"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag."

I realized today I came to Seoul with entirely too much baggage...both physical and mental. As I was speaking with my Korean teaching assistant, Ga Yeong Gim (pronounced Ky-He-ung-Kim) I was reminded of the fact that some situations really should not be overly analyzed. I have such a habit of examining situations from every angle (which leads to distress when you can't understand the language of a region) that I forget to trust the universe; I forget that everything happens for a reason; I forget that there is a larger picture I'm too consumed in to truly understand.

But, enough of that...here are some more pictures.

The Han River

Seriously, the river looks more like a murkey puddle. I hope the water I use to brush my teeth is filtered!

There's a bunch of exercise equipment along the river. There's two guys there swinging...

Debbie + I Pod + Motorcylists who drive on Sidewalks = My near death experience while listening to Tegan and Sara...I decided to take a picture of the motorcyle after the guy went to deliever something to an apartment

Home Is Where My Suitcases Are...

Here are some pictures of my actual place...slightly different than the pictures they had sent to me before my arrival...


<------Entry Way from the Window


View from the Entry Way ------>









<--Built in Desk

My Bed -->










<-- View from the kitchette.








Okay, that's it for now.

I've Got Seoul, but I'm not a Soldier

I've arrived. Not in love with Seoul, but thought I'd share some pictures of my surroundings.

This is the view from the window of my officetel.

This is a sign that's in all of the subway stations. I'm not sure what it's trying to tell me but there is usually locked, glass case full of gas masks next to it. Hmmm...

With such a dense population, it is very uncommon to see a place that is not overflowing with people. This is a subway station on Sunday morning.

This is Chang2Dong, the street I live on.

Korean Mountain Dew...it says "Original, American Style Taste!" but it lies. The only thing original is the urine green color

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Seoul I Go!

After an excruciatingly long process, I have my pretty little visa in my hands. My employer booked my flight for Monday (8 October) at 12:30pm and for the first time I feel (well, felt...I'm over it) a little nervous. I'm sure I'll have a semi-nervous breakdown at some point...won't I? This whole process has proven how much I've grown as a person in the last four years. In 2003 (moved to London for semester) I was FREAKIN' out by this point but now I'm just uber excited. Yay.

You're Going Where?

Paul Auster (one of my favorite authors) once said, "I guess I wanted to leave America for awhile. It wasn't that I wanted to become an expatriate, or just never come back, I needed some breathing room."

A lot of people have been questioning my motives behind the decision to leave the USA. Let me end all the theories here: I just want to try something new. It's really that simple. Why South Korea? Because it felt right when I was looking at all the different locations. There really isn't deep reasoning behind it. A former co-worker always told me to do a gut check if I wasn't sure about something and that's what I did - my gut feeling is that this is the path I should meander down next.

I'm not sure how long I'll be there. My contract is for a year so that's all I'm planning on right now. No, I don't know anyone else there, but I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem. I plan to use this blog as a communication device but who knows; I might forget all about it by November.

So, as I've told most of you, plan a trip to SoKo and you'll have a place to crash. If not, I'll see you in a few months.

My New Digs

There have been requests for pictures of my officetel . Here are a few pictures prior to new furniture:











For those who are blissfully unaware, I'll be living in Dobong-gu, Seoul . Seoul is the capital of the Republic of Korea (or South Korea) and is divided into 25 districts (gu). Below is a picture of the building where I will gleefully spend the next twelve months:

I took the liberty of enlarging the first floor:

Oh yes, my new home is above an establishment which not only employs a western alphabetic style, but is a pub nonetheless. Home, sweet, freakin' home.