Interesting in Korea - The Bathroom

There are many differences about living in Korea versus the US. Let's start in the Bathroom:

They don't use a shower curtain. Everything in the bathroom in washable. So, if you get water on the floor, it's okay because there is a drain in the corner underneath the sink. Everyday, our house mother cleans the bathroom by spraying it down with the shower head.

This toilet is amazing. I have no idea what those buttons do (it is written in Korean), nor do I want to experiment; however, the toilet seat is heated. I know some people that would never get off the toilet if it was heated.

In all the places we have stayed, the bath towels are this size. It is the size of a hand towel.

Jake

Good for man's "stream" - Korean rasp. wine

The club president in Gwangju asked me last night what I wanted us all to drink. I said, "surprise me". Hence ...

In the photo is Miran, the sister of our host family who has been our interpreter the past two days. Here, she fights through blushing cheeks to describe the purpose of Korean black raspberry wine. Apparently, man's "stream" can become so strong that it cracks the back of the toilet! Hilarious! Her cheeks were still not as red as those of the club president's after he figured out what she was telling us :)
- Colin

IT'S ALIVE

We have been eating non-stop, and we have had some interesting experiences.  Two of the most interesting food experiences have been eating live seafood cooked in front of us. Check it out:

Jake

Dam eggs

After a long chilly day of visiting the first Catholic church in Korea, a ceramics museum, a water museum, and the Han River Dam we warmed up with some wild chicken eggs and Sesame Tea!

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Gwangju Karaoke!

The president of the Gwangju Rotary club has some pipes! After our presentation and more than one soju (their favorite spirit), we headed to the karaoke bar. Several of the Rotarians traded the mic with our team as we went back and forth between English and Korean favorites. The room was private, but plenty large enough for the 15 people in our party. Nanci was a tambourine machine! Needless to say, my voice is a bit horse this morning.
Keonbae! (Cheers)
Colin

Today's lunch - cow head soup!

Sting ray, octopus, jellyfish, giant live oysters, whole mackerel and cuddle fish jerky were the oddest foods we had until today's lunch. Cow head and cow head soup went down like chicken noodle, though I don't think we'll seek it out intentionally.

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We love Korea! Welcome Party

For our first dinner, we were honored to be the guests of the District Governor, Yong-Duk On (Chui-Song), and multiple other Rotary dignitaries. It seemed to be the who’s who of the Korean District 3600.  What was even more amazing was that we seemed to be the center of attention. The food spread was amazing! Some of the new foods we tried included sting ray, octopus and spicy oysters. The word for spicy is mepda. Mepda, mepda, mepda!  They were all so welcoming and friendly. We will post more about our first few days soon. Keonbae!

We've Arrived!

After getting to Fort Myers airport at 5:00am EST on Sunday, we finally arrived in Korea at 7:45am EST on Monday (or 8:45pm in Korean time on Monday).  We were greeted warmly by our Korean, Rotarian friends and made the 1.5 hour trek to where we are staying.  The house where all 5 of us are staying is beautiful.  We have it all to ourselves.  It is a bit unusual to us being that there are no couches or beds - really no furniture at all besides TV's. 

The bed padding was stored in a closet so we each had to lay down some pads and make our beds. 

This is a bedroom when we arrived and a bedroom with the bed made:

It's in the mid 30's right now, but the floors are heated which makes sleeping on the ground much more comfortable.  Colin had some bad luck with his luggage.  His Downy Wrinkle Release spilled all over the inside of his suit case and all over his clothes.  He took it like a champ, though.  No tears were shed.  It's nothing that a washing machine can't take care of.

We ended the night by saying "well, I guess we're in Korea."  It still seems very surreal. 

Jake