12/13/12

Class seemed a bit pointless to met. The first 3/4 was just writing farewell notes to everyone else. The last 1/4 we practiced speaking in "low" Korean--the very informal/intimate language. You can only use it to someone younger than you or between friends, otherwise it could be quite rude.

After class, I ran to meet Bohae and her parents. We went to get fried rice for lunch--they ordered extra cheese for our pizza fried rice! :) Then we went to my dorm and the got my big suitcase and duffel bag. They had a little bit of time left, so we went to get coffee at the shop right under my dorm. They left and I went to check out the altar I had seen on Tuesday. This is where the kings would do a 'rite of Heaven' to ask for a bountiful harvest. Much of it had been destroyed by the Japanese during occupation.

I went to the SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art) because there was a photography contest of photographs of Seoul that sounded interesting. The museum is where the old Supreme Court building was; unfortunately do to structural issues, only the main entrance remains and the rest is a new building. There was a special exhibit on Tim Burton, but that cost extra and I wasn't too interested. I also did not have a whole lot of time left til I needed to meet Brian. I enjoyed looking at all the photos.

I hopped on the subway to meet Brian. We walked to the Holt office (Holt is an adoption agency in Korea, I think it was the first and is certainly the largest) to meet Brian's friends. We the moved to Hongdae for dinner. It was a special dinner for the volunteers of Holt. Brian was invited because one of the men in charge is a close family friend do to the close interactions he's had over the years with the Ties Program that Brian's mom works for. Apparently there was another Holt party going on, for the "First Trip Home" group--which gives adoptees the opportunity to study at Kyunghee University but also requires them to work at a school and teach English at the same time. Brian had several friends at that party and thought we were all going to the same one, but it wasn't. Anyway, we went to a Beef BBQ place-it was really good. This was quite the party, rounds and rounds of meat continued to be ordered and we ate for almost 3 hours! They also ordered a cold noodle soup at the end. After dinner, we went to a place for drinks, but I didn't order anything. Brian and I met up with the First Trip Home group and went for Soju Cocktails. As it turns out, I knew most of them from seeing them at Kyungee University. I just enjoyed being with a group of adoptees and being able to speak English--everyone except for one (Germany) was American to boot, so it was even better (Taylor and Brian were in the class I was in when I started in level 1; Lena-the German was also in a level 1 class and David was a level 1; a new First Trip Home participant was Nic and Thomas has been living and working in Korea for awhile). We talked about our different accents or words we use because of where we came from and shared many laughs. I went with the group from Kyunghee back to school via subway and taxi.
 

Bohye's parents

The Altar thing

Seoul Museum of Art

One photograph that I literally laughed out loud when I saw it.

Full belly equals happy Brian

12-12-12! Wednesday

Today was 12-12-12!!

I did not do very well on my finals, but I'm going to keep working on my Korean...

I walked to Sinseol-dong Market (a flea market) but I accidentally forgot my memory card for my camera at home. I was so upset! However, after walking around the market a bit, I found a camera stall and asked how much the card was. It was a bit pricy, so I thought I would look for another stall. I was about to give up because I couldn't find any others but then spotted one and paid more than I would have in the US or maybe from any other camera store, but I needed one. After the flea market I walked along Cheonggyecheon and went to the Cheonggyecheon Museum again. After the museum, I walked to a big subway station area. I saw a shopping area and had some time to kill so wandered around. I found a jacket and really liked it, but resisted and did not buy it. (yet...)

I took the subway to meet CJ. Last night I did not sleep well and I kept falling asleep on the subway. I was concerned I had missed my stop! I didn't so I walked around Gangnam waiting for CJ. She ended up pushing back our meeting time again so I had lots of time to sit and think. We finally met and went to a BBQ place. We ordered a platter that had duck, ribs and samgypsal. After dinner we went to Baskin Robins for ice cream. I am glad I had the chance to meet CJ-what a cool person. 

Finally made it to the Flea Market--and I have a working camera!

Inside the flea market

Old stuff

Love this place...

Ice and snow on Cheonggyecheon

Some of the old support beams that held the highway that covered Cheonggyecheon

Replica of the old shacks/shanty houses along Cheonggyecheon on the 60's and 70's

Inside the shanty buliding; there was some filming going on inside...??

Coke wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Last Tuesday with MK

This morning we had our speaking final and listening test. The speaking went the same way as midterms; we drew numbers to pick the order of when we would meet with the teacher and then we would also use our numbers to pair up with a classmate to 'perform' our speaking dialog in front of the class. I drew number 2, which was nice because I didn't have to sit and wait and think and worry about what to say with the teacher. She asked for directions (one of the subjects we covered) and what characteristics I like in a person. When it was time for the speaking dialog, I drew the only one that I didn't want to do- the post office dialog! But, I guess we did okay. The listening test was a little hard, not sure how I fared.

