Day 11 (Dec 30) - Chicago
Becky, the kids (+ cousins), Becky's mom, and I went to Chinatown to check it out. It looks kind of like the one in Philly except it's got more pagodas and cooler architecture. Our arch is better though! We walked around buying little knick-knacks for the kids, then went to this restaurant that is popular in the area. You could tell, because the line was out the door. It took a bit to get seated since there was 8 of us, but lunch was really good.
On the way back to Becky's mom's place, I got a message from Jessie to come to Granville station which was only two stops past Becky's on the red line. She told me to meet her at Metropolis Cafe, which is supposed to be one of the best in Chicago. After some tea, we went to do some more house hunting!
__House#5: A and her roommate live in a place similar to the girls from the previous day, except this house was sort of perfect. Exactly what Jessie's been looking for, except a little out of her price range. A is a grad student, and does art in her free time. She converted the basement into a studio for art, and there's also a laundry in the house so she wouldn't have to run around trying to find one. Alas, they also wanted someone for January 1, which is too early for her.
__House#6: J's place was pretty cool, but seemed more like a chill pad, and not a live pad. They had 4 rooms and 2 living rooms, so it gave the illusion of having more room than it did. It was all guys who lived there, and the place didn't seem like it was being taken care of at all. The bathroom was filthy, and the toilet seat was even split in two. As we walked out, a rat ran past us on the street, and we knew this place was no good.
Afterwards, we returned to the Flat Iron for a little bit, and went to eat dinner at Earwax. They asked us if we wanted a booth or to sit under the monkey, so of course we chose under the monkey. Dinner was really delicious. On our way out, one of the waiters stopped us, and said "We have something for you", and handed us a container. Inside was the cutest cupcake ever! We went Myopic, a cool bookstore across the street and ate our cupcake while reading books.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
CRAZY FUN
Day 10
Yesterday, Tuesday, was tons of fun!
I got up bright and early myself, and went down to Hyde Park around the University of Chicago. I saw Obama's Chicago residence, or at least the tiny bit of it not covered by tall trees. There was security as well, so I couldn't get close to it. I went to the Oriental Institute Museum, which has an amazing collection of stuff from the ancient Near East (Babylonians, Persians, Nubians, Egyptians, etc..). Afterwards, I was just walking around campus and the parks around it when my friend Jessie called me back. I stayed with her last time I was in Chicago, and we had tons of fun, so I knew no matter what we did, it would be tons of fun again.
I took the train to where she lived, then we took her car to apartment hunting. She got these people off Craigslist, and was hoping to get something around Logan Square. All the houses we went to see were pretty "interesting" in their own ways.
__House #1: We went to see T first who was a single (not otherwise relevent, except he kept mentioning it in email to Jessie) man in his 30s, who had a super nice apartment that he designed himself. He was a bit intense and neurotic, and his laugh was ....... interesting. Jessie decided that she probably couldn't share a living space with someone like that, and we moved on to the next house.
__House #2: Next house was inhabited by P and T, two guys who promised that if they had a girl living with them, their place would be more clean. Both of them were stoners. The place was very bare, and the guys were more someone you'd want to party with than live with. The verdict was in: NO WAY.]
__House #3: This house gave out lots of bad vibes before we even went inside. Jessie's phone died, there was no free parking on the street, and there was a gate on the front that had no door bell so we had to scream hoping they would hear us. Somehow luckily, they did and came down and let us in. T and M were two girls who were still in college, but didn't want to live in dorms. Their place was very cute, and they seemed like two girls, but that place just called out NO to us for some reason. We moved on....
__House #4: This house had a SUPER CHEAP ROOM. It was very close to Logan Square. In fact, we were at a gas station charging our cellphones when they called Jessie, and we were ONLY A BLOCK AWAY. It was the first good sign. It was also very close to Jessie's friend's house, which was sign #2. The inside was a definite fixer upper, but for $215 a month before utilities, I would totally take that then go wild at Ikea if it were me. Before house #3, we went to this cafe on Logan Square, New Wave Coffee, and one of the roommates at house #4 was in one of the photos from the exhibit at the cafe. I asked if it was her, and she said yes! Sign #3 that it was good. They also had a roommate named "Release" who was Mexican as we were told, and lived in a space behind the fridge that was covered by some wood panels and a big lock on it. Everything we heard about this guy from the other roommates was pretty legendary. Seems they had 5 people living there, and 2 were moving out, so they needed 2 more. Basically, the only bad things were that the roommates seemed a little too dirty (not them personally, their living space), the place seemed a bit shady with the law, and she didn't know if she could trust her valuables there. Anyways, if it were me, I'd wanna live there for a few months, just for the experience!
After all that, we went to the exhibit opening at this one Japanese restaurant for an artist Jessie was interning for. We got some free sushi and free drinks, then after a few hours went back to their place. They live in this building that's full of art studios, and some people just rent studios and others live there. Jessie's friend was working on something in one of the other studios, so we visited him for a few hours. Jessie painted a bit, and I mixed her paints for her. I got back to Becky's parents' around 1:15am.
A GOOD DAY! Can't wait to see Jessie again today.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was tons of fun!
I got up bright and early myself, and went down to Hyde Park around the University of Chicago. I saw Obama's Chicago residence, or at least the tiny bit of it not covered by tall trees. There was security as well, so I couldn't get close to it. I went to the Oriental Institute Museum, which has an amazing collection of stuff from the ancient Near East (Babylonians, Persians, Nubians, Egyptians, etc..). Afterwards, I was just walking around campus and the parks around it when my friend Jessie called me back. I stayed with her last time I was in Chicago, and we had tons of fun, so I knew no matter what we did, it would be tons of fun again.
I took the train to where she lived, then we took her car to apartment hunting. She got these people off Craigslist, and was hoping to get something around Logan Square. All the houses we went to see were pretty "interesting" in their own ways.
__House #1: We went to see T first who was a single (not otherwise relevent, except he kept mentioning it in email to Jessie) man in his 30s, who had a super nice apartment that he designed himself. He was a bit intense and neurotic, and his laugh was ....... interesting. Jessie decided that she probably couldn't share a living space with someone like that, and we moved on to the next house.
__House #2: Next house was inhabited by P and T, two guys who promised that if they had a girl living with them, their place would be more clean. Both of them were stoners. The place was very bare, and the guys were more someone you'd want to party with than live with. The verdict was in: NO WAY.]
__House #3: This house gave out lots of bad vibes before we even went inside. Jessie's phone died, there was no free parking on the street, and there was a gate on the front that had no door bell so we had to scream hoping they would hear us. Somehow luckily, they did and came down and let us in. T and M were two girls who were still in college, but didn't want to live in dorms. Their place was very cute, and they seemed like two girls, but that place just called out NO to us for some reason. We moved on....
__House #4: This house had a SUPER CHEAP ROOM. It was very close to Logan Square. In fact, we were at a gas station charging our cellphones when they called Jessie, and we were ONLY A BLOCK AWAY. It was the first good sign. It was also very close to Jessie's friend's house, which was sign #2. The inside was a definite fixer upper, but for $215 a month before utilities, I would totally take that then go wild at Ikea if it were me. Before house #3, we went to this cafe on Logan Square, New Wave Coffee, and one of the roommates at house #4 was in one of the photos from the exhibit at the cafe. I asked if it was her, and she said yes! Sign #3 that it was good. They also had a roommate named "Release" who was Mexican as we were told, and lived in a space behind the fridge that was covered by some wood panels and a big lock on it. Everything we heard about this guy from the other roommates was pretty legendary. Seems they had 5 people living there, and 2 were moving out, so they needed 2 more. Basically, the only bad things were that the roommates seemed a little too dirty (not them personally, their living space), the place seemed a bit shady with the law, and she didn't know if she could trust her valuables there. Anyways, if it were me, I'd wanna live there for a few months, just for the experience!
After all that, we went to the exhibit opening at this one Japanese restaurant for an artist Jessie was interning for. We got some free sushi and free drinks, then after a few hours went back to their place. They live in this building that's full of art studios, and some people just rent studios and others live there. Jessie's friend was working on something in one of the other studios, so we visited him for a few hours. Jessie painted a bit, and I mixed her paints for her. I got back to Becky's parents' around 1:15am.
A GOOD DAY! Can't wait to see Jessie again today.
Monday, December 28, 2009
BACK IN CHICAGO!!
Day 8
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, but we weren't packed and out of the house til about 1pm. It's a little difficult with the kids too. So Becky, the kids, and I set off for Chicago via Milwaukee.
In Milwaukee we stopped at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The building (click here) itself is stunning, and has wings that open and close at various times of the day. We went there to see the Warhol exhibit, where they were showcasing his non-commercial stuff. I really loved his stuff, and rest of the museum had great pieces as well.
After that, we continued on and arrived in Highland Park, IL around 6pm. Every year, Becky and her family go to Fuddruckers in Highland Park for dinner. It was a bit awkward at first, but I'd met a lot of the family members before, so it was ok. After dinner, we went to her sister's in law's place for some refreshments, and got into Chicago around 11pm. We were staying at her parents' house in the Edgewater section of Chicago. Oddly enough, I RECOGNIZED THIS PLACE. I drive right past their house to get on the highway to leave Chicago back in October. What a coincidence! And crazy that I even noticed.
Day 9
Today morning, I went with Becky's mom to the Salvation Army where she donated a bunch of stuff. I bought a bathing suit that I will need later in the week (^_^). We spent most of the day waiting for Becky's sister to come down with her family. When we got there, we took the L down to Macy's downtown that is famous for its Walnut Room that has a huge tree. We went there for dessert, then back to her parents'. Becky went out with her sister, and I just stayed in with the kids.
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, but we weren't packed and out of the house til about 1pm. It's a little difficult with the kids too. So Becky, the kids, and I set off for Chicago via Milwaukee.
In Milwaukee we stopped at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The building (click here) itself is stunning, and has wings that open and close at various times of the day. We went there to see the Warhol exhibit, where they were showcasing his non-commercial stuff. I really loved his stuff, and rest of the museum had great pieces as well.
After that, we continued on and arrived in Highland Park, IL around 6pm. Every year, Becky and her family go to Fuddruckers in Highland Park for dinner. It was a bit awkward at first, but I'd met a lot of the family members before, so it was ok. After dinner, we went to her sister's in law's place for some refreshments, and got into Chicago around 11pm. We were staying at her parents' house in the Edgewater section of Chicago. Oddly enough, I RECOGNIZED THIS PLACE. I drive right past their house to get on the highway to leave Chicago back in October. What a coincidence! And crazy that I even noticed.
Day 9
Today morning, I went with Becky's mom to the Salvation Army where she donated a bunch of stuff. I bought a bathing suit that I will need later in the week (^_^). We spent most of the day waiting for Becky's sister to come down with her family. When we got there, we took the L down to Macy's downtown that is famous for its Walnut Room that has a huge tree. We went there for dessert, then back to her parents'. Becky went out with her sister, and I just stayed in with the kids.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Post Christmas
Friday we played the kids' board games all day. Pikturika is lots of fun!
Saturday, Becky and I went to the local mall and just hung out for a bit. Afterwards, went back to the big steep hill for some more sledding. My butt is all bruised up now. Ouch! At night, Becky, Alex (neighbor's godson), and I went bar hopping for a bit.
Today........................ MILWAUKEE THEN CHICAGO!!! Can't wait =D
Saturday, Becky and I went to the local mall and just hung out for a bit. Afterwards, went back to the big steep hill for some more sledding. My butt is all bruised up now. Ouch! At night, Becky, Alex (neighbor's godson), and I went bar hopping for a bit.
Today........................ MILWAUKEE THEN CHICAGO!!! Can't wait =D
Friday, December 25, 2009
Day 4
On Wednesday, we were supposed to go to a museum in Milwaukee to see the Warhol exhibit there, but got snowed in. Spent the day with the kids instead. We watched YouTube videos for hours. The kids' friend came over for a sleepover and we made some peanut butter cookies.
Day 5
We were baking Christmas sugar cookies for Santa. In the oven, some sugar cookies fell off the pan, onto the coils, and started a small fire. We managed to put it out with baking soda, then finished the cookies. Afterwards, we decorated them into all cool designs. The kids got a bit carried away, and some of them looked really awesome! We also shoved a 3D snowman in there, but he melted. L'sad.
We went to Becky's friend's (Naomi) house. She's an awesome cook as I had been hearing for the past week. We hung out there for a few hours for some linner (lunch-dinner), then came back. The family went to church, and when they got back, Brett's brother came over and the family we went sledding with Monday morning. We had some drinks and then went to bed.
Day 6
CHRISTMAS MORNING!! The kids got tons of awesome gifts. I didn't expect to get anything, but I got a gift card from Becky and Brett. Also got a take-apart-eraser, which is meant to be said as one fast word. The kids love those things, and already have at least 30 of them! Now I do too!
