One Month in Korea!

Today marks the one month anniversary of being in Korea. In some ways the time has flown and yet in other ways, it seems like forever since we were home in Canada. God has been so faithful to us and has always brought someone into our path when we meet roadblocks.
There have been some tough moments of homesickness, but it has been such a blessing to have each other through all of these adventures. I can't imagine how some of my friends have had the nerve to try this on their own. My hat is off to you! The cultural experience has been a wild ride so far with moments of absolute hilarity and moments of intense frustration. I can hardly remember what it feels like to look like everyone around you and be able to talk to people and understand them. We also feel like we're illiterate because we can't read any signs, warnings, pamphlets, etc.. Everyone stares at us all the time and we have random people stop us trying to practice their English on us- or try to get us help them with their English homework! Today a school bus went by and the kids spotted us from really far down the street and they all started screaming, 'HELLO,' while hanging from the windows. It was pretty funny!
We went to the supermarket yesterday to buy some groceries and we wanted to get some kind of meat. At this point I get a little apprehensive for fear of getting octopus, squid or dog, so we tried to ask for help from the staff. haha :) We grabbed a package of meat and tried to ask the lady if it was chicken. She didn't understand. Feeling that we were running out of Korean words (which is pretty limited), we decided our last resort was to act it out and make chicken clucking sounds. She gave us the sign for 'no' (we get that a lot) and so we then had to try to figure out what kind of meat it was by acting out other animals. I think they thought we were crazy, but we figured out it was pork. :)
One of the huge adjustments we've had to make since coming here is in relation to food. It isn't typical to own an oven here and bread is hardly ever eaten. They eat a lot of rice and a lot of other things that don't look remotely familiar. We're making out ok and slowly finding familiar things (and trying new things too), but we have lost a little weight. I found the right ingredients for potato salad the other day and it was such a taste of home! Tonight I went into a little store and found baking powder so I am currently attempting banana bread in the rice cooker- we'll see how it turns out!
Adjusting to some of the cultural norms has been a bit of a challenge for both of us. There have been times where the cultures have clashed and it's hard not to get frustrated. Korean people always seem to be in a rush and honking your car horn here means a polite, 'excuse me' instead of angry road rage like back home. This means there is constant traffic noise and honking. I also have to be deliberate in not getting frustrated when it comes to elevators. At home you wait for a full elevator of people to get off before you try to get on, but here you just push your way on before anyone gets off- it just doesn't make sense to me! Personal space is another thing we've had to give up especially when it comes to waiting in line. In order for people not to butt ahead of you in line, you basically need to hug the person in front of you. I don't think they mean to be rude, they just assume you're not in line if you aren't touching the person ahead of you.
While there are points of frustration, the majority of our experience has been great and we have been the recipients of so much hospitality from our Korean friends. They have been so willing to bend over backwards to help us adjust and make us comfortable in our new town. Gavin especially has been such a blessing in helping us get around and helping us get home when we get lost (that was today). I need to put a line in here about Blake's great navigational skills and how he eventually figured out where we were. :) I think we need one of those GPS navigational devices that Dad Bradley has.
Anyways...this has been a long post so if anyone is still reading this far...I'm sorry! We miss everyone at home and hope you guys are doing well!