Catie: The things we've learned.

When you are poor, do not know the national language of the country you are occupying, and are stuck in your apartment, it is best to knit socks.

(They're done!  See?  I'm so happy with them, they fit better than the other pair I knit for myself and they're super warm, not so long that they bunch up.. I think I'll be making more like these.)

Also a good skill to acquire once the nights get really cold.  And they have.

Someone told us today that Korean winters are very dry (it's been very dry the past four or five days) and pretty temperate.

Which is not what we read on the internet...

Although, so far, we've found that it's inadvisable to listen to internet advice regarding Korea.  At all.  (Probably a useful life lesson overall)

Upon moving here, we have found the following:

- You can purchase almost anything in Korea -- including most food items.  The only exception being deodorant, which is not impossible to find, but is difficult to find and $20.00/stick once you do find it.

- Most people who will take the time to spend hours online making lists of what you should and should not bring to Korea are the sort of people who would rather spend hours online complaining than go taste the awesome local food (not counting Lotteria), get to know the local grocery store (there's a pretty funny Western section), or make friends.

- Dave's ESL Cafe.. not the best introduction to Korea if you're coming here with a level head, expecting the unexpected and planning to go with the flow and enjoy yourself.  It is the best, however, if you want to complain, gripe, and wallow over Reese's peanut butter cups.

Really, we've found out quite a few things.  But those have bowled us over the most.  We could have packed more clothes!

Other foreigners coming to Korea:  Please do not go to Dave's ESL Cafe.  They will have you pack a down comforter and lug a ton of oatmeal.

Not nice.

We didn't pack a down comforter.  But it was highly suggested.

Anyway, other things we've come to find:

- Not all bowl noodles are delicious. So, pick your favorites.

- Is it calamari if the suction cups are still attached?  Oh, well, it's still delicious.

- Chicken (takkogi) on a stick -- amazing.

- Corn Flight is not the same as Corn Flakes.

- That butter that won't melt no matter what you do is actually Korean Margarine.  Stay away from Korean Corn Margarine.  The butter is $4.00/cup but it's also worth it.  It will actually melt, a nice quality to find in butter.

- The local grocery store is cheaper than the convenience store (this is true in America too, so I don't know why we didn't realize it sooner..) and the local grocery store is also cheaper than the Lotte (Loht-tay) Mart, which is cool because of it's sparkly new things and it's three levels (they have these big conveyer belt ramps that your cart is magnetized to stick to and they take you to the second and third floors!), but not worth the price.  Although they do have bagels...

We've learned lots of other stuff, too, but the list would get too long and my bowl noodles are getting cold.  They're spicy beef flavored and they are awesome.  Look.

Who Sells the Cheesiest Cheeseburger?

Pictures, as promised.

This is a small portion of the open air market at the end of our block.  On this side of the street, older women bring their vegetables to sell and spread them out in bowls and collanders on top of tarps and blankets and you can buy them (though only in large quantities, as I discovered) and on the other side of the street, there are two big, covered tunnels full of vendors selling raw meat, eggs, more vegetables, all kinds of things.

My favorite is the cooler full of skinny, plucked chickens! :)

It's really nice though and the produce is amazing.  Before I knew it was buy-in-bulk only, we got The Best eggs and potatoes.  Seriously, it was really good.

To the right is our stove, which I think is really cute (if inconveniently not located above an oven).  And it's gas, which is awesome.  It takes a little effort to light, but it's not hard.  You just have to think differently here, since everything's not about convenience, it's more about function.

The stove was a wreck when we arrived, completely slathered in grease, which would have been okay.  If this country sold anything close to a proper degreaser.

Oh, well, a lot of dishsoap later and most everything is clean.

And these little treasures are terrifying.

The drinks are about three inches tall and.. we aren't sure if they were made of rice or not.  The little cake is undoubtedly made of rice.  We got it on Wednesday, I think, so it may have been a mung bean cake for Cheusok, which was yesterday.

Cheusok is Korean Thanksgiving, a harvest celebration where everyone goes to their grandparents' house and eats traditional Korean food.

All that meant for us was that only the Lotteria was open for food.

The Lotteria is a block and a half from our house and, when we found it the other day, we were really excited because they have (what appear to be) cheeseburgers.  And... I guess you couldn't say that they weren't cheeseburgers because weren't exactly not.. cheeseburgers.

Side note: When you've experienced asian culture for a period of time greater than a couple of weeks or so, you come to find that things, food especially, are not what they appear.  So, it is best to alter your expectations accordingly.

We are poor right now, so we picked one of the cheaper things on the menu, what looked like a simple cheeseburger.  It said, "cheeseburger", right next to it, leading us to believe....

This is what it was:

A hamburger bun with nacho cheese, a heavily salted, ground pork patty, a slice of american cheese, dark green pickles, lettuce and ketchup.

So, really... I mean, technically, it was a cheeseburger.  After all, they went quite well out of their way to make it very.. cheesy...  but I don't think I have to tell you that the combination of nacho cheese, ground pork and ketchup was not a good one.

Even still, we already knew going in that it would probably be a pretty hilarious experience.  And it was.  And now, when we want a cheeseburger, we will look for a McDonalds.

Though Lotteria did have good fries.  And decent ketchup, not too sweet.

In parting, this is my newest project.  A pair of Noro Stripey Socks:

That's just the beginning, I have the first sock done now and am almost done with the second.  They've been fast and it's already starting to get cold at night, so I've been wearing my other pair of wool socks nonstop.  It'll be nice to have a switch-out pair.