After class, I went to another free museum about another independence movement person. There was a park surrounding the museum as well, with other freedom fighters buried there too. I walked from the museum towards downtown Seoul and passed Seoul Station (Train Station). I remembered there was a new 'museum' opened in the old train station, so I stopped in. There were modern art exhibits in the train station; I was actually more interested in looking at the parts about the train station than the (to me) strange artwork. After that museum, I also stopped at Seoso Park, just a small park with some monuments. Then I walked to City Hall and saw the Christmas Tree lit up, but I'm sad to say this wasn't a real tree either, just a metal frame with lights all around it. They also have created a giant ice skating rink in front of City Hall. I don't know when it will open, but I'm hoping if it is soon, maybe I can go! It would be so much fun and a great memory I think. I noticed a traditional looking building across the plaza and went to go check it out. It was kind of blocked off, but I asked Min Kyung about it and she told me it is called "Wongudan Altar". We think maybe it was just closed for the evening perhaps. I will try and visit it again later! (It's rare to find a sight I haven't seen yet!)

I went to McDonald's to sit and write in my journal til it was time to meet MK. We went to a noodle restaurant we had seen last week. It was really delicious! Except after eating, I was sooo thirsty and MK said maybe the dish was a little bit too salty. She shared some exciting and special news with me--she booked a wedding hall for next June to marry her boyfriend, Chris! (He is a Canadian working as a program director at an English Institute) When we finished eating, we went to "Soop" (the Korean word for forest) and shared a waffle and tea. It was so funny because I really wanted to eat a waffle, the last few days I had been craving one, and especially tonight. MK asked me, "so, do you want to eat a waffle?" It was crazy! I was so sad to say bye to her, she is such a special friend. I'm glad she and I started a weekly dinner meeting in the last few weeks-I just wish we had started right away!

Tomb of Kim Koo

Inside the old Seoul Station, main entrance

Old Seoul Station (constructed under Japanese rule in the 20's)

Old City Hall (also constructed under Japanese rule, now a library) and City Hall, along with the 'fake' Christmas tree

Koreans are amazing at construction. I mean really. They built this GIANT wooden platform, with steps just to put an ice skating rink on it for what 2 months? Crazy. (Even built up a protector for the trees!)

Wongudan Entrance

Tasty dinner! There are noodles under the seaweed and lettuce and some broth too!

At the coffee shop, MK modeling "winter style"!

Korean style!

Our yummy waffle and mango green tea!

MK outside the cafe

Finals Monday

My last full Monday in Korea! (I will be leaving a week from today!)

In the morning I was able to skype with my Mom, Grandpa, and Martin. What a nice way to start my day. :)

Then, it was off to school for our first set of finals. Today we had reading, grammar and writing. It was pretty rough. I almost didn't finish my reading test. The teacher gave the 1 minute warning, so I ended up guessing on the last few questions to have them as least filled in rather than blank. Grammar I managed to complete in time, but am not confident in my answers. Writing was also tough and I'm not sure of the quality of my essay. Tomorrow is speaking (2 parts) and listening.

After class, I went to Insadong area to meet Katie for our last time. We went in search of a restaurant I had looked up, however we probably should have left after our arrival, because it looked a little bit on the rundown side--but it is hard to judge a restaurant based on it's decor... Well, the food was okay-not great, not the worst. After lunch we stopped at a food cart and got "kearan bbang" (egg bread) which is dough with an egg cracked into the middle and then it is cooked in a hot griddle-the result is similar to a hard-boiled egg with a custardy bread around it. I'm not actually a fan of hard boiled eggs, so I liked the bread, but wasn't crazy about the egg part. Katie and I then went to the Ddeok Museum (ddeok is rice 'cake'). It was a really small exhibit and didn't take us long to go through. Another one of those "bust" museums-especially since the entrance was 2,000W. We headed back to Insadong and had tea and chatted.

Katie went back to her part of town and I wandered around Insadong again and then towards Gwanghwamun Plaza to get a nice view of Gyeongbok Palace. I walked back to Jonggak Station and did some shopping for a few last minute gifts and came back here. I got to skype with Jung Yoon for awhile-I am really excited to see her!

Our lunch

Outside the Ddeok Museum

Gyeongbok Palace in winter

Another Cold Day!!

I went back to Myeongdong so I could buy some winter boots--my feet were cold and I was a little worried about slipping on ice too. I found a nice fuzzy furry looking pair--the kind of neat thing is that I haven't really seen them anywhere else either. After the quick shopping trip (where I also bought "smartphone gloves" for my friend and got a discount because the guy didn't have the correct bills to give me change!!) I went to the Bank of Korea Money Museum. It was interesting--a lot of it got into how banks work and interest rates and such. I also liked the part about showing how money is made. Apparently Korean money is made mostly of cotton fibers!

