Getting settled...

It's been a pretty busy week. We got an apartment, bought a car I had a birthday and I got snowed in... But, each of these experiences has a process...

Renting an apartment in Korea is a bit weird at first, but then, strangely logical. Your first stop is a realtor who drives you around and shows you various apartments/villas in your price range. (They already know what you make so they don't show you places you can't afford.) Then, you decide and have to have a housing inspection done by the folks on base. My rent covers internet service, water delivery, cable, gas, electricity and maintenance fees... So basically, I don't pay for anything out of pocket... Kinda cool huh?

I chose to buy a car here instead of having one shipped over... It sounded logical and in the long run, easier than waiting for your car to arrive. Once you get used to looking at a speedometer in kilometers instead of MPH, it's not so bad. I got a great deal on a Hyundai Sonata... it was about 1800 bucks... If I drive it for two years, I think I got my money's worth... Pics of the ride later, but here are some pics of the house... It's kinda sparce because we don't have our household goods yet... YES THAT IS AN AIR MATTRESS in the pic...

First Impressions

Seventeen hours out of JFK. The longest flight of my life. It was 5:35pm local time we touched down at Incheon International Airport... We'd arrived in Korea. After bobbing and weaving our way through the airport and avoiding the constant overtures of cab drivers trying to con you into a 200 dollar cab ride, my wife and I walked outside to catch the bus to the hotel.

Now, here's where we get to the impressions part of the situation. The first thing I noticed after leaving the terminal was that IT WAS FREEZING!!!! Kind of like Chicago in the winter cold, wind included. It's the kind of cold that makes you feel like the skin on your face is going to peel off if you stay outside too long.

I'd like to say I spent the hour or so during the bus ride taking in the sights of a new city, but the truth of the matter is that I faded in and out of sleep on the way there. When we finally arrived at the hotel, all I wanted to do was find a bed. But, that couldn't happen before I did some sort of in-processing. Surprisingly, I was done in an hour and back in the hotel. I was lucky I guess.

More to follow folks!