I hate rain.
Both the Han river and the other river by my house are still horribly bloated, but not as bad as they have been. The flooding here is intense. Some of the subways flooded and when it rains. . . just stay inside if you can. Koreans have been saying this is the worst weather in 100 years. Look, I grew up in Kansas, where fierce thuderstorms happen all the time, and I'm still going "wtf!?" Anyways, it's still cloudy today, but it isn't raining now so I'm happy.
Now that that's out of the way, I guess now I'll appologize! I've been really busy the past week!
Last Wednesday, Akira, Emma, Alexia, Emma's host sister, Akira's penpal and I all went to the Everysing noraebang in Apgujong. Why is it so important that I tell you the exact location of this noraebang? Because Kim Heechul filmed his M&D music video there. Our room was in the video and we got to see the room he was in!! ^.^
Celebrity spazzing aside, noraebang was really fun! Emma's host sister spent the first 10 minutes playing Super Junior songs so that Emma and I would get up to sing/dance to them. . . except we didn't know the words xDDDDD
We stayed there for well over an hour (maybe two?) and afterwards went to the store downstairs, which was a mini shrine to all the pop groups under SM Entertainment (except Amber Liu, as Akira and I wish to point out). I bought a Yesung cellphone charm and a clearfile! Alexia and I took sticker pictures where you could make it look like various SME celebrities were with you. I now have sticker pictures with Yesung and Hangeng~!
On Thursday, my support group met up with Akira's and we went ice skating. Interesting fact: Gayoung happens to be taking skating lessons over summer break. So she was there! Akira and I skated around, yelling at my supported, Sungwoo as he skated circles around us and literally pushing us to go faster. Towards the end of our session, Akira and I found him on his butt and it went something this:
"Seungwoo! I thought you were good at skating!"
"No! nonononononononono! I'm good! just-" at this point we were just laughing. Revenge!
That night, I met up with my long-time penpal Sohyun and we went to Super Junior Kiss the Radio(Sukira or KTR) at KBS together. Sukira is a radio show hosted by Super Junior's Eeteuk and Eunhyuk. They usually have guests and that day it just happened to be Jungmo from TRAX (a korean rock group I like) and who helped Heechul with the M&D project ^.^ He played guitar in the studio and I have waaaay too many pictures.
That weekend, we went to Bucheon for a camp. My host family went to Busan because of family issues.
In Bucheon we met up with Korean high school students and went on scavenger hunts around the city. After dinner we had free time and we played Korean games until after 2 in the morning when they finally told us to go to bed!
The the next day we had a talent show, where both NSLI-Y kids and the Korean students preformed. I have lots of videos, but my I had my small memory card in so I didn't get full videos. And now my flashdrive is full so it's way too hard to upload them >< I'll go buy a new flashdrive or something. . .
Sunday night my host family wasn't going to be back until Monday, so I went with Akira's sister to jjimjilbang again and had fun! But I think her sister thinks we are crazy.
Monday my host family came home, so I bought them a cheese cake.
Tuesday, is a very special date for many reasons. I met up with my friend Dayun, the damn rain from hell started, and Yesung's family opened a cafe, so naturally I went! Let me tell you in great detail about htis event so that you can understand why I now hate rain.
Akira, Alexia, Emma and I get off the train and are standing in the exit of the station. It looks bad out, but we figure it'll be okay if we just run into the Tom n Tom's not 100 yards from the exit. We put up our umbrellas and go for it. . . It was like someone took the biggest, deepest bucket they could find and dumped it over Seoul. Even with umbreallas, we were soaked. For awhile we were standing under the awning of Tom n Tom's, then it started too look suspiciously like it was gonna blow off. So we moved inside. Eventually we met up with Dayun and the rain stopped enough that we made it to Handel and Gretel. It was pretty packed and we waited more than 30 minutes for a table. Why is that bad? It's a coffee shop! Who waits for tables at a coffee shop?
But we got one. The coffee was amazing. I ended up buying two plus a sandwich. Apparently not long after we left, Yesung showed up. I missed my chance T.T But it's okay. The coffee is good enough that I'm going to become a frequent customer. There is hope!!
Wednesday we learned Talchum and I learned to hate rain even more. Talchum is traditional mask dancing. It's actually really fun! We got to make masks and learn a little about the culture behind it. The activity was actually fun enough to make it worth the hell we had to go through to get there:
Most of Seoul, by this time, was flooded. It was about a two mile walk from the station to the school where we learned. It was pouring down rain, and the roads were rivers. By the time we arrived, even the girl with the rain coat was drinched. It was disgusting! I felt like a drowned rat!!
That night, Akira and I went out with some Korean friends and learned the words for colors (because this had not been taught in class yet) and also had a good discussion on the differences on Korea and America.
Thursday Akira and I met early to get coffee and a muffin and Handel and Gretel. It was amazing, as usual. I'm getting really good at order coffee in Korean. After class let out, my host mom took the two of us to this huge bookstore and we bought comics to practice reading! We also have gone through our entire textbook, and the teacher said we aren't getting new ones, so I guess I'll go buy the next set from the Sogang book store because my grammar is still pretty limited. I also guess that means I'm past Korean 2 in high school and Korean 1 in college. WOO!