On Wednesday, we were supposed to go to a museum in Milwaukee to see the Warhol exhibit there, but got snowed in. Spent the day with the kids instead. We watched YouTube videos for hours. The kids' friend came over for a sleepover and we made some peanut butter cookies.
Day 5
We were baking Christmas sugar cookies for Santa. In the oven, some sugar cookies fell off the pan, onto the coils, and started a small fire. We managed to put it out with baking soda, then finished the cookies. Afterwards, we decorated them into all cool designs. The kids got a bit carried away, and some of them looked really awesome! We also shoved a 3D snowman in there, but he melted. L'sad.
We went to Becky's friend's (Naomi) house. She's an awesome cook as I had been hearing for the past week. We hung out there for a few hours for some linner (lunch-dinner), then came back. The family went to church, and when they got back, Brett's brother came over and the family we went sledding with Monday morning. We had some drinks and then went to bed.
Day 6
CHRISTMAS MORNING!! The kids got tons of awesome gifts. I didn't expect to get anything, but I got a gift card from Becky and Brett. Also got a take-apart-eraser, which is meant to be said as one fast word. The kids love those things, and already have at least 30 of them! Now I do too!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Liking Madison....
Day 2
We got up early, and went out sledding in the snow with Becky's 3 kids, Ma (10), Au (8), and Ai (6). Some of Becky's neighbors went as well, and then we did that for a while so that Becky could get some chores done at home. Afterwards, we took the kids to the dentist, then went shopping.
After the dentist, we met Becky's sister and her family again in downtown Madison. After walking around for a bit, we had some dinner, and went back home. Some more of Becky's neighbors came over, and their godson who's my age. We talked for a bit, and he said he might be able to show me around a bit as well. That'd be cool. He has a car.
Day 3
There was even more snow on the ground. I went to go play in the snow with the kids, and I let them bury me under a big pile of snow. Meanwhile, Becky and her husband, Brett, went to do some more Christmas shopping. After we got sick of the snow, we started watching a Disney movie, and one of Ai's classmates stopped by for a play date, so she watched with us.
After lunch we all went sledding again, this time on a TALLER STEEPER hill. I overheard someone say that tomorrow there will be a blizzard. Great......... considering there's already over 2 feet on the ground!
At night, Becky and I went to this karaoke thing at a bar that has a live band, that is just sooo much fun to watch. I chose to sing Sugartown by Nancy Sinatra because of the movie (500) Days of Summer, where the main character sang it. She was from the Midwest, so I vowed if I ever went to the Midwest, I'D SING THAT SONG! Unfortunately when I got up on stage, it turned out they DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT, even though they picked their own songbook, which that song was on. I sang a bit to them and they decided to wing it, and it sounded quite good, but I was all confused by the arrangement, and it sounded more like Sugartown (Chopped'n'Screwed Remix). Everyone who sang gets a free drink, woot!
We got up early, and went out sledding in the snow with Becky's 3 kids, Ma (10), Au (8), and Ai (6). Some of Becky's neighbors went as well, and then we did that for a while so that Becky could get some chores done at home. Afterwards, we took the kids to the dentist, then went shopping.
After the dentist, we met Becky's sister and her family again in downtown Madison. After walking around for a bit, we had some dinner, and went back home. Some more of Becky's neighbors came over, and their godson who's my age. We talked for a bit, and he said he might be able to show me around a bit as well. That'd be cool. He has a car.
Day 3
There was even more snow on the ground. I went to go play in the snow with the kids, and I let them bury me under a big pile of snow. Meanwhile, Becky and her husband, Brett, went to do some more Christmas shopping. After we got sick of the snow, we started watching a Disney movie, and one of Ai's classmates stopped by for a play date, so she watched with us.
After lunch we all went sledding again, this time on a TALLER STEEPER hill. I overheard someone say that tomorrow there will be a blizzard. Great......... considering there's already over 2 feet on the ground!
At night, Becky and I went to this karaoke thing at a bar that has a live band, that is just sooo much fun to watch. I chose to sing Sugartown by Nancy Sinatra because of the movie (500) Days of Summer, where the main character sang it. She was from the Midwest, so I vowed if I ever went to the Midwest, I'D SING THAT SONG! Unfortunately when I got up on stage, it turned out they DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT, even though they picked their own songbook, which that song was on. I sang a bit to them and they decided to wing it, and it sounded quite good, but I was all confused by the arrangement, and it sounded more like Sugartown (Chopped'n'Screwed Remix). Everyone who sang gets a free drink, woot!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Midwest Adventure Day 1
Well…. Day 1 of my post-graduate Midwest Adventure has commenced. Everyone's been looking at me weird for choosing Wisconsin, but personally I see no issues with it. Sure, it's cold this time of year. But 20 inches of snow just fell over my development, so I don't think my parents have a right to talk now about running off to a cold state. They gave me the same looks and criticisms when I told them I was going to Tennessee or West Virginia, and I've had amazing memorable experiences in both.
So let's start at the beginning. This morning I woke up to aforementioned 20 inches of snow on my driveway that my dad and I had to plow out. It's a good thing my dad drives what can almost be called a tank. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. All the flights around me were being delayed or cancelled, so I was so worried. My plane didn't even arrive to my terminal til 5 minutes before boarding for us, and the other people still had to get off the plane. Regardless, we left on time, and my layover in Chicago was no more stressful.
My host, Becky, picked me up from the airport and took me to her house where they were having a Christmas party. I originally was going to come the 21st, but she said it would be fun to come, so I did. She was super nice, and so was her family. They did that thing where families go in a circle unwrapping one gift at a time, except they didn't do it in a circle, they did it by youngest to oldest. I'm sure to some people that's pretty standard, but for me as a Jew, it was pretty interesting to watch. Since there was about 20-30 of them, it took quite a bit.
Afterwards, the party died down a bit, some people left, and we spent some time talking about travels and other stuff with Becky and a few of her family members. She has 3 kids, and they're all really sweet. She has some adventures planned, I'm sure! I can't wait to get out and see more of this state!!
So let's start at the beginning. This morning I woke up to aforementioned 20 inches of snow on my driveway that my dad and I had to plow out. It's a good thing my dad drives what can almost be called a tank. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. All the flights around me were being delayed or cancelled, so I was so worried. My plane didn't even arrive to my terminal til 5 minutes before boarding for us, and the other people still had to get off the plane. Regardless, we left on time, and my layover in Chicago was no more stressful.
My host, Becky, picked me up from the airport and took me to her house where they were having a Christmas party. I originally was going to come the 21st, but she said it would be fun to come, so I did. She was super nice, and so was her family. They did that thing where families go in a circle unwrapping one gift at a time, except they didn't do it in a circle, they did it by youngest to oldest. I'm sure to some people that's pretty standard, but for me as a Jew, it was pretty interesting to watch. Since there was about 20-30 of them, it took quite a bit.
Afterwards, the party died down a bit, some people left, and we spent some time talking about travels and other stuff with Becky and a few of her family members. She has 3 kids, and they're all really sweet. She has some adventures planned, I'm sure! I can't wait to get out and see more of this state!!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
VEGAS, BABY!!
Wednesday, mom and I flew out to Las Vegas!! We got a pretty good deal staying at Bally's. We had a good 4 days together overall, but with so much bickering I realize why it's not possible for me to stay at home any longer.
Wednesday, we took our first walk down Las Vegas Boulevard, stopped by the famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on the History Channel. Then we went and got delicious Ethiopian for dinner.
On Thursday, we went to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was simply breath taking! I took a lot of amazing pictures on the sides of edges. Mom almost had several heart attacks and kept begging me to come down from ledges. At night we went to Paris Hotel, and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Friday we walked around a few hotels, and then had dinner at P. F. Chang's. After dinner, we went to see Cirque du Soleil's KA. The show was phenomenal! Really beautiful and well done.
Saturday walked around a ton of casinos we hadn't covered yet. Mom gambled a ton and after a week of losing, she made a +$400 after 2 hours at the tables. I gambled $2, lost them both. Oh well, gambling's not my game and I've never been much interested in it.
Saturday night we flew back and arrived today morning in Philly.
Hotel/Casinos I checked out: Bally's, Paris, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Rio, Wynn, Treasure Island, The Mirage, Flamingo, New York New York (rode the roller coaster!!), Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.
Overall a success!!
Finals coming up this week... Gotta finish a bunch of essays too.
P.S. I got a twitter! Follow me~ http://twitter.com/zaychiki
Wednesday, we took our first walk down Las Vegas Boulevard, stopped by the famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on the History Channel. Then we went and got delicious Ethiopian for dinner.
On Thursday, we went to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was simply breath taking! I took a lot of amazing pictures on the sides of edges. Mom almost had several heart attacks and kept begging me to come down from ledges. At night we went to Paris Hotel, and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Friday we walked around a few hotels, and then had dinner at P. F. Chang's. After dinner, we went to see Cirque du Soleil's KA. The show was phenomenal! Really beautiful and well done.
Saturday walked around a ton of casinos we hadn't covered yet. Mom gambled a ton and after a week of losing, she made a +$400 after 2 hours at the tables. I gambled $2, lost them both. Oh well, gambling's not my game and I've never been much interested in it.
Saturday night we flew back and arrived today morning in Philly.
Hotel/Casinos I checked out: Bally's, Paris, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Rio, Wynn, Treasure Island, The Mirage, Flamingo, New York New York (rode the roller coaster!!), Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.
Overall a success!!
Finals coming up this week... Gotta finish a bunch of essays too.
P.S. I got a twitter! Follow me~ http://twitter.com/zaychiki
Saturday, December 5, 2009
December
This month...
1 day of classes left to attend
1 class presentation left to present
2 final papers left to complete
2 final exams left to take
1 school left to graduate from
1 job left to get
1 day of classes left to attend
1 class presentation left to present
2 final papers left to complete
2 final exams left to take
1 school left to graduate from
1 job left to get
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December =D
November is FINALLY OVER!!! And December is here =D YAY!!!
December is the month in which I nail my senior portrait (today 1:45pm!!)
December is the month in which I finish all my super long papers x.X
December is the month in which I finish my last Temple classes EVER!
December is the month in which I have a bunch of really awesome job interviews and nail them, getting a great job (please!)
December is the month in which I see my best friend when she gets back from Wales =D
December is the month in which I celebrate Christmahanukwanzaa.
December is the month in which I go to Vegas and the Grand Canyon for the first time =)
December is the month in which my anchor (breast reduction) scars heal, and I no longer have a hole the size of a dime in my stitches.
December is the month in which I will finally breathe easy realizing I am not *complete* failure and things will be all right.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Bad girl...
I haven't updated this since the end of August... oops!
But, not too many exciting things have happened because alas I am still in Philadelphia. I did travel this month a bit though because my parents went to Russia and Ukraine for a week and a half, so I had a free car to abuse. I spent one weekend driving to Chicago, and the other weekend driving to West Virginia. Had an amazing time in both places!!
Right now, I'm trying to scrounge up whatever money I can, cause I'm finished school in a little less than 2 months. To be precise, 7 1/2 weeks til my last final exam, but 12 actual days of class... I'm still doing some weekends at Rescue Tech, whatever Rita will give me. I'm also dogsitting again starting this weekend. It's a crazy little dog called Chi Chi. Four doors down, so it's really easy to do.
Can't wait to be done with this all ><
But, not too many exciting things have happened because alas I am still in Philadelphia. I did travel this month a bit though because my parents went to Russia and Ukraine for a week and a half, so I had a free car to abuse. I spent one weekend driving to Chicago, and the other weekend driving to West Virginia. Had an amazing time in both places!!
Right now, I'm trying to scrounge up whatever money I can, cause I'm finished school in a little less than 2 months. To be precise, 7 1/2 weeks til my last final exam, but 12 actual days of class... I'm still doing some weekends at Rescue Tech, whatever Rita will give me. I'm also dogsitting again starting this weekend. It's a crazy little dog called Chi Chi. Four doors down, so it's really easy to do.
Can't wait to be done with this all ><
Monday, August 31, 2009
Fall semester...
I changed around my schedule to only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I don't have class today, but I'm gonna head down to Temple anyways. It's gonna be so lonely. A lot of my friends have graduated. On Saturday, I went to Jenn's going away party at Fado's. Manchester beat Arsenal, so of course Jenn was happy =) Unfortunately, I prolly won't be able to see her again until she leaves for the airport....
First class of the day at 11am to 12:20 will be Chinese Politics, or as the teacher has renamed the course, "The State and Globalization Reexamined: China, Global Power or Political Decay?". Gotta head over to Tuttleman for that one There are only 7 of us in this class, including Linh Chia and Lauren Tarnoski, so I already know about half the class. Woot. Should be fun.