After the museum, I went to Namdaemun to poke around there. On my way out of the market, I stopped and got bulgogi and japchae hodduk (so instead of the sweet inside, it was savory)--very good! I took the subway to Yongsan Station (for soccer) but was early. I went to the EMart in the basement (kind of like a Meijer or Walmart-grocery store and home necessities store); on the weekends EMart and other marts like these have sample stalls all over the grocery part of the store. I walked around the grocery section for awhile, sampling different food items. I ate mandu, bacon, ramen, pork, chocolate, candy bar, and tea! After sampling, I found a place to sit and studied a little.

Finally it was time for soccer. I was dreading going out into the cold weather. We had a relatively large group considering the temperature (it was 10 people). I made another goal! I also had another shot on goal and all the guys called out, "nice shot!".

Then it was on to my last mass at Sogang University. I will miss the priest and his homilies.

Model of the Bank of Korea

Steps in making the money

Coins in the center

Recycled banknotes to make flooring!

Bank-real size

Soccer time!

Soccer and snow?!

COLD, COLD Saturday

It was 19 degrees outside today (that was the high). That is too cold. I do not like it. It was so cold even wearing gloves didn't keep my fingers and hands from feeling cold.

I went back to Namdaemun market and looked for a pair of boots. The stall I wanted to buy them from had the boots, and another pair I was interested in, but the man was not there for me to double check the price. So, I went on to Myeongdong because I had also looked at a store there. I saw the same pair I had been looking at for 30,000W, but the man also suggested another pair that was quite different (fuzzy on the outside and with laces rather than the plastic-y leather of the original pair) and 5,000W more. So now I'm in a pickle deciding which ones to get. Asking my friends for advice (via text messaging) did not help much-each said a different pair suits me more and then one also suggested getting both--which did not help the situation at all because she planted a tiny seed in my head...

Then I went to meet Jung Yoon's brother Chang Hwan at City Hall Station. Unfortunately I didn't understand him when he said he missed the subway and was going to be late--as in, he just missed it and would be arriving almost 30 minutes later...so I stood in the station and the cold for 30 minutes...

We went in search of a restaurant I had looked up for lunch. It was a bit hidden tucked away behind some buildings, but after a bit of walking we found it. We ordered the {giant} mandu soup. It was pretty good. After lunch we kind of just wandered around. Along Gwanghwamun Plaza there was a big rally for one of the presidential candidates. Everyone was wearing red-or had some red article of clothing on--in support. After awhile, I looked down and realized I was wearing my red pants!! Maybe some people thought I was in support of that candidate!! We walked through the King Sejong Museum and the Admiral Yi Museum (both free) and then decided to go get coffee near Cheonggyecheon. I noticed that Chang Hwan was looking pretty tired so I told him I needed to leave to study. He mentioned that he had only slept for 2 hours today!

I returned to my room and actually found a way to listen to Christmas music on the internet (Bing Crosby era/style of course) and did a little laundry, packing and organizing. It's hard to believe I have only 9 days left in Korea! I also chatted with Jung Yoon and then did some studying.

Giant Mandu Soup

Chang Hwan and our lunch!

"Final" School Day Friday

The last day of instruction! We were supposed to take a chapter quiz yesterday, but there wasn't enough time. So today, we took 2 quizzes and corrected them in class so we would have the answers to study from over the weekend. Monday and Tuesday are our Final Exam days!

After class, I looked up some places to go. I was supposed to meet with my friend Ji, but he was visiting friends and family in and around Busan and due to the snow, his flight was delayed and delayed and delayed. I decided since I probably wasn't going to meet Ji, I would just go out and do my own thing instead of staying in, waiting around and being disappointed. I went to Namsan Park and also went to a free museum about one of the independent movement activist, Ahn, Jung Geun. Most of it was in Korean and I was also not allowed to take any pictures inside the museum, but it was still interesting. One of the first things I noticed when I arrived to the museum was hand imprints and a quote, signature and name by each hand print. I also noticed on each hand, the left ring finger tip had been cut off (so that it was the same length of the pinky finger); I was wondering if it had been some kind of torture that the Japanese had inflicted on the revolutionaries only to find out it was this small group of friends' pact to work for Korea's freedom--it was interesting they believed cutting off their fingertip would symbolize their devotion to making Korea free ( I wish I could have read everything to get a better understanding). The exhibit begins on the ground floor and you travel through his life and move up the building. I ended on the 2nd floor-at the end of the exhibit there are glass windows so you can see outside. I noticed it had started snowing again!

