Imagine you're a North Bama boy, born and raised. On a playground is where you spent most of your days. Hanging out, relaxing and acting all cool, eating Mexican food outside of your school, when a bunch of employers, they were up to no good, stopped employing people in your neighborhood, you couldn't find a job, and you got scared, and said I'm hopping a plane ran by Korean Air.

You're bound to miss some food from home. That's just the way it goes. Some of the food you can make yourself with some shipped in supplies. (My mom sent me grits. I love my mom!) But there's some food that there's just not a substitute for. It's a shame really. You with all of this extra income from not ever having to pay rent, and all you want is a burrito that doesn't try to be "fusion". It's a conundrum. Especially since everything that makes "Mexican" food in the states (cheese, sour cream, beef, tortillas, beans, chillis) are either expensive or hard to find in Korea. What's a man to do?

Well, I'll tell you. A man gets himself to Daejeon. He finds a place called Don Enrique. He walks into said restaurant and he orders himself some food. Then he eats this food. Not because he has to, or because it's the thing that every other foreigner is doing. He does it because this is easily the BEST Mexican food you'll get in this country.

Daejeon's got a couple places like that. House Grill? Best burger you'll get in this country. There's a bakery that's only in Daejeon that all the South Koreans rave about. If I could remember the name of it, I'd tell you here. Now we've Don Enrique. It's delicious. No, scratch that. It's AMAZING. If you like authentic Mexican food, man up and get yourself to Don Enrique. You'll probably see me there. I'm kind of addicted to their burros. Also everything else on the menu.

But what makes this food better than your standard run of the mill Mexican restaurant in Korea? First, it's authentic. The burro (which is a play on the term burrito. A burrito literally translates into a little donkey. These "donkeys" are full sized and stuffed with cheese (noticeable amounts of Mexican blend) onions, rice, and CHUNKS of beef. None of that shredded nonsense. This is the beef that's for dinner.

If the burro isn't your cup of tea, then check out the Mexican brunch complete with what is essentially huevos rancheros (eggs and chorizo) as well as several other dishes featuring eggs and real Mexican ingredients. There's even a Gringa, which should please the white Americans who enjoy Mexican food made to order.

All jokes aside, this place is great. If you're in Daejeon and you're not stopping through trying to enjoy this Mexican food, then something is wrong with you. Clearly.

If you're stateside then...I guess just pretend like this never happened?

It's been 363 days since I left

Here I am. Day 363 since I left the USA and expatriated to South Korea. I've been through the frigidly cold winter, through the annoyingly damp monsoon season, and the ridiculously humid and hot summer. I've shivered, I've sweated, I've cursed myself for not bringing an umbrella with me. Through it all, it's been a pretty solid experience. But I started this blog, not to brag about how awesome I am (and am becoming) but to help you, the gentle reader, to follow in my man-sized footsteps. So here are some general tips that have helped make my year here a little better.

Expat Knee Grow Tip 1: 

If you're not a minority in your country, get used to the idea of being one. If you are a minority, get used to scouring.

I'm a black American (I mean obviously, otherwise this blog would be extremely racist right?), which makes me a minority pretty much everywhere. I'm used to the concept, so much so that my adjustment to being in a land where few people are like me didn't really bother me that much. That was kind of a blessing in disguise. However, I was at a slight disadvantage. You see, as a black man, it was and still is difficult for me to find hair care products and services to maintain the hairstyle I'm used to. This has led to some creative improvisations in my overall look, but it hasn't been tragically bad. Well, not yet at least. It should also be noted that I am also very tall (78 inches or 198 cm) and I have feet to match. I have had to buy all of my clothing online and either have it shipped to America first and then here (thanks Mom!) or shipped directly here. There are other alternatives, but if you are larger than the standard Korean, you will have to buy a good deal of your clothing online. So far, my saving grace has been that Amazon, Old Navy and the Gap deliver to Korea for a pretty reasonable price, and therefore have become the mainstays of my wardrobe. Also, Amazon is an excellent way to secure your toiletry needs for a pretty low cost. In fact, in some cases, it might be the same or lower than finding it at a foreigner market, which I suspect is due to the foreigner markets getting their stock the same way..

Expat Knee Grow Tip 2: 

At some point, you're going to have to learn some basic Korean. You might as well start learning how to read it.

Learning to read Hangul is pretty easy. Koreans will tell you that a stupid man can learn it in a week, and a smart man can learn it in a day. Which is pretty true. I learned how to read Hangul in roughly two hours. There are several apps in the Google Play store (and I imagine better apps in the Apple store) that will walk you through the process. There's also a few websites that have some solid lessons. Here's one I used: http://www.learnlangs.com/RWP/Korean/

There's more a lot more, but time and space don't allow me to go in the detail I want to. I will say this in closing though. Korean internet is pretty amazing. With that having been said, don't feel as if you have to leave behind all your favorite TV shows. I'm not an advocate of piracy, but in extenuating circumstances...

Check out couchtuner.eu (if you're willing to navigate all the pop up ads) for your favorite shows, or wiziwig.tv for sporting events. If it's on TV it's streaming somewhere for you to watch. Once you get back stateside of course, you can abandon these desperate measures at your own leisure, right?

Keep it classy.