Next up after that is Disasters: Geology Vs. Hollywood in Barton Hall from 2-3:20. I know Justin Fortmeier and Michelle Provencher in that one so once again it doesn't have to be an awkward first day.
Third up from 3:30-4:50 is also in Barton on the same floor, so I don't have to worry about switching buildings in my 10 minutes, and just relax. This one is my Poli Sci capstone. I don't know anyone in there yet, or at least I don't recognize any of the names, but there is one name that stuck out for me. Someone there has the name Liya Groysman. That's so weird, cause she's also a Russian Jew from my county, Bucks County, and she has the same name as my mom before she was married. Hmmmm.
Next on Tuesday I have Nationalism: Ethnic Politics in Anderson Hall from 5:30-8. There's this one girl Ivana in it from my Urban Politics class last semester. I don't know her that well, but oh well, better than nothing.
Same time slot on Thursday I have Psychology as a Social Science in Tuttleman Hall. It's a 75 person class, but I don't know anyone x.X
In Miles news... yesterday Nelly told me to be more stern with him and not take him out for walks so many times a day cause he keeps pestering me for walks. So I only took him out 3 times yesterday as opposed to 5 or 6 times. So to punish me... he walked into the room at 3:20am this morning and woke me up. Wouldn't let me go til I at least took him out back. Don't dogs sleep at nite? ._.
First class of the day at 11am to 12:20 will be Chinese Politics, or as the teacher has renamed the course, "The State and Globalization Reexamined: China, Global Power or Political Decay?". Gotta head over to Tuttleman for that one There are only 7 of us in this class, including Linh Chia and Lauren Tarnoski, so I already know about half the class. Woot. Should be fun.
Next up after that is Disasters: Geology Vs. Hollywood in Barton Hall from 2-3:20. I know Justin Fortmeier and Michelle Provencher in that one so once again it doesn't have to be an awkward first day.
Third up from 3:30-4:50 is also in Barton on the same floor, so I don't have to worry about switching buildings in my 10 minutes, and just relax. This one is my Poli Sci capstone. I don't know anyone in there yet, or at least I don't recognize any of the names, but there is one name that stuck out for me. Someone there has the name Liya Groysman. That's so weird, cause she's also a Russian Jew from my county, Bucks County, and she has the same name as my mom before she was married. Hmmmm.
Next on Tuesday I have Nationalism: Ethnic Politics in Anderson Hall from 5:30-8. There's this one girl Ivana in it from my Urban Politics class last semester. I don't know her that well, but oh well, better than nothing.
Same time slot on Thursday I have Psychology as a Social Science in Tuttleman Hall. It's a 75 person class, but I don't know anyone x.X
In Miles news... yesterday Nelly told me to be more stern with him and not take him out for walks so many times a day cause he keeps pestering me for walks. So I only took him out 3 times yesterday as opposed to 5 or 6 times. So to punish me... he walked into the room at 3:20am this morning and woke me up. Wouldn't let me go til I at least took him out back. Don't dogs sleep at nite? ._.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Back in Philly
Since I got home, thing have been back to their old routines at home...
I had a bunch of job interviews lined up, but didn't get anything. At this point I'm just desperate for work and to get out of the house, so I'll take just about anything. Just to earn enough for maintainence for the fall semester before I leave again so that I don't spend the money I have saved up for when I leave. I have another interview as a server at a vineyard on Wednesday. I hope I get it!
School starts next Tuesday. I arranged my schedule to only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 11am-8pm.... full day! We'll see if I can manage.
Been seeing a lot of family since I got back. It's good to visit them. Especially Arthur got so big! He's having his first birthday in November. But he's gotten so fat, he's like a miniature buddha.
Also, last Sunday I went to Gettysburg and Harrisburg with mama, Eric, and Max. Gettysburg is a very cool battle ground. And so well documented. The only problem was that mama bought a bus tour for us, and the tour guide was quite good, but the windows were too high, and they only stopped to let us out to take pictures like twice. After that, we stopped in Harrisburg on the way home. We'd never been to our state capital before, and the capitol building was gorgeous. And all the streets were named the same as they are in Center City Philly. The Susquehanna also ran though it, and the city was divided by a bunch of pretty bridges. Middle of nowhere, but altogether a pretty place.
As of Thursday, I'm dog-sitting for my mom's cousin Nelly's dog Miles. He's a big dog, a lab and shepherd mix. He's very calm though, so he's easy to take care of. Except for when I walk him, and he tries to chase every dog, cat, and squirrel down the street. Nelly's home is in Fishtown, which I've been told is a pretty cool neighborhood. I left DSLR at home, but I'm going home shortly on Tuesday night, so I'll grab it then and take some pics. From here is just a 30 minute walk to school and 40 minute walk to Olde City. She told me First Friday in Northern Liberties is pretty awesome, so I'll have to check that out next Friday. Also next Friday, Cliff is having a party at his new place, but I'm not sure if I'm going yet.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I'm finally home...
Home life back to normal. Yesterday, I was a total of 21 hours enroute between Korea and Philly, not including cars to and from the airports... This past week I mostly hung out with friends, and then I had exams on Thursday and Friday. I once again got a 94% for the second session. Good enough for me. Billy's talking about starting a blog in Korean. I'm kinda considering trying to write some bits on here in Korean (maybe Russian too) on here. We'll see.
Friday was also graduation.
Saturday was mostly SHOPPING! and hanging out.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Up north
We were supposed to go to Panmunjum and the DMZ a couple weeks ago, but the trip was cancelled because the UN closed the area up for that week we were supposed to go. So instead we went this Friday, August 7th. Some of the other parts of the tour were closed up, but at least we got to go to the main important building, and take pictures there.
I stepped onto North Korean soil for two minutes!! Does that count as being there? If you go into the negotiations room, while South Korean tours are going on, no North Korean soldier can step inside. If North Korean tours are happening, no South Korean soldiers are allowed inside. It was actually quite intimidating cause the soldiers were taking pictures of us in the background, as if they were tourists on holiday or something. Also, when we were in the room, they kept staring in on us, and taking more pictures. Our guide told is it was so they could use our pictures in propaganda materials.
We also went to eat lunch at this one restaurant where the performer was North Korean. He seemed quite assimilated to South Korean life.
After we returned back to Seoul, I went to Yongsan (용산) to meet Hojin. She's a friend who studied ESL at Drexel for a year when I met her through some people. We had dinner, then went to karaoke. I stayed at her house, which had a gorgeous view of the Han River from a big window. Prime Seoul real estate.
Saturday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn to take the first subway at 5:45 to East Seoul Express Bus Station. I got a 7:20 bus to Sokcho (속초), and arrived there at 11:00. On the way there, I saw a bit of Seoraksan aka Mt. Seorak (설악산) which I hiked later. It was a beautiful view.
I checked into my hostel, The House Hostel owned by Mr. Yoo and his mother. I really loved it there. Mr. Yoo gave me so much helpful information about how to get where I wanted to go, nice places around Sokcho, and places to go eat. For just 30,000W (about $25) a night, you get your own room, free laundry, free internet, free bike rentals, and free breakfast. The place is traditionally a love motel, as most cheap accommodations in Korea are, but it's been spruced up to reflect itself in an international hostel style.
I took a bus to Seoraksan, and got there at 1. Mr. Yoo advised me to book the cable car first, and then go to one of the other tracks cause the cable car had a big line. It proved to be right, because the next available one was for 1:50. I got one for 3 instead, and hiked up to Biryong Falls (비령폭포) and then came back and went up the cable car. It was so cloudy that I couldn't see more than a few meters in front of me. But regardless, Seoraksan was beautiful. Afterwards, the rain started down pretty hard, so I headed back to Sokcho.
I took a walk around Sokcho for about 3 hours, and went to the beach as well. Sokcho is a really nice city, and actually kind of reminds me of Atlantic City, but with cleaner beaches. I walked around the length of the harbour, and then had to take a barge back to the other side to avoid making my 3 hour walk a 5 hour walk. The swim I took was about 7:30, so the water was FREEZING, but once I got all in, it felt so nice.
When I got back to the hostel, while checking my emails in the kitchen, I met an Australian man who used to work for Nestle Korea a few years back, since he works for Nestle Australia back home. We talked for several hours, and had some soju he bought. Then went to bed when the kitchen closed at 12.
Sunday morning, I went for a morning bike ride up to the lighthouse and looking points. After that, at breakfast, I met the Australian man, and an older French couple I spoke to briefly the day before when they checked in. We chatted for about an hour, then I headed up north, my eventual destination the Unification Observatory, the northern most tip of South Korea that touched NK.
Mr. Yoo told me to take the bus to Hwajinpo Lake(화진포), and then hitch the rest of the journey. I didn't even get to Hwajinpo, because the bus I took said it didn't go all they way up and dropped me off. The next two buses didn't go there either. So I stuck my thumb out and waited. Eventually, this little grandpa and grandma picked me up and took me til Hwajinpo. They offered to take me all the way up north, but it was out of their way, and I insisted that I would be fine til there.
Hwajinpo is a huge gorgeous lake that empties out into Hwajinpo Beach, which is equally beautiful with clear clean waters. The lake is most famous for the fact that Kim Ilsung (김일성) and Rhee Seungman (이승만), the first two presidents of North and South Korea respectively, had houses on opposite sides of the lake facing each other.
After this, I hitched a ride up to the front gate to where you have to enter the north most bit of South Korea, that requires going through a military check point. The man who gave me a ride til this point was an old man who fought in the Korean War for the south side, but his family is originally from the North, and most of them are still stuck there unfortunately. It was also amazing that he could speak both English and Russian. He said he learned it in the army.
At the ticket counter, the girl told me that I could not pass the checkpoint on foot, and I must go in a car. She said she often paired foreigners with couples who had cars, and would take them there and out. The couple she paired me with didn't initially seem to take any interest in me, and I thought that it would be a pretty boring ride. Once we got to the observatory, on the way up, they started talking to me a bit, and I found out the husband used to lead tours to Geumgangsan or Mt. Geumgang (금강산). This mountain in North Korea was one of the few places people could enter NK from the South. It was a tourist resort maintained by Hyundai Asan (현대 아산) that has since been closed down since tension between the North and South has escalated.
The observatory itself was not that special, but the site from it was breathtaking. Untouched beaches and mountains all around us. Afterwards, they were returning back to Seoul where they lived, and offered to drop me all the way back down to Sokcho, which they pretty much needed to pass to get home anyway. I gratefully accepted, and we had a bit more conversation, then me and his wife both dozed off.
I got back to Sokcho at 5, and took the bus back to Seoul at 6. Because of traffic coming back, it took 4 hours instead of the 3 it took to get to Sokcho. It kind of reminded me of traffic driving into Guadalajara. The bus dropped me off at the terminal, and I found the stop to take the 1112 bus back home. Walking along the stop, I saw James waiting for the bus as well, so we just chatted for the whole ride home about our weekends. He went to Andong to meet his Korean in-laws.
I stepped onto North Korean soil for two minutes!! Does that count as being there? If you go into the negotiations room, while South Korean tours are going on, no North Korean soldier can step inside. If North Korean tours are happening, no South Korean soldiers are allowed inside. It was actually quite intimidating cause the soldiers were taking pictures of us in the background, as if they were tourists on holiday or something. Also, when we were in the room, they kept staring in on us, and taking more pictures. Our guide told is it was so they could use our pictures in propaganda materials.
We also went to eat lunch at this one restaurant where the performer was North Korean. He seemed quite assimilated to South Korean life.
After we returned back to Seoul, I went to Yongsan (용산) to meet Hojin. She's a friend who studied ESL at Drexel for a year when I met her through some people. We had dinner, then went to karaoke. I stayed at her house, which had a gorgeous view of the Han River from a big window. Prime Seoul real estate.
Saturday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn to take the first subway at 5:45 to East Seoul Express Bus Station. I got a 7:20 bus to Sokcho (속초), and arrived there at 11:00. On the way there, I saw a bit of Seoraksan aka Mt. Seorak (설악산) which I hiked later. It was a beautiful view.
I checked into my hostel, The House Hostel owned by Mr. Yoo and his mother. I really loved it there. Mr. Yoo gave me so much helpful information about how to get where I wanted to go, nice places around Sokcho, and places to go eat. For just 30,000W (about $25) a night, you get your own room, free laundry, free internet, free bike rentals, and free breakfast. The place is traditionally a love motel, as most cheap accommodations in Korea are, but it's been spruced up to reflect itself in an international hostel style.
I took a bus to Seoraksan, and got there at 1. Mr. Yoo advised me to book the cable car first, and then go to one of the other tracks cause the cable car had a big line. It proved to be right, because the next available one was for 1:50. I got one for 3 instead, and hiked up to Biryong Falls (비령폭포) and then came back and went up the cable car. It was so cloudy that I couldn't see more than a few meters in front of me. But regardless, Seoraksan was beautiful. Afterwards, the rain started down pretty hard, so I headed back to Sokcho.
