Where shall we start?

The food?

I can't say much yet. I need to improve my "restaurant Korean" before I can get too far. The Korean food that I have had so far is not too bad. There are three staples; soup, rice, and kimchi, which is cabbage in a spicy red sauce. Aside from that you could find a wide variety of things on your plate. I've had a great yellow curry dish, spicy pork, sweet-n-sour pork, a few good beef dishes and many other odd side dishes. I don't really know the names of anything yet, so that's as helpful as I can be. I did have the best jello I've ever had today; apple flavored with pineapple inside!!! Sorry Grandma, no offense.

My neighborhood?

Not too bad. There's a 7/11, another small convenience store, three Korean restaurants/bars, a sandwich shop, a French bakery, an Italian restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a school supply store, a pharmacy, a seafood restaurant, and an oyster bar just below my apartment building. I could probably walk to another 30-40 food options within 4 minutes. Not to mention the "sidewalk" produce. All over town farmers pull over their trucks and carts to the side of the busy city streets. They tape up a price list on a piece of paper and sell anything from green onions to watermelon, peaches to squash (the peaches are GIGANTIC). I could easily do the majority of my grocery shopping literally ON my walk home from work each day. Many of these street vendors cook and sell food as well, though I haven't been so daring yet. I did try a couple dessert-type goodies though. One that looked like doughnut holes but was very chewy and somehow tasted exactly like kettle corn. The other was a warm bread in the shape of a tiny cob of corn that was filled with custard. Strange yummy goodness!

I'm back to food again aren't I?

Ok, the 'hood. There are also churches everywhere and they all have little neon crosses at the top of their spires like they're on the Vegas strip. I ran across one as I was wandering that was humongoid!!! (I know, not a word) It was a modren style, but had a massive stained glass front and numerous towering neon crosses. It is now one of my landmarks. I know that to get to the Nowon subway station, I need to take a left at God. The majority of the country is Protestant Christian, though like all other buildings I'm walking by, I haven't dared to enter one yet.

Many people have asked about safety here. Are the streets safe? Well, I don't think any city can boast to being crime-free, but it is amazingly tame for one of the 5 biggest cities in the world. Little kids are out wandering and playing on the sidewalks until 10/11 at night. And by little kids I don't mean 14 year olds. I'm talking kids of 6 or 7, riding their bikes and playing in the park by themselves well after dark. Of course differing parenting styles may have a bit to do with it. Not everyone in the world believes that their children are literally made of glass like we do, tracking their every move via GPS or never letting them leave our sight. I think it has to do with a greater feeling of security. The news media doesn't hide anything, but at the same time it doesn't scare the hell out of the citizens every night, playing up a rare crime until it manages to instill fear in every human being. In general it seems like people work too hard to commit crime here, teens included. No talk of curfews. Students only have time to sleep and learn, and free time for adults involves a lot of drinking themselves silly with Soju, the local liquor, and passing out at home. This is a safe city. I'm not too worried about crime, so don't you be either!

And then there are the schools......I've already described my own, but I'll touch on the others another time. Suffice to say there's a reason why kids from some Asian countries are so smart.

Take care and much love all!!!! And have a Summit EPA for me!

~tony