Almost 2 Weeks in Korea

So above is my apartment complex.  I am all the way on the 12th floor.  Thankfully there is an elevator.

It has almost been 2 weeks now in Korea.  I am starting to learn a little bit of the language (but not a lot).  I feel a lot more comfortable driving around the island, especially in the city of Okpo.  I have been able to find some good staple foods in the markets on the island.  The only thing that is really expensive is beef.  It is almost all imported - think $10 a pound.  Thus, chicken and pork will become quite a large portion of my diet.

Below are the day and night time panoramas from my apartment.  I live right outside of the Daewoo shipyard, but I work about as far away from my apartment in the yard as possible.  It still takes us 15 minutes to drive to our offices.

I met the missionaries today and also talked to the Branch President of the Geoje Branch.  After taking the Elders out to lunch, I drove them to their english class at the church building so that I could find it again in the future.  I am looking forward to attending the branch.  It will be in Korean, but all the more of a reason to actually learn Korean.

As for the language, I was in Busan (Korea's 2nd largest city) on Friday.  We went to a big book store and I was able to find some good beginner language books, so now I feel that I will begin to gain a good footing.  The Elders said they would help me buy a good electronic dictionary.  Plus, I have good resources in family and friends.  (Yeah, I will be asking you guys a lot of questions.  Even speak with you in Korean when I become more conversational)

We also stopped in at Costco while in Busan.  That had to have been the busiest I have ever seen a Costco.  But I must say that quite a few of the Koreans have yet to really embrace the idea of Costco - buy huge amounts of stuff so you don't have to go back.  Tons of people would drive over to the store and walk out with 1 item.  The group I went with spent hundreds of dollars a piece.  I almost bought Maple Syrup, but the $30 price tag kept me from doing that.  When we finished at Costco, we couldn't figure out how to get on the expressways and so we drove all the way from the east side of Busan to the Southwest.  It only took us 2 hours.  It should have taken 30 minutes.  Oh well, it was an adventure.

Also, I am going to start shopping for a used car here in Okpo.  I have a spreadsheet all worked out showing me what cars are going to be the best deal based on price, amenities, and mileage (or kilometers).  The best looking cars are the following: BMW (probably won't do it), Samsung, or Kia.  I think that I will be buying within the next 2 weeks.  I will keep you posted.

Next week is going to be my first full week of work.  Five days straight!  I haven't done that in a long while.  Plus, work will really start to get cranking.  We plan to really start construction in about 2 weeks, so there is a lot that will be coming up in the next few weeks.  Also, safety is going to be a big focus for us; last week there was a fatality in the yard.  It was not on our project, or even in the fabrication area, it was in the ship building portion of the yard.  But it really drives home to me that our main focus needs to be "Nobody Gets Hurt."  I know if any of you know the ExxonMobil slogan you will think that I am being corny, but I see how hard these people work for their families and I want them to get home every night.