Time with my 언니 (Unni= Big Sister)

Class went well today. We are almost done with our textbook, but like I mentioned before, we really only have a week left of class before FINALS!!! We did a lot of one on one speaking today-with our classmates, interviewing about our favorite hobby or interest. Tomorrow we have to give a small presentation about our favorite hobby. I chose soccer-the only problem is that I cannot draw, so I'm not sure how to decorate my small poster...

After class, I got a text from Hwa Sun Unni, asking if I was free earlier than we had originally planned on meeting. I agreed and we met in Itaewon, which is kind of the international area; it is quite close to the US military base, so there are a lot of Americans in that area. We had tea and a waffle and chatted. We sat near the window on the 2nd floor and Hwa Sun noticed a large crowd gathering on the street-she looked down and said that there was a famous actor there. There was also a cameraman, so they were doing some kind of filming! I don't have a big sister, so I really enjoy and appreciate the relationship I have with Hwa Sun. She really is like a big sister and again, I have to stress how much she treats me like family. I am so thankful to have them in my life. After we finished our tea, we went to some shops in the area because she needed some things for her family.

We took a taxi back to her apartment. I did some homework while she had a phone call. Then she helped me a little with some of my homework. A little bit later, Jaebin returned home from his friend's house. He also helped me with my homework. He did his journal writing-English assignment and I helped him. For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant. Earlier in the day I mentioned how much homework I had, so I think Hwa Sun sent me on my way a little bit earlier than she would have normally because I told her how late I stay up doing homework and she was worried about me. We made plans to meet next week and I got a big hug bye from Jaebin. He kept yelling "byyyyeeee!!" to me as I went down the stairs to the subway.

I just finished packing for my trip to Inje/Busan and now I'm going to dive into homework!

Reunited with some Bros!

Class was alright, it's hard to believe next week is our LAST full week of learning and the following week is FINALS and graduation! I have begun to accept the fact that maybe the things I have learned in class have not quite stuck in my head, but at least the seeds have been planted and I have the resources. I am gearing up to continue my studying when I return home.

After class I got a call from my friend Ji. I have been trying to meet him since I arrived to Korea, since he is currently living in Seoul with his fiancee. He's been quite busy preparing resumes and applications for job interviews. Anyway, he FINALLY called me and we were both able to meet up this afternoon. We went to Hongdae because I had a coupon for a free pasta from the restaurant I went to a few weeks ago. When I met up with him, he told me that another friend, Bit Chan was also in Seoul! I thought he was in Canada--he had been studying in Canada with an exchange program and I was under the impression he hadn't returned to Korea yet. He was on his way to meet us, but Ji and I went to go eat. It was great hearing more of his traveling stories--he was one of the 5 friends I had traveling around the US and Europe to get signatures to petition to have "East Sea" added to maps along with "Sea of Japan". They really had an incredible trip. As we were finishing our lunch, Bit Chan called so after we finished, we went to go meet Bit Chan who was arriving to the area. We went to a coffee shop and I ordered a tea. We sat and talked for a long time until Bit Chan started to get hungry. Bit Chan suggested "ddak dori tang" which is kind of a spicy chicken stew. After walking a bit, we found a restaurant and had a spicy dinner. When we went to the subway station, I saw the piano-back up singer from the band I heard playing a few weeks ago at Cheonggyecheon. Today he was playing his keyboard thing and singing by himself. I thought it was pretty cool to 'meet' him again. We said our goodbyes on the subway and I hope I can see them again before I leave. It was a nice surprise to meet Bit Chan. Ji is really like a big brother to me and it was great spending time with him. He and his fiancee bought two cats. Their names are "Dubu" (tofu) and "Ooyoo" (milk), haha! They are white Persian cats. It's kind of cute because he's almost like a dad and they are his babies-he was proud of them and talked about them a lot.

When I returned home I was able to skype with Amanda again. Now I have a little bit of homework to finish before I can head to bed!

Lunch with my Bro, Ji, at BonBon in Hongdae

Ji and Bit Chan at dinner

Ji and me

Surprise! Bit Chan and me

Attempting to get a picture of the 3 of us together

Thankful for Good Friends

Well today was a bit eventful. I'm sure my last three weeks here will continue to be busy as I make sure to do all the things I wanted to see and do and visit all of my friends.

