Korea as a whole is a very ethnically homogeneous country, meaning that the Korean language is mostly spoken, here. However, there happens to be a large Vietnamese community where I live, so I see many signs written in Vietnamese and lots of Vietnamese restaurants with really good pho (soup with noodles, beef and lime).
The Korean won is used for everything here! In terms of bills, there is a 1,000₩ (blue), 5,000₩ (red), 10,000₩ (blue), and 50,000₩ (yellow) note. Almost everywhere in Korea takes credit cards, but if you want to buy street food or load your transportation card, you have to use cash.
A bottle of water usually costs around 600-1000₩, (that's 40 cents to 67 cents in US money!) Korean convenience stores also usually have deals called 1+1’s, where you buy one of something and get one of the same for free. Water is very accessible and cheap, here.
My best meals this week were actually at my high school cafeteria! This may sound surprising, but compared to school lunches in America, Korea’s are delicious. My favorite this week was fried chicken with an egg and fish stew, kimchi and a cream puff for dessert.
