I'm IN Korea! What?!

Hello, wonderful readers!  I've been in Korea for three weeks without saying a peep, sorry! 

High tech Japanese solution

To begin, we begin at the beginning!   The first night I arrived, Simon Park -- one of my site coordinators -- was waiting happily at the airport to meet me.  This was already a surprise, as I was supposed to wait for about three hours for the Annas (these are my fellow K-YAVs, Anna Shustitzky and Anna Curl) to arrive on their flight, and then we would all head down from Seoul (서울) to Daejeon (대전).  Instead, their plane from Chicago had *ahem* mechanical troubles (it smelled like poo) and they ended up stuck in Narita, Japan for the night.

The Annas, Korean style.  And me.

Simon and I headed for the bus down to Daejeon, which is a three hour ride.  I started noticing every similarity to and difference from the US as I looked around.  For example, Korea's highway signs are exactly the same shield symbol as our interstate signs, and they drive on the right side of the road.   However, the cars are all Korean-made from what I can tell (Hyundai and Kia and some others), which tells me they have pride in their brands and do mostly exporting.

Stopping at rest stop, I really started to understand the language barrier I will be up against.  I couldn't understand anyone around me, or read any of the signs.  In my head on the way here, I was thinking that most people in Korea knew a little English, enough that we'd be able to communicate -- after all they have to learn it in school.  Instead, I found myself staring dumbly around, while Uncle Simon took care of me, and got me strawberry ice cream.  Their rest stops have a building that is somewhat like a mall food court on the inside.  Yum!

We got to Daejeon, where Haejung picked us up and took us to my new home!  They showed  me around the house a little (pictures below), and took me to dinner, where I was again totally helpless.  I had my first taste of bibimbap (비빔밥), which was good -- mine had bulgogi (불고기 - marinated and barbequed beef), egg, laver, veggies, and spicy sauce in a big, hot stone bowl.  You mix it all up and have at it.  I got to impress with my chopstick skills, thanks for those Jason Knight!

I've spent so much time on this night because although it all sounds great on the surface, I was freaking out on the inside.  I was here, for real.  I was now going to separated from everyone I knew by one third of the planet.  For a year.  And thanks to airline troubles, all alone.  I got home and with the time to myself, immediately got the internet working and saw who was on skype.  Luckily, talking with a YAV friend in India plus a good night's sleep did wonders for me and I woke up at 4am (thanks jet lag!), ready to face my new life!

More on that soon! 

Home sweet home, a remodeled guest house which is part of the missionary compound on Hannam campus

Our front door, come in, come in!

Our dead bolt. I hope it's never mad at me.

In Korea you don't wear your shoes inside, you wear these!

My room!

Kitchen left: Fridge, water machine, coffee pot, toaster

Kitchen right: Rice cooker, microwave, stove

Scalding hot water on the left, icy cold water on the right

Also, every window is guarded by one of these.  It's about as long as my pinky finger, including legs.
Keep up the good work, Fred.