What's All the Fuss About?

After a busy day of registering and workshops on life in South Korea our Buddy Assistants decided to take us out for Korean fried chicken. I guess this would be a good time to introduce my Buddy. His name is Daniel and he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He was worried to death when we were stranded at the airport and has gone out of his way to make sure that I transition smoothly into the culture here. He has two other buddies. Dave, who happens to be our other roommate, and André from Brazil.

Off I went with my buddies! (And Luke with his respective buddies. I can't vouch on whether or not they're cool yet, but mine definitely are.) Evidently fried chicken is a big deal here. Not quite as big of a deal as it is in Kentucky, or in my life for that matter, but close to it for sure. We walked a little ways from campus in the Anam area to a building with a huge yellow banner. I'm pretty sure it said chicken on it, but I'm not an expert in Korean yet. Daniel said that this was the best place near campus to go for chicken and the huge crowd gathering in front of the building seemed to agree with him.

When we finally made it in and found a seat, the aroma of fresh fried chicken washed over our bodies and touched our very souls. I have never felt more at home since I've been here. My mouth was watering. So let me tell you excruciating detail about the single best part of the meal. The best Korean food that I have ever had the pleasure of devouring...

The cole slaw.

At least I think it was cole slaw! They told me it was a cabbage salad, but it had a creamy, spicy, tomatoey dressing over it that was to die for. It was served in a small square dish. The purple and green cabbage lay snugly under a blanket of dressing that had been drizzled over it just moments before it was placed at the table. The cool crunch paired terrifically with the spicy dressing. It was like Icy Hot for your tongue, relaxing your mouth--preparing it for the crispy golden fried chicken that was soon to follow. The chicken alone wouldn't have been satisfying if it weren't for this superb slaw.

Onto the chicken.

It was. . . well, it was okay. Probably in my top 5 behind Mom's, Mooney's, Winchell's, and The Lady & Son's. It's kind of unfair to compare it to American fried chicken because it wasn't spiced. The chicken was breaded, fried, and brought out fresh. A small dish of spices was served on the side to dip the chicken in as it was eaten. It just wasn't the same. They also made us eat it with two forks. I tried to tell them of their sinful ways, but to no avail. The truth is that fried chicken is meant to be eaten with your hands. Nothing should get in the way of a man and his chicken. Especially a pesky fork! In the brief moment that you hold in your hand a succulently golden piece of heaven, you can experience, in essence, all of life's greatest treasures. And that just didn't happen tonight.

Maybe I'll have to try again. And once more for good measure.

Crazy Days

Wow, these past few days have been hectic! A lot has happened, so I will try to condense all of it!

We went to eat pizza on Tuesday with some guys. Yes, we came all the way to South Korea to eat some pizza. Deal with it. We had two pizzas, one that was like a traditional pizza with pepperoni and such and another that was more like a meat lovers (only this was topped with bulgogi, which is about like steak). One had a cheese crust and the other was sweet potato. Sweet potato crust better become a thing in America by the time we come back. It was delicious!

Wednesday was orientation day. It was a long day of sitting, especially that morning. It was a pretty uneventful day. That night, we went to a party with our buddies. I sat at my table and ate some kind of soup (I assume it was kimchi soup. It was spicy and tasted of cabbage). All of the food was excellent! I met some great people. Most of the people I sat with were from Germany or France, although there was one girl from LA.

Thursday (today) has been slightly more eventful. We filled out more paperwork for our student IDs. That was easier said than done. Almost everything was in Korean, so my buddy had to translate most of it. That was a bit tedious. I got my phone today. It's a cheap prepaid phone, but it will do. I planned on just using it in case of an emergency.

It has been really cool meeting so many people from different places! I have become acquainted with people from Hong Kong, Ukraine, Mexico, and so many other places! However, everybody knows Kentucky. All praise Col. Sanders! Oh, and here is a picture. UK needs a sweet fountain like this! Note the blue skies, which have been rather elusive since we got here.

Subways, Pork, Portuguese and Tacos

What an exciting second day in Korea it has been. Our roommate Dave has been very kind to us. He took us out for dinner last night as Luke mentioned in his post below and he took us out today to a different area of the city for lunch. This meant riding the subway which was a completely new experience for both me and Luke.

We bought passes for the subway from a 7-Eleven down from our dorm. They're pretty much credit cards that you wave over a sensor to enter the boarding terminal. Every time we used them I felt like a Jedi. We boarded the train and headed deeper into the city. It was pretty crowded to me, but Dave said that it seemed empty. Some older lady yelled at us because we were blocking her view out of the window. I have no earthly idea what she was staring at out into that dark abyss, but we moved nonetheless. Other than that, underground travel was shockingly easy.

Lunch was just as huge as dinner the night before. We had pork again. I told my parents that I didn't know when I would ever eat pork in Korea, so I had it as my last meal in the US. Who would've thought that I would also have it for my first two meals here?! Anyway it was different and delicious. The noodles that came with it were phenomenal. After lunch we headed back to campus on the subway and we climbed up the big hill. I bet I'll never get tired of walking up this hill.

