she had to simply because she spoke the best among the other teachers. I'll have to take a picture of her so y'all can see her.

She took me to E-Mart, Korea's version of Wal-Mart. She bought me all kinds of apartment starters like dishes, silverware, bedding and some food. The food was a slight issue because I'm supposed to pay for it but I didn't have any cash on me. She's going to check with her supervisor to see if I need to pay them back or not. The coolest thing about E-Mart is the angled, step-less escalators between floors that the cart "sticks" to. I asked her if it was magnets holding onto the cart but she said no...I wonder...

My apartment's pretty nice. The internet is not hooked up yet (which is why I'm typing this from an internet cafe) but once it is, I'll be able to show some pics and videos. I do have some sort of view of the city down the street. It's a big like Las Vegas down there which is fun. Mrs. Lee helped me make my bed and take out my new dishes/pot/frying pan/etc. Once she was gone, I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich from my very first Korean groceries. It was the best ham/cheese I think I've ever had. It was actually pretty rough eating at the orientation because each meal was pre-planned and we had very little say in the matter. Also, each meal was Korean in some ways, even down to the cold hot dog with lettuce and "yellow sauce." Having control over a meal, and to eat something so familiar, was quite a treat.

Yesterday, my first full day, I did some more shopping with Mrs. Lee for some of the things we didn't get during the first round. She had the landlord up in my room trying to figure out the hot water heater (I had to take the coldest shower that morning) and he was also a very helpful and friendly individual. In the afternoon, with Mrs. Lee gone, Rob and I decided to meet up for a late lunch. I had absolutely no clue with direction my subway stop was so I had to go down to the basement of my building where the landlord also runs a "putting range" and point to the subway map. He took back outside, walked down to the main street and pointed "that way." I thanked him and walked a couple blocks to a MAJOR intersection. I saw a few of these 8-way intersections while driving with Mrs. Lee the night before but to stand near one is actually pretty amazing. I found the subway and made my first successful subway trip to meet Rob closer to downtown. Ashley was there also so the three of us ended up in a 2nd story pizza place. This was also a little bit of awesome.

We then decided to take official tours of our apartments. Ashley's was first as it was the closest, then mine and then Rob's. It was neat to see the other apartments and neighborhoods but my feet were killing me. Friday, meeting Mrs. Lee, I "dressed up" in a nice shirt, slacks and my nice shoes. These shoes were not meant for serious walking which is what we did that first night shopping. Then, yesterday, during our trek across Busan, now wearing my Vans, my feet were still upset from the previous day--and today they aren't very happy with me either. That's the thing with living without cars, the feet because used 53 times more often. I'm going to have to take a day off and let the feet recuperate.

After seeing Rob's place, it was time to eat again. We had decided before we even made it to Busan that one of our first meals would be Outback Steakhouse. And an Outback we did find! Steak with veggies and french fries and a Coke. So, so, so good. In fact, we were just at this gigantic department store and saw a TGI Fridays that we're probably going to eat at once we leave this internet cafe. We decided that we're going to ease our way into eating Korean food--cold turkey has not/will not work for us.

So, the subway system rules here and, so far, I'm really excited to live in a big city with a subway. When I was in NY, I loved taking the subway everywhere. Rob's only 6 stops away (12 minutes) so that's good.

Again, once I can get my own internet, I'll update some more. The first day of school is tomorrow so I'm sure there'll be no shortage of information to pass on.

So far...I love Busan and I'm "assimilating" nicely.

Stay tuned...

Love and stuff,
Brent