And now, I want to study a little!!! I'll try to get pictures up, but if I can't save them anywhere, it's a little more difficult ><
Sorry to be so late!!
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Quick Post~!
Saturday, was recovery day. Highlight: Watching Korean TV, namely Mnet Countdown and Music Core (I missed B1A4 and Block B though T.T). It was even funnier when Gayoung would point to the preformers and call them "ajuma" and "ajeossi" which literaly translates to aunt and uncle, but the terms are used to name older people you judge to be about the age of your parents (or consider too old to call "eonni/nuna" and "eoppa/hyeong" which is literally brother and sister. This is only used to address people older than you but still look young enough to be a sibling). I take one look at these people and tell Gayoung that I'm about the same age. I'm not an ajuma!! T.T We also watch some other popular shows, like "We Got Married" which I was surprised to find Gayoung liked...?
Yesterday I woke up with lots of energy. So much engergy, I at a whole three bites of rice soup. Yesssss! Actually, I was feeling pretty good, just not really hungry. So, since I was super bored of being cooped up in the house the day before, I asked if we could go for a walk in Hangang Park. Because I love the Hangang. And Saturday was my first day not seeing it since I've been living here T.T
Instead of going to Hangang Park, we went to Seonyudo Park!!! Yaaaay! Seonyudo Park is an island in the middle of the Hangang and you take a little bridge over. It is really really beautiful! Seonyudo Park is a perfect example of why I really love Seoul. It's so green. Every where: green green green green MOUNTAIN. (No mountains in Seonyudo park though. . .)
When we got home, Jaehak had come back from Busan and had made spaghetti. I ate almost a whole bowl! We then all sat down to watch a movie together, which was really fun! Jaehak is a Korean business man which means he's almsot never at home, so this was one of the few times we've done something together!
After that, I went to meet up with my new friend Dongjun, who is not only going to Mac next year, but majoring in Linguistics as well. Yes, we get along great!
We walked around Gangnam and had sushi for dinner (I also had tonkatsu and was amazingly hungry enough that I ate a lot). I bought a cute headband, dragged him to sticker pictures, and answered questions about America. We also went into this huge bookstore and I bought Le Petit Prince in Korean. I can't wait to start reading it!
And, since I have lots of free time during the week, we met up again this morning and went to Jongno-go, where the Gyeongbokgun (Gyeongbok Palace) is. In Japan, there are temples, in Korea, there are palaces. If you go to Korea ever, I think it's a must to see some of them. I'm still totally in awe of ondol heating. There are a lot of really beautiful pictures, but they are taking forever to upload so I'm not going to post them here!
Before we went to the Palace, we saw the giant statues of Admiral Yi and King Sejong the Great. Admiral Yi is infamous for being one of the greatest naval comanders in miltary history. He once led a fleet of 13 ships against the Japanese forces who out numbered him by more than 25 to 1, and won.
King Sejong the Great is also very famous in Korea for helping creat the written alphabet. During the second year of his reign, it bothered him that so many people could read or write because of the difficulty of Chinese characters, so he formed an institute to create a uniquely Korean alphabet. The shapes of the characters are apparently based on the shape your mough, tongue, and teeth make when saying them.
And this post took me way too long to write. I'm going to go study now, because recently I've been very bothered by how little Korean I know.
Yesterday I woke up with lots of energy. So much engergy, I at a whole three bites of rice soup. Yesssss! Actually, I was feeling pretty good, just not really hungry. So, since I was super bored of being cooped up in the house the day before, I asked if we could go for a walk in Hangang Park. Because I love the Hangang. And Saturday was my first day not seeing it since I've been living here T.T
Instead of going to Hangang Park, we went to Seonyudo Park!!! Yaaaay! Seonyudo Park is an island in the middle of the Hangang and you take a little bridge over. It is really really beautiful! Seonyudo Park is a perfect example of why I really love Seoul. It's so green. Every where: green green green green MOUNTAIN. (No mountains in Seonyudo park though. . .)
When we got home, Jaehak had come back from Busan and had made spaghetti. I ate almost a whole bowl! We then all sat down to watch a movie together, which was really fun! Jaehak is a Korean business man which means he's almsot never at home, so this was one of the few times we've done something together!
After that, I went to meet up with my new friend Dongjun, who is not only going to Mac next year, but majoring in Linguistics as well. Yes, we get along great!
We walked around Gangnam and had sushi for dinner (I also had tonkatsu and was amazingly hungry enough that I ate a lot). I bought a cute headband, dragged him to sticker pictures, and answered questions about America. We also went into this huge bookstore and I bought Le Petit Prince in Korean. I can't wait to start reading it!
And, since I have lots of free time during the week, we met up again this morning and went to Jongno-go, where the Gyeongbokgun (Gyeongbok Palace) is. In Japan, there are temples, in Korea, there are palaces. If you go to Korea ever, I think it's a must to see some of them. I'm still totally in awe of ondol heating. There are a lot of really beautiful pictures, but they are taking forever to upload so I'm not going to post them here!
