Overseas prepping p.2: pre-Korea acclimitization

Apparently coffee is pretty much non-existent in South Korea, which is not great news for me (especially because I will need to try and get in really fast workouts once I start training with the team so I can show them that I am somewhat worthy!) Not that coffee is completely necessary for that...that comment makes it sound like a drug addiction...

Anyway, to get back on topic - I've read and heard from people I know who have been there that there are three general truths about coffee in South Korea: 1) Coffee bars are expensive 2) Starbucks (plural - how do you write the plural form of Starbucks? Asks the soon-to-be English teacher...) definitely exist over there, but it costs an arm and an aneurysm for a cup (perhaps even moreso than it does in the States), and 3) Instant coffee is probably your best bet if you want to have any sort of non financially-dehabilitating assurance of enjoying the smell, taste (maybe taste is moot in this case, but at least a taste resemblance) and other benefits of America's cash crop.

So I am attempting to come off of my beloved coffee and start attempting to enjoy its instant knock off. Perhaps even substituting a glass of herbal tea every other day will be a smart idea, so when I have to go three days without coffee while having to attempt to utilize my almost non-existent Korean in the Seoul airport to try and find the location of the bus station I won't also be plagued with caffeine withdrawal.

Times change. Roll with 'em.

Overseas prepping p.1

It is t-3 weeks before I head off to my new home of South Korea to teach English. I figured I would start up a blog to share my both my experiences in S Korea as well as preparation experiences (I'm sure the latter will end up being somewhat entertaining since I have never lived abroad and thus will have lots of ignorant questions and lots of lessons learned).

I hope my experiences may also be able to help others who are looking to experience life abroad, especially those who will be going out of their way to bring items which may be very inconvenient financially and logistically (e.g. a bike) :)

However, if not one person reads this, I'm sure it will still be beneficial to me. I won't lie - I am betting that I will forget some of the details of certain experiences (perhaps customary tipping procedures at the Incheon Airport) that could cause embarrassment and loss of dignity, and by re-reading my posts I may be able to circumvent such occurances.

Yay for blogs. :)