Korea….Day 3

Korea day 3…..

Communication Skills Workshop was great. I felt very odd in the beginning though. It was explained that I give a brief history and bio about myself. I hate doing this for two reasons. First, i feel like this is boasting or bragging. I do a terrible job at selling myself. Om the surface if you don’t know me it sounds like I’m pounding my chest. Second, my life either sounds like a life time of A.D.D. or the biggest hoax. Again, those that know me understand I love a variety of things, I get bored quite easily, and have to feed the adventure furnace. I really hate these kind of introductions…

My contact from Singapore is fabulous. He has given me insight to the team here and I’m looking forward to working with him. He is hard charging, and my hope is I can keep up with him.

Tonight after work we were hosted to a wonderful meal. The best part, it was not an upscale restaurant. It was a nice place to congregate, eat, and chat. The people I have met in Korea are amazing. I enjoy their shyness, their willingness to laugh, and their acceptance of me.

Still struggling with even the most basic of words in Korean. Not sure why I am struggling. My hope was the week in China would have opened my mind to learning, but instead I feel the doors are still barred shut in my head. The two languages are quite different.

Tonight’s meal consisted of grilling meat at your table, once cooked, wrapping it in lettuce or sesame leafs, then putting the entire thing in your mouth. There were additional condiments such as onion shoots, kemche, and spicy bean sauce. Delightful. I love all kinds of foods and willing to try anything, and no disrespect to China…..but this is by far my favorite Asian dish.

At first I was worried that the area I’m staying in is “too westernized”. I think this is a ludicrous and pompous thought. As I watch and learn from the people here, they have adopted and influenced many things we call American. Korea is a highly modern country, and in so many ways has an edge on us in the states.

Yesterday morning I was having trouble with my iPad. I was in a coffee shop trying to download email to tart the day. In Boise the coffee artist either would not have bothered to help, or would fumble around and never solve the issue. Instead, the girl who spoke very little english took my iPad in hand, whipped through a few screens, reset their own WiFi, reset my iPad and had me downloading email in about two minutes.

Everywhere I look, there are earbuds plugged into smartphones and people of all ages are texting, watching movies, checking out some kind of app. There is a constant technology buzz going on. BTW….bonus on coffee shops….they are open until midnight every-night except Friday and Saturday….when they are open until 2am.

So ends the day in another coffee shop. After dinner I took a walk to explore a bit. Need to head back to the apartment, get ready for a new day, and catch a bit of rest. Tomorrow we teach the team how to Geocache.