Orientation Week Begins

The first day of our week-long orientation started with a formal ceremony and ended with a crash course in survival Korean. The lesson was a good review for me, and I understand the double consonants and double vowels in hangul (한굴) much better now.

Learning Korean at the NRF building.

Our teacher (seun sehng nim, 선생님), Min Kyeong Ah.

After the class, I met up with Joong-hyun and Jisue again. Some members of his Memphis church came back to Seoul and opened up a barbecue place. I went to the grand opening with one of the other EAPSI fellows, Joe Kim, and his friend DJ from Madison, Wisconsin. The ribs were pretty good! Definitely didn't expect to get Memphis BBQ here. Two of the girls that JHK and I hung out with at our Memphis house were there, Michelle and Stacy. Another meeting I could never have predicted just a few weeks ago.

Memphis King Barbecue, the first in Seoul.

Joong-hyun had to pick up some supplies from a friend's animal clinic for his work (he's a veterinary surgeon) so we stopped in and played with the cats and dogs that have been abandoned when they get sick or injured. They were incredibly sweet and cuddly, unlike a certain other cat I know with a foot fetish.

Dude's only got three legs. What a trooper.

This guy had some nerve damage. He marched around like he owned the place, though.

Joe harasses the fat cat who thought he was a dog.

Having friends & family in Korea is making this an awesome trip indeed. On a side note, I feel sorry for the PRK team losing so badly to Portugal. Seven to zero? They played well the first half, and just crumbled after the second goal.