Anmaepke

After almost a week in Korea, there are a few phrases I've picked up to help me get around. The title of this post means "not spicy," something we decided was important after our violently spicy meal on Saturday. "Thank you" is probably the one thing we can all say, and we often say it as a group when we get directions. I've taught myself "how much is it," and "receipt" and have been forced to learn "straight ahead" and "stop here" for taxi rides.

This is only the second time I've been in a place where I don't speak the language (third if you count Quebec) but the first where I can't read the characters. This has definitely been a challenge. With only one Korean speaker among us, and two others who can read but not understand hangul, eating out has been especially difficult. Breakfast places are almost all bakery style or fastfood places so it's fairly easy to get around, but dinner is a problem. If you want to eat real food in Seoul, you pretty much need to understand Korean or be with a Korean speaker.

What has surprised me most about being in Seoul is how not unfamiliar it seems. There hasn't been the culture shock I somewhat expected. Seoul is like Toronto, only bigger and better. The only real problem I have is with the traffic, as the drivers are insane and you can't trust them not to run a red light. Even more annoying is all the scooters that drive on the sidewalks and expect pedestrians to move out of the way. I really like it here and definitely plan on coming back, hopefully with more Korean under my belt. The transit system is awesome, though the bus between Seoul National University and Ewha made me incredibly sick, taxis are cheap, the shopping is extensive, and the people are kind and friendly, except when pushing you out of the way.