Inside the beehive

Well, I've arrived in Korea.  A flurry of organized activity here, just like bees.  I feel sometimes like another insect who has been welcomed into the hive.  It's a great experience for me so far.  I committed for one year, and I already have an apartment that I'll move into tomorrow.  People have been extremely friendly, the food is aMAZing (i'll try to not talk only about the food in future posts, but I have to say, I really love Korean food!!!), and I'm getting over the culture shock (maybe slowly).  I'll be instructing a graduate course in the physics department on technical writing.  I look forward to that.  I may also have the chance to teach some undergraduates in intro-level physics also, which would be very fun, but we're still negotiating that.  I'm signing up for a 1 hr/day Korean class so I can better communicate with people.  I will also be getting involved with some research projects.  I'll definitely have my hands full with lots of activity, but I somehow also feel a spaciousness and calmness around all this activity.  

I have lots more to say, but I'll keep it short for now.   It's funny how both complicated and easy all the red tape stuff is.  I'm working my way through it all... I need to get a bank account, cell phone, and then I'll pretty much be set to live in Korea.  How easy, right?  I need to have an Alien Registration number to use a cell phone or get a bank account (even Koreans need their SSN to do anything, feels sort of funny).  And I need to have a residence address to apply for the Registration number.  It would be great if I could call the Registration office, but... oooh, I need to have a cell phone -- and also their line in perpetually busy :) This sort of "Brazil" (the movie, not the country) style... It's not so bad, but it is sort of funny.  I got glasses today too.  Basically if I didn't have the help of my colleagues, I would be totally lost for a lot of this stuff.

On the way to lunch with my new colleagues.  We actually ate at the Chinese restaurant on the right (red banner).

This was my breakfast today.  I expecting a small bowl of soup, but got this instead.  Yum!  The side dishes are [top row] kim-chi (the famous fermented spiced cabbage), bok-choi (fresh chinese cabbage), sea-weed, nori paper (also seaweed stuff), [2nd row] anchovies, boiled peanuts with a sweet sauce, then the rice and fermented bean soup.  The food here is healing and energizing and makes me a happy Ryan.

Who is that handsome guy? Enjoying the sunset while my glasses were being forged.

Through all this busy city life, there is Nature's Glorious Majesty, smiling upon us.

City view near campus