Finally: The Americans Say Hello

Last night I finally met up with some of the Americans teaching here in Anseong. This was such a relief. On friday, I ran into Victoria, a woman from Maine, on the street. Seeing another American stunned me. Literally I felt like I had seen an alien. We exchanged numbers and emailed eachother. We agreed to meet for dinner on wednesday.

When I arrived at the designated spot, I met another American, Carl from Florida. Carl is Mr. Korea, he's been in Korea for 3 years, but only a few months in Anseong. The three of us went to dinner at a restaurant where you grill your meat at the table. It was good.

Of course, the best part of the meal was just sitting around and talking. Like all teachers do, we talked about our students, about the schools and the lack of assistance we get in lesson planning, we talked about cultural things.

It was a great night. We walked around a bit, Carl and I went to the supermarket... where I met 2 Iraqis here on vacation. Foreigners abound I guess, if you know where to look for them.

Now, why could the company that placed me here drop me an email saying "Oh, these other Americans are in your city, send them an email." Seriously, much of the culture shock and strangeness could be avoided. It makes sense... tell that to the company.