Before we went to the Palace, we saw the giant statues of Admiral Yi and King Sejong the Great. Admiral Yi is infamous for being one of the greatest naval comanders in miltary history. He once led a fleet of 13 ships against the Japanese forces who out numbered him by more than 25 to 1, and won.
King Sejong the Great is also very famous in Korea for helping creat the written alphabet. During the second year of his reign, it bothered him that so many people could read or write because of the difficulty of Chinese characters, so he formed an institute to create a uniquely Korean alphabet. The shapes of the characters are apparently based on the shape your mough, tongue, and teeth make when saying them.
And this post took me way too long to write. I'm going to go study now, because recently I've been very bothered by how little Korean I know.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
What's Up With Me, and a Few Pros and Cons to Living In Korea (Pt. 1)
After my last post, Aunt Lee and I went up to Insadong. Insadong is pretty much a tourist district, with lots of expensive, handmade Korean goods! Many traditional looking trinkets are for sale at prices that make you shiver and are sold at every street vendor for the next mile or so! For the most part, Aunt Lee told me to wait to buy something because we are going to Dongdaemun this weekend~! YES. Cheap shopping is my best friend, and there is a lot of it in Korea!
Aside from shopping, Insadong also has an art gallery that we went through, displaying many traditional arts that are still practiced by people today (see the pictures). A lot of the artisans working that day were really friendly (from the Korean I could gather) and the kind ajuma making horse hair hats even insisted for a photo with me! The hat I'm wearing? Yup. That's horse hair!
The ajuma in the picture is wearing a traditional korean outfit called a hanbok. I really really want to wear one sometime, so if I do, I'll definitely upload some better pictures!!
Another really interesting fact about Insadong is that all the shop names are required to be in Korean. There are subtitles for most things to help out foreigners, but where in other parts of Seoul you will see shops like Tous Les Jours and Tom n Tom's Coffee, you won't in Insadong. English (and other languages as far as I know) aren't allowed. For instance, this is a picture of the Starbucks there, which is (supposedly) the only Starbucks in the world where the sign is not written in English!
While we were there, we met up with Aunt Lee's brother and his family. Together, we ate patbingsu which is a little like shaved ice, but with a little more oomph (still working on food post. A better description will be there!). After that, we went to this really cool roofless shopping mall, where instead of having steps up to each floor, the whole building is a continuous spiral. At the top is a cafe and an outdoor eating area. I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my favourite things about Seoul is that there are huge, forested mountains right next to the city. In Insadong, the buildings go up and up and suddenly BAM! there's a mountain! I love it!
Monday before school, Akira and I met up for coffee and Tom n Tom's, which is pretty much a Starbucks knockoff. It's good though, and they have this bread that's cheap and it's a pretty decent place to study. Both of our families are gone in the mornings, so we get pretty bored after awhile and usually meet about an hour before classes start.
After classes, Akira, Emma and I went out for patbingsu because Emma hadn't had it before (I don't know that Akira had either actually. . .). It was delicious, as all Korean food is, and we had a good time talking about various aspects of Korea.
Emma lives about an hour and a half from Sogang, so she had to leave when we finished. Akira's family wouldn't be home until around 10 that night, so she and I went to Paris Baguette after that. I ended up buying a small cake for my host family and she got a sandwich. The bags are really cute and say "Mon Amie, Mon Amour, Mon Paris Baguette." Yes, I'm keeping it.
On the subway home, we stopped by a magazine stand and I found the recent issue of W Korea, which has pictures of Super Junior in it from when they were in Paris. Don't worry, I bought it! I really like the photography in general of Korean magazines, so I was really happy to get this ^.^
When I got home, Gayoung greeted me at the door (which is rare) and gave me a hug. This girl is adorable, I tell you! Anyways, I managed to hid the cake from her, before I took my shower, slid it onto the table. Not five minutes later, Gayoung came into the kitchen and went "Cake!?" Mission: success.
Later that night, I decided to take a few pictures from my apartment landing.
What a view!
Aunt Lee said there was an even better view at Mapo bridge, so we hopped on our bikes and took the Hangang trail to Mapo! Seoul at night is so beautiful!
Tuesday we met with our supporters and studied. It was interesting. After class, I went home and we went to a restaurant that served Korean style soup. The waitress was one of Aunt Lee's friends who was in Gapyeong.Her daughter, who is my age, also came along so I got to make a Korean friend~! Gayoung was being silly and Aunt Lee would tell me how to scold her in Korean, which made everyone laugh. The food was really good and I really want to go back sometime!!
Wednesday. . . here is were things start to get complicated! On Wednesday I was planning to post (actually, I had written most of what is before this Wednesday morning!) but then, while randomly surfing on facebook, I noticed on the the RD's (Gooseul) for the program posted a picture of everyone doing Taekwondo. I was suddenly very very confused because I had no clue it was so soon. Well, it turns out the other RD had been sending out emails and text messages about it all (none of which I got), and it really was today. Naturally, I got very upset, very quickly. I'm not usually one to cry, but ever since I heard we would being doing Taekwondo in Korea, I'd been looking forward to it.
