A Strange New World

Dear Everyone,
We are in Korea and what a long strange trip it has been! After 17 hours by plane and 5 hours by bus we arrived in South Korea at 12:00 am Sunday night/ Monday morning. We were greeted at the bus station by our recruiter Michael and were escorted to our apartment. After driving around the block a few times we asked a lady and she told us where our apartment "Officetel," was located. We were welcomed by the directors of both of our schools. They were so kind that they stocked our home with bottled water, toiletries, dishes, tv, microwave, bread and jelly, coffee, and a huge fruit basket. Out apartment is on the 11th floor on the corner of the building. We have an incredible view of the city lights including a "statue of liberty" on top of a building front and center in our window (we can only look at it and wonder why?). Though it is a studio it is very spacious and comfortable. After they all left, we were wide awake and decided to explore our new neighborhood.
You should know that when we asked our recruiter about the safety of our area he told us that he has lived in Korea for 10 years and he has NEVER heard of any kind of crime, (pickpocketing, theft, gun violence, etc.) in the country. Of course, we are using practical precautions, but we do feel pretty safe in our new city.
The blocks surrounding our downtown apartment are full of mini marts, various restaurants (many with fish tanks out in front...fish for eating purposes), pc bangs (Internet hot spots that Koreans use for gaming), karaoke bars, neon signs, and trash on the side walks. We walked about 2 blocks from our apartment where there is a pretty hip street. We walked up and down looking for an inviting restaurant. We decided on one that Maria thought looked Japanese (probably because it was decorated like one of our favorite sushi restaurants in Asheville), we picked it because it had more people inside than any of the others. We sat down, and tried our hardest to pick out which picture on the menu looked most familiar. In the mean time, our waitress brought us out a cabbage salad and some very spicy soup. We accidentally ordered a very large pitcher of beer (3000 cc...now we know what that means!), then she brought out a plate of the strangest food we had seen yet in our 20 something years of existence. It was divided in 3 sections, the first had what appeared to be freeze-dried and smoked minnows, then the middle section was peanuts, the other side had what we thought was white cabbage. It turns out the "cabbage" was probably some sort of animal tendon..very chewy but edible..sort of. Ethan liked the fish, and by the end of the meal he was snacking heavily on them. Then comes the main course. We investigated for a short moment before digging in to this squid-like entree. Ethan nearly vomited saying "I think I just bit into a skull." It was very spicy with a unfamiliar inconsistency. We sat puzzled for a moment, then Ethan came to the realization and reluctantly told Maria what it was that we had eaten...chicken feet. Maria admired that they use all parts of the animal here, but just wasn't hungry enough to finish her share. Luckily we had enough beer to wash it down and went back to the peanuts, minnows, and tendons.
We went to sleep around 3:30 am which was 2:30 pm eastern standard time, so falling asleep was a little hard. Ethan did not have a problem sleeping but Maria's eyes popped open at 6:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed.
At 11:00 our directors and their families met us at our apartment to take us out shopping. We went to a GIANT department store where you take grocery carts up and down moving walkways and buy really anything. We were told that there are few people in the city right now because we are in the middle of the biggest holiday of the year right now. Many people have left to return to the homes of their ancestors. Nonetheless, they took us out to lunch at a traditional korean restaurant. This experience went smoother because our directors ordered for us. They cooked our main course on a burner at the table. Our directors names are Sunny and Chris. It was a very pleasant meal with interesting conversation and very cute babies to play with. Anyway, our directors, though very polite but were in a hurry to return to their extended families for the holiday. We darted around this (very large) store buying groceries, an iron, laundry basket, and other miscellaneous things for our home. In the end we were VERY tired from jet lag. We got home and collapsed on our box-springless bed only to wake up 7 hours later at 9:00pm. We decided we should find an "Internet Bang" before they all close for the holiday tomorrow, and here we are!
It's definitely different on the other side of the world. Every time we look around we seem something out of the ordinary. We have thought many times how we would like to share these experiences with all of you. Hope you are doing well back home. We forgot our camera cord, but we will add pictures next time. We love you all!