The first week

The first week of being in Korea has been filled with CULTURE SHOCK, and lots and lots of fun!!!!  Seoul seems endless, actually I have not been outside of Seoul yet, other than when I arrived.  So, right now, it feels like this whole country is one big city.  Some interesting things include: everyone is running!! haha, ok, not everyone, but no matter where I go, I always see people running to catch a subway, or a bus, or into a building.  Not just students, or kids, fully grown business men/woman!!  Also, once they get on the subway, it is nap time!!! So many people sleep on the subway!!!! Or at least rest there eyes.  It seems like everyone in Korea works too hard. Another thing: Motorcycles follow similar rules to what we use for bicycles.  They are everywhere.  On the sidewalks, on campus, going the wrong way down city streets.  I can't believe there aren't more accidents.  Everyone who is on the street, whether in a car, on a bike, or on foot is about 1 second away from getting hit.  If you can drive in Seoul, I am convinced that you can drive anywhere.

I saw one delivery guy on a motorcycle (most of the motorcycles are delivering something... as Jaesung says, "Koreans are a tribe of delivery") run into a rock on campus and fall over.  He got back up, started up his bike and headed out.  When it snows or rains, they are still at it.  That was one thing that really surprised me.

The Traffic here is like the 4-6pm hours of Twin Cities rush hour, only its all day.  There is never a time when there is not backed up traffic.  Sometimes, I wonder why they even pain the lines on the road.  It really looks like a race track in some places!!!

The subway system here is REALLY amazing!!!!  It is SOOOOO complicated, but pretty easy to use, even for foreigners. In some areas, there are three layers of subway lines.  Also, they are so clean!!!!  The buses... are clean, but Really difficult to figure out, becuase there are thousands of them!!! there are hundreds of bus lines, and you can't walk for 2 minutes without running into a bus stop.  I think I could go places a lot faster if I could figure out the buses.

There is A LOT more!!!! Which, I will hopefully share later (if I remember).  But, enjoy some pictures from the first week!!

 These are insects!! Served hot!! haha, they taste.. ok, but not too many ;)

 This is my current roommate, and this is Korean food!!! All of those small dishes just automatically come with whatever you order for free!!!! It is GREAT!! so much food!!

 Here is where I bought my cellphone!! Because we bought it from them, they gave us some vitamin drink haha, that was unexpected.  Also, this building is like 8 floors of electronics! One has cameras, one has televisions, one has laptops, one has cell phones... and there are many dealers, and they all almost jump out at you so you will come and visit them!! So intense.

 Here is a street market... but I can't remember the name... darn.  You can buy almost anything here!! And lots of good, cheap FOOOD (where I got the insects)

 Nobody moves for the police here!! They turn their lights on, but it doesn't matter hahaha.  Acutally most police officers I see don't even have guns. But in Korea, no one does, so I guess they don't really need them.

 This is at the Seoul Philharmonic Concert!!! I met my percussion Teacher, Mi Youne Kim, and she gave me two free tickets!! She is REALLLY nice.

 This is near Seoul Tower.  Couples come here and lock two little locks around each other to "lock their love."  As you can see, it is very popular!! Young and old people do this.  This was very surprising to me

This is Seoul Tower!!!! It is REALLY cool, and it is where I spent my New Years with Eunbyeol! We tried to watch the sunset... but too foggy (maybe pollution??)