Our Adventure So Far...

It's official, I've been here for a month.

As someone who's never even been to Canada, this is kind of a big deal for me.

I lived on my own during college, but living on my own for real is difficult. I feel like I'm playing a great big game of House, only my money isn't unlimited so when I realize I need to buy a broom to sweep up my floor I remember I can't actually afford one for another two weeks if I want to keep being able to afford milk and cereal for the mornings.

I try to fit in but it's very hard when you're six feet tall. I've lost a lot of weight since I got here, I think, due in no small part to not really being able to eat all that much, but it's not all bad. I bought this hoodie my first week in Korea and it's the warmest and most comfortable thing I own right now. I want to get more Korean clothes because they seem to all be built for this weird climate (it's December and I took a walk today in nothing but this picture, but tonight will be freezing cold) but I definitely can't afford it. Clothes are very, very expensive. Needless to say I'll be dragging Dan through the 10,000 won racks this weekend.

Things I've learned in the past month:

Realistically, absolutely nothing. I feel like I'm very slow on picking up words, though I'm trying my hardest to recognize syllables on signs and stuff. I still have to play charades with the poor counter girls in stores. My only solace is the lady who works in the convenient store near my apartment treats me like a regular now and doesn't make me feel so frustrated when I go to buy something. She's so nice and always makes sure I don't miss out on the free stuff they throw at me any time I buy something just because I can't read the signs.

But, if I had to actually make stuff up for a blog post:

- I have to sit down and do the math, but it almost feels like if I can find the right restaurant, it's cheaper and more filling to eat there every day than actually cook. Fruit and meat are so expensive here. I've been literally sustaining myself off of a bowl of cereal in the morning, a 1500 won bag of chips in the afternoon, and a bowl of ramen at night since I got here. I buy eggs at least so I get some protein, but I would kill for something else at this point.

- I'm seeing the small things I read about manifest themselves very slowly in the people I interact with. I always heard that sometimes native Koreans are surprised when a foreigner can do something as simple as use chopsticks. I had the office girls amazed I knew what azuki beans were, and that I actually liked them, which isn't that big a deal. But when my work computer blue-screened on me, I had to suffer through being told "first you hold the big button to turn the power off, and then you hit it again to turn it back on!" as a way to fix it. I didn't really know how to explain that's a symptom cure, not a panacea. My computers are still broken and virus riddled, which wouldn't be so frustrating but pretty much 80% of my classes have a heavy computer component. But no one in the office even knows it's a problem, let alone thinks I know what I'm talking about.

- The stereotype about studying and pressure is pretty much just blatantly true. I always knew about the crazy things like emptying airspace during testing days, but it's so much more different to be talking to a twelve year old about how their parents won't let them play too much with their friends because it's a waste of time. It's so heartbreaking, but I can only hope that it pays off in the end and they end up going to a good university so it wasn't at least all for nothing.

- I am terribad at learning Korean. It's like the perfect storm of being shy and having an awful memory. I wish I could at least learn the rest of the alphabet but it's just not sticking in my head. I can at least say 'hello' and 'thank you' and 'please' but anything more than that, I'll hear and commit to memory and the next thing I know, I've forgotten it again. I've successfully used the taxi twice, and only once was it with a mini-game of charades. I'll have my final exam this weekend when I have to get a bus ticket and get to Seoul. 

- This is the worst possible country for me to be when I am broke. Every day is a test of willpower for me. It's more than just price. 

Back home, no one really wears clothes from just anywhere. We all have our stores that we go to when we can. I was a big, massive H&M and uniqlo freak when I left (which apparently are across town for me, but I haven't figured out directions yet to tell the taxi driver) and anything else just didn't really interest me. But here, in my city at least, there are boutiques every five feet. 

Both of these are on my street, on my way to work. I have to walk by them every day. It's been a herculean effort to not come up with some kind of excuse to go in and buy from them because I see more clothes in this country that I would wear than I've seen in one place before. In fact, most of the reason I've stuck to my apartment for the past month is that I don't relish the idea of taking a taxi down to Gaeksa and walking through stores and stores of clothes I would die for and shouldn't buy for now.

- I think the PC Bang incident really drove it home, when I tried to go play my games with my friends and found out I wasn't allowed to because they only had Korean licenses here. It's not that they mean anything personally, but it's very apparent how foreigners just aren't really acknowledged in a lot of places. I've never experienced anything mean. I've heard of people getting kicked out of taxis or being turned away from nightclubs, and if anything I've experienced the opposite. People are eager to help me and outwardly patient when I'm having trouble figuring out what they're saying. 

Even if they talk about me when I leave, I don't mind, because they're still going out of their way to assist me even though I'm probably very annoying. (Having helped people who don't speak English for the past year, I know exactly what it's like to be on the other side of the situation.) But it's not like back home, where we've basically built our cultural identity around the idea that we all come from different places. 

Here, it feels like you're either Korean, or you're not. 

The PC Bang only buys Korean licenses because why would a foreigner ever want to play these games in English? I can't fault them, it's just hard to figure out if an item is an upgrade for my monk on the KR server because I can't consistently recognize anything but Dexterity in Korean. I'm thinking maybe I can start supplementing learning the alphabet and basic phrases by playing D3 on my days off - who knows!

So my first month has been very easy on some days, and very hard on others. I feel like I need to get a bit braver if I'm going to make it here - I can't live in the same three blocks of this city for the next year. This next month I want to figure out how to get to Bukdae myself, figure out where the movie theater is, and learn to cook something that's not ramen.

And maybe time'll pass just as fast as it has so far.

It's weird to think I only have 11 months left already.

Oh, as a bonus, I got so sick of being in my apartment and feasting off of ramen and special K that I went on a walk today, and at the end of it found myself in a place I recognized. So I decided to treat myself, and walked into the nearest Tom n Tom's, emerging minutes later with delicious, delicious pizza pretzel. And there was much rejoicing.

A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do.