Sensory Overload

I've been here in Seoul for just over 48 hours now. Aside from (minimal) jetlag, I'm pretty much exhausted from senory overload.

My neighborhood is extremely interesting - I can't wait to be able to communicate more than just pointing and explore some of the restaurants and art galleries. Here's a better description of the neighborhood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insadong

The first night I had my first Korean meal in my neighborhood, Insadong, with my friend Tyler who is also here from Dallas and teaching English. He's been here for three weeks so it was nice to have someone provide a bit of guidance. I'm not going to lie, the language barrier can be extremely frustrating at times.

I was immediately intrigued with the strange array of "finger foods" they provide at bars. Nothing says hospitality like a bowl of nuts, some potato sticks, "squid jerky" and seaweed sheets, right? Oh, and, yes, that is Soju. I guess if you drank several bottles of it it'd be dangerous but it didn't taste like the jet fuel it had been described to me as.

Monday I had my first day in the office at my client, Samsung. My commute is going to be challenging - the office is across town and it takes 40-50 minutes to get there whether by subway or cab. Twice a week I will be going out to Suwon to another Samsung office, which is an additional 40 minutes away. Needless to say, HR is re-evaluating my housing location and looking for something closer to the office.

The sights and smells here are quite interesting and - I won't sugar coat it - disgusting at times. The city is extremely clean - it's not uncommon to see workers not only hosing the sidewalks down but also scrubbing them. Their take on US restaurants is comical, too - "Chicken & Beer" has been my favorite sighting so far. There is no shortage of US-based chains - McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, Dominos and the list goes on. I think I'll be just fine should I crave something from home.

The street vendors offer a variety of "delecacies." I think I'll need a few cocktails before expanding my culinary horizons on any of these...

This was described to me as "I don't know the English word, but it turns into a butterfly." Enough said.

Corn on the cob. Roasted chestnuts. Dixie-cups-o-squid. Maybe I'll launch a new weight loss fad when I return to the US.

Octopus-jerky...on the street. Hungry yet?

One last comment for this post - and I'll try not to bitch about it in every following post - it's HOT here. It's not that the temperature is so bad - yet. It was 75 degrees today. It's that Koreans don't seem to like air conditioning. Or moving air for that matter.

I'm hot natured. I'm always hot. So, being told that turning the air conditioning up to level 2 in a cab "makes it freezing. no." is not exactly the response I was looking for. As I had sweat running down my forehead, the cab driver had a parka on. I think I've heard that a "dewy" complextion is in. I wonder if "dewy armpits" are, too.