Buan!

We have been in Korea for a week thus far, and Tom has a blog entry ready to go but we don't have internet at our apartment yet and spending time in the hot and smoky internet cafes just doesn't appeal. I'm being cheeky and writing this from the teachers' room in one of the three schools I will teach at here in Buan.

A few notes on the first week:

Korea in August is HOT and oh-so HUMID. Before we arrived we were told about the freezing winters (thigh-high snow, apparently) so we packed thermals and sweatshirts and tights and now we are both bright pink, hovering as close to the air-con as is physically possible because we don't have any summer clothes. The hot weather will last for at least another two weeks.

The meals are HUGE. The first day we ate Korean food, we had more food in one meal than I would eat in a day. Not eating meat is pretty difficult, I will return to being a vegetarian when I head back to New Zealand. Also, European food here is weird. We had crumbed pork cutlets with minced beef, covered in cheese, with almond slivers on top. The sides were red kidney beans, broccoli and a single carrot with mustard.

Fruit is so expensive. Apples are about $1 each, and a box of ten peaches is about $45. I know fruit is expensive throughout Asia, but I was still gobsmacked by the price. Alcohol is super cheap, you can get a bottle of soju (Korean vodka) for as little as $1.20.

More to come when we can get the net at home.

Anna