I took a walk around Sokcho for about 3 hours, and went to the beach as well. Sokcho is a really nice city, and actually kind of reminds me of Atlantic City, but with cleaner beaches. I walked around the length of the harbour, and then had to take a barge back to the other side to avoid making my 3 hour walk a 5 hour walk. The swim I took was about 7:30, so the water was FREEZING, but once I got all in, it felt so nice.
When I got back to the hostel, while checking my emails in the kitchen, I met an Australian man who used to work for Nestle Korea a few years back, since he works for Nestle Australia back home. We talked for several hours, and had some soju he bought. Then went to bed when the kitchen closed at 12.
Sunday morning, I went for a morning bike ride up to the lighthouse and looking points. After that, at breakfast, I met the Australian man, and an older French couple I spoke to briefly the day before when they checked in. We chatted for about an hour, then I headed up north, my eventual destination the Unification Observatory, the northern most tip of South Korea that touched NK.
Mr. Yoo told me to take the bus to Hwajinpo Lake(화진포), and then hitch the rest of the journey. I didn't even get to Hwajinpo, because the bus I took said it didn't go all they way up and dropped me off. The next two buses didn't go there either. So I stuck my thumb out and waited. Eventually, this little grandpa and grandma picked me up and took me til Hwajinpo. They offered to take me all the way up north, but it was out of their way, and I insisted that I would be fine til there.
Hwajinpo is a huge gorgeous lake that empties out into Hwajinpo Beach, which is equally beautiful with clear clean waters. The lake is most famous for the fact that Kim Ilsung (김일성) and Rhee Seungman (이승만), the first two presidents of North and South Korea respectively, had houses on opposite sides of the lake facing each other.
After this, I hitched a ride up to the front gate to where you have to enter the north most bit of South Korea, that requires going through a military check point. The man who gave me a ride til this point was an old man who fought in the Korean War for the south side, but his family is originally from the North, and most of them are still stuck there unfortunately. It was also amazing that he could speak both English and Russian. He said he learned it in the army.
At the ticket counter, the girl told me that I could not pass the checkpoint on foot, and I must go in a car. She said she often paired foreigners with couples who had cars, and would take them there and out. The couple she paired me with didn't initially seem to take any interest in me, and I thought that it would be a pretty boring ride. Once we got to the observatory, on the way up, they started talking to me a bit, and I found out the husband used to lead tours to Geumgangsan or Mt. Geumgang (금강산). This mountain in North Korea was one of the few places people could enter NK from the South. It was a tourist resort maintained by Hyundai Asan (현대 아산) that has since been closed down since tension between the North and South has escalated.
The observatory itself was not that special, but the site from it was breathtaking. Untouched beaches and mountains all around us. Afterwards, they were returning back to Seoul where they lived, and offered to drop me all the way back down to Sokcho, which they pretty much needed to pass to get home anyway. I gratefully accepted, and we had a bit more conversation, then me and his wife both dozed off.
I got back to Sokcho at 5, and took the bus back to Seoul at 6. Because of traffic coming back, it took 4 hours instead of the 3 it took to get to Sokcho. It kind of reminded me of traffic driving into Guadalajara. The bus dropped me off at the terminal, and I found the stop to take the 1112 bus back home. Walking along the stop, I saw James waiting for the bus as well, so we just chatted for the whole ride home about our weekends. He went to Andong to meet his Korean in-laws.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Birthday week
On Wednesday, I turned 22 (I'm 23 in Korean years). Erin bought a cake from Paris Baguette, and some snacks. We ate it during our break, and Peter shared blowing the candles out with me cause his birthday is August 9th.
The day was pretty uneventful otherwise. I cleaned my room and studied a bit.
For our usually Wednesday special lecture, we had a congresswoman from the Grand National Party (한나라당) come to speak to us. It was quite a bit more interesting than most of the other lectures we've had until now. Most of what she said was of no surprise to us, but she was still an interesting person.
Today after class, I went to Itaewon and had burgers with Joyce and Sean at The Corner Bistro. The place got good reviews, and it definitely didn't disappoint for me. After that, we went to a cafe, and we ate another Paris Baguette cake that Sean bought for me.
The day was pretty uneventful otherwise. I cleaned my room and studied a bit.
For our usually Wednesday special lecture, we had a congresswoman from the Grand National Party (한나라당) come to speak to us. It was quite a bit more interesting than most of the other lectures we've had until now. Most of what she said was of no surprise to us, but she was still an interesting person.
Today after class, I went to Itaewon and had burgers with Joyce and Sean at The Corner Bistro. The place got good reviews, and it definitely didn't disappoint for me. After that, we went to a cafe, and we ate another Paris Baguette cake that Sean bought for me.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Back to class
Sunday was spent at home doing mostly nothing... Our power was out in the dorm, so I went to a cafe to start on my new homework assignment. From this day on, I will try to translate one piece of news in Russian and Korean a day. We'll see how long this keeps up. I hope I do keep going with it. I really need the practice.
Today in class, I forgot that we had a quiz, and I didn't study. I think maybe I got at least 7/10. I hope I didn't get worse than that. Everything else is pretty much business as usual...
Also, I got up at 3am this morning because I had a webinar that was from 2-4pm in the US. I then realized that it was TONIGHT at 3am. It means I have to get up tonight at 3am again, and I'll be tired in class again tomorrow.
Today in class, I forgot that we had a quiz, and I didn't study. I think maybe I got at least 7/10. I hope I didn't get worse than that. Everything else is pretty much business as usual...
Also, I got up at 3am this morning because I had a webinar that was from 2-4pm in the US. I then realized that it was TONIGHT at 3am. It means I have to get up tonight at 3am again, and I'll be tired in class again tomorrow.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Jeolla-nam (전라남도) and Jeolla-buk (전라북도) Provinces
Thursday
One last breakfast at the Dabichi Condo, and we were off to Gwangju (광주). Gwangju is the capital of Jeolla-nam province, but more recently famous for their democratic movements and protests in the 80s. Our first stop was the 5.18 Cemetery, a memorial for those lost on May 18, 1980 over the protests against then president Chun Doo-hwan (전두환) who disbanded the National Assembly and enacting martial law over the country. Telling the army and the rest of the country that Gwangju had be overrun by communists, the atrocities left more than 200 civilians dead and over 1000 injured.
When we got to our hotel in Namwon (남원), I was too tired to go out so I just spent the whole evening in my room.
Friday
We went to Gwanghallu (광한루), which is famous for Korea's version of the Romeo and Juliet tale, ChunHyang (춘향). She was a daughter of a courtesan and he was the son of an official. Gwanghallu is very beautiful. So was the rest of Namwon, which we got to see after we left the grounds of Gwanghallu, which the downtown of Namwon surrounds.
For dinner, we went to Tofu Town (두부마을), the best restaurant of the trip yet. The food was totally delicious. Various tofu and vegetable dishes, I swear I could go there every single night for dishes. I should open up a Tofu Town in Philly!
After dinner, we watched a traditional Korean instrument and dance performance. Those people had so much stamina to keep up playing and moving as much as they did for a whole hour.
Saturday
Our last stop was Jeonju (전주) before we came back home. We had some famous Jeonju Bibimbap (비빔밥) for lunch, then went with my class for some tea at a famous tea shop. After that, I walked around town a bit, then returned to the bus.
We got back to Suwon at 5:30pm. Everyone agreed that even though we had a great trip, it was great to be back "home".
One last breakfast at the Dabichi Condo, and we were off to Gwangju (광주). Gwangju is the capital of Jeolla-nam province, but more recently famous for their democratic movements and protests in the 80s. Our first stop was the 5.18 Cemetery, a memorial for those lost on May 18, 1980 over the protests against then president Chun Doo-hwan (전두환) who disbanded the National Assembly and enacting martial law over the country. Telling the army and the rest of the country that Gwangju had be overrun by communists, the atrocities left more than 200 civilians dead and over 1000 injured.
When we got to our hotel in Namwon (남원), I was too tired to go out so I just spent the whole evening in my room.Friday
We went to Gwanghallu (광한루), which is famous for Korea's version of the Romeo and Juliet tale, ChunHyang (춘향). She was a daughter of a courtesan and he was the son of an official. Gwanghallu is very beautiful. So was the rest of Namwon, which we got to see after we left the grounds of Gwanghallu, which the downtown of Namwon surrounds.
For dinner, we went to Tofu Town (두부마을), the best restaurant of the trip yet. The food was totally delicious. Various tofu and vegetable dishes, I swear I could go there every single night for dishes. I should open up a Tofu Town in Philly!After dinner, we watched a traditional Korean instrument and dance performance. Those people had so much stamina to keep up playing and moving as much as they did for a whole hour.
Saturday
Our last stop was Jeonju (전주) before we came back home. We had some famous Jeonju Bibimbap (비빔밥) for lunch, then went with my class for some tea at a famous tea shop. After that, I walked around town a bit, then returned to the bus.
We got back to Suwon at 5:30pm. Everyone agreed that even though we had a great trip, it was great to be back "home".
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Bosung
Monday:
Monday, we packed up our stuff, and left Jinju at nine to start heading the next city. First stop of the day was Daehan Dawon, a famous gorgeous tea field (better to be known as tea hill, because it’s up a mountain) around Bosung. The Bosung area is known for it’s 녹차 (green tea). We climbed up the hills, took a bunch of pictures, ate some green tea icecream, and moved on to the next town.
The next town, 삼수마을 (Samsu town), we had lunch, and then were sent into the corn fields behind the town hall. Everyone picked two heads each for the ladies in the town hall to boil for us. I also got destroyed by mosquitoes in the process. After we finished picking corn, we went back into the town hall for a Korean tea serving demonstration. It was really interesting to watch. I thought it would be just like tea ceremony in Japan, but it was actually quite different to many ways. The only thing similar about it is that they were both art forms. When the tea demonstration ended, the corn we picked came out and everyone stuffed themselves with corn on the cob. It’s so good they way they make corn here!
Around 4:30pm, we finally arrived at our next hotel, Oksum Beach Mansion. The place has a whole little kitchenette, which makes me a bit jealous since we don’t even have one at home. We got a corner room with a good view, but once again was a small room with mats and pillows on the floor.
Even though our hotel was right on the water, we had to take a 15 minute bus to get to the beach where we could swim. We headed out to the beach at 5:30, but there wasn’t too much or see to do there. It was pretty much a village, and didn’t have a PC café or anything. It was easy to get bored quite fast.
At 10pm we got back to the room finally, and everyone was kinda tired. We started setting up our beds, and then a large grey and orange centipede the size of an unused crayon crawled out of Jacqueline’s bedding. Her and Mary started freaking out, so I grabbed some tissues and went after it. As I was trying to kill it, it STUNG me, so we captured it underneath a bowl instead. Tyler came down and grabbed a bunch more tissues and killed it.
The night ended with me going to the local hospital to get two shots because apparently there are poisonous centipedes here. A girl got bit by a centipede on the ankle last year on the trip, and thought nothing of it, but the next day went swimming and her ankle swelled up huge.
Tuesday:
No radioactive bug signs were visible, so I guess I survived. We started the day with going into the beach town to have a FULL AMERICAN CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST. Really unexpected, but a welcome change. We’ll be having breakfast there the next two days as well. We’re all looking forward to that.
After breakfast, we went to Nakan Upsung, a village the sits on the site of an old fortress that defended itself against Japanese pirates long ago. We had lunch there, and were gonna head to the beach again, but it started raining, so everyone just went back to their rooms to practice for the play. I have new lines because some stuff got switched around in our script. I slept through my group’s practice because I was really tired, and missed out learning the steps for our big dance performance at the end. Only one more day to go, so I gotta learn it! Pretty slow day cause of the rain.
Wednesday:
We got up same time as Tuesday to go have some more continental breakfast.
After that, we hiked up 다산초당 (Dasan Chodang), the estate of some scholar who lived there while in exile from the royal palace in Seoul. The hike was really beautiful, and at the top was this temple called 백련사 (Baek-ryun-sa).
We returned to the beach after that to practice for the plays that evening. 동선 (Dongsun), another friend from Temple who lives not too far away, came to visit and watched us rehearse. At 6pm, the show began, and EVERYONE's performance was so great and funny. I can't wait to see the video back of our performances. A lot of people did really great jobs. During one scene in ours, I was a waitress, and I had to go off to the side for a moment and come back with alcohol for the customer. I had two small bottles of soju in my back pockets, and people said I looked like I was pulling bottles out of my butt.
Someone mentioned that morning that there was internet at DaBichi Condo where we'd been having our breakfast, so after the performance, when Dongsun went home, I went to DaBichi and sat on the internet for a while getting stuff done.
