First Night

TUESDAY, 8 JANUARY 2013 - Korea is COLD, as promised, and I've already lost my gloves! (Why did I bring two caps, two scarves, and only one pair of gloves?!) My first Korean student picked me up at the airport and brought me to my campus accommodations. It's a three-bedroom apartment with beds that are hard, hard, and hard. There is a small entrance area where you kick off your shoes before stepping up on to the heated floor. Aaaah! As you see in the photo, there are plastic shoes provided for use in the bathroom or outside hallway, but otherwise the apartment is a no-shoe zone. Hai-Kyung took me to a nearby traditional restaurant for dinner. As you walk in, it looks like a meat market, with cases of beef and pork to choose from. You pick your raw material and go sit at a table with a fire pit in the middle. A guy with big mitts promptly delivers a pot of glowing coals. Then you start grilling your own meat as the first-course sides arrive: garlic, chili paste, kimchi, onions and vinegar, etc. Hai-Kyung did the grilling honors as I cuddled up to the embers. When the meat is ready, you grab it with a leaf of lettuce and wrap a little package with the sides of your choice. To finish off the meal, we had my fave, COLD noodle soup. It actually comes out with crushed ice in the bowl. Koreans believe that it is the perfect complement to the meat and think that it helps warm you in winter by moving the warmth to the outside of your body. I was back at the apartment by 8pm, settling in and trying to use the computer. (Everything comes up in Korean.) I hopped in to a hot shower before realizing the towel supply consisted of eight tea towels. After swabbing off in installments, I took a melatonin to help with jetlag and crawled into my hard, hard bed. Maybe I'll sleep on the heated floor tomorrow night.