First Week in Bundang

This is my first post and I'm reflecting my first week here in Bundang, a city about 10 miles south of Seoul. I'm appreciating my coffee and free wireless internet at Pascucci Caffe, one of many in a chain across Seoul. My "original" cup 'o joe is strong enough to make my hair stand up, but I must remember, Pascucci is Italian and coffee is something Koreans take seriously. They must, cause there's at least 50 cafes here in Bundang.

My surroundings at Pascucci are warm and modern. In fact, "warm and modern" summarizes many of the restaurants and cafes I visited so far. I can tell I'm gonna love my trip here. In my quest to replicate the Room and Board catalog at my humble Aliso Viejo, CA condo, Seoul is gonna inspire me all over again. Korean's have amazing "attention-to-detail." My husband Eric points this out all the time. The Korean designers he works with at Hyundai are producing nicer automobile interiors than cars costing twice as much.

But alas, getting on in a new country certainly presents its share of challenges. The language is no doubt a barrier, but I'm determined to learn. I've struggled with language since I was at U of M, but what better way to make friends. Thanks to Keith at SurvivalPhrases.com, I'm gaining the confidence it takes to get out of the apartment while my husband works his days at Hyundai. For anyone new to Korea, I highly suggest spending the $25 to get started. And no, I'm not paid to tell you this.

Things to love here:
1) Transportation. Korail subways are cheap and clean. Getting somewhere can take a while, so I should learn the bus.
2) Safety. Feeling safe no matter the time of day.
3) Korean food. While food has been an adventure since we landed, I've enjoyed most all the Korean food I've tried. But there's plenty of variety here in Bundang, from Italian to burgers.
4) Coffee. I can get wired nearly every 30 meters in this city.
5) J at Park View. He's the cool guy at the apartment complex that helped me hook up w/ internet and gave me insight to the best restaurants and bars.
6) Costco. Nothing like a taste of home, right down to the pizza and hot dogs.

Must haves for expats:
1) Skype. Definately the way to go for communication abroad. My phone for an entire year is just $60.
2) Slingbox. Thanks to Julia and Betty, I can tap into my favorite shows no matter what time of day.

Biggest surprises to date:
1) Trash. Throwing out trash requires purchasing bags from convenience stores. They're sold as 10L and 50L sizes, with the later costing roughly $1.10 USD. Buh-bye "Glad" bags. I'm told I can be fined seriously for using my old bags.
2) Stepping Down Electricity. Thanks to my Dad, he helped me understand how to properly step down my electronics from 220V to 110V without frying everything. My husband Eric and I went to the Yongsan Electronics Market to look at step-down converters. Be careful though. A 1000W converter may have the hole for the "ground" prong, but may not have any metal in that hole to properly step down your electronics. I'll create another post later that better explains the step-down voltage process. Be advised not to use your US power strip unless the total watts you're plugging in matches your step-down transformer, less 25%. Check out this article. Not sure how to convert amps to watts? 100 watts = 1 amp.
3) Say "No" to Tampons. Ladies, if you're coming here for an extended period, stock up on your tampons. I paid $9 for 20 Tampax at the local pharmacy. E-Mart isn't much cheaper at $8. Sorry, not going back to pads. Yuck. For those of you who don't know E-Mart because you haven't been to Seoul, its alot like Walmart.
4) Koreans Love Babies. I met two really nice girls at the newbie expat meeting of the American Women's Club of Korea. One of the girls has a 16-month old son and everyone we encountered on the subway was ready to give up their seat and help my friend get the stroller up and down what can become endless stairways.

I'm sort of all over the place with this being my first post, but I hope to post links here that will help other expats find their way. Not to knock Seoul's population of English teachers, but its my goal to prove you can live happily here as an expat without teaching English.