P.S. I’ve started trying to practice reading and writing in Russian. My goal is to be able to read and write at least 40 words a minute by the end of September. At the moment, I feel like I can read about ten words a minute and write about three words a minute. But as soon as I learn the keyboard better, I should get that second number up really fast. Good luck to me, eh!
Fulbright application due September 28th.
Monday, we packed up our stuff, and left Jinju at nine to start heading the next city. First stop of the day was Daehan Dawon, a famous gorgeous tea field (better to be known as tea hill, because it’s up a mountain) around Bosung. The Bosung area is known for it’s 녹차 (green tea). We climbed up the hills, took a bunch of pictures, ate some green tea icecream, and moved on to the next town.
The next town, 삼수마을 (Samsu town), we had lunch, and then were sent into the corn fields behind the town hall. Everyone picked two heads each for the ladies in the town hall to boil for us. I also got destroyed by mosquitoes in the process. After we finished picking corn, we went back into the town hall for a Korean tea serving demonstration. It was really interesting to watch. I thought it would be just like tea ceremony in Japan, but it was actually quite different to many ways. The only thing similar about it is that they were both art forms. When the tea demonstration ended, the corn we picked came out and everyone stuffed themselves with corn on the cob. It’s so good they way they make corn here!
Around 4:30pm, we finally arrived at our next hotel, Oksum Beach Mansion. The place has a whole little kitchenette, which makes me a bit jealous since we don’t even have one at home. We got a corner room with a good view, but once again was a small room with mats and pillows on the floor.
Even though our hotel was right on the water, we had to take a 15 minute bus to get to the beach where we could swim. We headed out to the beach at 5:30, but there wasn’t too much or see to do there. It was pretty much a village, and didn’t have a PC café or anything. It was easy to get bored quite fast.
At 10pm we got back to the room finally, and everyone was kinda tired. We started setting up our beds, and then a large grey and orange centipede the size of an unused crayon crawled out of Jacqueline’s bedding. Her and Mary started freaking out, so I grabbed some tissues and went after it. As I was trying to kill it, it STUNG me, so we captured it underneath a bowl instead. Tyler came down and grabbed a bunch more tissues and killed it.
The night ended with me going to the local hospital to get two shots because apparently there are poisonous centipedes here. A girl got bit by a centipede on the ankle last year on the trip, and thought nothing of it, but the next day went swimming and her ankle swelled up huge.
Tuesday:
No radioactive bug signs were visible, so I guess I survived. We started the day with going into the beach town to have a FULL AMERICAN CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST. Really unexpected, but a welcome change. We’ll be having breakfast there the next two days as well. We’re all looking forward to that.
After breakfast, we went to Nakan Upsung, a village the sits on the site of an old fortress that defended itself against Japanese pirates long ago. We had lunch there, and were gonna head to the beach again, but it started raining, so everyone just went back to their rooms to practice for the play. I have new lines because some stuff got switched around in our script. I slept through my group’s practice because I was really tired, and missed out learning the steps for our big dance performance at the end. Only one more day to go, so I gotta learn it! Pretty slow day cause of the rain.
Wednesday:
We got up same time as Tuesday to go have some more continental breakfast.
After that, we hiked up 다산초당 (Dasan Chodang), the estate of some scholar who lived there while in exile from the royal palace in Seoul. The hike was really beautiful, and at the top was this temple called 백련사 (Baek-ryun-sa).
We returned to the beach after that to practice for the plays that evening. 동선 (Dongsun), another friend from Temple who lives not too far away, came to visit and watched us rehearse. At 6pm, the show began, and EVERYONE's performance was so great and funny. I can't wait to see the video back of our performances. A lot of people did really great jobs. During one scene in ours, I was a waitress, and I had to go off to the side for a moment and come back with alcohol for the customer. I had two small bottles of soju in my back pockets, and people said I looked like I was pulling bottles out of my butt.
Someone mentioned that morning that there was internet at DaBichi Condo where we'd been having our breakfast, so after the performance, when Dongsun went home, I went to DaBichi and sat on the internet for a while getting stuff done.
P.S. I’ve started trying to practice reading and writing in Russian. My goal is to be able to read and write at least 40 words a minute by the end of September. At the moment, I feel like I can read about ten words a minute and write about three words a minute. But as soon as I learn the keyboard better, I should get that second number up really fast. Good luck to me, eh!
Fulbright application due September 28th.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Jinju
We woke up early yesterday morning, and I packed all my stuff up in a hurry since I hadn't started the night before. We were on the bus and ready to leave by 9am. We arrived in Jinju city at about 1pm. It's considerably smaller than Suwon, but like Suwon it has a fortress (castle in Jinju's case) as its' center and main attraction. Our motel is literally across the street from the castle, which is quite cool because we can just go for walks along it. We also live very close to the South River (main river running through Jinju).
Yesterday we had a free day so me and Jacqueline went for a walk and there was a really nice market selling fruit and all other types of stuff. At night we went to the castle took some pictures.
After that, we got on the bus, and went down to 통영 (Tongyong), a small town along the sea. It was really beautiful. We visited a temple at the top of a mountain, and then went down by the waterside. We were hoping to see the beach today because the promised us, but we didn't have much time, so we didn't go. It's ok though because tomorrow we'll be in 보성 (Bosung) which is right on the beach.
Yesterday we had a free day so me and Jacqueline went for a walk and there was a really nice market selling fruit and all other types of stuff. At night we went to the castle took some pictures.This morning we went to the castle again and to the museum there. The castle is very pretty.
After that, we got on the bus, and went down to 통영 (Tongyong), a small town along the sea. It was really beautiful. We visited a temple at the top of a mountain, and then went down by the waterside. We were hoping to see the beach today because the promised us, but we didn't have much time, so we didn't go. It's ok though because tomorrow we'll be in 보성 (Bosung) which is right on the beach.Friday, July 24, 2009
One more thing...
I asked the Korean teacher at Temple University Japan give me my reference for Korean for this CLS scholarship when I was there last fall because that's where I was when I applied. She asked me to write about my Korean language experience for a book she's writing, and I finally got around to it. Here is my rough draft. Final draft and English copy soon to come.
나 벌써 5년쯤 한국에 관심 있다. 처음에는 고등학교에서 다른 미국 친구가 내게 한국 음악과 드라마가 추천했니까 한국 문화를 감상하게 됐다. 나는 템플 대학교에서 한국말 공부하기 시작했다. 그런데, 나 옛날에 문화와 역사 잘 몰랐다. 그것을 너무 배우고 싶었지만 내 학교에서 그때 한국 역사나 문화 수업이 없었다. 서울에서 많은 대학교가 여름에서 영어로 가르치는 프로그램이 있었다. 조금 연구후에 고려대학교의 국제하계대학 프로그램을 고렸다. 아르바이트를 취직했고 신청했다. 합격 증서를 받은 때 너무 흥분했다.
처음에 왔을 때 한국이 너무 좋아했고 듣는 수업이 너무 좋아했다. 2007년 7월 1일에 도착했다. 그 때는 한국에서 대통령 선거가 있었다. 나 문화와 역사만을 공부하고 싶지만 한국 정치 대해서 자주 들었다. 그 전에 한국 영화와 드라마와 음악을 알려 듣고 싶었다. 새 목적이 있어졌다. 나는 한국어를 모국어처럼 말하고 싶고 한국에서 대사관에서 일하고 싶었다.
미국에 돌아가자마자 정치학 전공을 추가했다. 요즘 동양 관계에 관심하다. 한국과 일본 관계를 공부하고싶다. 앞으로 외국 근무에 일하고싶고 한국에서 대사를 되면 좋겠다. 미국 정부 프로그램에서 Critical Languages Scholarship이 때문에 이번 여름에 경희대학교에서 중급 한국어를 배운다. 이 프로그램이 8주간이다. 8주에 2권 책이 배운다. 이 프로그램이 너무 힘들지만 실력이 천천히 늘고 감사하다. 언젠가 한국어를 능숙하게 말하길 원한다.
나 벌써 5년쯤 한국에 관심 있다. 처음에는 고등학교에서 다른 미국 친구가 내게 한국 음악과 드라마가 추천했니까 한국 문화를 감상하게 됐다. 나는 템플 대학교에서 한국말 공부하기 시작했다. 그런데, 나 옛날에 문화와 역사 잘 몰랐다. 그것을 너무 배우고 싶었지만 내 학교에서 그때 한국 역사나 문화 수업이 없었다. 서울에서 많은 대학교가 여름에서 영어로 가르치는 프로그램이 있었다. 조금 연구후에 고려대학교의 국제하계대학 프로그램을 고렸다. 아르바이트를 취직했고 신청했다. 합격 증서를 받은 때 너무 흥분했다.
처음에 왔을 때 한국이 너무 좋아했고 듣는 수업이 너무 좋아했다. 2007년 7월 1일에 도착했다. 그 때는 한국에서 대통령 선거가 있었다. 나 문화와 역사만을 공부하고 싶지만 한국 정치 대해서 자주 들었다. 그 전에 한국 영화와 드라마와 음악을 알려 듣고 싶었다. 새 목적이 있어졌다. 나는 한국어를 모국어처럼 말하고 싶고 한국에서 대사관에서 일하고 싶었다.
미국에 돌아가자마자 정치학 전공을 추가했다. 요즘 동양 관계에 관심하다. 한국과 일본 관계를 공부하고싶다. 앞으로 외국 근무에 일하고싶고 한국에서 대사를 되면 좋겠다. 미국 정부 프로그램에서 Critical Languages Scholarship이 때문에 이번 여름에 경희대학교에서 중급 한국어를 배운다. 이 프로그램이 8주간이다. 8주에 2권 책이 배운다. 이 프로그램이 너무 힘들지만 실력이 천천히 늘고 감사하다. 언젠가 한국어를 능숙하게 말하길 원한다.
More trips to Seoul...
I've officially applied for graduation!! And I managed to get it by the early deadline which means they'll have me squared away by the time school starts. That's good. I won't have to go through all that bureaucracy over the fall. January 2010 here I come!!!! Korean music is so damn catchy. Every time I go into a convenience store, I hear the same two or three songs over and over til I know at least the choruses by heart... When I first came, it was Again & Again by 2PM, Sorry Sorry by Super Junior, and Insomnia by 휘성 (Wheesung). Now wherever I go, I hear Hot Issue by 4 Minute or I Don't Care by 2NE1. These songs are quite simple to sing, and I've already got quite a bit down. I think I'll try them out next time I go to karaoke. Songs are a great way to learn a language. It's kind of weird the songs I've been singing for a while now having no idea what they meant, and now I'm learning the grammar points that come up in some songs I love. It's like a bit of a revelation.
Tuesday I had a meeting with my teacher to discuss the speaking portion of my midterm. He said that I'm one of the better speakers and listeners in the group, and gave me some pointers to fix up my problems. Overall, I think the meeting went quite well. I was really surprised because I thought I was one of the worst in the class since I didn't feel I improved much. But if he says, I'm doing good, who am I to argue?
Monday was Joyce's birthday, so Tuesday we went to Outback Steakhouse. I met some of Joyce's church friends and we had a good dinner. Then me and Joyce went shopping for a bit at the shopping arcade under Lotte Department store.
Thursday after class we were made to go to Samsung D'light in 강남 (Kangnam). It's like a showcase for Samsung's products and was really quite pointless. I mean, it had some really cool electronics but nothing worth a separate trip to Seoul for. Some people were really pissed off because they had exams today and were hoping to study for them. They didn't like that the trip cut into their study time. I didn't really mind that cause I met up with two Temple IELP friends afterwards in 사당 (Sadang).
All these trips to Seoul are really wearing me down because even if I don't leave my friends too late, I seem to end up getting back to school around 11 or 12.
Today class ended on a really fun note. We got to play this game called 윷놀이 (Yoonnori). The teams were divided up into East Coasters vs. West Coasters. It got pretty heated. But we had so much fun! West Coast won a round, and then we won a round. We intend to have a rematch soon!
(photo from KoreanFolk.co.kr)
Also, I went to the bank and picked me up a 50,000 won piece today! It's brand new, and so pretty, I just had to have one. Until now, the highest bill in circulation in South Korea has been the 10,000 won note. These days, 10000W is only about $7, which makes traveling really hard... This note is gonna be so useful! Now if only they could fill in a few more in between. Maybe a 20,000 or 25,000 would be nice. This is also the first woman to be on Korean money. She's an artist and calligraphist and mother of a famous scholar, but that's about it. Quite a bit of controversy has been stirring up over her saying this choice upholds sexist ideals of what represents a good woman in a Confucian society.
(photo from ROKDrop)
Tuesday I had a meeting with my teacher to discuss the speaking portion of my midterm. He said that I'm one of the better speakers and listeners in the group, and gave me some pointers to fix up my problems. Overall, I think the meeting went quite well. I was really surprised because I thought I was one of the worst in the class since I didn't feel I improved much. But if he says, I'm doing good, who am I to argue?
