-cough GAG!- ahem.

You know, I probably shouldn't say this, but Seoul is a uniquely unattractive city. I know I've only seen the area within a mile or two of the apartment... and everything between here and the airport, but seriously. The sky is brown with a thick layer of smog, but the smog doesn't say 'oh yea baby, you know you like it' like L.A. smog. It just says "I'm smog, deal with it" like a fat, middle aged diner waitress blowing smoke in your face.
Everything is covered in soot, but it isn't the grand, bellicose TOIL OF THE WORKERS soot like Beijing soot. It's more like the kind of soot you get from licking the inside of a tailpipe. The buildings and electrical lines appear to be scattered haphazardly, and garbage lurks in unexpected places... like the middle of the sidewalk. Ok, ok, so I made that last part up. Still, garbage is often found in random piles beside the sidewalk.
Stores jostle for attention everywhere you look. There appear to be three main kinds of stores: stores that sell electronics, stores that sell junkfood, and stores that sell apples. The stores that sell electronics are grand buildings set next to the main streets. They look shiny and... electronic. The stores that sell junkfood are spaced randomly, often in illogical places as if a junkfood spaceship blew up and chunks of it crashed into the middle of intersections. The stores that sell apples are the most numerous... oddly enough. Granted, they sell more than apples. Some of them are so bold as to sell things like tomatoes and melons. A few even sell chili peppers and olive oil. Still, the main impression that one gets is of a wall of apples in assorted shapes and sizes. This is especially odd, because I have yet to see a Korean person EATING an apple. Apples have been served in the teachers' cafeteria (along with macaroni, burritos and burgers) but a defining feature of the Korean food I have seen thus far has been the absence of apples.
On that note, I should probably say that Korean food takes very little getting used to. Chinese food has "gag greens" and will clean out your innards like a steel wool scrubber. Indian food is good for the first few times, but then you start wondering if Hindus are forbidden to eat anything fattier than a brick. Korean food, in contrast, has the same general idea as American food. It has similar textures and flavor combinations. The spicy pickled vegetables aren't overwhelming, though perhaps they could be to someone from the east coast. The rice is rice, but I am now convinced that all rice should be eaten with seaweed... except for Spanish rice. That would be odd.

Enough about food.

Korean mosquitoes are different that other mosquitoes. Mongolian mosquitoes are numerous but dumb. They land in one spot and are reluctant to leave it, kind of like heavy bombers. American mosquitoes are more cautious. If you smack them and miss they'll fly off. They buzz annoyingly around your ears before landing just to see if you're awake. They're like infantry. Korean mosquitoes are like 007. You never know they're there. They won't hold still. When they land they sit there, waiting for any movement. If they land on your shoulder and you twitch your toe, they'll take off. It's insane. Last night I finally gave up and sprayed my room. Dozens of mosquito secret agents dropped from every imaginable hiding place. It was almost discusting. The odd thing is that there are screens in the windows!

You know, the downside of staying next to a hospital is that the sirens NEVER SHUT UP!

-laterz