Time flies...

First lunch in Korea, on first day of work.

Hey family, friends, and other readers or picture-skimmers! Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you'll find something in my posts to interest you as I collect my thoughts and experiences into a place where they are much less likely to be forgotten than in my currently overwhelmed mind.

Above is a picture of the first lunch I had in Korea. My employer was kind enough to have bibimbap brought in for me on my first day of work. I had bibimbap for my first meal on the Asiana flight from Chicago to Seoul the day before, so I was relieved when it was offered as an option for lunch. Other than kimchi and kimbop, bibimbap is the about the only other Korean food I knew the name for at the time. The bibimbap is in the big bowl on the right. There are various vegetables atop a bed of rice, and this dish had a fried egg on top as well. The bowl in the middle is a brothy soup, there's some type of fruit in the dish at the top, and on the left is some kimchi, some sweet black beans, and potatoes. The meal was delicious, and was the first time I can remember being even slightly successful in my attempts to use chopsticks. That skill is still a work very much in progress for me, as anyone who saw me attempting to eat sushi last night could confirm.

After that sushi dinner last night I went to the apartment of one of my new (and incredibly welcoming and helpful) coworkers to hang out. While there I met some teachers at another school in a different part of the city, and one of my coworkers told them I had only been in Korea for a couple of days. It surprised me to hear it. It's been three days now, but that time has been so full of new sights and experiences, and trying delicious new foods and meeting wonderfully interesting and warm new people that it seemed like much longer. I also realized that I've gone three days here without starting the blog I told myself I would create to keep those back home updated on my life here. So, twenty-four hours later, here it is. I have to go get some dinner now, but soon I will summarize who I am, how I came to be in Korea, and how delicious this dinner was, as I'm sure it will be.