Vietnam in Korea

Okay, so.

I really want to show you pictures of my dorm-sized room/apartment but that will have to wait until tomorrow because I want to explain to you the meal I just consumed. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the food because I went out with my boss and his family and figured that quite rude.

Let me slow down. Yesterday, day one in K-town, I arrived at my apartment at around 8 am. I had every intention of unpacking and exploring, but in reality, I was passed out on my box-like mattress by 9 am. I slept on and off until around 3 pm when I figured it was time to shower and do something with my life, as my fellow teachers were picking me up at 5:30 pm to grab dinner and do church. So I showered in my bathroom, literally. Like, the shower is just a removable spout in the bathroom. I can sit on the toilet or on the sink and shower, all at the same time. It's a little strange, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I unpacked my things after my bathroom adventure, and then read a little more of Eat, Pray, Love while I waited for my chingus (friends) to arrive (side note: my reading of Eat, Pray, Love is much more successful this time, for those of whom that may be revelant to). When they arrived, we hopped a bus to a subway station and road the subway to the Mosaic Cafe. I would be more specific about bus stop locations if I could, but I can't yet.

I ordered a chicken sandwich, swallowed it whole and then we did the church thing, which was a praise and worship sing a long, with a talk in between about facing fears. Then, we met a few of my colleagues' friends at Starbucks and hung out until about 11 pm or so. We made our way back to our apartments and I crashed until about 5 am this morning.

My school's owner, James, picked me up at 9 am for my medical exam at the hospital. They drew blood, took a urine sample, did height and weight measurements, blood pressure, etc. Oh, and they valeted all the cars, which wasn't as weird as the fifty something men in John Deere trucker hats that were doing all the valeting.

After the exam, James took me to the computer store to get a charger for my laptop! FINALLY!

I putzed around until lunch time, went looking for some, and settled on a box of crackers and a Coke Zero from the grocery store. After my nutritious lunch, I passed out again until 4:30 pm when it was time to go meet at the school. I got my lesson plans for next week and all my workbooks to look at over the weekend.

Then, we got in James's car with his wife, Michelle, and twin boys Laio and Ray, and drove down the road to a Vietnamese restaraunt. They did all the ordering which was fun to be surprised! Out came rice paper with bowls of warm water in which to soak them until malleable. These papers then turn into a clear wrap of sorts and then we all shared a huge platter to stuff the "wraps" with. On the platter was chicken, shrimp, crab, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, red peppers, purple cabbage, white onion, rice noodles, pineapple, sprouts, spinach and radishes. There was a peanut sauce, a sweet and spicy sauce, a hot sauce and a mild vinegar to accent the wraps. Content after about three wraps and few glasses of tea, I was surprised when the waitress brought out chicken fried rice served in half of a pineapple, two huge bowls of beef and noodles, and a large platter of fried noodles. We ate until we could not eat anymore... and then they sliced the pineapple for us.

I didn't embarass myself with chopsticks either! woo hoo!

Off to bed now. I'll update with pictures of my village and apartment tomorrow, promise. Maybe I'll even eat Korean food tomorrow!

Goodnight!