Cheonan, Korea Rep.

What a busy weekend it turned out to be, despite starting out with nearly no plans. By Friday I was tired and ready for a lie-in on Saturday morning. Well lie-in I did. I was shocked when I woke up, looked at the time and it was 11am!! Maybe I was jet-lagged after all?

Karina phoned at around 12 and suggested she show me how to use the bus. So we caught a bus to the train station and then she took me to her favourite restaurant called “Mount Fishtail”- an Indian restaurant owned by a Nepalese couple. The place is awesome!! The owner, Poonam, can speak English well and her and Karina are friends so she sat and chatted with us for ages. It was such a relaxing afternoon. I had the most delicious chicken dish with naan bread which was nearly the size of a computer keyboard. The curry comes in a beautiful burner with a candle underneath to keep it piping hot. The cutlery there was a knife, fork and a spoon… I was amazed to discover that after only a week of using chopsticks at every meal, the knife and fork felt really weird!!

Rain had been predicted for Saturday and just as we left the restaurant the heavens opened. My cheapo umbrella turned inside out twice…think I need a sturdier one! We had good fun walking back from the bus stop in the rain knowing we were going to our warm, dry apartments. My shoes were completely soaked, as were my jeans from the knee down, and the back of my jacket. It was great getting dry and listening to the sound of HEAVY rainfall outside.

Yesterday morning I had a church date with Mr Seong, the science teacher at school, and his wife. He offered to fetch me and take me to his church so at 10:30am sharp we were on our way. It was really nice as they do an English service and the pastor is from *****ia. I met 2 great American girls who live in the building 2 minutes away from mine, as well as a lovely Korean girl and many others. Afterwards we went for lunch together and once again everyone was giving me tips on Korea, one of which was about the “yellow dust from China”. Everyone gets warned about this horrible yellow dust which blows from the Chinese desert. That’s why so many people are wearing masks. The Koreans mostly tell me to wear a mask, the foreigners say they don’t bother. I bought one just in case I feel the need…

Yesterday afternoon I went to Joel’s language exchange at The Coffee Bean again and met some more people. Some were there last week so it was good to see familiar faces. There are many Koreans who go to practice their English and I really enjoy talking to them. They have given me loads of information and handy hints. After the meeting we went to a tofu restaurant where I tried yet another new food. It was very yummy. A tuna kimchi tofu dish. It arrives in a heat-retaining bowl, still boiling, and you crack an egg in it. Some people mix their egg around in it, I left mine whole and had fun trying to find the cooked yolk as I ate my way through the dish 🙂 As usual, there is a huge portion of rice for each person. There is rice at every meal, but surprisingly I am loving it as there are always different kinds. They don’t really do “doggy bags” here and I feel awful wasting the food. The portions are always huge, but I’m so used to being at home and being able take food away with you. So mostly I try eat as much as I can…don’t think I’m going to lose any weight here! They also eat out a LOT and it is really cheap. I feel like I never need to eat at home besides cereal in the mornings.