I was able to chat with my Mom on skype after a few week period away I think. Then I rushed off to class. We were joined by a new student from Singapore doing a week long program. She will leave on Friday! I think she knows a bit of English along with Chinese and she happens to sit next to me, so maybe I will get to speak some English for a few days in class! Today was an easier day, we were finishing up chapter 20 so it is really only reading and listening, and the second half we started chapter 20. The multiples of 5 chapters are about pronunciation rules so it was easy too.

After class, I was asked to help an Australian student. She is doing research on native English speakers' pronunciation of Korean words. Her goal is to make Korean {pronunciation} easier for English speakers. So I had to read a list of Korean words 3 times each into her little microphone. On my way back to my room, I ran into Brian and he and I went to the kimbap shop.

I returned to my room and bought my final ticket to Busan!! I also got some studying done. Min Kyung sent me a text telling me to meet her about 40 minutes earlier than planned, so I left and met her in the Jongno area (it's right on my subway line, about 20 minutes away)-Cheonggyecheon runs through this district/neighborhood. We went for ddak galbi, which is what I had to eat on Saturday. (Chicken, veggies and a hot sauce) However, this time we added rice at the end-when just there's a little bit of chicken and veggies left you can add rice and it is kind of like fried rice. It's my favorite part of ddak galbi!

We walked to a coffee shop and along the way passed an office building with a huge Christmas tree inside, so we went in and took our picture and then went on to the coffee shop. MK again paid for dinner, saying I could buy coffee. I think I have officially decided my stomach does not care for Korean milk. This is about the 3-4th time in the past few weeks I've noticed it hurts after I've drank warmed up milk in some form. I'm going to stay away from that and get tea or juice at coffee shops from now on. I am interested to see how US milk affects me when I return home. Anyway, MK and I had some really good conversation ranging from cultural behaviors to North Korea. It is really refreshing to have someone to speak English to; not to struggle to be understood or understand and not just through typing (because that is how most of my English has been 'spoken' these past few months).

Me and the giant Christmas tree

MK and the tree

Tired Monday

This morning I woke up and all I wanted to do was sleep more. Class was alright. These days it seems kind of hit or miss if I have a "good day" (as in low frustration level and high understanding). Today was more of the "miss" day.

I had a good afternoon of studying. I really enjoy the new website I found. It also goes really well with a lot of the things we are studying--it is so great to have it explained in ENGLISH and not just Korean. I also chatted with Jihye and confirmed my weekend trip to Inje/Gimhae/Busan. It is hard to believe this is already the last of the 3 visits I had planned out way back in the summer. The time sure did go by fast.

Just around dinner time I checked my phone and noticed I missed a text from my friend Ji about 2 hours earlier. My phone had been on silent from class and I hadn't turned it back on. I was kind of upset with myself because he was able to meet for dinner, but because it was already dinner time, he didn't respond (though he's not been very reliable with returning my messages since I've arrived in Korea). I was disappointed I missed a chance to meet with him. I finished my homework and went to find some dinner. I went to the restaurant Brian and I went to waaaay back in the beginning-a kind of bibimbap fusion restaurant. I got spicy chicken and noodles in a hot stone bowl. It was pretty spicy, but it was also a bit sweet too. While walking to school, I noticed a Homeplus (grocery store) opened right near campus and not too far from where I had dinner, so I went there to get some groceries/check out their selection.

I was going to do a little bit more studying, but I am quite tired so I'm hoping to go to bed a little bit earlier tonight.

Meeting Bohae's Family

Well, for the first time in a long time, I slept well past my normal waking time of 7:30, and even past any normal time I would wake up. The only problem with this is that I needed to leaving for the subway station AT 9:20 to make it to Bucheon (between Seoul and Inchon) by 10:30. I had woken up because I heard my roommate getting ready, but I figured it was still early, my alarm hadn't gone off so maybe she was just up early for her church, and fell back asleep. Then when I heard her leaving, I figured I should see what time it was. It was 9:02. Eighteen minutes to get ready?! I took the fastest shower and got dressed, thankful I had put my soccer bag together the night before and ran to the subway. I made it just as the train was arriving at the station.