I checked my email again multiple times, and then went through all the documents we had been given since coming here. Sure enough, in the handbook it was printed that we were doing Taekwondo today. Sadly, I still had absolutely no clue where to go. At about 10:30, Gooseul called me and asked if I was coming. I managed to tell her that I had no clue it was today and didn't know how to get there. She told me to hail a cab and then call her again. So I quickly through everything together for class and dashed out the door. I learned how to hail a cab and after some confusion, I was able to get there!! The cab driver was really nice especially considering I speak very limited Korean. Also, please understand that in Korea, traffic signs are more of a suggestion than a law. Red lights only mean look both ways before crowwing the street. . .He got me there in under 20 minutes and I got to actualy participate. We sparred a little, which was a blast, and then they had us break boards. We wrote down dreams on them and one by one broke them in two. It was really great! I still have my wood in my suitcase!
After that, my friends Sofia and I went to lunch at one of the bakery/coffee shops near Sogang. I bought a sandwich, but only ate about a fourth of it (remember this sandwich!)
When we got to school, Emma and Sofia were moved out of my class so it was just me and a girl named Katrina sitting at our table. During break, I ended up giving Katrina the rest of my sandwich.
That night, my childhood ended. Heres a little surprise. I had thought all along that Harry Potter came out the 14th here. This is a lie, and I must not tell lies. It came out on the 13th, so naturally, I asked my host mom if we could go see it. Turns out, she and Gayoung love Harry Potter, so on the 12th, we reserved tickets.
Quick fact about reserving tickets in Korea. Actually, quick fact about trying to sign up for anything online in Korea: YOU MUST HAVE A KSSN (Korean Social Security Number). In other words, you must be a ressident of Korea. Or you can't sign up. This is uber annoying.
Regardless, on the 13th, I literally ran home from school and barely made it home by 6:00 (our movie is at 6:20). After lots of confusion we made it to the theatre!
Oh my god. If I typed up everything I had to say about this movie, I would make this post so long none of you would read it (if you are still reading this far, I aplaud you!). For the last time, I was sucked into the world of Harry Potter, the world that I've grown up with. Watching the actors on the screen was like seeing old friends after a long time, seeing how much they had grown, seeing what they had become. It was all very moving.
It also gave me a really warm feeling inside. Here I was, sitting in a movie theatre in Korea, half a world away from where I had seen every other movie, and yet, it felt exactly the same. People still gasped, laughed, and cried with every scene. The only difference, really, was that I was the only non-Asian (most likely non-Korean, but I can't be 100% sure) in the theatre, and there were Korean subtitles on the bottom that I couldn't help but read every so often.
After the last scene faded, I realized that was it. There wasn't anything else. it was over. It was time to grow up a little more, and move on, taking with me the happy memories to cherish forever.
Although. . . it bothered me a little bit that there wasn't a "The End." before the credits. . . I really wanted it to say that . . .
So, then came Thursday. Well, I was supposed to go to norae bang with my group, but remember that little sandwich? Yeah. It gave me food poisoning. So I spent the morning miserable in bed waiting to feel well enough that I could go to school. I learned that in Korea, why your stomache hurts, you drink warm water. Aunt Lee would also come in from time to time and massage my stomache and body, which, actually, helped a lot. By the time I had to leave for school, I was feeling well enough to go.
After talking a little before class, I found out Katrina had the same thing the night before. Oh little sandwich. . .
During that class period, a very odd thing happened. Katrina said her foot was hurting a little where she had a blister, and by the time it was 5:30, her ankle had almost double in size. Turns out, a boy in another class had a similar issue with a cut on his hand.
After some thought, and talking it over with various people, we've sort of decided there must be some kind of bacteria that isn't in America that is making people sick/swell (I'm not the only one who's been sick).
Friday morning rolled around and I still wasn't feeling well, so I went back to the doctor. I have four different meds I'm now taking, but they do make me feel a lot better. However, one is really weird. . . It's like toothpaste thats sat in the sun so its gooy... bleh. I would like to add, however, that my two trips to the doctor plus my medicine still haven't reached more than 50 USD and that is without insurance.
Other than having no appitite and being rediculously tired all the time, I'm feeling a lot better now. Hopefully, I'll be up and running again soon so I can do more than sit at home!!
Comments:
Bryan: You beat Mum AND Jillian! Congradualtions!! I have to say, your comment made me laugh. And I haven't found it yet. I've been on about 5 different subway lines but no luck yet. . .
Shelbi: I just go to the local place with my host mom. There is a pharmacy next door.
Mrs. Dossey: Not a problem! I harrassed her about it the other day, so maybe she'll put some up soon!
Mom: I've missed you and JT talking to eachother through comments xDD And Gayoung is adorable! ^.^
Uncle Mike: English is taught here starting in Elementry school. My host sister already knows quite a few words and phrases and studies English for about an hour every day. English and surprisingly French are pretty popular. Though I don't know anyone who speaks French here, it's on lots of clothes and many shops have French names.
