so i’m now officially part of the korean tax-paying workforce. this isn’t the temporary type work of past korean jaunts. no sir, this is proper full-time, 9-5 work (7:30am-5:30pm actually)... work of the shiny metallic-grey suit-wearing colleague & business lunch type. it’s early on monday morning of week 2 & i’ve already ran out of things 2 do, meaning i can finally turn my attentions 2 getting this ‘livin’ with seoul’ (ingenious eh?) blog up & running (so long as i’m typing in a word document the koreans i share the office with, bless them, will be none the wiser). i’ve a lot 2 report on the 9 days i’ve been here so far but i’m not going 2 get into specifics. not here. not now. nope, i’m not going 2 elaborate on how i spent the first 48 hours of those 9 days being all bacchanalian & the following 120 hours or so (5 days, 2 those of you who aren’t up on your x24 tables) recovering from the combined effects of jet lag, hite, cass, soju, tequila, stupidly late nights & obscenely early mornings. what it’s like for this gadding irishman 2 live, eat, drink, fall over & work in seoul for an extended period of time is what this blog will be all about, but for now let me attempt 2 convey 2 you my lot in seoul thus far.
'livin' with seoul' work
working, for want of a more appropriate adjective, in an office full of koreans isn’t alien 2 me. ergo, before i even got here (during my previous blog days) i was down with not understanding anything anyone ever says (when they are not communicating directly to me in english of course... every other time it is a string of blah blah blah's punctuated with "mi-da"). the 1st week was a slow, sometimes painful slog, mainly because being a bum is seemingly an ingrained habit of a lifetime for me & actually having 2 be somewhere @ a designated time was a shock, somewhat, 2 the peppered, abused system. but that said, so far so good. as of now i still don’t mind...
- being constantly fussed over,
- being introduced, Obama like, 2 everyone who comes into the office, including the couriers who, hospitable koreans aside, have difficulty hiding the fact that they really should be some place else & would rather run over this foreigner than shake his hand or bow 2 him,
- sitting @ the lunch table wondering exactly how spicy the unknown dish in front of me is (it’s always spicy... korean spicy, not western spicy) & wondering where the potatoes are (never in the restaurants we frequent, that’s where),
- sitting in office meetings, smiling, nodding & wondering, amongst endless "blah... blah... blah mi-da"'s, exactly what’s going on, &
- trying 2 look busy (trust me - trying 2 convince folk that you're working is more actual work than work itself... i'd imagine).
of course being the lone 외국인(foreigner) in an office of 14 koreans does have its perks - i get the biggest smiles from the cutest girls in the office & eyebrows are not raised when i bid everyone adieu for the night @ 5:30 (the rest of them, as is the korean way, are here til drinking time & beyond). okay, so i may not be 100% sure yet (maybe 20%) what i’m supposed 2 be doing, but i’m sure i’ll stumble upon something 2 do before i get fired for... well, doing nothing.
'livin' with seoul' play
hite. amnesia. cass. bruises. soju. headaches.
right, that’s it for now. something tells me i’ll have ample opportunity 2 update this blog over the coming weeks & months. should be fun, for me @ least. but, before i go here are a few...
korean idiosyncrasies (that i had almost forgotten about)
- it’s way 2 easy 2 have a good time here,
- koreans work way 2 hard,
- koreans are way 2 nice,
- everywhere smells of kimchi,
- essentials (beer, mandu, public transport) are cheap,
- korean women are hot & hot korean women are smokin' hot (especially those walking around my office building in business attire... & yes, before you ask it is my office), & finally,
- it’s hard 2 find potatoes.
what i'm listening 2 right now
dunno.... it's all korean. "blah... blah... blah... mi-da"
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