First impression

Am in a new city and a new country tonight. I arrived in Seoul, South Korea at about 5 pm local time. I had a nice hour long drive into the city where I got to observe the sunsetting over Seoul. My first impressions (granted these are from the interior of a car) are that it is a clean and very organized city. As with most Asian cities, there are a ton of high-rise buildings and most of which are residences. I say the city is organized because the skyline with all of these tall buildings is very symmetrical. It is not a random hodge podge of a tall building here and another even taller building there. Instead, it appears as though some planning went into the architectural design and it makes sense. Now that the sun has set I am seeing the city via the lights of night time and have to agree with my initial impression. I like it - I like disorganized too but there is something refreshing about this skyline.

My other first impression is that the people here are really quite nice. Granted, I've only dealt with an immigration officer, a customs agent, a driver, and the hotel staff - but still, all have been very friendly. This is a city where I clearly stick out as an outsider. But, nobody really seems to mind. I walked around a local shopping center this evening and didn't even get a second look. I did have an eventful time finding an ATM that was bilingual. Not too much here is in English so getting around the next few days will be fun.

Will be at our local office the next two days and then will be touring on Saturday and Sunday. More to come...