I settled in knowing I had an hour long ride ahead of me. I tried to do a little bit of studying, but it's a bit distracting with all the people coming and going to really focus. As I was getting closer, I started wondering about if I needed to transfer because the line though stays the "same" split, so I contacted Bohae and she told me what the next stop was. I found those tracks and again made it just as the next train arrived. I had counted the stops and figured it should take me 50 minutes to get from my station to hers, but actually it took a little over an hour. I'm guessing having to transfer was part of the added time. I met Bohae at the station and then we walked to a bus stop to take a bus to her church. I don't know if I mentioned, but her father is a pastor of a Presbyterian church. We arrived at the church (which is actually in the basement of a building) with 3 minutes before it was to begin. I met her mother and younger brother before the service started. I sat through their service, having no idea what was going on of course. At the end, at their announcement section, they introduced all of the guests/visitors/newcomers, so I had to stand up and bow and everyone clapped.

When it was over, I met Bohae's father and her grandmother, along with some friends and other parishioners. Then they asked me if I wanted to eat there or out somewhere. I said it would be okay to have lunch at the church with everyone else. They told me because we were eating at the church, they wanted to take me out to eat another day. Unfortunately they picked the same day that I had already planned to meet Mr. Lee. They looked very upset and told me that they wanted to meet me then. It was left a bit unresolved and we found a place to sit and eat. One church member is Korean American who is an international lawyer. Since he is fluent in both languages they turned to him to translate and try to convince me to change my plans. As he was translating he stopped and told me he wanted to give me advice. He said, "Koreans are very pushy. They are basically saying you need to cancel your plans to meet with them. In my opinion, you just keep your plans if you would rather to that, but of course they want you to not keep it. Do whatever you want". They kept asking and asking and I was starting to get really upset because they weren't listening to WHY I couldn't meet with them and they couldn't seem to understand why Mr. Lee is so important to me. We finished eating and helped clean up. Bohae had to do a quick piano lesson, but her brother and I walked to a coffee shop. I ordered a lemon tea and it was really good. A little bit later Bohae joined us. They are both friendly and very sweet. Bohae came with an alternative option sent from her parents. They wanted to meet on the 13th and either 1. have us travel 2 hours to where Sion (Bohae's brother) goes to college to have dinner--and then drive 2 hours back... or 2. the parents and Bohae would meet me at Hoegi Station for dinner. I told her I would think about it and decide based on my school schedule.

We walked back to the church and chatted there a little. The next service started at 3, so I needed to leave before it. There was another member who drove me and Bohae to the subway station to drop me off, which was really nice. I got on the subway and headed to Yongsan to play soccer. At one point someone got up and even though I had 2 big bags I did not sit down--I rarely sit on the subway--and an ajushi maybe in his late 60's sat down and said "thank you" to me. I waved it off and said "it's okay". He then told me to give him my bag. (It is customary for strangers to hold other passengers bag's if one is sitting and the other is standing) I tried to tell him it's okay, but he kept telling me to give him my bag, so finally I conceded. He then started rambling rapid-fire Korean at me and I gave my (I'm sure) classic dear-in-headlights-I-don't-know-Korean look and told him "I can't speak Korean", however hearing MORE Korean come out of my mouth signaled to him I really DID know Korean. I tried to explain that I am Korean American and I am adopted. I don't think many older people know the word for adopted "ibyang"--a lot of people his generation or older give me a confused look and try and guess other words I'm saying-along with "ilbon" which is Japanese. Anyway, fortunately--unfortunately...the seat next to him opened up and he told me to sit. I figured I'd better sit. So, I tried my best to have a conversation with him telling him I'm a student at Kyunghee University. When we finally came to the end of the line at Yongsan station, he said something to me and an older lady next to me made some kind of empathic noise-then I heard him speaking to her and said something along the lines that I have no father and no mother-to which she made even more empathic noises. As we all exited the subway, he told her I was headed to Hoegi station and Kyunghee University, which happened to be the direction this lady was headed apparently because she told me "let's go together". THEN I had to try to explain that I play soccer at Yongsan. I had to say the word for soccer about 4 times and repeat my sentence (which I believed to be a relatively simple sentence that I have spoken many times) about 3 times for them to understand me.

After parting ways with my friendly ajuma and ajushi, I made my way to a bathroom to change into my soccer clothes and went to the field. There were only 5 of us-at one point there was a high schooler or maybe early college age boy standing around so the native Korean, Jin Won, that sometimes joins us invited him to play with us. I took a lot of shots on goal, but most were wide or over. I think I did make one goal. Towards the end of our time, a small group of 6-10 year old boys with their moms stopped and watched us play. Jin Won asked me "do you hear or understand what those boys are saying?" I told him no. He said they were saying stuff along the lines "Is that a girl? Woah, that's a girl! But, how can a girl be playing that well?!" Ha!! When we were done playing Jin Won asked if anyone was headed towards Sincheon, since he has a car. John, the captain of our team and I rode with Jin Won and were dropped off--it was really nice because I was going to walk all the way to Sogang again. As it turned out, I was early enough for church that I stopped at Isaac Toast for a sandwich before mass.

