Shady Travels: Live, Explore, Learn: Triangle Kimbap, 7-11, and Budongsans

So for the last month I have been eating at By the Way, 7-11, and Family Mart--Seoul's convenience stores. It isn't has bad as it sounds. I can get sushi-like meals for less than 1000 won or $1! I have moved on to the hole in the wall eateries or diners where my menu options have expanded to include ramen, udon, kimbap, and other staple Korean dishes. I have actually found a neighborhood diner open 24hrs. The ladies who work there know me as "The Mexican," probably referring to my darkness. They know exactly what I order every time: either kimbap or tuna kimbap.

Kimbap

Preparing Kimbap

So after 2 weeks of living at the Coatel Hotel, CDI decides to kick me out or make me pay $80/night. I wanted to avoid the CDI Realtor because I had heard that he found you crappy places and you would also have to pay him 250,000 won. I tried to go around myself to the budongsans or realtors. Most of them do not speak English and I am left looking like a monkey creating over the top hand gestures and facial expressions. After 2 days of fruitless attempts at finding my own apartment, I had to resort to the awful CDI realtor. When I met him, he did not have the flare you expect from a realtor. He was abrupt, rude, and did not even ask me my preferences. At one point, he asked me, "Shadiyah, why is your skin burnt?" WOW. This guy tells me he went to Canadia University insinuating that he's a western educated man. Who's ever heard of Canadia University? I had to explain to him that I am filipino and that I love the beach. In two days, he took me to see 5 villas and officetels. As a foreigner with no idea how to go about living in a new country, I expected to be shown places that are at least semi-furnished with an air conditioner, refridgerator, and stove. He was showing me places without any of these nor beds or washing machines. Coming out to Korea with $1000, getting these things are not a priority. Paying rent is.

After living on Christie's floor for a week and suffering a stiff back and joints, I gave in to Mike and settled on a villa in Taereung. I had to pay him the 250,000 won realtor fee for his absent mindedness and awful selections. My villa is decent though. I have 3 rooms (living/bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom). Everything was furnished except for the bed. I am really glad the kitchen is separate because I don't want my apartment smelling like food, although I live above a restaurant. I have 3 other neighbors that I have never met. Whenever they open their doors, I open mine to catch them, but they always end up slamming it and hiding. I guess this is how its gonna be for the rest of the year...and we have such a nice rooftop for parties! Maybe I will catch them when we're doing laundry since we share the washer. This area is the beginning of Nowon-gu, the Special Education Zone of Seoul. In other words, the newest section of Seoul dedicated to young families with lots of money who send their kids to a hagwon or academy everyday of the week except for Sundays. They go to math, science, english, and even sports academies in addition to going to school. Every week, I ask my students what they are doing the next weekend or what did they do the past weekend. Their reply is always "study Teacher."

Gongneung-dong (Area) of Nowon-gu (County)

Well, Taereung is a nice fit for me, especially since Christie lives on the next street! It really has made the transition easier having a girlfriend near by. Since living in Taereung, Christie and I have had multiple wine nights accompanied by Korea's finest --fried chicken! It is uncomparable to the US. The Korean fried chicken is by far the best fried chicken I've ever had. For 5500 won, I can get 8-10 pieces with various sauces and white kimchi, pickled radish--a staple of Korean eating. I've enjoyed where we live. We live near a university so there are a lot of young people. There aren't a lot of families, but senior citizens decked out in hiking gear or biking gear. It's so embarrassing when I run by the river and the old people are running faster than me! My community has really taken us foreigners in. They love it when we come in and try to speak Korean and they know we are good sources of referrals because I always tell my friends where the best fried chicken is, cheap groceries, or best take-out.