Aunt Nancy, Lena, and Grammy: I have so much to say about Korean food that I'm working up a whole post about it (with a little help from my host mom!) I have lists of things I've eaten and I've been tryign to take as many picture as possible!! Breakfast here is pretty much a smaller version of every other meal. We have rice, some type of main dish, and then side dishes. Lots and lots of food!
Mrs. Sharpnack: I'm so happy you are reading!! Studying isn't so bad. Though I haven't memorized every piece of vocab, but I usually start to pick it up after a day or two. The pace of our classes is super fast. We cover a unit every two days.
As for slang. . . yes and no. Korean has three (four?) ways of speaking formal, polite, and plain. Plain is considered super rude to speak to anyone older than you or people you don't know well. So when I speak, I always try to use the polite, but sometimes my host mom corrects me when I talk to Gayoung and asks me to use the plain, which then usually messes me up and I'll speak plain to people older than me. It's really confusing and I usually end up repeating myself a few times to make sure I'm not being rude!
And typing this tl;dr has completely exhausted my energy reserves. Today, Aunt Lee said we would just stay home so I can rest.
Next time, hopefully I won't be suddenly, and randomly busy/sick and I'll update sooner~!
Aside from shopping, Insadong also has an art gallery that we went through, displaying many traditional arts that are still practiced by people today (see the pictures). A lot of the artisans working that day were really friendly (from the Korean I could gather) and the kind ajuma making horse hair hats even insisted for a photo with me! The hat I'm wearing? Yup. That's horse hair!
The ajuma in the picture is wearing a traditional korean outfit called a hanbok. I really really want to wear one sometime, so if I do, I'll definitely upload some better pictures!!
Another really interesting fact about Insadong is that all the shop names are required to be in Korean. There are subtitles for most things to help out foreigners, but where in other parts of Seoul you will see shops like Tous Les Jours and Tom n Tom's Coffee, you won't in Insadong. English (and other languages as far as I know) aren't allowed. For instance, this is a picture of the Starbucks there, which is (supposedly) the only Starbucks in the world where the sign is not written in English!
While we were there, we met up with Aunt Lee's brother and his family. Together, we ate patbingsu which is a little like shaved ice, but with a little more oomph (still working on food post. A better description will be there!). After that, we went to this really cool roofless shopping mall, where instead of having steps up to each floor, the whole building is a continuous spiral. At the top is a cafe and an outdoor eating area. I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my favourite things about Seoul is that there are huge, forested mountains right next to the city. In Insadong, the buildings go up and up and suddenly BAM! there's a mountain! I love it!
Monday before school, Akira and I met up for coffee and Tom n Tom's, which is pretty much a Starbucks knockoff. It's good though, and they have this bread that's cheap and it's a pretty decent place to study. Both of our families are gone in the mornings, so we get pretty bored after awhile and usually meet about an hour before classes start.
After classes, Akira, Emma and I went out for patbingsu because Emma hadn't had it before (I don't know that Akira had either actually. . .). It was delicious, as all Korean food is, and we had a good time talking about various aspects of Korea.
Emma lives about an hour and a half from Sogang, so she had to leave when we finished. Akira's family wouldn't be home until around 10 that night, so she and I went to Paris Baguette after that. I ended up buying a small cake for my host family and she got a sandwich. The bags are really cute and say "Mon Amie, Mon Amour, Mon Paris Baguette." Yes, I'm keeping it.
On the subway home, we stopped by a magazine stand and I found the recent issue of W Korea, which has pictures of Super Junior in it from when they were in Paris. Don't worry, I bought it! I really like the photography in general of Korean magazines, so I was really happy to get this ^.^
When I got home, Gayoung greeted me at the door (which is rare) and gave me a hug. This girl is adorable, I tell you! Anyways, I managed to hid the cake from her, before I took my shower, slid it onto the table. Not five minutes later, Gayoung came into the kitchen and went "Cake!?" Mission: success.
Later that night, I decided to take a few pictures from my apartment landing.
What a view!
Aunt Lee said there was an even better view at Mapo bridge, so we hopped on our bikes and took the Hangang trail to Mapo! Seoul at night is so beautiful!
Tuesday we met with our supporters and studied. It was interesting. After class, I went home and we went to a restaurant that served Korean style soup. The waitress was one of Aunt Lee's friends who was in Gapyeong.Her daughter, who is my age, also came along so I got to make a Korean friend~! Gayoung was being silly and Aunt Lee would tell me how to scold her in Korean, which made everyone laugh. The food was really good and I really want to go back sometime!!
Wednesday. . . here is were things start to get complicated! On Wednesday I was planning to post (actually, I had written most of what is before this Wednesday morning!) but then, while randomly surfing on facebook, I noticed on the the RD's (Gooseul) for the program posted a picture of everyone doing Taekwondo. I was suddenly very very confused because I had no clue it was so soon. Well, it turns out the other RD had been sending out emails and text messages about it all (none of which I got), and it really was today. Naturally, I got very upset, very quickly. I'm not usually one to cry, but ever since I heard we would being doing Taekwondo in Korea, I'd been looking forward to it.
