10.10.05-- There is no 4th Floor in Korea.

You can't go to the 4th Floor in Korea, you can only go to "Floor F." Just like in Chinese, "4" is considered bad luck because it sounds just like the word for death.

Hey Friends!

Welcome to the land of the morning calm and Rick Yune. (Oh man, Rick Yune.) Yep, I'm in Seoul, Korea.

Even though that flight kicked my ass and was a killer 13 hours, I still can't help but feel like maybe I'm still in LA. Like they turned the plane around at the International Date line, parked us at a secret spot in LAX, and drove us to the backend of Koreatown and hid all the Latinos.

I want to read Calvino's book about cities again. Because there is something about cities that are so familiar. Seoul reminds me of Koreatown. And it also reminds me of Tapei. I know some people will think that's lame of me to say. But the feeling of the streets, is like a more crowded Koreatown. The people cooking out of carts on the street is like Tapei. The way the lights shine at night and people eat and drink so late. We had Korean food and honestly, the rice looked a little browner, but it was like Hodori in Koreatown.

We got in last night, and we were so tired. All of us had been awake (with a little sleep here and there) for about 23 hours straight before we finally got to sleep in our tiny beds. It's morning now and I woke up at 3am. Our rooms are so tiny! You can't tell from the pic but the beds go just a half foot past my feet!

This furniture is hilarious. It's like this weird digital Victorian-esque thing. We have this clock on our dresser. Strangest thing ever.

I have to say what's become even more amusing is watching all the white people traveling with me eat. A couple of them don't know how to use chopsticks and are just stabbing away at their rice and then forfeiting to just grab food with their hands and eat with spoons. Poor things.

I never thought I'd be the one giving mini-tutorials on how showing people how to eat Korean food. But I guess in my few years of dating Koreans, I've picked up knowledge that the rest of the world don't know. My "Kansahmneedah" (thank you in Korean) was so good on the plane that the stewardess handed me a customs form in Korean. I tried filling it out but finally my ego gave up and I had to explain to her that I needed an English form.

My first year of college, my friend Betty took me to Koreatown and I remember being so bewildered by what a jungle it was, how the nightlife was so thriving and the subculture of it all. I remember the first time she stirred some BiBimBop in front of me, and she was mixing and pouring, and stirring to get the egg in there just right, and I was like, "Wow, they make you work so hard over here."

But I guess the airline is already prepped for the haoles. Look at these instructions they give out how to eat BiBimBap.

Speaking of the airline. The Korean Air Stewardesses are GORGEOUS. They must do job recruiting at the Miss Korea pageant. These women are freaking the most gorgeous, petite things ever.

Check this out too, for the BiBimBop, you get these toothpaste sized tubes of hotsauce! So cute. I'm going to snag some of these on the way back.

Ok, that's the report for now, I am going to try to update everyday. We are really experiencing Seoul today. We go to the University and get lectures on language and culture. So I may take back everything I just said.

Love,

Kristina