1. There will be plenty of people who will be able to speak English.
2. This will be a great opportunity to eat better and lose some weight.
3. Korean? It can't be that hard to learn, can it?
When the sun set (AKA wheels touched down in ROK) the rainbow and glitter quickly began to fade away.
1A. There is a lot of English, but there is never enough. The town we live in is small, and there was not a lot of English around when we first arrived. In the almost 2 years that we have lived here, I can say that the amount of English signage and speaking capabilities of the locals is always increasing and improving.
2A. Little did we know that Korea has some of the very best fried chicken EVER! Also, the local pizza place, and the beef restaurants are too good to stay away from. We quickly realized that making better choices would be just as difficult here as it was at home. **SPOILER** We made terrible food choices. Most places deliver here, and all it would take was for me to pick up the phone and say 'yobosayo' (hello in Korean, but only when saying hello on the phone *See #3A) The person on the other end of the phone would immediately know who was calling and tell me my address and what I wanted to order before I got in another word. You know you are eating out too much when the local owner of the Mom's Touch (Korean for Popeye's chicken...seriously) drops by your apartment to bring you a souvenir he bought for you on his recent trip to Jeju Island.
Unfortunately, a lot of foreigners fall prey to the food traps in Korea. The simple truth to foreigner weight gain in a country full of men and women who consider a size 4 to be plus size is this: No matter how world traveled and independent you think you are, home is where the heart is. Eating foods that remind us of home keeps the melancholy of being so far away from home at bay.
3A. Yep, Korean isn't so easy.
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