I walked from the museum to Namdaemun Market. I was able to see another angle of gate-the side where they are working on restoring it. Then I walked to Myeongdong and then on to Cheonggyecheon. I stopped at a kimbap shop and ordered omurice, which is basically stir-fried rice with a thin egg (omelet style) on top. I walked along Cheonggyecheon until I got too cold and then headed home.

In Namsan Park, looking at Namsan Mountain

Entrance to the museum

Inside the Main Hall

SNOWING!!

Along the Seoul Fortress Wall

Namdaemun Gate

Cheonggyecheon in winter

Photo scenes set up at the start of Cheonggyecheon

"Family" Time

Class was fine-only one more day of instruction left!!

After class, I headed over to Hwa Sun's house. Jaebin was with his friends, so we visited a little before we met up with Jaebin and the friends. We also stopped at the bakery, Paris Croissant to get some pastries for breakfast in the morning. Jaebin's friend's Mom picked us up and took us all to Yongsan Station/I'PARK Mall (also where I play soccer) to go to the CGV (Movie Theater Chain). I played babysitter for a few hours and watched the movie with the 3 boys while the Moms chatted and shopped. We watched "Rise of the Guardians" in 4D (that means in addition to the 3D glasses, the seats moved side to side, air was blown, the lights in the theater flashed, and sometimes you got "punched" in the back from the seat!). It was dubbed in Korean, and there were no subtitles. Luckily it was an animated "children's" film so it was easy enough to follow even though I couldn't understand everything. It was funny because in the very beginning there were a few basic sentences and I understood them--those were the sentences Jaebin translated for me--or words that I knew. Later he proudly boasted to Mom and Dad, "I translated the movie for Amy Nuna!!" Hwa Sun asked me, "really?!". I laughed saying, "only words or sentences that I already knew"--she laughed too. After the movie we went back to her house and got their car and went to go pick up Hwa Sun's husband from work.

While we were waiting for him to arrive in the parking garage, a lady beckoned Hwa Sun to come help her. In Korea--maybe I should say, in Seoul, cars park basically anywhere they can find a space. So, they leave their cars in neutral in case someone needs to move their car to get out. So, this lady was standing 50m away maybe and was waving at Hwa Sun to come (Hwa Sun said that it was so rude--if she needed help she should have come and politely asked for help instead of just waving her over) at that time, her husband arrived and was able to help push the car for her. Then we were off to dinner. Mr. Ryu wanted to take me out to a nice Italian restaurant. We did something similar to when we were with Amanda in Itaewon--we ordered a salad, a pizza, a pasta and a risotto for all of us to share. Jaebin passed out on the table while we were still finishing our dinner.

We arrived back at their home and got ready for bed. We watched TV for a little before heading to bed. Hwa Sun and I saw a really sad documentary about Tiger abuse in Thailand-several different 'event'/locations doing different mistreatment to the tigers.

Three Strong Boys!! Jaebin, KangMin and new friend

I have 3 dates!!

You might be able to notice Mr. Ryu at the front of the car, pushing it for the rude lady

Time is flying!

The week is already half over! Class went well-during one of our breaks I noticed it was snowing! Not just a little bit of snow, but quite a lot. It continued for most of the day too. It was funny because many students were out and taking pictures-it seemed as if they had never seen snow before! (Most coming from Japan or China I'm sure that they have though) I think the first snowfall really brings out the child in all of us-it seems a bit magical and special.

After class, I stopped at the school 'stationary store' and bought a Kyunghee University t-shirt for myself. For whatever reason, Inje University did not have any apparel or other items with the college name on it.

I went to go meet Bohye (this is how she romanizes it, but I feel that "Bohae" looks more like it actually sounds) at the university front gate and we went to a Korean restaurant near campus. I pass it every day, but have never stopped in. They have a simple menu and the price (5,500W) posted on a sign outside and I look at it and think about it, but never went. I thought it would be a good place to try with a friend. It was pretty good--although they seemed to use a lot of ginger-in both of the dishes we ordered; a little bit overpowering and too much for our liking. After lunch, we went to Dunkin Donuts and got coffee too. We talked for a bit and she told me our plans for next week have changed again. From what I understand some relatives are either visiting or we are going to visit them, but it is about an hour away by car. They will pick me up from my residence (and I will give them my luggage to keep since they are also taking me to the airport) after school and we will travel to this other city together.

In the evening after Bohae left, I did some studying and went to get dinner. I got ddeok mandu guk (dumpling and rice cake soup) and kimbap to-go. This time, I was not as successful in transferring my soup from the bag to the bowl and lost a fair amount to the sink.

I chatted with Jungyoon and now I have lots of homework to get to! Aiygo! (Korean expression for "oh my" kind of "ugh")

First big snow in Korea!!! Kyunghee University Campus

Bohae and our lunch!