Monday was Joyce's birthday, so Tuesday we went to Outback Steakhouse. I met some of Joyce's church friends and we had a good dinner. Then me and Joyce went shopping for a bit at the shopping arcade under Lotte Department store.
Thursday after class we were made to go to Samsung D'light in 강남 (Kangnam). It's like a showcase for Samsung's products and was really quite pointless. I mean, it had some really cool electronics but nothing worth a separate trip to Seoul for. Some people were really pissed off because they had exams today and were hoping to study for them. They didn't like that the trip cut into their study time. I didn't really mind that cause I met up with two Temple IELP friends afterwards in 사당 (Sadang).
All these trips to Seoul are really wearing me down because even if I don't leave my friends too late, I seem to end up getting back to school around 11 or 12.
Today class ended on a really fun note. We got to play this game called 윷놀이 (Yoonnori). The teams were divided up into East Coasters vs. West Coasters. It got pretty heated. But we had so much fun! West Coast won a round, and then we won a round. We intend to have a rematch soon!
(photo from KoreanFolk.co.kr)
(photo from ROKDrop)Tomorrow we leave for our long anticipated week-long program trip! I can't wait. Will update when I can.
Monday, July 20, 2009
2호선
2호선 is the second subway line in Seoul, aka the Green Line. I spent all day on this line today... It's so large! It's a circle, but unlike the Yamanote Line in Tokyo which takes exactly an hour to complete, 2호선 takes about 2 hours. It's enormous, and I usually have no choice but to take it these days whenever I go to Seoul because all my buses back to Suwon are on this line.
So today after class, I arrived in 잠실 (Jamshil) at 2:30 by bus, and went to 뚝섬 (Ddukseom) where Seoul Forest is. Someone recommended it to me, so I decided to go, check it out, and take some pictures. The sky, as usual in Seoul, was completely invisible. Nothing but fog. I couldn't even feel any fresh air in a park full of trees. In the West and in the East, there are two very different perceptions of outdoor beauty. In the West, we look at the bigger picture. When we're looking at something old and picturesque, the only way we could describe it so is if there is nothing industrial or such in the way of our view or photo. In the East, there can be a beautiful gate with a dirty highway running behind it, and they could still call it beautiful. This thought was reaffirmed at Seoul Forest where behind beautiful trees and sculptures I saw highways, apartment buildings, and large cranes. Even in Central Park in New York City you would never see that. They make sure that the trees are tall enough to block out that which isn't pretty to the eye, and all the visible buidlings are gorgeous and enviable.
*rant over*
Anyways, after that, I went to 신당 (Shindang) to have the famous Shindang 똑볶이 (spicy rice cakes) with Sean. It was really good! Also, I really missed Sean, cause I haven't seen him in two years. We used to hang out all the time last time I was here. He pretty much helped me get around the city when I knew nothing about Seoul. After dinner, we ended up in 홍대 (Hongdae), the hip college town area of Seoul. I got a rook piercing that I've wanted forever now! It only cost me $10, which was worrying, but it doesn't hurt, so I guess that's a good thing. After that, we went to a jazz bar for a bit, did sticker photos, then went home.
So today after class, I arrived in 잠실 (Jamshil) at 2:30 by bus, and went to 뚝섬 (Ddukseom) where Seoul Forest is. Someone recommended it to me, so I decided to go, check it out, and take some pictures. The sky, as usual in Seoul, was completely invisible. Nothing but fog. I couldn't even feel any fresh air in a park full of trees. In the West and in the East, there are two very different perceptions of outdoor beauty. In the West, we look at the bigger picture. When we're looking at something old and picturesque, the only way we could describe it so is if there is nothing industrial or such in the way of our view or photo. In the East, there can be a beautiful gate with a dirty highway running behind it, and they could still call it beautiful. This thought was reaffirmed at Seoul Forest where behind beautiful trees and sculptures I saw highways, apartment buildings, and large cranes. Even in Central Park in New York City you would never see that. They make sure that the trees are tall enough to block out that which isn't pretty to the eye, and all the visible buidlings are gorgeous and enviable.
*rant over*
Anyways, after that, I went to 신당 (Shindang) to have the famous Shindang 똑볶이 (spicy rice cakes) with Sean. It was really good! Also, I really missed Sean, cause I haven't seen him in two years. We used to hang out all the time last time I was here. He pretty much helped me get around the city when I knew nothing about Seoul. After dinner, we ended up in 홍대 (Hongdae), the hip college town area of Seoul. I got a rook piercing that I've wanted forever now! It only cost me $10, which was worrying, but it doesn't hurt, so I guess that's a good thing. After that, we went to a jazz bar for a bit, did sticker photos, then went home.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
ASAN!!
Yesterday morning I woke up at 7am to a text message from my conversation partner saying the plan to go to Asan was still on because the weather seemed to be clearing up. I was so excited, I hurriedly got my stuff together and met my conversation partner at Suwon Station at 10am.
We got to Asan at about noon, and the station we got off at had a really cute 시장 (outdoor market) there. We had some lunch there, and bought some BBQ meat for dinner, then headed to her grandma's house.
On the way, we stopped by a 민속 (traditional village). It was really pretty there, and there was a stream going through it. A lot of kids were playing in it, and we decided to go play for a while, too.
It was pretty small there, but her grandmother was really sweet. Reminded me a lot of my own grandma. We had 삼겹살 (pork) for dinner that we barbecued outside ourselves.
This morning we had breakfast, and then came back to Suwon. I pretty much did nothing but homework and reviewing today. I have to write an entire page in Korean about the most memorable gift I ever received. I don't know if I can even do that in English, let alone Korean. Damon and I spent about 3 hours in Paris Baguette doing hw and studying.
We got to Asan at about noon, and the station we got off at had a really cute 시장 (outdoor market) there. We had some lunch there, and bought some BBQ meat for dinner, then headed to her grandma's house.
On the way, we stopped by a 민속 (traditional village). It was really pretty there, and there was a stream going through it. A lot of kids were playing in it, and we decided to go play for a while, too.
It was pretty small there, but her grandmother was really sweet. Reminded me a lot of my own grandma. We had 삼겹살 (pork) for dinner that we barbecued outside ourselves.
This morning we had breakfast, and then came back to Suwon. I pretty much did nothing but homework and reviewing today. I have to write an entire page in Korean about the most memorable gift I ever received. I don't know if I can even do that in English, let alone Korean. Damon and I spent about 3 hours in Paris Baguette doing hw and studying.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Week in Review
The week went past pretty quietly. I spent most of my time outside of class in my room watching Degrassi studying.
Tuesday was my final exam for my first semester. I studied a few hours on Monday night for it, but not as much as I would have liked to. I ended up getting an 81 on the final exam, and a 94 for the entire semester. I wish Temple accepted this 94. That would really help my GPA crawl closer to 4.0.
I got the part of Nolbu's wife in the play we have to put on in Bosung, Heungbu and Nolbu.
Wednesday saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with Joyce, Keunbum, and Mary. LOVED IT!!!! Ok, so they left a lot out, but the direction was great. The acting.... was not so great. For being real teenagers with real hormones, the actors are really quite unable to translate that to screen.
This morning, my conversation partner texted me that we wouldn't go to her grandma's farm over the weekend cause the weather was not good. I had plans today too, but they were also cancelled because of the 장마 (monsoon season). So pretty much I spent the entire day in my room watching videos.
Tuesday was my final exam for my first semester. I studied a few hours on Monday night for it, but not as much as I would have liked to. I ended up getting an 81 on the final exam, and a 94 for the entire semester. I wish Temple accepted this 94. That would really help my GPA crawl closer to 4.0.
I got the part of Nolbu's wife in the play we have to put on in Bosung, Heungbu and Nolbu.
Wednesday saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with Joyce, Keunbum, and Mary. LOVED IT!!!! Ok, so they left a lot out, but the direction was great. The acting.... was not so great. For being real teenagers with real hormones, the actors are really quite unable to translate that to screen.
This morning, my conversation partner texted me that we wouldn't go to her grandma's farm over the weekend cause the weather was not good. I had plans today too, but they were also cancelled because of the 장마 (monsoon season). So pretty much I spent the entire day in my room watching videos.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Old Friends
On Thursday 장마 (monsoon season) officially set in. How happy am I for that....... So anyways, after classes, me and Keunbum went back to that karaoke place at Ajoo University we went to last time. It was at 3pm, so it was only about $8 for 2 1/2 hours which is amazingly cheap! One hour in the US is $30. This time one of his classmates, Abel, joined us for karaoke. Then we went to a cafe to study for a couple hours.
Friday morning I did my powerpoint for my presentation. Right as I was finishing up my last slide, my computer suddenly went blue and shut off after that. I almost had a heart attack. Thank god for Microsoft 2007 having a good autosave. My computer was able to turn back on, and I retrieved all my info with the exception of my last few slides. It was good thing because this happened 15 minutes before class was due to start x.X Friday went off like any other school day, and my presentation went pretty well. I knew most of my information by heart, but in English, not Korean, so I did some reading off the slides instead of speaking for memory. I hope I didn't lose many points for this.
Friday morning I did my powerpoint for my presentation. Right as I was finishing up my last slide, my computer suddenly went blue and shut off after that. I almost had a heart attack. Thank god for Microsoft 2007 having a good autosave. My computer was able to turn back on, and I retrieved all my info with the exception of my last few slides. It was good thing because this happened 15 minutes before class was due to start x.X Friday went off like any other school day, and my presentation went pretty well. I knew most of my information by heart, but in English, not Korean, so I did some reading off the slides instead of speaking for memory. I hope I didn't lose many points for this.
Friday night I ended up at Korea University (고려대학교), my old uni in Seoul. They had a party for incoming summer students, and my friend Haeyoon invited me. I saw Daniella again finally after three weeks of waiting to meet her! I keep meeting this girl every time I'm in asia. We studied together 2 years ago at Korea Uni, and last summer I met her for a day in Tokyo while she was staying for a month. She left right after I arrived, so I only saw her that once in Tokyo. But so anyways.... we ended up partying, and then around 1am went back to CJ International House dormitory at Korea Uni. We went to sleep in the basement as we have known many people to do in the past who've missed curfew for the other dorms and were locked out because CJ didn't lock it's doors. But at 3am a security guard came down and told us we werent allowed to sleep there, and we ended up staying the rest of the night at a sauna.
Saturday, I met up with my program group to go see Nanta (난타), a sort of musical about a bunch of chefs who have an hour to prepare a feast for a bunch of weddings. It's mostly instrumental, and while I love musicals, I don't really like instrumental ones much. I thought I'd sleep through it, but I actually managed to enjoy it quite a bit. Then Zury and I met up with Sheila in Hongdae to go to a photography exhibit for the Seoul Photography Club, or something like that. The photographers were really amazing. I wish I had the means and talent to do the stuff they do.
Last night I went to bad at 11pm, and woke up today at 12:30pm. It's been a really lazy day because the downpour was so heavy that no one went out mostly. I got a tiny bit of studying done, but I have to study a lot more tomorrow because I have my midterm on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we begin Intermediate II.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Homework piles up...
The homework is slowly piling up on us. He's assigning more and more every night, and it's hard to keep our due dates straight. Yesterday, Erin did the first of the presentations about Fan Death (read here to understand). It's pretty ridiculous, but the fact that most Koreans believe in this is quite funny. Even funnier is the fact that they think the rest of the world does as well.
I have about 15/20 interviewed so far. I need 5 more guys cause I have 10 girls and 5 guys so far. Still no one who actually HAS a tattoo -_-. It's a shame. The teacher said the best way to go about the presentation is with a powerpoint, so I'm prolly gonna work on that tomorrow. Also... aparently it's ILLEGAL to do tattoos in Korea unless you have a medical license? I didn't know that. That must be really hard on people trying to open up tattoo parlors here.
Not that you can really understand, but here are my research questions:
1.) 유학 해 본 적 있으세요?
2.) 요즘 문신이나 피어싱에 대해서 한국사람들이 보수적인 생각을 가지고 있다고 생각하세요?
3.) 문신을 한 남자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 문신과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 문신이 있으세요? (보기: 작은 문신, 큰 문신, 용 문신, 별 문신, 한 개 있음, 많이 있음)
4.) 피어싱을 한 남자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 피어싱과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 피어싱이 있으세요? (보기: 귀를 뚫는 것, 혀를 뚫는 것, 한 곳만 뚫는 것, 여러 곳을 뚫는 것)
5.) 문신을 한 여자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 문신과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 문신이 있으세요? (보기: 작은 문신, 큰 문신, 용 문신, 별 문신, 한 개 있음, 많이 있음)
6.) 피어싱을 한 여자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 피어싱과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 피어싱이 있으세요? (보기: 귀를 뚫는 것, 혀를 뚫는 것, 한 곳만 뚫는 것, 여러 곳을 뚫는 것)
7.) 팔이나 등에 문신을 남자를 보면 어떤 생각이 드세요? 조직폭력배가 연상되세요?
