I’m not doing very well on having this correspond to real time XD;; I’ll do my best to catch up!
Wednesday
The morning I woke up sick! I went out to register for an alien registration card (ARC) after picking up my Fulbright ID from the office, and visited a faraway station to buy some necessities. 소영 (Soyoung), a Korean friend I made back in Los Angeles (we were both looking for language exchange on Craigslist) helped me out that day.
고석 (Goseok) Terminal, a sprawling subway station with endless rows of shoes! Also connected to a big department store. Unfortunately, not the kind of home shopping (dish detergent, soap dish, etc.) I was looking for!
Thursday
Going to 이마트 (Emart)! It’s a chain of big multi-level, all-purpose stores! It used to be Walmart, and then the company that owns Emart bought all the locations and localized it. I went with 세민 & 상은 (SeMin and SangEun) to 용산역 (Yongsan Station), which is connected to the Emart and also known for the humongous electronics complex nearby.
We ate 부대찌개 (budae jjigae) in one of the restaurants right next to the Emart entrance!
Budae jjigae is a Korean "stew" influenced by the war times with the American army, and it typically contains a lot of sausage-type elements, like hot dogs and spam.
I spent over half of my settling-in allowance on this trip! I was really lucky to have SangEun and SeMin with me, both were super patient and kind, going down my whole shopping list with me and trying to make sure I got the things I wanted. SeMin even took the subway back to his house so that he could pick up the car, driving back to the Emart, for me to be able to get my numerous (and heavy) purchases back home!
A big cardboard box full of goodies! Thanks for carrying this, 세민...
Different kinds of rice. This would have been hard to take back by subway...
I also got this charcoal liquid soap that can be used for dishwashing or rinsing fruits and vegetables. People hardly ever eat the skins of fruits, 상은 told me it’s because of the pesticides from having to ship and import a lot of the produce. Anyway, peeling fruit is a big part of female culture here – it’s best if you can do it in one long strip with a knife.
風雨無阻 