One year in Gwang-ju, South Korea

July 23rd marks the one year anniversary of us arriving in South Korea. It's the first time we have been here and for Neil, the first time he's been in Asia. This day flew by like any other day, in fact, we had forgotten about this date. It was a Thursday and nothing significant happened. Here's a list of things I've liked and disliked in the one year I've been here: 

The Good...

- cheap taxi fares! coming from Vancouver where it'll cost me $7+tips to get from downtown to chinatown, it's unbelievably cheap here. For a 15 minute ride, it'll cost me around $5. And most of time going from the supermarket to my apartment is only $3. 

- keyless locks! In my first and third apartment, we got keyless/pinpad locks and they are amazing! No more forgetting my keys :) Some even come with an intercom so you can see who is at the door. 

- cheap kimbap and street food! You can easily get a kimbap that fills you up for $2 here and hurricane potatoes is only $1! All those times I've pad $5 for them at night market - I feel so ripped off! In the colder months, they even sell a cup of corn with cheese and peas for $2. Mmmm There's also this rice burger that's filled with tuna, kimchi, tuna and cheese that I like to get for only $2.50. I love cheap and delicious eats! 

- food home delivery! Most things here are available for delivery, including McDonald's. The website to order McDonald's is super easy and we've done it a couple of times :) Some other popular dishes to order for home delivery is fried chicken, sweet and sour pork, pork hock withe lettuce and sliced pork, black bean noodles, dumplings, pizza and burgers. We're limited to an app called Yogiyo because it's easy to use and I don't need to order over the phone. If I could order via phone, the choices would be even better! 

- korean makeup and free samples! There are always sales everywhere I look. The number of Korean brand makeup is also endless. I've tried only a couple so far such as Innisfree, The Faceshop, Tony Moly, Etude House, and Skinfood. There's so much more....Oh and every time you buy something, there's always so many free samples. These are great for quick weekend getaways and to give away. I love it! 

The Not So Good...

- terrible driving! people are constantly talking on their phone while driving, and I've seen instances where children sit with no seat belts on. Also, I've been toddlers held in the laps of adults in the passenger seat. Not only is it bad inside the car, but cars will drive reckless and fast. They don't always obey traffic lights. Many instances where cars are halfway into the intersection and decide to change their minds amid sounds of honking. I've had close calls with drivers and I love glaring at bad drivers and mouth "wtf" to them. But seriously, be extra vilgilant on the roads as a pedestrian! 

- expensive fruits and foreign goods! let me reiterate, fruits are expensive here. I haven't had many since coming here because I've been too cheap to splurge. And I can't eat it fast enough since Neil doesn't like it that much. I understand why it needs to priced where it is but I don't like it! Some things like canned beans, bbq sauce and other things are not easily found in local supermarkets so we always have to trek to the larger ones. Right now, I can't even find cauliflower! 

- air quality and humidity! I didn't realize how good I had it back in Vancouver. I miss the crisp, sweet air that you can bottle up and drink! The air quality here sucks. In the summer time, the humidity makes me feel like I've been roasted alive any time I step outside. There is no movement in the air, it's so stale. We don't have an A/C unit in our apartment so our two fans are working overtime. 

- late start = late hours! Our working hours are from 1:00pm to 10:00pm every weekday. I'm not motivated enough to head out during the day and then come back and prepare for work. In fact, it's because it takes so long for me unwind after work and dinner that I don't go to bed til 2am every night so I just sleep in. Sighs. It's a vicious cycle and makes me feel very unproductive. 

The Strange...

- sweet breads! First thing we noticed was how the bread here are mainly sweet. Sure there's some savoury ones, but they have a hint of sweetness. 

- large statues in front of most buildings! (art?) This could just be my observations but outside every building, there is a weird statue of some sorts. I think Gwangju is trying to be more artsy? It's weird. 

- obsession with 'honey butter' fad! Almost any snack these days can be found with 'honey butter' flavour! From chips, to milk to cookies. This has to stop somewhere right? I loved the original chips from Calbee but enough is enough. 

Overall, in the one year we've been here, we've learned to finally adjust our lifestyle to meet our needs and work. It's taken us about 6 months to get the hang of teaching. Now, it's time to incorporate other hobbies into our lives. We're here for another 10 months and hopefully this time around, we'll get to go out and do more things and enjoy these next months in South Korea!

Dentist visit

Let's say it's been a long time since I've been to the dentist and I was very apprehensive. But Neil insisted we should at least get a check up so we went.  The location was easy to find from the subway, it's near U-Square. The building has several other medical offices.

It was a rainy day and we sat in the reception area waiting for our turn. Once we're called up, we went into this long room with several dentist chairs. There's a glass barrier between each one so you can't see the next person. There were a ton of nurses around. The dentist came by and he spoke perfect English and seemed very nice and kind. He took a look in my mouth and told me I still had two of my wisdom tooth. One is easy to take out and the other a bit trickier. He also asked me what I'd like to do today. I told him I'd like a cleaning first and then will think about taking out one of my wisdom tooth. 

The nurse came and showed me a piece of paper with instructions on what to do if I feel too much pain. I don't think she really spoke much English at all. Then she went to work on cleaning my teeth. She was very thorough and took about 30 minutes cleaning. At times it did hurt but I managed through the pain. My mouth felt really clean after that and I know it would be sensitive for a while. 

After Neil was done with his appointment we went to set up our next appointment where I would get my teeth pulled out and Neil will get some thing added to his gum. I'm still not sure what it's called. The best part of this experience was finding out the price. That almost hour-long visit only cost us each 30,000 won (which is roughly $30). 

My next dentist visit was much less apprehensive. I can only describe it as quick, thorough and painless. The nurse once again cleaned my mouth for about 20 minutes and then once the anesthesia worked, the dentist came by and pulled out my tooth. It took less than five minutes! I had to wait 30 minutes for Neil's appointment to be done. When we went to pay, they decided to give us discounts. My cost was only 12,900 won. And Neil's 3 gum thing was 120,000 won. Wow, what a deal! 

I have since recovered from this and it only took about a day of eating soft food before I was ready for some solid food. There was no bad reaction at all either. Neil took a video of me describing our experience and I look like a chipmunk and sound funny because of the cotton ball in my mouth.