Matt Hits the One Year Mark

Last Wednesday, Matt hit his one year anniversary of living in Korea. It's so crazy how fast the year went. It feels like just yesterday we were eating our last dinner together at IHOP and then I was driving him to the airport.

Because one year is a pretty big deal- I thought we should have a mini celebration. After work, I picked up a cake, and a party hat to surprise Matt when he got home from work. It's the little things right?

I decided to turn the blog over to Matt today so he could give everyone back home a little temperature check on how he's doing in Korea.

What I Love

- Public transportation. It's convenient, fast and cheap (albeit somewhat frightening at times).

- Korean BBQ. Delicious, 'nuff said.

- The plethora of candy and snacks, especially the Pocky and Koala's March.

- People. We have met some really friendly people here, and have made some great friends. The ladies who own some of our favorite restaurants our super friendly and make us feel like we are family. The friends we've made feel like friends we have known for years.

Drives Me Crazy

- All the smoking. Smokers everywhere, even where they shouldn't be. 

- The -one beer away from blackout/alcohol poisoning- drunk men that stagger aimlessly around town babbling and shouting incoherently.

- My middle school girls. I literally can not even.

- Students' parents: lots of unreasonable expectations, demands, and their misplaced beliefs about their "little angels" abilities and behavior.

What I Miss

- Real hamburgers, root beer, apple pie, mexican food and american breakfast.

- Diversity. Korea is pretty homogeneous in many more ways than just race, people just aren't lining up to stand out, be different or break away from the mainstream.

- My friends and family back home.

- Comic book stores.

Things I've Picked Up

- Konglish

Highlights from Year One
- Getting lost when I had to go to immigration by myself.
- Picking Alex up from the airport.
- Going to the Korean Folk Village and really getting a glimpse of Korea's past and culture.
- Finding mexican food after not having any for six or so months.
- Going to Japan and Cambodia.
- Seeing a drunk man with a man purse run away from a breathalyzer checkpoint.

It has been a great first year, not without a few bumps along the way, but all in all it has been a great experience and Korea has been real good to me.