8.) 앞으로는 문신을 하는 한국 사람들이 늘어날 것이라고 생각하세요?
9.) 문신을 하는데 있어서 서양의 대중 문화, 힙합 문화와 동양의 서예 문화 중 어떤 것이 더 큰 영향을 준다고 생각하세요?
10.) 문신을 하고 싶은 생각이 있으세요?
11.) 문신을 하지 않는 이유가 있다면 그것은 무엇이에요?
P.S. I got the cutest green pair of glasses that when I wear them, my eyes look green!! Quite cheaper than in the US, too.
I have about 15/20 interviewed so far. I need 5 more guys cause I have 10 girls and 5 guys so far. Still no one who actually HAS a tattoo -_-. It's a shame. The teacher said the best way to go about the presentation is with a powerpoint, so I'm prolly gonna work on that tomorrow. Also... aparently it's ILLEGAL to do tattoos in Korea unless you have a medical license? I didn't know that. That must be really hard on people trying to open up tattoo parlors here.
Not that you can really understand, but here are my research questions:
1.) 유학 해 본 적 있으세요?
2.) 요즘 문신이나 피어싱에 대해서 한국사람들이 보수적인 생각을 가지고 있다고 생각하세요?
3.) 문신을 한 남자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 문신과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 문신이 있으세요? (보기: 작은 문신, 큰 문신, 용 문신, 별 문신, 한 개 있음, 많이 있음)
4.) 피어싱을 한 남자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 피어싱과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 피어싱이 있으세요? (보기: 귀를 뚫는 것, 혀를 뚫는 것, 한 곳만 뚫는 것, 여러 곳을 뚫는 것)
5.) 문신을 한 여자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 문신과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 문신이 있으세요? (보기: 작은 문신, 큰 문신, 용 문신, 별 문신, 한 개 있음, 많이 있음)
6.) 피어싱을 한 여자에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요? 괜찮다고 생각하는 피어싱과 괜찮지 않다고 생각하는 피어싱이 있으세요? (보기: 귀를 뚫는 것, 혀를 뚫는 것, 한 곳만 뚫는 것, 여러 곳을 뚫는 것)
7.) 팔이나 등에 문신을 남자를 보면 어떤 생각이 드세요? 조직폭력배가 연상되세요?
8.) 앞으로는 문신을 하는 한국 사람들이 늘어날 것이라고 생각하세요?
9.) 문신을 하는데 있어서 서양의 대중 문화, 힙합 문화와 동양의 서예 문화 중 어떤 것이 더 큰 영향을 준다고 생각하세요?
10.) 문신을 하고 싶은 생각이 있으세요?
11.) 문신을 하지 않는 이유가 있다면 그것은 무엇이에요?
P.S. I got the cutest green pair of glasses that when I wear them, my eyes look green!! Quite cheaper than in the US, too.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The weekend
Yesterday we went to Sokri-san (속리산), a mountain 2 hours south east of Suwon. We drove down in our typical "rainbow bus", the company we use to transport our group whenever we go somewhere. But little did we know until yesterday that the bus was equipped with a karaoke complete with a microphone that travels to the back of the bus, and videos with lyrics for us to sing along. It was pretty ridiculous, and kinda fun. A little more than half of the bus was coerced into singing a song.
When we arrived, we had lunch, and then visited the temple Beopjusa (법주사) which was beautiful and had a giant golden Buddha there.
Today I didn't really do much except for when Sheila once again invited me to dinner at NOW! Bar (the expat bar in Youngtong). One of the other English teachers had just gotten back from India, and he learned to cook there while living on a farm so he cooked dinner for us. The food was delicious, and I saw some of the people from last night again. We also played some pool, and I met some more English teachers. It's kinda bad that I've met more foreigners here than I have Koreans. At the bar there was this one Chinese girl that spoke no English, so we had to communicate in Korean. And it's perfect that she lives in my building one floor down, so that's at least somebody who lives closeby and I can speak Korean to.
When we arrived, we had lunch, and then visited the temple Beopjusa (법주사) which was beautiful and had a giant golden Buddha there.
After lunch, we only were given an hour to go hiking around the mountain. The trails were quite simple, and I would have loved to spend a whole day there.
When we got back, Joyce came over and we went to Bon Juk (본죽) for dinner, which is an asian style porridge restaurant. About halfway through dinner, Sheila texted me that her and a couple of coworkers were getting together for a picnic at a park in Youngtong (영통), the area around my school, and asked if I wanted to come along. We were really close to there, so we decided to walk over. Until I got over there, I didn't realize that they were having a 4th of July picnic.
We had watermelon and fireworks and people playing guitar. Overall, it was pretty fun. The guys tried to put some roman candles in the ground, but they wouldn't stick too well, and looked a bit dangerous. I recommended that we try it out of the second half of the watermelon that no one seemed to be eating. It was pretty much a success.
When we got back, Joyce came over and we went to Bon Juk (본죽) for dinner, which is an asian style porridge restaurant. About halfway through dinner, Sheila texted me that her and a couple of coworkers were getting together for a picnic at a park in Youngtong (영통), the area around my school, and asked if I wanted to come along. We were really close to there, so we decided to walk over. Until I got over there, I didn't realize that they were having a 4th of July picnic.
We had watermelon and fireworks and people playing guitar. Overall, it was pretty fun. The guys tried to put some roman candles in the ground, but they wouldn't stick too well, and looked a bit dangerous. I recommended that we try it out of the second half of the watermelon that no one seemed to be eating. It was pretty much a success.
Friday, July 3, 2009
The rest of the week
On Wednesday after class we had a guest lecturer come and talk to us about where Korean food came from. I thought that it would be really boring, but it was actually quite interesting learning random tidbits about Korean food like that bulgogi was only introduced to Korean cuisine in the 20th century, and there are 200 varieties of kimchi (and it didn't used to be red).
After class, I met up with Keunbum, Hyungsuk, and one of Hyungsuk's friends who's on leave from the army for a week. We went to a really tasty chicken place for dinner that we went to the night before for Chris P's birthday. They seemed to be happy with my recommendation cause they kept eating more and more. After dinner, HS and his friend left, so I showed Keunbum around campus and "Zeus' Temple", which is what we've started to call that colosseum thing...
Then we went to Aju University area to some karaoke place that he recommended. It was the luxury sort. Really good and really cheap. All in all, we paid total 18,000 for 2 1/2 hours of karaoke compared to paying 50,000 for 2 hours at the place we went to near Kyunghee. We had so much fun and sang way too much~
Thursday after class, I did Taekwondo for the first time. It was pretty embarrassing cause he thought we were all quite ridiculous. The class was specifically for our program participants and 11 of us showed up. I think we have 4 classes total. The guy was a sports something grad student at Kyunghee. One of the English teachers in Suwon told me that Kyunghee is famous for their Taekwondo so I was excited. But we pretty much were terrible. At least some of the guys and all the girls with the exception of Lindsey.
Today we went out for lunch and had pig kalbi and a bunch of other stuff. We had A TON of food for really cheap. It was all amazing and delicious. Afterwards, we were supposed to go karaoke but all the places nearby campus were closed at 3pm. That really sucks. So we just went back to the university instead.
I finally printed out my interview materials for my research project, and got to interview my first two people. Then I was really tired, so I just went to bed around 6:30pm.
After class, I met up with Keunbum, Hyungsuk, and one of Hyungsuk's friends who's on leave from the army for a week. We went to a really tasty chicken place for dinner that we went to the night before for Chris P's birthday. They seemed to be happy with my recommendation cause they kept eating more and more. After dinner, HS and his friend left, so I showed Keunbum around campus and "Zeus' Temple", which is what we've started to call that colosseum thing...
Then we went to Aju University area to some karaoke place that he recommended. It was the luxury sort. Really good and really cheap. All in all, we paid total 18,000 for 2 1/2 hours of karaoke compared to paying 50,000 for 2 hours at the place we went to near Kyunghee. We had so much fun and sang way too much~
Thursday after class, I did Taekwondo for the first time. It was pretty embarrassing cause he thought we were all quite ridiculous. The class was specifically for our program participants and 11 of us showed up. I think we have 4 classes total. The guy was a sports something grad student at Kyunghee. One of the English teachers in Suwon told me that Kyunghee is famous for their Taekwondo so I was excited. But we pretty much were terrible. At least some of the guys and all the girls with the exception of Lindsey.
Today we went out for lunch and had pig kalbi and a bunch of other stuff. We had A TON of food for really cheap. It was all amazing and delicious. Afterwards, we were supposed to go karaoke but all the places nearby campus were closed at 3pm. That really sucks. So we just went back to the university instead.
I finally printed out my interview materials for my research project, and got to interview my first two people. Then I was really tired, so I just went to bed around 6:30pm.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Busy week....
One week down.... seven to go. Not that I'm counting, I'm having so much fun here. I could stay for the entire summer, and then some if I could.... Been really busy meeting old friends and new. Hasn't left a lot of time for studying, but that doesn't matter because some of my friends barely speak any English and that is more than enough practice for me.
Classes are going well. Our teacher decided today that we're gonna have a research project that we have to present next week. We have to go around and interview 20-30 students around campus and town about our specific topic, then do a speech about our findings. Mine is about tattoos and piercings in Korea, and what today's youth of Korea think about them.
Back tracking a bit... The language partners are so cute and it's so much fun hanging out with them! I've hung out mostly with June (who is Mary's partner), YongHwa (Billy's partner), and YoungMin (Meredith's partner). I finally met mine on Friday and she's really sweet too! Her name is Sena, and she's younger than me which means I don't have to use formal speech with her. I told her she doesn't have to use it with me either, which has made things much simpler. With the other language partners, I always have to use the "yo" form, which gets kinda tiring so it's good I get to drop the "yo" when I talk to her.
Saturday morning we woke up early to go to Hwasung Fortress. I got to see a lot more of it than I did on my birthday two years ago when I was there. It was really pretty, and a couple of the other classes had photo assignments so we took a bunch of crazy photos as usual. That evening, I went to Norebang (karaoke) finally for the first time of the trip! But definitely not the last~ Went with Meredith, Mary, an English teacher Sheila that I met here, and another teacher from Minnesota who works at her school.
Classes are going well. Our teacher decided today that we're gonna have a research project that we have to present next week. We have to go around and interview 20-30 students around campus and town about our specific topic, then do a speech about our findings. Mine is about tattoos and piercings in Korea, and what today's youth of Korea think about them.
Back tracking a bit... The language partners are so cute and it's so much fun hanging out with them! I've hung out mostly with June (who is Mary's partner), YongHwa (Billy's partner), and YoungMin (Meredith's partner). I finally met mine on Friday and she's really sweet too! Her name is Sena, and she's younger than me which means I don't have to use formal speech with her. I told her she doesn't have to use it with me either, which has made things much simpler. With the other language partners, I always have to use the "yo" form, which gets kinda tiring so it's good I get to drop the "yo" when I talk to her.
Saturday morning we woke up early to go to Hwasung Fortress. I got to see a lot more of it than I did on my birthday two years ago when I was there. It was really pretty, and a couple of the other classes had photo assignments so we took a bunch of crazy photos as usual. That evening, I went to Norebang (karaoke) finally for the first time of the trip! But definitely not the last~ Went with Meredith, Mary, an English teacher Sheila that I met here, and another teacher from Minnesota who works at her school.
Sunday morning I went to MyungDong with Meredith and Mary. We spent the whole day shopping and eating. I bought earrings, a dress, and a top. Then after I went to DongDaeMun to see some Temple U friends, Christine and Joyce. Christine was leaving to go back to the US today, so I had to see her before she left! I took them to the Russian/Central Asian district, and we had some good Russian food for dinner. We had Russian dumplings and Chiz Bis (lamb).
Today after class I met with the RA girl I met my first night. We had lunch and then went to Ulljjang to do sticker photos. Yay for Korean practice! Her English definitely would not have been enough to sustain our conversation, but she's a really nice girl. We didn't make plans to hang out more yet, but I'm sure I'll see her again! After that I met Mary, June, and YongHwa. We just hung out doing homework and chatting. Billy, YoungMin, Meredith, and Chris P came around and we went to eat Jjajangmyun for dinner. I feel like a talk way to much about what I eat for each meal.... but I'm just happy to be able to get such a cheap bowl of good food in this country =D After dinner, we went back to Ulljjang to get more sticker photos! My favorite asian passtime, hah!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
CLASS!
For the past couple of months family and friends have been asking me a lot if I feel safe going back to South Korea, or if the government will even send us there, with the current instability in North Korea. As someone with a bit of a "hakuna matata" outlook on life, I never seemed to worry much about that. The security briefing we had yesterday did nothing to change that.
