Friday, November 21, 2008

So much to post

Ok, so week one is in the books and as you can imagine, there are so many things to write about so I'm going to try and get you up to speed. Well after my rocky start, things have settled down and I am now getting accustomed to life in Korea. I live in a small studio apartment with a stove top, mini fridge/freezer, bathroom thats almost as big as my bedroom as it has my washing machine in it, and that's about it. The director of my school is actually in the process of obtaining a t.v. and desktop for me, not really sure where it will go, but it's cool that I will have those amenities in my place.

My apartment is located in a part of Ulsan call Saeng Nam Dong (not sure if I spelled that right or not). Every district has a dong in it, so there is Samsung Dong, Moogoo Dong, etc. My school is in a different district, which is actually pretty good because I'm not sure if I would want to see the children when I'm going out to eat, staggering out of my apt hungover, etc.

As far as being in Saeng Nam Dong, and the exact location of my apartment, it's pretty sweet. I'm right in the heart of everything, anything I need or want is pretty much a block away. I walk out of my apartment turn right and I can find a shopping mall, an adidas and puma store, MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, a 7/11, banks, a computer lab (although everyone uses it for gaming here), lots of bakeries and korean restaurants. As I said, anything I really want. On a sidenote, one of the landmarks to guide me home is a lingerie shop called Sexy Cookie. Try not to laugh at that, I dare you!

I've done a little traveling around my area and I've already come across some personal faves. Just next door to my apartment is a Japanese Ramen Restaurant. The owner is Korean but speaks some English and is super friendly. I've been getting the same thing, this spicy Japanese Ramen, it's by far one of the spiciest things I've ever had. Also, just a block over is this bakery called Papa Roti, which has these little buns that are about the size and shape of an oversized grapefruit cut in half. Anyways, the bottom part has like butter baked into it so it's all buttery and delicious. I've also realized that Papa Roti is ridonkulous at 10:00 am, when they open, and just plain old good at noon.

The other nice thing about being Saeng Nam Dong is that I am about 2 blocks away from Benchwarmers, a foreigner bar. It's a little hole in the wall that is pretty hard to find but a good thing to know about. I could go on and do a post about Benchwarmers, as a matter of fact, I just might when I have the time. For now, lets just say that I went there last Sunday and it was dead but one of the bartenders is the team manager for a soccer team of koreans and foreigners and invited me to play with them. He, Ryan is his English name, said he does a Korean class for foreigners, so I think I'm going to look into that. In that same trip I met some Canadian woman who knows someone who would like to practice their Spanish, which combined with the soccer, made my day.

So this is where I live. I know a lot of you are anxious to hear about my school and other things, so I will try and post about that when I can. Until next time.

8 comments:

brooks said...

Hi Chris,

Just so you know that someone is ready your blog.--

It sounds like you are settling into your new life. I am enjoying reading about your adventures.

Love Aunt Kathy

Betty said...

Hey, good to hear from you. We were just thinking it was about time. Does your apt have a mailing address? Will have an email to you shortly. Hope you had a good weekend.
Soccer & Spanish all in the same week! Who knew Korea was so multicultural!
L-m

ps: OSU 42 UM 7 (4th quarter)

KJReynolds said...

Hey Chris,
One more aunt to add to the list of faithful followers. Good advice, it's never good to run into students in public, esp. the local pub. Glad to hear you're already making friends.

Daddyo said...

A good old fashioned butt whipping at The Horseshoe today for Michigan, compliments of your alma mater. I am tempted to call my Uncleub it in but I am sure he's pretty despondent about this football season. How's your weather? It's been cold and snowy here all week.

L-dad

Ben said...

who wants to hear more about school? i want more sexy cookie

Cindy Sue said...

Sexy Cookie?! Yes, that made me laugh, but not as much as "every district as a Dong in it"!
I'm glad you are making friends!

chris said...

To be fair, I think everybody wants more sexy cookie.

Sum said...

They named that shop after me. "Masuda" means "sexy cookie" in Japanese.