At mass, they announced that our priest has become an official member of the Sogang priest community-or something rather. He said basically he has decided that he wants to die in Korea--that he will spend the rest of his life serving at that church in that community.

I came home and had another hour + long skype chat with Amanda. Then I had to finish homework and finally head to bed quite late.

Sleepy Saturday

I can't believe I slept until 10am!! There are a few factors that may have contributed to this. One being that we didn't go to bed til late, second I was running low on sleep from the night before and third, their apartment is quiet--it is on the 8th floor so we are well above street level and street noise; AND there is no subway nearby with the all the noises that come from it.

We had a leisure morning-I did some homework and Ginger graded while CJ slept. When everyone was finally ready, it was almost 2pm. We went for 'ddak galbi' which is a kind of grilled chicken mixed with vegetables and a spicy sauce. It was good-I really like ddak galbi and can't believe I haven't eaten it yet!! We had a really good conversation about adoption--CJ is not adopted; she is Korean American, but just spent the last 6 months living and working in an orphanage, so while not adopted she cares much about the children and has an understanding of some adoption issues and system. After lunch we went to this kind of pie shop. While we were waiting in line, CJ looked at us and said, "I think that guy is a movie star..." (He was tall, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses). Then Ginger tried to get a picture of him while pretending to take a picture of the pies, but he turned his head. As he left the store, another couple was entering and the guy from the couple held the door open for the movie actor leaving and he did a double take and stared at him as he walked away and then he said the same name that CJ said! The pie was pretty good!

Ginger and CJ wanted to shop in Dongdaemun so lucky for me that's the direction I was headed and we rode out together. They left to go shop and I went on to school. I stopped at the store and bought a pair of reddish corduroy pants. I also bought two shirts. I have a few days to return the shirts if I want, but the pants were on sale so I cannot return them. I also had to figure out a gift for Bohae's father. I have items for her, her mom and brother; so it took me awhile to walk around some of the shops and decide. I ended up going to a nice bakery shop that also sells chocolates and got a box of nice chocolates for him--I hope he likes chocolate!

When I returned to my room, I did some studying. I also had experienced an issue with my blog and uploading pictures because I was at the max capacity for storage so I think I've worked around it, but it took me a long time and was very frustrating. 

This is the official homepage of the movie star we saw, Kim JaeWon: http://www.kimjaewon.co.kr/

Black Friday??

Today felt like the longest day! I was out and about later in the evening and was talking about what I did and I had to stop and think--was that today??

Last night I had trouble sleeping and went to school with only about 4 hours of sleep. Classes went fine. We got a LOT of homework/assignments and tasks to do though. We also started on chapter 19. I found out that our finals will cover everything from the beginning of the semester, not from where the midterms ended!

I came back to my room and got to chat with Joe before heading to Gangnam to meet Ginger. (She is my adoptee friend who did the Inje program and I met in September.) We decided to do a bit of shopping in the underground shopping mall at Gangnam Station. It felt like "Black Friday" to be out shopping-though there were no great sales and not crazy lines etc.

Around 6, I asked Ginger if we could walk over to Yeoksam Station so I could go say hi to Mr. Lee. So we walked over there and I got a big hug from him. I don't think he recognized me at first, because of my haircut. He kept patting my face. I was able to talk with him a little bit better than before, but I still struggled some. We told him we were going to be going to eat and then he told me to wait and he went downstairs. When he came back up he handed me some money and told me to have a nice dinner!! So sweet! We've made plans to meet in a few weeks, but because of the difficulty we have communicating I'm not sure where or what time! He said he will call me, so I'm hoping I have a Korean interpreter for me!

We walked back to Gangnam and looked for a restaurant. Along the way we passed a street food vendor--he had dough and little cast iron molds-one in the shape of a peanut and one in the shape of a walnut (the nuts in their natural form/shape). He put real nuts in the middle and then filled them with dough. It smelled really good so we decided to get some of each. We got 2 big bags full and each bag was only 3,000W. We finally ended up picking a kimbap kind of shop to eat dinner. I ordered kimchi bokkum bop (kimchi fried rice) and it was a lot more spicy than I was expecting), but it was good.

