Random acts of generosity

Last night was our friend Ben's birthday, thinking we'll be meeting up with him and a few other friends we head over to meet them at a place near my apartment. We walk in, Pete, Lisa and I, to find Ben and two other Westerners sitting in a circle with about 15 Koreans. Apparently, a Korean woman who Ben had met his first weekend here threw him a surprise party! They had only met a few times yet she had decorations, balloons, drinks, a birthday hat and even a cake. Not only that but she brought her entire English Club. We ended up getting along with everyone really well and it was a great chance to talk with some natives around our age. It was so random but we hung out with the for most of the night.
**KFC commercial was just on tv, they love their fried chicken here.**
Later on we ended up going to Gwangalli, a $2 taxi ride away with a great beach and the Gwangalli bridge. Here I met more Westerners, including Jennifer (Our facebook friend Kathleen!) who Kathleen found on couchsurfing, she also works for KJC and has been here for a while. Then I met another newbie, a Canadian who has been here for just as long as I have. I I've just recently come to realize that all the English teachers get along so well because we're all going through the same experience, all of us at varying stages. It is a great group to be a part of.
Today I went to Mega Mart, wow, overwhelming. Next time I won't go at peak shopping time, because trying to find what/where things are in a super walmart-esque store is a lot harder when you are trying to drive a spastic buggy through a crowd. I made a few mistakes, like bagging my tomatoes myself instead of letting the produce attendant help me and I went through the store 5 times before I got my bearings as to what section was what. They had a great bread area, the meat was super fresh as for the fish and the kimbop (Korean sushi) was much better than what you find at Kroger. The prices were pretty much the same as back home, maybe a little cheaper. They did sell peanut butter, jelly, and Heinz (Thought of you Mary) but it was really expensive. I wasn't able to find the cheese but I was told that they have the real kind there too, although expensive as well. There were samples galore, and so many workers telling me things I couldn't understand. I was grateful that they thought I spoke Korean tough, I'm working on it. The tofu I sampled was great, the woman was telling me, I believe, that you could get a great 2fer deal, I couldn't find a price on it so I asked her, in Korean, how much it was. The only problem with that is I can't translate the price they tell me, so for now it is a useless question. I buy the tofu anyway. The other mistake was buying too much and having to lug it home, about a mile walk. A scene of splitting bags, cracked eggs, making a fool of myself and having to leave my new groceries laying in the middle of the street was going through my head as I walked back. I walked through the university campus and stopped halfway home to take a break and lighten my load a bit. I ate lunch while watching kids catch grasshoppers then headed home. They didn't rip! So everything made it home safely.
We've been asked to through house warming parties. Invite everyone we work with over to see our apartments and cook them some Western food. Any ideas? It will be a challenge to see if they have all of the ingredients at the store, I don't have an oven or microwave either so it will have to be stove top only. Let me know if you think of anything.

I have internet @ my place now! Had it the whole time, just had to get a cable to hook it up. I'll leave my computer on and stay on Skype, call me whenever!