Korea IS an adventure. Everything about it is so different, so unlike America. A simple trip to the supermarket becomes a journey into extoic food smells, incredibly loud announcements blaring over intercoms detailing sales, puzzling labels that include pictures, but of what, you have no idea, and more varieties dried squid and octopus than you ever imagined. Walking down the streets (many places have no sidewalks) is a battle of wills....who is ready to give way to whom...a car or a pedestrian. Seriously, people on foot challenge cars occaisonally...I don't mean by shouting obscenities like you might find in New York...it's more like a casula disregard of the automobile's presence. When I first came here, I found it rather unnerving and always stepped aside for oncoming cars, but, after a couple of weeks, I was cutting across their path like everyone else. Sometimes, I nearly get hit because the driver is staring at the strange-looking foreigner so much that he or she forgets NOT to steer into my direction! *grin* Did I mention that due to a hair styling mishap, I now have nuclear orange hair? Click here for the wow and the oh-my-god-NO! of beauty shops in Korea Congratulations....by entering Korea, you are no longer a plain old everyday person...you are now exotic---okay, weird-looking. You are going to get started at and if you are always checking to see if your zipper is up or wondering if something is stuck between your teeth, you'll drive yourself mad. Old people will stare at you. Businessmen will stare at you. Small children and babies will stare at you. I think I even get stared at by stray dogs, but I can't be sure about that. It's your choice how you deal with it. You can ignore it (or pretend to anyway), stare back until they look down (but that rarely works, or you can get a dark tan, dye your hair black and wear sunglasses all the time to hide your eyes. Face it; those are pretty much your only options. Your goal is to eventually get over feeling like you're on center stage of the local freak show. From those of you who've been there, did that, I'd love to hear how you handled it. Today I almost took a taxi. However, I"m so glad I opted for the bus instead because they are just much more exciting. Bus drivers are Road Gods. They think so anyway. Once, we skidded to a stop from a flying position and ended up parked sideways in the middle of a busy street. The driver had apparently decided that he could beat the red light by driving faster and almost plowed down a group of middle school students crossing the street. Although I had heard horror stories about Korean weather, I must say that I think they were all completely false. I heard the summers were torturously hot and the winters bone-shattering cold..but I think that the weather in Oklahoma is more extreme, so for me, it's rather pleasant here. *laughing* Though everyone who works with me will attest to the fact that I ask daily when spring is coming and never remove my coat, gloves, hat, scarf, gloves, or one of my three layers of clothes. Then again, my school is drafty (none of the windows close properly) and has no heat, so I think my actions are well justified.
			Korean Hospitals