A minor setback ...

Yes, that's a knee brace.

Yes, I'm injured.

The embarrassing incident took place two weeks ago when I fell in the bathroom. Yes, I fell in the bathroom. Go ahead, laugh crack all the jokes you want.

See all the bathrooms here in Korea have a drain at the sink and the floors are all tile and get very wet. The floor is sloped toward the drain so the bathroom dries out within an hour or so.

But it get slippery, and despite numerous close calls, I landed on my left knee in the bathroom.

Nothing was broken but there were partial tendon tears in my knee. I'm getting better now and no longer need my crutch for walking.

Suffice to say it's been an interesting few weeks for Marissa and I.

The knee story will come in more installments, including the hospital visit, handicapped access and will finish off at the end of the week with the Foreigner Special Olympics.

OK, I'm back ....

I know this picture could have been taken anywhere. But it's in Korea, trust me.

and I've got company.

Some of you may know that Marissa, my girlfriend of almost two years, is with me now in Korea.

We did the long distance thing when I was in Turkey and my first six months here in Korea.

But skype and emails are no way to conduct a relationship, and when she heard about how tasty dog is, she said, "Yes, I'm coming to Korea."

It's been great taking her around Seoul. So far, we've been to the singing room (private karaoke) three times in the last three weeks. We've also been the foreigner district thrice. Each time we go is like a visit to America, Ireland and Turkey. Or at least the bar Nashville's, our pub the Wolfhound and my Turkish kebab vendor.

But with moving to a new environment comes new customs, practices and adjustments. The most repeated phrase of the last three weeks has been, "You'll get used to it."

See, Koreans are a quirky people. Here's a list of things they do and don't do:

-They don't wait in lines or queues. In fact, I don't think the concept of queue registers here.
-They stare at the foreigners. I think it comes from living in a homogeneous society. When you're country is made of 97% of one race, a couple of white Americans don't really blend in.
-They spit on the sidewalk. A Korean man doesn't think twice about horking on the street or sidewalk.
-They don't follow the unspoken, yet understood Western rule of elevators. That's right, they don't get out of the way for people getting off or wait for them to get off before getting on. You just have to shove your way through.
-Crazy ass cab drivers. Yeah, we all know the stereotypes about Asian drivers. Well, I'm here to report it's true.


But there's plenty of good things too:
-The subway takes you anywhere you want to go and it's cheap. About a U.S. Dollar and you can take the train anywhere. Plus it's immaculately clean and safe.
-Seoul doesn't really close. If you want to go out and stay out until 5 or 6 a.m. it easily doable. That can be a bad thing too, but so far I've kept up my old man consistency of going to bed by 9.
-Koreans are pretty friendly. Yeah there's the occasional jerk, but that's in every country. Overall, they're hospitable and nice.
-Everything is within walking distance, especially from my apartment which is in a nice neighborhood.
-Life here is generally easy. Teaching is so little stress compared to journalism and we have much more free time and better holidays.

It's been great. And our weekends have been so filled, that I've neglected you dear readers. But here's a LoughriedoesKorea promise. I will post more, but you must do the following: LEAVE YOUR NAME WHEN YOU COMMENT.

I don't care what you write, I just want to know who it is.

I will post each week with a recap of weekends, stories and, of course, wacky adventures.