After dinner, we went back to Erica and CJ's apartment, where Ginger is staying. (Erica and her family are in America, I think I mentioned that on Tuesday) Ginger and I hung out until CJ returned from work. She was hungry, so we ran to McDonalds-there I was able to get another ice cream cone. :)

We came back from our food run and watched some movies on tv and talked before we all just kind of fell asleep.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have a lot to be thankful for! I am thankful for the wonderful family, friends and boyfriend that I have. I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to come to Korea and get to know my Korean culture and heritage. I had a wonderful day today.

Class went alright. We did a lot of speaking activities to practice using some of the grammar we've been learning in the past few days. Towards the end of class though, I think everyone was getting a bit overloaded because we were doing a listening activity and we were supposed to listen to a dialog and repeat what we heard and then all of a sudden no one was really saying anything. It was kind of funny and our teacher said "10 more minutes, fighting!"

After class, I went to Hongdae to meet Bohae (that is Mr. Kwon's wife's cousin's daughter--and Mr. Kwon is my "Chicago Korean father"). She had asked me earlier in the day if I liked spicy food-I replied that I can eat spicy food but I did not like seafood. Luckily I put that bit about not liking seafood in there too, because later she told me the restaurant she had chosen served little baby octopus!! She researched a restaurant and we walked around for maybe 10-15 minutes before we found it. We ordered a lunch set that had bulgogi and kimchi jjigae (stew). Bohae wouldn't let me pay for lunch. Then we were off to the Trick Eye Museum. It is an interactive museum with 3D paintings so you can kind of pose and look like you are in the artwork. It was a lot of fun. Again Bohae paid for the museum. After the museum, we went to a cafe was either modeled after or used as the set from a Korean drama that I loved. The drama is called "Bachelor's Vegetable Store". It was fun going to see the cafe-she looked at my textbook and we chatted in broken English and Korean. She said her family wanted to meet me, so I will be going to her home on Sunday. They also have already invited me to spend the night before I go back to the States and take me to the airport! She was so sweet and it was so nice to make a new friend. She texted me and told me that I should consider her as family.

I got to Hoegi Station and met Mark, then Brian and Brian's language helper--who's English name ALSO happens to be Amy! We went to a BBQ buffet restaurant near campus. The tables are set up like a normal BBQ restaurant with the grill in the middle of the table, but you can go pick the meat that you want (side dishes as well) and you take it back to your table and grill--as much as you want!! It is amazing! And it was only 11,000W! It was really strange not to have turkey and the other typical Thanksgiving fixings, but we managed to keep the gathering and being thankful tradition alive. :)

Upon arriving back to my room I started into my homework when I got a skype call from Amanda. I really haven't talked to Amanda since she left Korea (what? CRAZY! Especially since we 'talked'/hung out several times a week--and then were together 24/7 for 2 weeks---definitely experiencing a bit of Amanda withdrawal...) and we had a long chat. :)

My new friend--sister, Bohae and me at the Trick Eye Museum

Pulling Mr. Piggy

Having a sword fight

In front of the cafe!

My Korean Thanksgiving Dinner

Mark, Amy, Amy, Brian after dinner

Halfway through the week

Today class was not as bad as yesterday. We had our 1st teacher for the whole time because our other teacher is sick. She will be out of class tomorrow too.

After class, I came back and did another load of laundry. I was also able to talk with Emily and Jenny in a group chat. It was great to catch up with them. The three of us spent a lot of time together last year--it is hard to imagine life without them and it is hard to not be the three of us together anymore!

Emily had to leave, but since Jenny is on Seattle time, she is 3 hours behind--I have found that it is actually easier to chat with Jenny being halfway around the world than when she was 3 hours behind me when I was in the US. Anyway, Jenny and I chatted some more and she helped me some with my Korean. I also found a new website to get some Korean lessons for free. It is really helpful and I've already moved through 6 lessons. I wish I had had more time to get through more of them.

I went to the kimbap shop Brian and I went to a few weeks ago. I ordered bulgogi. I had to say, Koreans have perfected the art of take-out/delivery. I have not personally ordered anything delivery, but they move so quickly and it looks very efficient. Not to mention the fact that Korean streets are the biggest mystery to me--so how they even find the places they are going to amazes me. (I thank the smart men who set up the Northwest Ordinance--got to love our gridded townships!!!)

