It's an exciting thing to be forced outside your comfort zone.

Completely helpless.
Strangers. Unfamiliar streets. Impatient questions in a language I don't understand.
My first few days alone exploring the city; unable to navigate or ask for help.
Crying. "Can I really do this? Can I do this for a year?"
Culture Shock.

Feeling alone, but not actually being alone.
Everything seems different, but God is the same.
He is faithful in Seattle, and faithful in Seoul. Unchanging.
And my Peter, the most patient, loving, encouraging, and understanding
husband I could possibly ask for and far, far better than I deserve.

But then the weekend! Peter has weekends off, so we reunited
with all of his orientation group friends, fellow english teachers
now dispersed throughout Korea. I am the only spouse, but
instead of being the odd one out as I feared, they welcomed
me, included me, and afterward added me on facebook (the true test!).
We met in Gangnam.. yeah, that Gangnam.. ate food, then took in
the sights of the city life. I've heard that Gangnam is a very rich district
of Seoul, but we weren't near any residential areas, so that side I did not
see. What we did see seemed more like the "party district" of Seoul. A long
lit up strip of restaurants, clubs, and bars. Dance music constantly blaring.
Posters of Psy everywhere advertising everything.

Sunday, Peter and I had hoped to attend our first service at Seoul Covenant Church,
but by that morning my messages asking for directions were still unanswered. Since
then we have heard from a few members and we are meeting up with a couple this
Sunday who are going to show us the way (: .  It is about an hour from where we live,
so without guidance it would be impossible for us to locate.

Presently, my culture shock has faded. Partly because I spent the week learning
Hangul, the Korean alphabet, and because their language is mostly phonetic, I
can mostly read! Although of course I usually don't know what I am reading, so now
I am working on vocab (starting with food, naturally).

Today I found a grocery store. We have many 711s and similar food mart type
stores near us, but until today I had not found anything comparable to an Albertson's
or Safeway. Very exciting. I bought vegetables and noodles. Since arriving, we have
only eaten out, so it will be nice to eat a homecooked meal in our teensy apartment.

Time to cook stuff.