My first weekend: Toilet paper, microbrews, and public transportation

Well, I have officially been in Korea for one week. My first weekend is coming to a close as I get ready for bed and school tomorrow. Here's what happened.

Friday after school, I explored Uiwang a bit -- I'm getting to know my way around the main street. I looked it up and the population is about 142,000, which is only about 50 thousand more people than Columbia, Missouri. However, Uiwang is roughly six times more densely populated with nearly 7,000 people per square mile (Chicago's population density is 11,000, for comparison). Most of the restaurants here have patios where people sit outside eating and drinking until long after dark. There's always kids running around or headed home from school at all hours, as well. It's strange to see kids around middle school age walking alone at night, but Uiwang definitely seems safe. I don't know if it's that guns are illegal or what, but Korea in general feels safer than the U.S., even in the big cities.

Speaking of big cities, I happened to visit the third largest city in the world last night -- Seoul. My friends Ethan and Ian (their chosen English names) came and picked me up in Uiwang and brought me what they said is the traditional Korean housewarming gift: a big old package of toilet paper and a box of laundry detergent. I think the toilet paper will probably last me the whole year, so I'm actually pretty pumped about that. Nobody's come to fix my washer, so I don't know when I'll be able to use the detergent, but hopefully it's before my clothes run out.

Anyway, Ethan drove us back to Seoul, and we took the subway to Itaewon, a big-time foreigner district. (Public transportation in Korea is really user-friendly, I have a T-money card that I just swipe to charge fare for a bus, taxi, or subway ride. You can reload T-money cards at almost any convenience store.) Ethan works for the government and Ian is a seaman, which they kept saying despite my immature cackling every time. We went to a pub where there were more foreigners than Koreans (which felt strange) and had a few Korean microbrews before taking a cab to Hongdae to meet up with some friends.

I've come to the conclusion it is impossible to adequately describe the nerve-wracking, harrowing experience that is riding in a Korean taxi to someone who's never done it. There has not been one time I've been in a cab in Korea and not had the thought that I was going to die occur to me. In Korea, red lights are negotiable and cars always have the right of way before pedestrians, making crossing the street feel very much like a game of Frogger because of the crazy cab drivers.

Once, when I was here in 2011, our cab swerved into oncoming traffic to pass a line-up of cars waiting to turn left at a stop light. He went around cars trying to turn left by passing them on the left. I'm getting anxious just thinking about it... Luckily, I haven't had anything that drastic happen this week, but I have many more weeks to go. Needless to say, I could always use a beer (or four) after a cab ride here.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long; I met up with some girlfriends from Mizzou in Hongdae and found a place with free tequila for ladies through midnight. Sadly, Ethan and Ian went home after making sure we found the bar. Final tally for the night: four nightclubs, five tequila shots, way too many weird laser shows, $0 for drinks, one gallon of sweat, and one Korean who was really confused about why I took a picture of his shirt.

What I wouldn't do for some quality grocery shopping and Chinese food to go right about now.

When it was quitting time, we split off into a group that lived in Seoul and a group of us who had to wait for the subway to start running again at 5:30. We found a cafe with a big window to people watch and pass the hour or so we had to wait. I don't know how my feet made it, but navigating the subway by myself wasn't too bad. It seemed every train was filled with 20-somethings making the pilgrimage back to the outlying cities of Seoul with drooping eyes and stamped hands. Finally back in Uiwang around 7 a.m., my rock slab that they try to pass off as a bed never felt so good. 

Post-coma, I celebrated the milestone of my first week with a nice big veggie (read: corn) pizza and some True Blood.

Pizza with a side cup of pickles, duh.

Tomorrow will be my first full day of kindergarten and first grade classes! Let's do this.