I stopped at the grocery store to get a few things before heading back to my room. I did more studying and now I'm ready for bed. I'm looking forward to meeting my new friend tomorrow! And having a Korean-American Thanksgiving with some American and Korean friends!

Turbulent Tuesday

Today class was extremely difficult for me. In book work, I can do it and 'understand' what I am supposed to do. In speaking and actually understanding what the use of it is, I have no idea. I've also begun to realize that I am NOT a verbal learning and most of the class is done verbally. I prefer to see things written--I cannot visualize things easily in my head, especially Korean, especially when it is done very quickly. I really struggled today. I think I also discovered that I may need to brush up on my ENGLISH grammar/sentence structures a bit to help understand the explanations in my Korean textbook...

After my challenging class, I rushed to the little bakery to get a small cake for Jihye and to the stationary store to get her a little card. I realized I forgot my camera in my room, so I stopped to grab it on the way. As it turns out, I made it to the station where we were meeting with plenty of time and I actually waited for about 15-20 minutes for Jihye, Megan and Jean to arrive. Megan was also a participant with me at Inje. Jean also did the Inje program, however it was in 2004 I think--so she hadn't met Jihye before. We arrived at the location of the ceremony and then Jihye told me Erica (I met her when Ginger came to Seoul), her husband and son were at the subway station. So, I went to go get them--otherwise it would have been difficult for them the find the building. The ceremony was pretty shore. The founder of Inje University was at the ceremony which really surprised Jihye because he is in his 80's and has been kind of ill. I met him last year when I was at Inje. After the ceremony, there was a small reception with some food. We had a small snack there and then went to find a BBQ place Jihye had looked up. Unfortunately when we arrived, they said that they were not open yet and would not be serving dinner for another hour and a half. Jihye tried pulling the "they're foreigners" card, but it did not move the owner enough. We found another BBQ place nearby and had a nice dinner. Jane had to leave and Erica and her family decided they should take off too-they are leaving for the US tomorrow morning for Thanksgiving.

Megan, Jihye and I went to a Mister Donut for 'coffee' (when I use the term coffee, I am using it quite loosely, basically meaning any hot beverage--but typically hot chocolate for me) and to chat. It was really great catching up with them. Jihye had to catch her train and since Megan said she would see her off, I figured it would be best to head back home and do some studying.

Back row (except for the people on the outside) are award receivers; front row is VIPs (middle is Inje Founder, his wife is next to him; the man on the right is the current President of the university) Jihye is second from the right in the back row

Jihye's supporters! EJ being held by Brian, Erica, Megan, Jihye, Amy and Jean

At dinner-EJ wanted to show me stuff on "his" phone

Mini reunion! Jihye, Megan and me

Happy Monday

Class was kind of funny-it seemed like everyone was really dragging. It was so strange to be back in class--we hadn't been there since Wednesday. Our teachers asked us what we did over the weekend and almost everyone's response was "I slept all day Saturday". (Obviously I did not fall into that category!)

After class I came back to my room and did my laundry, homework and chatted with Joe before going out to meet my friend Min Kyung (endearingly called MK for short--I met MK in 2009 from the GOAL trip and have kept in touch with her since then). MK and I met up near City Hall; she works near there but lives in Inchon. We went to a "very Korean restaurant" she ordered "soodaebu" (soondae is actually intestine--and the stuffed with other various ingredients including noodles or  kimchi) and I played it safe with "chamchi jjigae" tuna stew--it' was like kimchi stew but also with tuna in it. MK actually loves soondae. We finished dinner and went to a coffee shop she really likes. She payed for our drinks and I got a little carrot cake for us to split (the cake almost cost as much as the 2 drinks!!). We had a nice chat and then walked back to the subway station and parted ways.

Soccer Sunday

I had a nice relaxing morning. I slept in til around 9 maybe. I did some homework and just relaxed. I cooked some mandu and chatted with friends. Then, it was off to find yet another new soccer field. This one was located on top of Yongsan Market which is on top of Yongsan Station. The "market" is huge-it is mostly known as the electronics market-there are every kind of electronics available to purchase, ranging from cameras to air conditioner units to toasters to electronic dictionaries. There is also a chain department store there-but it has about 7 different 'zones' and half of them have the same movie theater chain in them. So, I had quite the task finding the right 'zone' to find the soccer field. I went up to the top of about 2 different sections before I found it.

