Friends, food and efficiency

My life in Korea is starting to have a rhythm now and I am enjoying the process of slowly knitting myself into the  Taebaek community. 

I've been very fortune to be welcomed so warmly by the other foreign teachers here in Taebaek. I don't think I would be as happy and relaxed as I am now without their help and guidance. I dare say I've made friends with a good portion of them as well, in the few short weeks I have been here. 

It is great to make friends with people that come from all over the world. The group of foreigners I have grown closest to consists of two other Canadians, an American, a New Zealander and a South African. I greatly enjoy spending time with them and we frequently meet for dinner around town to talk and complain about our schools. I honestly have yet to find anything to complain about with my schools and co-teachers. I think I hit the jackpot with them when hearing the stories of the other foreign teachers.

The food here is so delicious. I knew I liked some Korean food before I got here but I didn't realize how much I would like almost everything here, even the stuff I thought I wouldn't like.

For example, last night I had 순대 (sundae),which is not ice cream with banana, but pig intestines. Sounds delicious right? Yeah I'm sure your reaction was similar to mine. But I am always up for a culinary adventure so I decided to try it. To my surprise, I really liked it. In fact, it was delicious. And lucky for me, if I ever get the craving for 순대 again, the shop where I had it is right across from my apartment. Also, according to another foreign teacher, they do delivery. Pig intestines delivered to your door. :)

So far there has been little I miss from home besides my friends and family. There a lot of things I appreciate in Korea which I wish they had back home. Like the efficiency here when it comes to service, especially in relation to food. They have this delightful button at each table that you push and it calls the server to you. It's fabulous. No one interrupting your meal or conversation to ask if everything is OK because they know that you will press the button if you need them. They come promptly when you press the call button, bring what you need and then leave you to your meal. I so wish they had something like this in Canada. I believe it would be easier for everyone. The patrons don't have to try and flag down a server every time they need something and the servers don't have to go around checking tables all night. It's a win-win situation. Someone should implement this system back home.