Update From The Motherland

Even after five days, being in Korea still feels so surreal to me. I can't believe I'm sitting here on my brother's desk, typing in this humidified heat with the fan blowing in my face. I can't believe my whole family is here altogether after five years of separation. But it's happening alright.

These past few days feel like months.

I was going to update on every single day, but that's just boring and long. I'll just post the highlights so far.

Food that I've eaten so far:

-haejangguk

-jjajangmyun

-kimchi cheegeh

-Mr. Pizza

-Samgyupsal

-Taco Bell (There was a grand opening at Itaewon, and we freaking waited in line for an hour just to eat it. I've never waited so long just to eat Taco Bell. But my brother and his church friends haven't had it in a looooong time, so I had to sacrifice).

-lapoki

Things I've done so far:

-Lots of basketball

-Home Plus (crazier version of Costco)

-Coex Mall

-Brother's church

-Meet up with April and Sgt. Cho

-Started work at Elite Hagwon.

-I didn't really like working there at first, but the kids have grown on me. Like, the first day, I was ready to quit because it was such a crappy job with a crappy pay. But I realized I wouldn't be doing anything else at home, I'm still making money, and the kids are fun. I'm getting a little taste of what working life is like. But because of this job, I'm adjusting pretty well to the public transportation here, the environment, my way around here, and I'm being productive. It's interesting just observing the Korean culture and how different it is with American culture. Trying to soak it all in and trying even harder to appreciate it (cause it's so different than American culture, and therefore, it can be discomforting at times).

Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to the weekends, and am especially looking forward to seeing the Cambodia team!

On another funny note, my brother has really forgotten a lot about America, more specifically Cerritos and Fullerton area. April and I were naming random streets like "Carmenita, Shoemaker, Norwalk, Alondra, Beach, Malvern, South St., etc." during dinner, and all he could say was "OHH YEAH!" over and over. But without a doubt, he will always remember In N Out and Albertacos.

-Simon