They pretty much reaffirmed what we already knew, but we did get to learn about some general issues with the South Korean economy that I didn't know about before. First was a panel of people briefing us about what the US Embassy will do to help us during our stay here. Then some military guy came out and talked a bit about the strong relationship between the US military and Korean military. He said a bunch of non-politically correct stuff that military guy's are privy to say because it's not their job to sugar coat stuff. He pretty much said not to worry at all about the missiles that are on the news now. If they were aimed at us, they'd prolly hit Taiwan or the Philippines cause the range is too long.
After that, we were given freedom to wander around Seoul. A bunch of us found our way to ChungGyeChon, and walked along it for a bit. It's one of my most favorite places in Seoul. Afterwards, Meredith, Zury, Billy, Damon, and I went for some lunch around the area.
Then we began our mission of the day, which was to get my cellphone working, and to get new ones for the others. I think it took about an hour or two to figure everything out, but we finally got out of there and walked to the Han River, which we were only 15 minutes north of. It's a shame the river is so dirty, because I'm sure it must have been beautiful 50 or more years ago.
Meredith and I met up with SeRyun and Joyce for dinner in Shinsa-dong, which is a really cute area by Apgu-jung. It was a little bit pricy, but we had pretty good pho. It was really good to see Joyce again too after 5 months. She was my roommate in Japan. We got back to Suwon at 11pm exhausted from the heat, and not quite recovered from the jet lag.
Today was the first day of class, and it seemed to go quite well. The teacher seems really passionate, and really enjoys teaching. There's only 8 of us in the class, which is great. I'm happy I got placed in Professor Lee's class and that I belong in Intermediate B with the rest of these guys. Four hours flew by in no time, although I admit by the 4th hour I was looking at my watch quite often. But I can't help that, it's my ADD. I hope I can keep up with the work, 7 weeks of study... 2 big textbooks.... we'll see how it goes.
When class was over, a bunch of the language buddies who were unable to give their CLS people campus tours on Monday went around today and I got to tag along. The more I see of this campus, the more it reminds me of Korea University in terms of beauty and architecture, which makes me miss it there even more. My language buddy is in Mongolia for this entire week (no joke), so I won't be able to meet her until next week.
They pretty much reaffirmed what we already knew, but we did get to learn about some general issues with the South Korean economy that I didn't know about before. First was a panel of people briefing us about what the US Embassy will do to help us during our stay here. Then some military guy came out and talked a bit about the strong relationship between the US military and Korean military. He said a bunch of non-politically correct stuff that military guy's are privy to say because it's not their job to sugar coat stuff. He pretty much said not to worry at all about the missiles that are on the news now. If they were aimed at us, they'd prolly hit Taiwan or the Philippines cause the range is too long.
After that, we were given freedom to wander around Seoul. A bunch of us found our way to ChungGyeChon, and walked along it for a bit. It's one of my most favorite places in Seoul. Afterwards, Meredith, Zury, Billy, Damon, and I went for some lunch around the area.
Then we began our mission of the day, which was to get my cellphone working, and to get new ones for the others. I think it took about an hour or two to figure everything out, but we finally got out of there and walked to the Han River, which we were only 15 minutes north of. It's a shame the river is so dirty, because I'm sure it must have been beautiful 50 or more years ago.
Meredith and I met up with SeRyun and Joyce for dinner in Shinsa-dong, which is a really cute area by Apgu-jung. It was a little bit pricy, but we had pretty good pho. It was really good to see Joyce again too after 5 months. She was my roommate in Japan. We got back to Suwon at 11pm exhausted from the heat, and not quite recovered from the jet lag.
Today was the first day of class, and it seemed to go quite well. The teacher seems really passionate, and really enjoys teaching. There's only 8 of us in the class, which is great. I'm happy I got placed in Professor Lee's class and that I belong in Intermediate B with the rest of these guys. Four hours flew by in no time, although I admit by the 4th hour I was looking at my watch quite often. But I can't help that, it's my ADD. I hope I can keep up with the work, 7 weeks of study... 2 big textbooks.... we'll see how it goes.
When class was over, a bunch of the language buddies who were unable to give their CLS people campus tours on Monday went around today and I got to tag along. The more I see of this campus, the more it reminds me of Korea University in terms of beauty and architecture, which makes me miss it there even more. My language buddy is in Mongolia for this entire week (no joke), so I won't be able to meet her until next week.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
First couple of days
Sunday morning I woke up kind of kind of tired, but still quite hyper about being back in Korea. Some people suggested going up to Seoul for some shopping and cellphone hunting. I was going to go, but then my friend SeungIl randomly messaged me and asked if I wanted to go to a baseball game. Since I'd never gone before, I immediately said yes. Baseball games in Korea are so different than the US, not because of the way the players play, but the audience. There is so much audience participation, and it seems that every one in the crowd knows the right cheers for when each player comes out onto the field.
The two teams were the Seoul LG Twins and the Daegu Samsung Lions. It's funny that the teams are Twins and Lions but everyone's yelling out LG and Daegu... oh Korea. It seemed that LG was doomed at first, but they managed to pull at 6-5 win at the end. The game was really exciting, but I could only pay attention to about half of it because there was so much excitement in the stands. They were just as amusing to watch.
Afterwards, we went to Shincheon (not to be mistaken for Shinchon), which was pretty cool because I hadn't been to that area before and it seemed like a smaller version of Hongdae. We had some Kamja-tang (potatoe stew) for dinner. SeungIl said that the ability to eat Kamja-tang with chopsticks makes one an expert-chopstick user. I dunno about that! But I guess I'll take the compliment? It is quite difficult though because you gotta dig the meat out between the bones and cartilage.
Monday, we got up bright and early for orientation. Most people got to meet their Kyunghee student buddys that would be our language partners and university guides, but mine was busy and couldn't make it. They introduced our professors to us, and made a presentation about Kyunghee University. I was hoping to get Lee Junho as a professor because there are two intermediate sections. I heard many good things about him as a teacher, and he's also a Korea University professor (where I studied last time), so that's a plus!
After orientation was the dreaded placement test. It totally let all the air out of me, and probably everyone else in the room. More than half of us couldn't read the directions for each section let alone guess what the vocab said! We all thought that we would fail and end up in beginners. But I think the idea is that if you actually did well, you belonged in Advanced. But we didn't find that out til later, and kept complaining to the professor proctoring that it was way too hard. The speaking and writing parts I actually did quite well on.
When it was done, we went to get pictures taken for our school IDs. We met Lindsey and Helen's KHU buddys, and went with them for lunch. After that, we went to a cafe, and Jacqueline and her buddy JungYoon joined us. All of the buddys were from the foreign language department, and JungYoon's major was Russian, so I was quite excited to test out her skills.
At four, we received our textbooks, and me and Meredith went back to her room to attempt to study because we were really excited to get our books! Unfortunately, the minute I got to her room, I totally crashed. After half an hour, I woke up and went back to my room and slept til 2:30am. Now I'm just surfing the net because I can't sleep.
Today we will go to the US Embassy in Seoul for a debriefing. Hope I get to meet the ambassodor!
P.S. KyungHee Suwon campus is SOO beautiful.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
An entire day of no sleep...
So on Friday morning we were on the bus and ready to go at 5am. Surprisingly, everyone was on time for this deadline. We arrived at the airport where we were supposed to check ourselves in, but there were issues with that, and they made a whole separate partition to sign in the group of 35. I just happened to be the first in line, so I went up there when they were ready. She said that somehow we were in groups, by alphabetical order, so for the first time, the end of the alphabet got to be first! Me, Zury, Jacqueline, Ezra, and James. R, S, S, V, W (not in that order). It's a good thing we got to the airport REALLY early, cause there would have been a lot of panic otherwise. Our flight didn't leave until 9am.
Actually, even our flight while everyone was on it, was a bit delayed by some storms in Cleveland. We got to San Francisco about a half hour late, and had to run to catch our flight to Korea which was set to leave in 40 minutes. Everyone made it on ok, but even that one was a little bit delayed. A delayed cross-country plane is no fun, a delayed cross-Pacific plane.... 12 hours in the air.... lets just say we were all really happy to arrive in Incheon. I think a slept a total of two hours somewhere along the whole flight. When we arrived, they all checked our temperature to make sure that we weren't bringing Swine Flu in. It was this thermometor that they put against our neck and it electronically read our temperature. I never saw that kind before.
Our in-country advisors came to meet us, and we got on the bus to go to Kyunghee University. The bus ride was a lot faster than I expected, especially since there was evening traffic and rain. Oh yeah, did I mention we came just in time for monsoon season? It should last til about mid-July, but I expected this since I was here two summers ago. But anyways, the bus ride was only about 1 hour and 15 mins, I think? After that, half of us went to go put our luggage away and go eat dinner, and the other half unpacked and just crashed. I decided I was in no position to go out because I was so tired at this point.
I got my stuff unpacked and called my family to let them know that I was still okay. After that, I tried to put my surge protector into the wall, and forgot that if it has 3 prongs, when I press the on switch, bad things happen. Needless to say, our power went out. Jacqueline (who is my roommate!) was in the shower, and I went down to the bottom floor to get the security guard to help us. I brought Meredith along, thinking our combined Korean would help us explain the situation. It didn't because she didn't say two words, and I had to do all of the talking. Everyone stared at her hoping she would be of help because she looked Korean, but that was clearly not the case. I went into the convenience store on the first floor of the dorm, and tried to find someone who could translate the word "electricity" for me because I forgot it. I eventually found two girls who had a dictionary and helped me. Thinking back, I probably should have brought my own down to talk to him. Eventually, he sort of understood what I said, and he came up and turned the power in the room back on. I thanked him and he went back downstairs.
After that, I took a shower and just crashed. Our shower is a bit weird because our whole bathroom is part of the shower. It's kind of confusing, and the faucet and shower head are on one lever that if we forget to switch back after a shower, we might go to wash our hands one day and end up a little more wet than we intended. I think for the most part we have everything figured out. The air conditioning doesn't work, and it is so humid outside. But I did make friends with the RA last night. I spoke to her mostly in Korean, which made me happy cause her English wasn't that good. She'd be a good person to practice with. So the RA told us the best way to get air circulation is to keep the door open at night. I dunno yet if we'll be doing that...
Actually, even our flight while everyone was on it, was a bit delayed by some storms in Cleveland. We got to San Francisco about a half hour late, and had to run to catch our flight to Korea which was set to leave in 40 minutes. Everyone made it on ok, but even that one was a little bit delayed. A delayed cross-country plane is no fun, a delayed cross-Pacific plane.... 12 hours in the air.... lets just say we were all really happy to arrive in Incheon. I think a slept a total of two hours somewhere along the whole flight. When we arrived, they all checked our temperature to make sure that we weren't bringing Swine Flu in. It was this thermometor that they put against our neck and it electronically read our temperature. I never saw that kind before.
Our in-country advisors came to meet us, and we got on the bus to go to Kyunghee University. The bus ride was a lot faster than I expected, especially since there was evening traffic and rain. Oh yeah, did I mention we came just in time for monsoon season? It should last til about mid-July, but I expected this since I was here two summers ago. But anyways, the bus ride was only about 1 hour and 15 mins, I think? After that, half of us went to go put our luggage away and go eat dinner, and the other half unpacked and just crashed. I decided I was in no position to go out because I was so tired at this point.
I got my stuff unpacked and called my family to let them know that I was still okay. After that, I tried to put my surge protector into the wall, and forgot that if it has 3 prongs, when I press the on switch, bad things happen. Needless to say, our power went out. Jacqueline (who is my roommate!) was in the shower, and I went down to the bottom floor to get the security guard to help us. I brought Meredith along, thinking our combined Korean would help us explain the situation. It didn't because she didn't say two words, and I had to do all of the talking. Everyone stared at her hoping she would be of help because she looked Korean, but that was clearly not the case. I went into the convenience store on the first floor of the dorm, and tried to find someone who could translate the word "electricity" for me because I forgot it. I eventually found two girls who had a dictionary and helped me. Thinking back, I probably should have brought my own down to talk to him. Eventually, he sort of understood what I said, and he came up and turned the power in the room back on. I thanked him and he went back downstairs.
After that, I took a shower and just crashed. Our shower is a bit weird because our whole bathroom is part of the shower. It's kind of confusing, and the faucet and shower head are on one lever that if we forget to switch back after a shower, we might go to wash our hands one day and end up a little more wet than we intended. I think for the most part we have everything figured out. The air conditioning doesn't work, and it is so humid outside. But I did make friends with the RA last night. I spoke to her mostly in Korean, which made me happy cause her English wasn't that good. She'd be a good person to practice with. So the RA told us the best way to get air circulation is to keep the door open at night. I dunno yet if we'll be doing that...
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