We met one of my Korean buddies in the afternoon. His name is Daniel. He took us along with his other buddies, my roommate Dave and a couple of Brazilians, to a taco place on campus. I never in my life thought that there would be Mexican food in Korea, but apparently its growing in popularity. We sat down to get acquainted with each other and the Brazilians taught us all a little Portuguese. I can also say that I never in my life thought that I would learn Portuguese at a taco shop in Seoul, but I did.

All in all it was yet another good day and I look forward to many more as the semester gets underway.

The First Meal

We were not quite sure what we wanted for dinner the first night. Colby and I talked it over and were getting nowhere (as is usual.)

That afternoon, we met our other roommate Dave, who lives in the single room next to us. He is originally from Korea, but has since moved to Vancouver. He knew Korean and offered to take us to dinner. We took him up on his offer.

We set off down the giant hill behind our dorm and walked the maze of streets of Seoul. The walk was very interesting. The streets we walked in were like busy alleys. Cars would run around them, but they were too narrow for big sidewalks. Because of this, it is normal to just walk in the middle of these side streets. After walking these streets for a few minutes, Dave found the restaurant. I have no idea what it was called, and I seriously doubt I could ever find it again on my own. It was a small restaurant, but it was packed with people. We were whisked to the back of the place and placed at a table.

The first interesting thing was the hand towels they give you with your silverware. It was a moist towel that you used to wipe off your hands before you ate. We were then given our spoons and chopsticks. Oh boy, chopsticks.

All of the tables in the restaurant had an iron cooktop on them. That's the best way I can describe these devices. Our friend ordered for us. We were then bombarded with bowls and cups. There were a plethora of different sauces and toppings. By the time they stopped bringing us bowls, there was hardly any room at the table! Dave also ordered us drinks. Water was already sitting at the table, but he also ordered a Sprite-like soda and a drink called soju. I thought it tasted similar to a weak vodka. It was alright. 

The servers then brought out what I believe were slabs of pork belly about as big as my hand and a little over an inch thick. She laid them down on the grill, followed by a mound of kimchi. Kimchi is very hard to describe, but it is like a heavily spiced cabbage dish.

While the pork and kimchi were cooking, they brought out two different soups. One was a kimchi soup and I think the other was steamed eggs. The kimchi soup was my favorite of the two. I found the steamed eggs to be a bit more bland (but still delicious!)

After a few minutes on the grill, the pork and kimchi were ready. The pork practically melted in my mouth. Dave instructed me to try it in his favorite dipping sauce. It added an almost smokey flavor to the pork. It was incredible! I wrapped a piece in lettuce and added a spicy sauce and some rice (which is much more sticky than what I am used to in the US.) 

In all, we had an amazing, huge meal for about $10. We were absolutely stuffed. Walking back up that hill on a full stomach was not fun.

The Adventure Continues!

For optimal results, read Colby's post before reading this. These are the events that happened after landing at Incheon Airport.

Colby slept for a good portion of the flight, but I could not sleep. It was probably the mix of stress, nervousness, and airline food that kept me awake. So, we finally landed at Incheon Airport. Journey over, right?

Wrong. Very, very wrong!

We landed around 9:30 PM KST. By the time we went through immigration and picked up our bags, it was 10:30. We went to gate F, where the university had a shuttle running to get us to the dorm. Problem was, the shuttle apparently stopped running at 10. We sat around waiting for other students to show up, but we were alone. All help desks were closed. I panicked a bit. We weren't sure what to do. We asked for help, but few people could understand us.

It was 11:00 PM and we were getting nowhere. I messaged my assigned buddy, Dongmin Lee. She told us to take the train and go to "Gongdeok Station" where she would meet us. We blindly traveled around the airport trying to find the train station. We eventually found it. The lady at the counter didn't know much English, but she knew that we were asking for help purchasing a ticket. She showed us how to use the machine. Tickets were about 4,500₩, which is about $4.50.

We entered the station and found where we needed to wait. The train stopped and we entered a nearly empty train. I believe this was the first time either of us had been on a subway. It was very nice on the inside. I didn't take any pictures last night, but something tells me that is not the last I have seen of the subway. The trains were really fast! It took about 30 minutes to get from Incheon to Gongdeok, which was about halfway through the city. That was a really long 30 minutes! The ride was incredibly smooth. The gentle sway of the train nearly rocked me to sleep, something I was desperate for since I hadn't slept in about 28 hours. I only slept about 4 hours before I left. I have no idea how I was even able to function!

We arrived at Gongdeok and stepped out of the train. We had no idea what to do. We walked around a bit, then a lady who worked at the subway came over to us and told us to follow her. We entered an elevator and went up. The doors opened and and a girl ran over to me.

"Are you Luke?"

