As of February 25^th (or Feb 26^th, I don’t remember anymore) Jason and I have been residing in Korea, the good Korea of the South.  This particular leg of our adventure was one that I had been both looking forward to and had also been extremely nervous about.  My South Korean part of me was shouting with excitement, while my twinkie American part of me was preparing myself for possible adversity.  To our pleasant findings, we have encountered nothing but extremely nice people willing to assist two out-of-place foreigners.

After one week of living in a lovely hostel (Inside Backpacker’s Hostel) we got extremely lucky and found an apartment the day that we started looking for one.  The two residents of the apartment were going to be visiting Argentina for two months and was looking for someone to live at their place until they returned.  The situation was ideal; we had thought about living in Busan for a few months after living in Seoul, so this would give us the opportunity to do so.  Or, if we decided to stay in Seoul for whatever reason, this would buy us some time to find another apartment.

So far, it has worked out perfectly.  The apartment is fully furnished, including everything you would need in a kitchen!  We didn’t have to buy anything for the house, and we have a brand new washing machine.  The subway is just a short walk and/or two quick bus stops away and we are walking distance from the tourist part of town which is called Itaewon.

After backpacking for 4 months, it is nice to have a place to hang our clothes rather than constantly having to pack it up.  It’s nice to be able to cook again, and it’s nice not to have to worry about where we’ll be staying a week from now.  Jason is steadily working on his website, and I am keeping surprisingly busy by studying Korean as much as I can and taking dance classes 2-3 times a week.

Our Korean language classes are 3 days a week and they seem to be working out quite well.  Although we are nowhere near being able to have a conversation with a native speaker, we have learned quite a bit in the two weeks that we have been enrolled.

Next, my parents will be visiting us next month, then we will need to do a Visa run to Japan (where we will also be meeting some friends from back home).  Until then, hopefully we will be able to find some more interesting things to keep writing about!

Random Thought of the Day: On any given day, you will always be able to spot a young South Korean girl so drunk out of her mind that she can barely get onto the bus.  This specimen of women are usually seen with a young man who serves as her physical support, i.e. the only way she can walk straight.  Sometimes they are seen with groups of friends who are also inebriated.  The time of day can vary anywhere from noon to 2am, and we have seen it happen on a Wednesday night as well as a Saturday.  This leads me to wonder: Can Korean women not hold their liquor due to genetic traits?  Or do they simply not drink much as a woman, due to societal standards, and when they do drink, they just don’t know their limit?

Filed under: Travel: South Korea