FSO Test

I'm going to take the Foreign Service Officer Test in early March. I finished the application finally, they wanted 6 references! I realized filling out the app was just as much for me as it was for taking the test. There was a personal narrative section where I had to type out my thoughts in regards to my life experiences. I hadn't thought about what I've been doing recently in that much detail. Needless to say much of what I put on there related to my time in Korea and how it has made me better. I don't know of anyone who has ever taken the test before. I'll write here about how it goes. I saw sample questions and they look like they'd own my face though.

K Shopping.

If you've lived in Korea for any amount of time, you'll notice most things are overpriced, especially if you hit up a Lotte department store. You've got to check the internet for normal prices.

I've been using GMarket with no problems. They have an English site that you can register at. You'll need to search on the main Korean site for what you want. Searching through the English section gives strangely limited results.

If you can read a bit of Korean, try Danawa.com for your electronic needs. I like wandering into the Yongsan electronics market so I just check prices there before I go. But you can buy online too.

Good Life.

So I try to chat up taxi drivers cuz most are amicable and it's easy Korean practice. My driver most recently told me he went to Vietnam to find his wife, who was riding with him for the Lunar New Year holiday. Baby in tow.

Huge news, he was the first taxi driver in all of my 3 years plus here to guess that I'm from America. The most common guess is Russian... cuz I'm not small? I've gotten French more than a few times... my nose? Italian? Got me there.

We talked about marriage, he pointed out that he didn't have a girlfriend. He thought I had a great sense of humor cuz he laughed when I pointed out that he didn't need one when he had his wife.

As a gyopo wife points out on her blog that I stumbled across, Lunar New Year time means huge gift boxes being sold in the marts. My favorite is the spam box. A huge, fancy box of spam. You can get 12 in one fancy box if you're lucky. Check into it.