I was so relieved. Words cannot express how I felt hearing my name from someone who knew what they were doing.

We walked outside and she hailed a cab for us. We stuffed Colby's luggage into the trunk and held onto mine in the backseat since there wasn't anymore room. The cab driver didn't know much English (although he did know Chinese and Japanese), so Dongmin had to translate for us. Our driver had traveled quite a bit. He had been to some of the biggest cities in the US (LA, NYC, Philly, and a few others.) He wasn't too familiar with Kentucky until we told him it is the place Kentucky Fried Chicken is named after. After we told him that, he pointed at every KFC we passed. Note to self: there are a ton of KFCs in Seoul.

We arrived at the dorm at about 2:00 AM. The only person working was the night guard, who also didn't know much English, so Dongmin had to do more translating. I'm not quite sure if the guard was technically allowed to check us in, but he did. We got our keys and went to the room.

We have our own bathroom, much different than the communal bathroom I had to use during my first year at UK. It seems very nice. Colby and I share a bedroom, then there is a separate room for our fellow Canadian roommate. The room is spacious. I feel like it is bigger than the room I had in Blanding IV at UK. It's hard to explain the layout, so we will make a video later and give you guys the grand tour.

Anyway, we unpacked our sheets and pillows. The floor was kind of dirty and there was some trash in the trashcan, but it was 3 AM and we were too tired to care. My head hit the pillow and I was out for the night. Suitcases were scattered, things were thrown everywhere, and not a care in the world was given. Things had been going wrong since the morning of our departure. For the first time, everything was fine.

We have faced so many challenges on this trip already. To put it lightly, it sucked. However, it made memories that will last forever. Classes might not start for a week, but we have already learned so much!

Dongmin, if you read this, we want to thank you again for all of the help you gave us last night! Sorry again for getting keeping you out late, but you really saved us!

Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong -- will go wrong.

What a journey this has been thus far. Just 48 hours ago we awoke in Cincinnati to an email letting us know that our flight to Chicago had been cancelled. This meant that we could not make our originally scheduled non-stop flight from Chicago to Seoul. Instead, we worked some poor lady with United to death and eventually were rerouted to San Francisco and onto Tokyo before finally having a flight into Seoul.

So off we went. Six hours across the country and we landed in San Francisco. The highlight of the trip was that Delta showed an episode of Top Gear during the flight and it was awesome. Upon our arrival in the town of Dirty Harry, we had to find our way into the international terminal. This resulted in us running around the airport like a couple of lost Kentuckians. We went to one security check point and they told us that we actually needed to be at the other one on the other side of the airport. After moments of brisk walking, TSA prodding, and more brisk walking we found our terminal just in time for boarding.

Things then started looking up. We found that for the trans-pacific flight we would have an extra seat between us and that definitely lifted our spirits. Thank God for that extra leg room. We noticed that our plane was being held at the terminal for some reason. The time for our departure had since passed and we were all waiting anxiously aboard the aircraft. All the while Luke and I nervously hoped that our luggage had made its way to our plane since our rerouting required a switch in airlines. Then in the distance, bounding toward us, we saw another luggage cart approaching. It looked empty, but as it got closer we could see that it had a few bags on it. As it made its way to the rear of our plane, we found that it was only carrying four bags, all four of which happened to be our luggage. How relieved we were to know that our bags had made it, and how funny it was to realize that our four bags held up a couple hundred people flying to Japan.

The flight from San Francisco to Japan was long and slow. Respectable programming, like Top Gear, had been swapped for Trophy Wife and Last Vegas. So I slept. A lot. I don't know how Luke managed it, but he stayed awake the entire journey (it was probably the combination of excitement and crappy airline Japanese food.) We were both relieved when we landed in Japan. The last leg of our journey was moments away. We only had to go through Japanese security, which was easy. I started to take my shoes off and one of the ladies stopped me and said that wasn't even necessary.

It was smooth sailing from Japan to Seoul, but things had yet to turn up for good. Luke can tell you more about that. Nevertheless, we are glad to have finally made it. It'll be nice to get settled into our new home for the next four months.

The Excellent Trailer

Luke here!

Still trying to iron out some issues with scheduling classes, but the only thing I can do now is wait (I am making progress though!) I figured I might try to do something productive, so I made this excellent trailer for our excellent blog. Enjoy!

Humble Beginnings

Hello. . . ?

Is this thing on?

How do you begin one of these things anyway?

I guess that'll do. 

Welcome one and all to our blog! This lowly blogger account will act as the supreme command center for all information regarding Luke & Colby's Excellent Adventure™. Here we will post our innermost thoughts, outermost humor, and middlemost happenings from our education abroad experience in South Korea.

I know what you're thinking.

"Colby, you guys haven't even left yet!"

Right you are, internet stranger! But, that doesn't stop us from blogging!

Consider this a taste of what is to come as we get ready to leave the hollers behind and conquer strange new lands!