I checked my email again multiple times, and then went through all the documents we had been given since coming here. Sure enough, in the handbook it was printed that we were doing Taekwondo today. Sadly, I still had absolutely no clue where to go. At about 10:30, Gooseul called me and asked if I was coming. I managed to tell her that I had no clue it was today and didn't know how to get there. She told me to hail a cab and then call her again. So I quickly through everything together for class and dashed out the door. I learned how to hail a cab and after some confusion, I was able to get there!! The cab driver was really nice especially considering I speak very limited Korean. Also, please understand that in Korea, traffic signs are more of a suggestion than a law. Red lights only mean look both ways before crowwing the street. . .He got me there in under 20 minutes and I got to actualy participate. We sparred a little, which was a blast, and then they had us break boards. We wrote down dreams on them and one by one broke them in two. It was really great! I still have my wood in my suitcase!
After that, my friends Sofia and I went to lunch at one of the bakery/coffee shops near Sogang. I bought a sandwich, but only ate about a fourth of it (remember this sandwich!)
When we got to school, Emma and Sofia were moved out of my class so it was just me and a girl named Katrina sitting at our table. During break, I ended up giving Katrina the rest of my sandwich.
That night, my childhood ended. Heres a little surprise. I had thought all along that Harry Potter came out the 14th here. This is a lie, and I must not tell lies. It came out on the 13th, so naturally, I asked my host mom if we could go see it. Turns out, she and Gayoung love Harry Potter, so on the 12th, we reserved tickets.
Quick fact about reserving tickets in Korea. Actually, quick fact about trying to sign up for anything online in Korea: YOU MUST HAVE A KSSN (Korean Social Security Number). In other words, you must be a ressident of Korea. Or you can't sign up. This is uber annoying.
Regardless, on the 13th, I literally ran home from school and barely made it home by 6:00 (our movie is at 6:20). After lots of confusion we made it to the theatre!
Oh my god. If I typed up everything I had to say about this movie, I would make this post so long none of you would read it (if you are still reading this far, I aplaud you!). For the last time, I was sucked into the world of Harry Potter, the world that I've grown up with. Watching the actors on the screen was like seeing old friends after a long time, seeing how much they had grown, seeing what they had become. It was all very moving.
It also gave me a really warm feeling inside. Here I was, sitting in a movie theatre in Korea, half a world away from where I had seen every other movie, and yet, it felt exactly the same. People still gasped, laughed, and cried with every scene. The only difference, really, was that I was the only non-Asian (most likely non-Korean, but I can't be 100% sure) in the theatre, and there were Korean subtitles on the bottom that I couldn't help but read every so often.
After the last scene faded, I realized that was it. There wasn't anything else. it was over. It was time to grow up a little more, and move on, taking with me the happy memories to cherish forever.
Although. . . it bothered me a little bit that there wasn't a "The End." before the credits. . . I really wanted it to say that . . .
So, then came Thursday. Well, I was supposed to go to norae bang with my group, but remember that little sandwich? Yeah. It gave me food poisoning. So I spent the morning miserable in bed waiting to feel well enough that I could go to school. I learned that in Korea, why your stomache hurts, you drink warm water. Aunt Lee would also come in from time to time and massage my stomache and body, which, actually, helped a lot. By the time I had to leave for school, I was feeling well enough to go.
After talking a little before class, I found out Katrina had the same thing the night before. Oh little sandwich. . .
During that class period, a very odd thing happened. Katrina said her foot was hurting a little where she had a blister, and by the time it was 5:30, her ankle had almost double in size. Turns out, a boy in another class had a similar issue with a cut on his hand.
After some thought, and talking it over with various people, we've sort of decided there must be some kind of bacteria that isn't in America that is making people sick/swell (I'm not the only one who's been sick).
Friday morning rolled around and I still wasn't feeling well, so I went back to the doctor. I have four different meds I'm now taking, but they do make me feel a lot better. However, one is really weird. . . It's like toothpaste thats sat in the sun so its gooy... bleh. I would like to add, however, that my two trips to the doctor plus my medicine still haven't reached more than 50 USD and that is without insurance.
Other than having no appitite and being rediculously tired all the time, I'm feeling a lot better now. Hopefully, I'll be up and running again soon so I can do more than sit at home!!
Comments:
Bryan: You beat Mum AND Jillian! Congradualtions!! I have to say, your comment made me laugh. And I haven't found it yet. I've been on about 5 different subway lines but no luck yet. . .
Shelbi: I just go to the local place with my host mom. There is a pharmacy next door.
Mrs. Dossey: Not a problem! I harrassed her about it the other day, so maybe she'll put some up soon!
Mom: I've missed you and JT talking to eachother through comments xDD And Gayoung is adorable! ^.^
Uncle Mike: English is taught here starting in Elementry school. My host sister already knows quite a few words and phrases and studies English for about an hour every day. English and surprisingly French are pretty popular. Though I don't know anyone who speaks French here, it's on lots of clothes and many shops have French names.
