I feel the love.

As I promised last week - welcome dinners & Love.

I was lucky enough to have two Welcome dinners the first week I was here, one for each school. They weren’t solely for me; they were for all the new faculty & the faculty who are leaving.

Side note – in Korea teachers switch schools at least every five years and Principals every four years. I still can’t decide if this system is good or bad, I’m having an ongoing debate in my head about it.

Anyways, the dinner was AMAZING. I think the restaurant is considered “THE” fancy restaurant of Pyeongchang City. I went on Tuesday and then again on Thursday. The meal consisted of duck, ham, and chicken, as well as a plethora of side dishes (Kimchi, tofu, beans, HOT peppers etc.), a cold noodle dish or rice & soup. One interesting thing about Korea is at most restaurants you cook the food yourself at the table, they bring you a wok/grill thing and you cook at your own pace at the table. They usually will bring the side dishes right away and then you eat those as you wait for the main course to be complete. All of the food is laid out on the table & you don’t really have a plate, you just eat from all the wok or from the dishes, everyone eats out of the same containers (I’ve stopped thinking about the germs).

I also learned the CORRECT way to pour and receive Soju (Korean alcohol – similar to vodka but it tastes better). You are supposed to finish your glass, offer it to another person, pour the bottle with two hands, wait until they finish (they can sip it or shoot it) and then they pour one back for you. Korean men LOVE Soju, the women don’t drink much in public. All of my male coworkers were running around the room carrying bottles of Soju and pouring for anyone that had finished their drink. I think I made a lot of friends with my ability to take lots of shots, especially with the lunch ladies, they LOVE me now.

Now, the LOVE

The Love Motel was one of the more hilarious experiences of my time so far. It isn't fair to call it a motel as it is nicer than most hotels in America. You can rent them overnight for about $35-$50, and from the outside they all appear lavishly decorated. By lavish, I mean horribly tacky.

I had to go with my head co-teacher to Wonju City (county seat of Pyeongchang County) to get my Alien Registration Card that enables me to work here. It was my first business trip, ever. Moreover, the trip itself is a prime example of how I have no idea what is going on around me & just follow whoever like Mary's Little Lamb.

My "business trip" was full of surprise. Surprise number 1 was finding out that I'd be spending the night after we finished. I figured I'd stay with her as she lives in the city. Nope. Surprise number 2 came after dinner when she led me down the street full of motels and finally into one that reminded me of a very low grade Caesar's Palace.

After she checked me in (courtesy of Pyeongchang Middle School) I had about 50 more surprises, it was like Christmas in September. The surprises are also some of the reasons it is called a love motel (I'll post pictures of everything later)

#3 - a TV with channels in English
#4 - my own computer with Internet
#5 - free mini bar (only had juice & cookies)
#6 - the TWO complimentary pairs of slippers
#7 - stocked tolietries, with both men's and women's items
#8 - the two pressed, freshly packaged robes
#9 (my favorite) - a sealed package on the bed containing 2 toothbrushes, toothpaste, 2 razors, 2 condoms, and lubricant

The room had other sweet electronic features that made up the other +40 surprises, but the "Love Motel Gift Bag" could not be topped.

Interesting things about Korea:
- You should never write anyone’s name in red as they think this means they will die
- For high tech this country is with some things (car elevators for parking garages) their bathrooms are severely lacking. Most places have Eastern toilets. If they do have a Western toilet, they don’t usually have toilet paper. The toilets don’t flush automatically, they use bar soap, and no hand dryers/paper towels. Yes, I’ve put a lot of thought into the bathrooms here.
- Schools have cleaning time everyday for twenty minutes during which the students have to clean the school
(sweep, empty trash, mop, etc.) It is my favorite time of day.
- Love Motels
- Adding the E sound onto the end of English words that have no E's. Example - Lunch is pronounced as Lunchie
- Being asked within the first five minutes of meeting someone if I'm religious

I’m sure this list will get longer and longer as I notice more and more things.

Next time - my triumphant return to high school (if they had Prom or Homecoming, I'd be the EMPRESS hands-down) my new best friend, meeting the other NETs, and Korean beef