The Blur - part 2

Ok. I can't speak the language. I can't understand the language, and I can't read the language. This defninitely limits my abitlity to do much. I tried Korean food on my first day. Actually I was kind of gung ho to sample all of the local cuisine, but an upset stomach for the first 48 hours(I blame it more on the flight and lack of sleep) directed me towards breads and fruits to start. There are restaurants and food vendors literally everywhere, but very few have English or pictures of the food, so I'll wait until I have a small vocabulary or a good guide. Call me a sucker but yes, I ate at McDonalds, more out of curiousity than anythings else. I had a combo meal with a Big Bugola burger(?). I wanted to share with them that I too had worked in the mines of McDonalds as a teen and that better things would surely come for them, but then I remembered that I can't even say "hello" correctly yet. Most everyone that I've met, aka bought things from, had been very polite. They are patient with my inability to listen or speak. They haven't ripped me off(that I know of) and no one has been rude to my face.

There are actually tens of thousands of American/Canadian/Australian/English/South African/Kiwi teachers here in Seoul, but very few in the area that I live. Nowon is not really a suburb, but is on the edge of town, so isn't as multicultural as a lot of Seoul. If you're familiar with Minneapolis, think Coon Rapids....with about 3 millions people. I took the subway yesterday(intimidating at first, but amazingly quick and easy) to Itaewon, the ex-pat touristy Section of Seoul. There is an American military base there(why wouldn't they like us?) and a large population of immigrants from the US, Nigeria and India as well. I was in the heart and the street was lined and I mean lined with roadside tents selling everything from electronic swimming frogs to Gucci footwear(I'm sure they're authentic). There were restaurants from all over the world; and Austrian diner, an Italian deli(with a stereotypical Italian meat guy behind the counter), Chinese restaurants, Korean places as well as the greatest of America's contribution to the worlds cuisine. Quiznos, Burger King, Popeyes, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts (minneapolis doesn't even have one!!!!), TGIFridays, and Bennigans. About 25 percent of the people walking the streets were white or black. I didn't feel quite so out of place, but even I could tell that this wasn't exactly the pride and joy of Seoul. It had a definite State Fair/armpit-like quality. I didn't see any "families walking to the park" going on. It was all about making or spending a buck...err...won.

Speaking of won, the money ahs been pretty easy for me. The Korean won has just about a 1000 to 1 exchange rate withe the dollar, so calculations are pretty simple. And I'm looking forward to my first payday when I can look at my bank account and see 7 figures!!

I've gotta run again. Bubye!!

~tony