We left DFW at 10:30 Thursday morning, got into Seoul around 5pm Friday and then Clark at 1 in the morning Saturday. We were taxied to the nice Widus casino/resort and went straight to bed as we had been up for almost 24 hours. We got up and ate an interesting breakfast buffet with normal things (pancakes, sausage, mango juice) and odd things (dim sum, mixed fish balls filled with cheese, rice porridge) but all really good.
Then we were taxied over to our apartment where we met the lady that is helping us with visas and generally getting settled in. She introduced us to the guy (Ramon) who will be cleaning twice a week and refilling our water jugs (nobody drinks the water on tap here) and then drove us around Clark a little bit.
There are security guards everywhere. This is apparently due to bomb threats from an extremist Muslin group in the Southern islands though they are super rare and no bombs have been found but unlike reactionary America, they are precautionary here. So it's a just-in-case thing. Also the malls and grocery stores have guards checking bags and receipts like at Costco.
The apt is pretty secure. There are guards at the front entrance and a guard at each lobby. They are all very nice.
Like other Asian countries I've been to, everyone here aims to please, though everything runs pretty slow here. Service at restaurants takes forever, and bagging groceries is a slow process. I have to put my American "go go go!" mentality away.
All in all it hasn't been great culture shock. The things surprising me so far are the children and adult beggars outside of the Costco-type store PureGold. They hound you as soon as you leave the store, all the way to your car asking you to buy food or "please can I have your blessing ma'am?" Then guys came over and helped us put our bags in the trunk to which I informed them we had no cash but they continued helping and then helped us back our car out. Chris tells me its these parking lot people you have to bribe if you want to keep your car safe, otherwise...something may happen to it. Yea I don't plan on going back there. The huge SM mall in Angeles city is very American-ish, though you're still not supposed to leave anything visible in your car but that's normal.
The other culture shock is how the sales associates treat you as they hover over your shoulder. There are tons of them in every section of every store of the mall and at first I thought they were hovering in case I stole something but I've figured out it's how they show customer service. Anything I showed interest in they would pull off the wall and tell me all about it and show me all the features. Or you walk by a section and it's all "bed sheets maaam" or "casserole? Casserole?" It's super awkward. Do I just ignore them? I can't just say "no thanks" because I would be doing that every 10 feet (how many meters is that??). Anyway, we are viewed as billionaires here (so says the other TIer that we met and who Chris is replacing) so I get that they're just trying to make a sale, but stop it! I just want to see what you have and take my sweet time in converting your Philippine pesos to my dollars (divide by 44--not the fastest number to get right).
That's all for now. I will upload photos and more stories to go with them as soon as we have an internet modem in the apt (should have been here and they will send someone...whenever that will be. lol)
Until then I sit here and watch The Oscars at 10am Monday on HBO (feels weird). And I haven't seen a commercial on any channel yet. What's with that?? Must research..
Thanks for reading!
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