Aunt Nancy, Lena, and Grammy: I have so much to say about Korean food that I'm working up a whole post about it (with a little help from my host mom!) I have lists of things I've eaten and I've been tryign to take as many picture as possible!! Breakfast here is pretty much a smaller version of every other meal. We have rice, some type of main dish, and then side dishes. Lots and lots of food!
Mrs. Sharpnack: I'm so happy you are reading!! Studying isn't so bad. Though I haven't memorized every piece of vocab, but I usually start to pick it up after a day or two. The pace of our classes is super fast. We cover a unit every two days.
As for slang. . . yes and no. Korean has three (four?) ways of speaking formal, polite, and plain. Plain is considered super rude to speak to anyone older than you or people you don't know well. So when I speak, I always try to use the polite, but sometimes my host mom corrects me when I talk to Gayoung and asks me to use the plain, which then usually messes me up and I'll speak plain to people older than me. It's really confusing and I usually end up repeating myself a few times to make sure I'm not being rude!
And typing this tl;dr has completely exhausted my energy reserves. Today, Aunt Lee said we would just stay home so I can rest.
Next time, hopefully I won't be suddenly, and randomly busy/sick and I'll update sooner~!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Myeongdong and Host Family
This is probably going to end up being a small novel with all I have to talk about.
I guess let's start with how life worked living at the hostel. After landing, we lived in a hostel for three nights and two days. Hostels are great. Except that I was rooming with 10 other girls >< It was loud and a little nerve-wrecking! But I made it~
The first day, we went to a welcoming ceremony hosted by the US embassy. Highlight: 4 students from a girl's university came and played traditional instraments for us! Then, we ate lunch at the YWCA in Myeongdong. . . . Then we had free time. In Myeongdong. After coming from CLI, Akira, Emma and I had no clue what to do when they said, okay, be back in the lobby in an hour!!
Myeongdong is the shopping district (appearently) of Seoul. It's over priced and VERY crowded at night during the weekend. Akira ended up going to the hospital because her strep had been acting up, so Emma and I roamed around alone. Now, you're probably like "Oh my god! She had to go to the hospital?? Is she okay?" Note: Korea has universal healthcare. You are not feeling well? Go to the hospital! It only cost about 20-25$ for her visit and her meds and now she says shes feeling amazing~!
After that, we went to another place that I cannot remember to meet the college students who are supposed to be our guides/friends through all of this. My guide is Seungwoo. There are too other people in my group, Peter (who is Chinese) and Sarah (who is Korean). I feel really awkward >< Luckily, for that day, we had an activity with another group and I was with Alexia and a girl named Audra. We all had a lot of fun! Seungwoo is hilarious.
The next day we went to orientation. LOOONG. But it was pretty nice.
Afterwards we went back ot the hostel. And guess what: "Curfew is 9."
Oh my god. I feel like a free woman.
So Akira, Emma, and I went back to Myeongdong. Akira and I dragged Emma to sticker pictures (purikura) and Akira and I had a blast. Emma warmed up to it after while. Then Emma had to go back because her host family was picking her up early. Akira and I went into a little shop where she got a cellphone case and some BIGBANG merch. Then we found a street vendor selling icecream~! It was about a 1.50$ for a towering cone. This was how we found out that in Korea, you must eat your icecream very very fast! It took less than five minutes for us to feel like idiots because we had chocolate icecream dripping on us ><
The next day, our host families came.
My host family is a mom, a dad, and a 7 year old girl. Oddly enough, we get along very very well~! Yesterdeay, they picked me up in the car and we drove to the house. Then the dad had to go to work, so the mom and I waited for Kayoung to get home. When she did, we ate bulgogi for lunch and then went to Sogang by subway so I knew how to get there. We were going to go to the bathhouse, but when we got back from Sogang, I pretty much crashed><
When I woke up, we ate dinner (which was just a wrap with leftover bugolgi and vegetables) and then I handed out gifts. Kayoung hasn't stopped playing with the marble game I got her, so I'm pretty happy about that.
When I woke up this morning (about an hour later than I wanted too >>) Kayougn came in and we played the marble game xD
Then we had breakfast, which was. . . actually, I'm not really sure what it was, but it was good! Kimchi for breakfast however. . . this is new. And will take some getting used to!
Theres a lot more I want to write, but I'm worried that I'm taking too long to type this! Pictures (though not many!) are up!
Also, my ears still haven't popped. Yesterday, I thought they finally had, but this morning when I woke up, I still couldn't hear out of my left one ><
I guess let's start with how life worked living at the hostel. After landing, we lived in a hostel for three nights and two days. Hostels are great. Except that I was rooming with 10 other girls >< It was loud and a little nerve-wrecking! But I made it~
The first day, we went to a welcoming ceremony hosted by the US embassy. Highlight: 4 students from a girl's university came and played traditional instraments for us! Then, we ate lunch at the YWCA in Myeongdong. . . . Then we had free time. In Myeongdong. After coming from CLI, Akira, Emma and I had no clue what to do when they said, okay, be back in the lobby in an hour!!
