I LOVE KOREA!

Everyday just keeps getting better and better! Yesterday I finally got to do some venturing out, and it was quite awesome. After not eating shit for like a day I woke up and showered and headed out to explore. I really only walked like 3 blocks, but there's so much to see in just three blocks that that's all I needed. As opposed to going to one of the many restaurants around, I stopped at the MiniStop convenient store and bought this:

I have no idea what this package container of deliciousness was, I just know it was filling and only 2,500 Won ($2.13)! I know for sure it had kimchi and rice and some other kinda orange kimchiish thing and like a beef patty stif fry? It was my first purchased food from the convenient store and it totally topped those SuperMoms Tuna Sandwiches at home, and probably cheaper too! I also bought some beef jerky, but that's not exciting. There's corner stores literally EVERYWHERE here, I've already been to three within a block radius of my house.

After my individual adventure around those three exciting blocks I met up with Lucy and Chris and we went to have Tea before dinner. I had a green tea latte, it was super good, and we also had some rice cakes. They were tasty, but kind of weird/bland. Probably not something I would purchase on a regular basis, but still cool to try. The cafe was super cute and pretty dead so we had some good chats before going out and having some dinner/drinks. Another neat thing with the latte's here, they always do little designs on the top:

Rice cakes are in the middle, look at the cool wood style chopsticks!

After our lattes we went to a bar and Lucy and Chris explained to me the eating/drinking culture in Korea. Basically there aren't any (or maybe just a few?) bars that just serve drinks. It's absolutely essential to have food when you drink here. If you go to a place that serves food, and you don't order, they always at least give you popcorn or more if you stay longer. The free snacks usually start small (like popcorn) and can get to be as big as a whole pizza if you order enough pitchers. Oh, yeah, the pitchers were HUGE!

At this bar I met another person and the four of us enjoyed our massive pitcher, compared stories of our life back home (which I think will be a common subject over here) and laughed it up. We had to make it short though because the whole reason for this night out was for the monthly foreigner dinner that my recruiter organized. There were about 20 of us all sitting on the floor in a side room of a restaurant eating Shabu Shabu and drinking Soju and beer. My first time having this amazing dish, and definitely will not be my last.

A quick explanation of how this works. You get that big pot on the left there filled with broth, then the lady comes around and dumps a plate full of vegetables in it. Basically like onions and mushrooms and stuff. I don't really know, it's new to me too. You take some bites of that and dip it in the two sauces over there on the left. Then you take the beef on the right and put it in the boiling pot (because there's a stove top on your table) Then you take that out and eat some of that too. Everything here is like family style and everyone digs in, it reminds me of my days working at Figlio eating preshift food with all my coworkers. Then they bring out some noodles you can put in too, and finally they bring you some fried rice and you can eat that with the left over broth. I ate so much, but never got that sick full feeling like you get in America when you eat a big meal. We drank a lot too, Soju was going around like crazy and beers were constantly coming. In Korea you don't wait for your server to come to you, you yell for them to come to you (no, it's not rude - and theres no tipping either). So there were plenty of "Cho-geeyoooo"s or "Yo-geeyoo"s because that's what you say for their attention. Once again, I have no idea what the spelling is on that one. In a lot of other restaurants too you get a button and you just press that to get them to come to you. Oh, P.S. Sitting on the floor sucks, but having a HUGE meal with basically unlimited drinks for 14,000 Won ($11.92) is AWESOME.

After that, the party started. I got to meet so many other foreigners and it was so crazy because we went to bars where it was basically ALL white people. Since I've been in Gwangju I haven't seen any other white person besides Lucy's boyfriend, and seeing all of them together was nuts! I got to meet some awesome people and added plenty of new numbers to my phone to help with the socializing here. I also found out that I live in a pretty nice area, its within walking distance of the downtown area. Oh yeah, here's downtown. It's crazy bright and in Korean fashion, packed with shops everywhere.

I would hate to have this guy's job..

And long story short, the rest of the night was spent meeting loads of new people, drinking it up, and having an amazing time. Most people are just as I had hoped, basically a lot like me. I mean, all of us made the decision to pack up and leave our homes and make a new one in Korea, and they all love it here! I hope it continues to be as great as these first few days and I can't wait to see all that this country can show me!

On a funny note, this was above the toilet, I just had to take a picture!