Koreans flying, driving, and staring at the crazy american

OK, so the real reason I haven't written a post in the past few days hasn't really been that I had a lack of time. It's that blogspot assumes that you want the menus in the language that fits your IP address and I've been intimidated by Hangul like it's my job. I found the right link by clicking most of the other ones first.
Really, I should've learned some Hangul (Korea's writing system) by now, but haven't because I've been blaming it on the fact that my Hangul-teaching program hasn't downloaded yet. I've really got to spend the time to learn this stuff.
So, wow, gotta go about two and three quarters days back to get you all caught up. The flight was pretty incredible and incredibly long. 15 hours in a plane is even longer than it sounds and my delirium (see previous post) did not really help me get any consistent sleep. I watched a few movies on the flight, three to be exact, and I got to pick which ones to watch because I had my own screen. I also had a video game controller but was restricted to a version of Brickles that didn't have very accurate physics, so I kept dying and playing the same levels over and over again. I think I played the pointless game for about two to three hours of the flight, if not more. Zodiac, howver, is a great film and I suggest it to all who can stand suspenseful mystery flicks. 23, on the other hand, was disappointing at best. I'm not entirely sure what other movies I watched, which I found humorous on the ride from the airport to my apartment with Paul, my recruiter. The rest of the flight was pretty wonky, but in a very good way. The stewardesses were dressed in white shirts and shiny mint green skirts and had what looked like those ribbons you wear to support a cause in their hair except they were longer, thinner, and pointed sideways so that each stewardess had mint green horns poking out of one side of her head. Pretty amazing, when seen.
These stewardesses served me about twelve drinks throughout the course of the flight, most of which were pineapple juice, which I didn't understand entirely. We got two big meals (don't eat the Korean Air beef, for god's sake), and several snacks, though I couldn't count them or describe to you exactly what they were. The food was food to me at that point, and I tried and continue to try just about everything someone puts in front of me. Other interesting things that were passed out included:
mint green socks, in case one wanted to remove ones shoes and socks for the duration of the flight
mint green eye masks, which I saw other people wearing, but was not offered myself. I think that I accidentally got socks instead
one wetnap, near the beginning of the flight, which was indicated for refreshing all exposed skin, and is also practiced at some nicer restaurants.
one steaming towel, delivered about midway through the flight, for relieving cramps and secondary refreshment
All in all, it wasn't a bad deal, just a really really long flight.
When I got in, I was a little paranoid about customs because I didn't want to have to declare my fruit snacks, nutty bars, and protein bars. I chose not to in order to avoid the complications that would ensue. I learned later that this was mostly a moot point, as Americans' bags are rarely checked at customs. I got through, and Paul grabbed me pretty quickly after I emerged from the baggage claim.
What happened next was pretty interesting. Driving in Korea is pretty strange and I doubt that I will ever attempt it. People drive ridiculously slow or ridiculously fast, but rarely at the same speed as other cars. They also try to stay as close to sideswiping one another as possible, and while they signal everywhere, they obey no traffic light that is not convenient. I never felt as though my life was threatened, but was continually glad that I was not the one driving. Paul, I believe, got lost on the way to the apartment and could not quite figure out how to make the air conditioning and the wipers work at the same time because it was so muggy out. I'm doing well so far at not stealing the reigns to show others how to do things, and getting better at finding other approaches interesting and unique, if not entirely functional.
Once I got to the apartment, I met Jason and Tom, my neighbors and coworkers at Dong Jack Wonderland. Jason is an Airforce vet from North Carolina who owns a mink coat and a Yorkshire Terrier named Oscar who is wonderful. Jason's a handful, but a great guy who is his own social lubricant. Tom's the guy I can discuss the otherness of the other with. He's a laid-back guy with a pretty liberal bent on life. The two of them could hardly be more polar opposites, but they seem to get along well.
So I got settled in a bit, showered, and we were off for galbi, which is like barbecue that you cook yourself at the table. The first think that strikes one about korean food is the massive quantity of side dishes that just come because you sit down. I'm glad I knew how to use chopsticks already, because otherwise I'd be SOL. However, the chopsticks here are metal and reusable, which makes them harder to eat rice with. The food's great, but spicier than I'm used to. It'll take some time for me to be up to eating kimchi regularly, but I'm going to try. After dinner in central Seoul, Tom and Jason took me to see Itaewon, which is the foreigner area of Seoul, jam packed full of hiphop clubs, dives, nice places (Helios was wonderful), and other things which will remain unspoken. It was a fun night, and a good taste of Seoul, but I wound up pretty exhausted.
Thursday was spent fighting jet lag and, well, sleeping. I went out to get a bottle of water since you can't drink the tap here and discovered that I did not know the door code for the outside entrance. It was an interesting fifteen minutes wondering how long it would take me to get back into my room before the mail guy came. I spent the day eating protein bars and fruit snacks because I couldn't muster the energy to go exploring, but Jason made some excellent spaghetti for dinner, so all in all it wasn't a bad day. I wound up meeting Laura as Jason, Tom, and I neared the end of Val Kilmer's epic film, The Saint, which we found to be utterly stimulating. She's a great girl and an amazing teacher and knows more about this than I will know by the time I leave, because she's been here longer than I will be. She certainly has my admiration.
Alright. Enough. I've typed more than a sane person would want to read, and there's a ton more still trapped inside my head. Because I'm new here, every experience is novel and I don't know which ones have narrative importance yet, so I'm cataloguing everything. I did have a full day of teaching today, but that narrative will have to wait until my fingers heal from this one. Maybe later tonight. We'll see.
For now, I hope all is well on the home front.
Much love,
Joe