Week One:

Here's a skeletal update on the state of affairs after one week here. You would be kind to ignore the sweeping and cynical generalizations (my stock and trade), and take this with a grain of salt as the superficial observations of a functionally illiterate person wandering the streets of Seoul like a child lost in a department store.

Comforts-
The list of things I have figured out in my first week here is impressive in its shortness. But there's one thing I quickly came to understand; this will not be a time of hardship. My life will not be tales of want and doing without. I have access to every comfort I could ever want, it might just be in an exotic flavor.

Living Conditions-
After a few days in what's called a “love motel” (I learned why this is their nickname my second night there, when the jet lag had worn off enough not to put me in a coma-like state), I moved into my new apartment last week. It's larger than I anticipated (2 rooms, a kitchen/dining area and 1 bathroom) but the view is befitting a ground-floor apartment in the world's most densely populated and 5th most expensive city.

To my delight, the floors are heated (I still find this an enchanting system) and I'm content with the arrangement save two little details. Firstly, the last residents of this apartment must have been fishermen who used the refrigerator as a fermenting mechanism. I keep in there only cream for my coffee sealed in a plastic container. The one time a day I open it with lightning quickness is enough waft a stubborn scent throughout apartment. Any suggestions to exorcise the entrenched oder are welcome...preferably on the less labor intensive side.

Secondly, approximately 93.6% of the people living in my area are Korean. This is wonderful, but the other 6.4% of the inhabitants are the ones I'm less enthused to call my neighbors. Unfortunately, my employer found me an apartment in the international area of Seoul where beer-swillers and image conscious hippies conspicuously assert their identity. If I may slide into snobbery, I didn't come here to be around folks who seek out indulgences as close to their home country as they can possibly replicate. I'm sure there exist quiet, decent members of the international community in Seoul, but they have simply moved out of this neighborhood.
...As evidenced by my only two complaints, the situation here is very agreeable.

Work-
My commute to employment is about 30 minutes door-to-door with a brief subway ride in the middle. The subway is clean, clever and so smooth you can stand without even holding on to anything.

Work seems to be a good setup. I enjoy the other people at the institute and feel pity for the students who study as much as medical students from grade one. The hours of work are brief and agreeable, and take place on the second floor of a building on a busy street which is also home to a coffee shop and a full compliment of dining options.

Last Friday the staff went out to a convivial dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant. We sat on the floor, grilled our own meat, and had some version of a rapport building experience.

Afterwards we indulged in the favorite pastime karaoke. Done in a private room and taken quite seriously, I get the impression this is a standard work gathering activity. If my colleagues are a significant enough sampling, the general population is blessed with a good set of vocal cords. I was strenuously encouraged to sing and finally had to surrender to their requests. There are no two worlds more acoustically opposed than my shower and that karaoke room in downtown Seoul, South Korea. In my shower, my voice sounds sweet enough to sing the skirt off a nun given the right song selection...while in the bar, I could barely keep the machine from re-booting. If I am lucky, this will be my last public performance.

Food-
The food is cheap enough and good enough to eat in bulk. As a rule, I don't know what I'm ordering and my menu selections have been limited to what is within pointing distance on the plates of people around me. “That, please”, then I wait for Lady Luck to send me something with good meat and nonflammable sauce. So far, so good.

I've also been fortunate to go to a couple Korean BBQ restaurants. It's a sublime experience rich with flavor, etiquette and dexterity, and worthy of more than a passing mention in a meandering post.

I eat well. But if I wanted to defile the Korean dining experience, western food chains are squatting on nearly every main street. A sample: Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, Pizza Hut for lunch, an afternoon coffee at Starbucks, happy hour at Bennigans, dinner at Outback Steakhouse followed by a stroll down the street to TGI Friday's for a big sloppy desert. And this still omits the artery-stuffing fast food.
...I will stick with pointing.

*Footnote: To end the suspense now and appease the burning curiosity in many of your minds; yes, the Koreans have a monopoly on the dry-cleaning here too.