Well, I’ve made it safely to New York City! I have been here for less than a week and have only made it to the city 3 times (I live just across the river in NJ) but I have already had some awesome Korean experiences I’d like to share.

First, Korea Way. There’s a block of Korean shops and restaurants in Manhattan (W 32nd St between 5th and 6th Aves). It is pretty small, and mostly consists of restaruants, but it is undeniably Korean. One minute you’re walking towards Times Square from Macy’s, then you turn the corner and it’s like you’ve gone to Korea. All the signs are in Korean, most of the people are speaking Korean – It’s fairly awe-inspiring.

There is one restaurant on Korea Way that I particularly enjoy called 우리 집 (woori jip). All of the food is amazing (try the fresh 김치) and it is pre-packaged, so you can eat it there at one of the tables, or you can take it with you. And, it’s cheap! I also saw a bookstore on Korea Way, but every time I’ve been there it has been closed, so I really need to go into the city earlier. ^^

Second, there are so many Korean speaking people everywhere in the city! While I was walking around Saturday night with a friend of mine, probably one of every ten groups of people I passed by were Korean. It was actually kind of fun – walking down the street and understanding what people were saying!

Also, that night while waiting for the bus there was a very interesting group of people behind us. Two of the people were speaking Korean to eachother, but they were all speaking very labored english as a group. After that, it seemed like the girl was teaching the other guys Korean words, and then I thought I heard some Chinese as well. Being new to New York, I thought they would think I was crazy if I tried to talk to them, but I had already been eavesdropping, so I thought I would say hello. It turns out they are all college students – two from Korea, one from Japan, one from China. I ended up talking to them (in all of those languages, and english) for about 30 minutes, and the girl and I exchanged contact info. Not bad for my first day in the city!

I went back into the city last night and while waiting for the bus again there was an older couple that looked a little bit lost. I heard them speaking Korean to eachother, trying to figure out which bus they needed to take. I went over without hesitation and asked 어디에 가려고 해요? The woman answered before she looked up at me, and only looked slightly surprised once she realized I am not Korean. In the end, I didn’t know how to get where they were going so I wasn’t able to help them, but they seemed grateful that I tried.

So I have not been to NYC for a week and I have had more Korean experiences that I had in a year in Nashville. I am excited to see what else I can find! I plan to go to the larger Korea Town area in Queens on Saturday. I’ll make sure to take more pictures and give another update!

(sorry the pictures are not great, my camera wasn’t working properly)