I Don't Think I'm in Kansas Anymore...

So, I had a bit of an adventure last night.

Around 9pm, I decided I'd go outside and take a little stroll around the neighborhood. I wasn't really planning to do anything in particular.

Anyway, as I'm walking out the front door of my apartment, I run into the apartment manager. I greeted him with an "Annyeonghaseyo!", which roughly translates to "Hello!" Then, he asks me something in Korean...and makes an "eating with chopsticks" motion with his hands.

Now, I had no idea what he was asking me, but I have heard that in Korean culture a common greeting is to ask "Have you eaten?" So, I figured that's probably what he was asking me, and responded with "ne", which means "yes".

Well...I have a feeling I got it wrong.

He must have asked me if I wanted to eat, because he proceeded to show me around the local restaurants, all the while talking to me in Korean. No joke, I think I understood only about 5 of the words that came out of his mouth. I was sooooooo confused! We ended up in a restaurant across the street from my apartment, and he ordered something for me. He then tried asking me some sort of question...and I just kind of struggled and acted extremely awkward for a bit, thinking "I have nooooooo idea what you're saying to me!! How am I supposed to answer?! AHHHHHHH!" At least when I was in Japan, I could kind of understand what people were saying to me...but here I'm am COMPLETELY LOST!!!!!! But hey, it's exciting that way, right?

Anyway, although I wasn't hungry at the time, I ended up eating some sort of dish made of beef in a sort of broth, plus a bunch of side dishes. It only cost me 5000won (less than $5). A very good deal, and I really liked it!

In conclusion, this was a VERY stressful situation, but it all worked out okay. I was smiling most of the time, so I probably made a good impression on the apartment manager as well as the hosts at the restaurant. I'm sure I'll go back there sometime, but hopefully not by myself...I need to find some Korean friends!

Anyway, I'm sure I can't perfectly convey how my experience felt in words...but just know that it was quite the little adventure!

I'm sure I'll have many, many more before my time in Korea is up.