Building I sat in front of to eat my pizza with corn and pickles.










The intersection where the bus and scooter brawled.










Ate lunch sitting near these two.











I hung out with this guy, too.











Right next door to the school.
And NO, I will not be eating there.















The steps to my place,
now do you see why I almost died?














The sidewalk I talked about:














My School:

OK.
I have made it five days and I haven't had a yearning for anything from home, except the obvious. My pictures are still loaded on my camera and they will be up, soon, I promise.
I have made some observations:
1.) I am out of shape and old. There is a lot of walking involved, as I haven't ventured to the subway or taken a cab. The steps to my apartment almost killed me last night. I had dinner with my fellow teachers and my boss.
2.) There are a lot of similar shops in the same block, selling the same stuff. I can't believe they all survive. There are a lot of little cafes and restaurants along my walk, it will take a year to try them all. But I will do my best.
3.) People don't use car seats for their children. With all of the traffic, you would think the parents would want to strap their kids in, but the don't. Numerous times I have seen youngsters on their mom's laps as the cars go blowing by me.
4.) Older people LOVE to say, "Hi!!" in English, then they giggle. I sat and watch the crowds with a couple of old guys the other day, they were funny.
5.) The pizza here is served with corn on it. Before you think that's gross, it's not too bad. AND they serve it with Bread and Butter style pickles. The sauce was similar to back home, but not like Waldo, that's for sure. Is Papa Keno's open at Gregory and Rockhill, yet? Darn good pie, if you ask me. also, there's a Pizza Hut right next to my school. and I have seen Papa John's scooters all over the place.
6.) Everyone is on their Hand phones. And they are E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E. So, no, y'all ain't getting any from me.
7.) All the kids where school uniforms and it makes the girls look like Gogo Yubari in "Kill Bill Vol. 1.".
8.) Scooters are everywhere. They keep prices down, because the haul everything from rugs and clothes to pizza and take out. They drive everywhere, sidewalks, back alleys, people's feet. Which takes me to another observation:
I saw my first accident the other day. It involved a
bus and a scooter. Guess who won? The bus was turning
left at the four-way intersection by the school, and it
had the green light, so it starts to turn. Out of NOWHERE,
a scooter comes flying through (he had the RED light) and
the bus slammed right into him. The guy goes flying off
scooter, his load staying intact. Bus driver gets out
to check on him and the guy stands up, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, traffic is backing up and people start honking.
So. The bus pulls over to the side of the road and makes
sure the Scooter Guy is O.K., he is. People are still
honking and trying to get around. The sound the bus made
was pretty funny and there were no squealing tires. All
I could do was laugh and I didn't get my camera out fast
enough.
9.) The city workers replacing the sidewalks, with molded green bricks no less, dress nicely. Meaning they wear a polo shirt or a buttoned-down, with slacks. Not like the KC workers who wear the uniform. AND they accomplish things. The sidewalk on my street was torn up and replaced in ONE day. And they are continuing to clean it and recheck their work. Try THAT Kansas City. Also, the sand underneath is covered by fabric, while they work on other parts of the sidewalk.
10.) Everybody drives Hyundais.
I have seen some Kias. i will not be getting behind the wheel here. I value my life too much.

Thanks to Alexa Cole for my journal. I write in it to help me remember what I have seen. Thanks to The Collins, for my pen to write in my journal, still can't read what I write, but at least the pen and pencil work. And thanks to Libby Frye, the Baby Ruth candy bars saved my life on the flight over to Tokyo.

Hello to all!!!
I sent out the mass e-mail and I got some e-mails back. Most of those were Hotmail accounts, MSN must not like my Korean server. So, if you know of someone who did not get the e-mail, pass it on, the rules stated in the first e-mail apply. We don't want someone receiving tons of SPAM in their inbox.
I am exploring more and more each time I step out my front door. Taking my adventures a few more blocks each time. It is a stacked city, meaning, everything is on top of everything else. Apartments above apartments, stores on top of stores, etcetera etcetera.
The sidewalks are covered with vendors selling everything from shoes to fruit to veggies to fish. Lots of fish, so if you don't like fish (Debby), you may have problems with the scents permeating the air. Within all of this is the traffic. No one yielding to anyone. Honking galore, and scooters blasting right by you, on the sidewalk. So much for walking around with my iPod, huh? Being alert has paid off, so far.
The smells coming out of the storefronts are amazing. I use storefronts, because they don't resemble the restaurants we know. There are some similar to The Plaza and Brookside, but more often, they look like Foo's (Sticky Hickey, anyone?), only smaller.
My first night, I was picked up by a young couple and they brought me to the school, where I will be teaching. From there, I went with the owner of the school to the bar around the corner to meet two other teachers. One is from southern Missouri. Go figure, huh? I go half-way around the world and have a few beers with a fellow Missourian.
That made the walk home, a little tough, as I found out, there a ton of steps getting to my apartment.
I will start teaching on the 7th of November, Don Pruessner (the owner and another fellow Missourian--WHAT IS IT ABOUT PEOPLE FROM MISSOURI IN KOREA???), has been gracious enough to let me get acclimated and explore before I step into a classroom.
More exploring to come today and I will probably go for a couple more beers tonight.
Feel free to post a comment or if that doesn't work, e-mail me and I will answer all questions (within reason, GAVIN!!!!)on the site.
I am starting to feel like Arianna Huffington with all this blogging!!! And there is more to come.

OK
I made it to Seoul and survived the brutal flight over.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to visit me and wish me well, it meant a lot to me.
More to come, as I am getting settled and haven't loaded any pictures onto my computer, yet.