Myeongdong is the shopping district (appearently) of Seoul. It's over priced and VERY crowded at night during the weekend. Akira ended up going to the hospital because her strep had been acting up, so Emma and I roamed around alone. Now, you're probably like "Oh my god! She had to go to the hospital?? Is she okay?" Note: Korea has universal healthcare. You are not feeling well? Go to the hospital! It only cost about 20-25$ for her visit and her meds and now she says shes feeling amazing~!
After that, we went to another place that I cannot remember to meet the college students who are supposed to be our guides/friends through all of this. My guide is Seungwoo. There are too other people in my group, Peter (who is Chinese) and Sarah (who is Korean). I feel really awkward >< Luckily, for that day, we had an activity with another group and I was with Alexia and a girl named Audra. We all had a lot of fun! Seungwoo is hilarious.
The next day we went to orientation. LOOONG. But it was pretty nice.
Afterwards we went back ot the hostel. And guess what: "Curfew is 9."
Oh my god. I feel like a free woman.
So Akira, Emma, and I went back to Myeongdong. Akira and I dragged Emma to sticker pictures (purikura) and Akira and I had a blast. Emma warmed up to it after while. Then Emma had to go back because her host family was picking her up early. Akira and I went into a little shop where she got a cellphone case and some BIGBANG merch. Then we found a street vendor selling icecream~! It was about a 1.50$ for a towering cone. This was how we found out that in Korea, you must eat your icecream very very fast! It took less than five minutes for us to feel like idiots because we had chocolate icecream dripping on us ><
The next day, our host families came.
My host family is a mom, a dad, and a 7 year old girl. Oddly enough, we get along very very well~! Yesterdeay, they picked me up in the car and we drove to the house. Then the dad had to go to work, so the mom and I waited for Kayoung to get home. When she did, we ate bulgogi for lunch and then went to Sogang by subway so I knew how to get there. We were going to go to the bathhouse, but when we got back from Sogang, I pretty much crashed><
When I woke up, we ate dinner (which was just a wrap with leftover bugolgi and vegetables) and then I handed out gifts. Kayoung hasn't stopped playing with the marble game I got her, so I'm pretty happy about that.
When I woke up this morning (about an hour later than I wanted too >>) Kayougn came in and we played the marble game xD
Then we had breakfast, which was. . . actually, I'm not really sure what it was, but it was good! Kimchi for breakfast however. . . this is new. And will take some getting used to!
Theres a lot more I want to write, but I'm worried that I'm taking too long to type this! Pictures (though not many!) are up!
Also, my ears still haven't popped. Yesterday, I thought they finally had, but this morning when I woke up, I still couldn't hear out of my left one ><
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Home For Now
Man what a crazy week its been!
Well, we ended up getting kick out of the library for being 'to loud' even though we weren't talking, and the woman next to JT was blaring music. It was just because we are teenagers I suppose. . .
Anyways, the rest of the trip was great! We spent a lot of time outdoors, unless it started raining, then we would read, play cards, or something.
One day we went on a hike in the woods, not really following a path. . . that was interesting. I ended up falling. XD
There were many other things we did, but I'll update later to explain.
On Monday we drove to Trinidad, CO, and JT and I took the train home. The train station there was a little trailer think... I have picture to put up later! ^^
It was a looooong ride, and I couldn't sleep, I don't think JT could either. But the woman next to us was nice, and she even lent me her book light so I could read my book.
And when I got back today, I took a nap. It was good to be in my own bed! And I missed everyone so much! And my poor Daisey hasn't left my side! XD
I also found out my host family!! I will be living in Saitama and I will be living with a family of four! I have a mom, dad, older brother, and a sister around my age! I'm so excited!!
Then this afternoon I went swimming with Riley and Victoria, and some of their friends. It was totally great!!
And tomorrow I need to start planning for Japan and my birthday party, plus Zach, Victoria, and I are gonna hang out!
busy busy!!
Well, we ended up getting kick out of the library for being 'to loud' even though we weren't talking, and the woman next to JT was blaring music. It was just because we are teenagers I suppose. . .
Anyways, the rest of the trip was great! We spent a lot of time outdoors, unless it started raining, then we would read, play cards, or something.
One day we went on a hike in the woods, not really following a path. . . that was interesting. I ended up falling. XD
There were many other things we did, but I'll update later to explain.
On Monday we drove to Trinidad, CO, and JT and I took the train home. The train station there was a little trailer think... I have picture to put up later! ^^
It was a looooong ride, and I couldn't sleep, I don't think JT could either. But the woman next to us was nice, and she even lent me her book light so I could read my book.
And when I got back today, I took a nap. It was good to be in my own bed! And I missed everyone so much! And my poor Daisey hasn't left my side! XD
I also found out my host family!! I will be living in Saitama and I will be living with a family of four! I have a mom, dad, older brother, and a sister around my age! I'm so excited!!
Then this afternoon I went swimming with Riley and Victoria, and some of their friends. It was totally great!!
And tomorrow I need to start planning for Japan and my birthday party, plus Zach, Victoria, and I are gonna hang out!
busy busy!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)