I'm an alien. I'm a legal alien.

This news is about a week old now, but I am now finally an official Korean alien! The immigration office has finished processing my paperwork, and here is my new ID:

This ID gives me my equivalent of a Social Security number, so I'm now able to conduct business here. The hospital has also finished processing my health insurance, so now I can be as dangerous and reckless as I want! :)





I also have opened up my Korean bank account:
I'm using Worri Bank, which seems easy to use (and convenient -as they have branches everywhere, including in our office building). Our manager Eddie helped me out on the first visit, and hopefully I can manage from here.

One cool thing I've seen is scanners next to the ATM machines in the bank. Apparently, you just scan your utility bills, and the bank pays the companies electronically. Takes e-billing a step further!


Here's a few pictures of my gym that I told you about. It's called New Wind:



Here's the main area with plenty of new, modern machines, free weights, and cardio equipment.




And here's the stretching area. Behind that standing sign are 3 'shake machines'. I've looked them up, and they've been on the market several years now, including in the States. They are essentially a large vibrating platform that you stand on, and manufacturers try to market them as a way to tone muscle in shorter time and with less sweating than the traditional way. The jury's still out, but of course nothing is better than old-fashioned sweat. Although, they do seem to be more scientific-based than the older vibrating belt machines. Here's an article:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1531693,00.html

I haven't found a website for New Wind, but it's a chain here (like many gyms back in the States). It's interesting - they seem to love foreigners, as evidenced by many of the workout posters (mostly all pictures of caucasian people), and they give us a sizeable discount when joining (I believe it was 20%). But the majority of the staff and other patrons also don't seem to know much English. Another funny sidenote is New Wind's motto written on all signs: 'New Wind Total Fitness Center: The Best Your Partner'. Although I've found that as a general trend, most Koreans can communicate in English better than they give themselves credit. Guess they're just afraid of butchering the language, much like how us foreigners feel about speaking Korean I guess!


The gym has what we would call a sauna room. It's a dry heat room usually at 86-88 deg C. They refer to this as a 'jim jil bong' room. I haven't been, but apparently their steam rooms (what are truly refered to as 'saunas') are quite common, and are everywhere. The sauna/jim jil bong facilities have many rooms of varying temperatures and steam contents (and I've heard some even have other aromatic additives in the air).


Another thing that I've found different about the gym is the public showers in the locker room. None of the men wear flip flops! I thought this was a little strange, as I've always been warned to be very cautious of foot health in public shower areas. I looked this up too and found that athlete's foot is easily prevented by a healthy immune system, and another thing - that fermented foods are a great source of immuno-boosting compounds. I'm sure you know how kimchi is made, and how much of the stuff Koreans eat. Nevertheless, I still wear shoes in the shower, even if I may look like the crazy foreigner.


For more news on the food front, I've had several more new dishes since we last talked. One is a soup called 'shabu shabu', and is pretty good. Although, the soup is mainly broth and vegetables, so it doesn't quite satisfy my protien cravings. But I'm sure it's healthy. My second time having shabu shabu, we went to a buffet which was excellent. And it had chicken and pork dishes, so I left that time full. I went to a 'pan-fried food' restaurant and had an oyster pancake that was very good. I went here with my new Korean friend, Revan. He also introduced me to a Korean rice wine drink called 'makgelry', which is quite good and is drunk from a small bowl - very interesting. And another new food was a pork stew, called 'kam-je-tong'. The pork is actually spine meat, so removing the meat from the bone/vertebrae is a little challenging, but well worth the effort.


I'll be sure to update you again soon & hope you're doing well. Take care,


Matt