2+ weeks :-)

I'm getting a bit more settled, it's nice. I still don't have an "alien registration card," so getting things like a bank account are still on hold. My boss and his wife drove me to Busan to get a medical exam to immigrate. It was the most quick and informal medical exam I've had. Relatively unhygienic too (at least compared to times I've had blood and urine taken in the states). They then took me out to brunch to a nice buffet style restaurant. I have to go again soon for more paperwork I think at the regional immigration office.

Last weekend was fun, I made it out to Busan with Greg. We met up with a bunch of people for a birthday and surprise engagement party, it was extremely cute. Busan has two famous beaches which I was able to go to. The water is cold but rather clear and the sand to wonderful.

Buddha's birthday was earlier week and during my day off I played basketball with 성훈 Song-hun, my best friend here, and a few middle school students from the haguan. While playing we could sometimes hear singing (chanting?) coming from 옝남루 Yeongnamnu, Song-hun said it was monks singing for Buddha's birthday so after the game (and lunch), I walked over to see what was going on. I got there too late for the monks, but it was really quite amazing. There is much to see up on the hill around Yeongmannu too, most of the signs are in Korean but 2 or 3 explain when and what each thing was built for.

Last night was Song-hun's friend's birthday party. 3 of the 4 people present were also there at my first night out (Adam's goodbye party with his Korean friends), and I felt wonderful because instead of understanding ~1% of what they were saying (hello and English loan words) and the questions they asked me, I was up to ~10%. "Inch by inch, it's a cinch."

I am now taking too many pictures for my phone/computer so they are all going up on photobucket. I'll probably post the best ones on this blog but the whole story can be seen at: http://s635.photobucket.com/user/dcpetit/library/Korea (slideshow option: http://s635.photobucket.com/user/dcpetit/slideshow/Korea)

Yeongnamnu (1 of 4 buildings), "宮 ? 天"

Fortress Above Yeongnamnu, "令"

10 days in

Life here seems to be rather simple, Miryang is a small town, there are a bunch of restaurants but I haven't found else. I've noted three martial arts schools, but I know two of them workout from ~8-9 daily and since I get off work everyday at 8:30 or 9:30 neither work well for my schedule. I'll put on my to do list check out these places during the day but I'm not too optimistic.

Eating has been an adventure here. If I go to a restaurant I don't know any words for anything except "soup" and "rice," so what comes out is always a surprise. I had this bowl of octopus tentacles last week and I think I had breaded tripe two nights ago (not sure). I've been hoping that I'll get a vegetarian meal one of these days, but it doesn't seem popular here.

Tomorrow should be fun, I'm finally going to get a phone (in theory), and I'll be taking a medical exam to get my alien resident card. I've taken the train 3 or 4 times now and I truly love the landscape: winding valleys, bridges of all different sizes, going over rivers, steep green slopes rolling by and by. Someone said the weather like New York (or probably somewhere a bit warmer) so I'll get all four season here: hot soon, then red, then barren, then green again!