Today we had about 10 people show up. At one point, there was a black man (not sure if he was African, or where exactly from) watching and Stefano invited him to join us. I got hit in the face with the ball-I thought my lips would be swollen, but by the time we were done playing, they felt back to normal. Jes also got hit in the face; he was more unfortunate than me and got a bloody nose. I also managed to score a goal this week too! :)

After soccer, I walked from Yongsan to Sogang for church. It took a little over an hour to get there, but it was pretty easy to get there. Church was good--I am really going to miss the priest when I leave.

It's Saturday!

This morning I woke up and thought, "Oh my gosh! School! I don't remember doing my homework!" What a terrible first thought to have, and then as I gained awareness, I thought again "...no...today is...Saturday! It's Saturday! No school!" Ah, nice!

I had an interesting morning; I helped one of my friends from Inje University by checking his grammar in his presentation/powerpoint so, unfortunately that took me almost an hour to do. I also received an email from my "Chicago Korean father", Mr. Kwon. He told me his wife's cousin's daughter is the same age as me and lives just outside of Seoul. He wanted me to meet her so I could have a new friend and he gave me her phone number. I also skyped with my Mom for a little bit. Then I was off adventuring. I had found a museum about King Sejong that was not too far from my campus. It also said it was free on the weekend. I found it, but it was not free-it was 2,000W and it was not a very good museum. :( Everything was in Korean, but even if I was able to read Korean, it would not have been very interesting. The only thing I really learned was that the Korean characters on a keyboard are consonants on the left and vowels on the right. (There was a room full of probably 50-75 typewriters of all sorts and as I was looking at one with Korean characters on it, I realized that.) So, that museum was a bust. I walked to a subway station nearby and as I was walking found a market--after walking through and seeing some of the meats there...I think I want to become vegetarian for awhile. I saw pigs heads, pigs jaws, leg bones, cow tail bones, chicken heads, chicken feet, whole chickens (with the head cut off, but neck...muscle? still attached), chicken or duck beaks, intestine and a whole lot of stuff I'm not sure what it all was. In addition to meet, they were also selling kitchen utensils, fruits, clothing etc.

After that nice cultural shock, I got on the subway and headed to downtown again. When I got just past City Hall, I remembered seeing some photos from the Korean War last night, it had been rainy and cold, so I didn't want to stand and look at all of them, knowing I'd be back in the area soon, I put it off and was able to see them today. The pictures were quite moving to me and made me hate war so much.

Last night I realized I had been quite close to Namdaemun Market, so I wanted to go there today before meeting my friend Jessica. I walked past Namdaemun Gate and was sad to see it still under construction. It's been 3 years and I'm not sure if they have made much progress restoring it. How sad. I walked through the market a little and then headed on to Myeongdong to meet Jessica. Jessica is an adoptee from the Netherlands I met in 2009. We did some shopping and then walked around to find dinner. As we were walking, I heard someone say "hey" and tap me on the shoulder kind of. Who should I see but "Hiruhomi", a Japanese classmate! He works a part-time job in Myeongdong. It was funny running into him. Jessica and I finally picked a BBQ place but both ordered stews. I had a good time chatting and catching up with her. We made plans to study Korean together in the next few weeks. Then we walked to the subway because she had to head back to her apartment. I stayed around the area poking around. I went past City Hall and listened to part of a concert going on. I also went into City Hall--they just built a new building and it opened in the beginning of October. It was really cool because they have an entire 'green' wall inside--it is all plants! I exited the building and was headed back to the subway station when I spotted those golden arches. You know what that means? Chocolate dipped ice cream cone for 700W. Yes, please. (yes, even though it was freezing outside!) Best 700W I've spent in a long time!

As I was walking back towards the subway, I heard some music along Cheonggyecheon--I recognized it as the band "Coldplay" and it sounded very much like them--I wondered if maybe a cafe was playing it or what, so I went to check it out. As it turns out, it was a group of 3 young men playing guitar and maybe a keyboard of some sort and singing on the street. They were really, really good. I stood and listened to a few songs before I got too cold to stand there anymore. I started walking to the subway and when I got to the station, I must have not been paying close enough attention because I ended up on the wrong side and didn't realize until I was in the car and we were headed to the next station. I was upset at myself and more upset because most of the stations on this line/in this area had the platforms of the trains on opposite sides--some stations have the platforms in the middle and the trains on the outsides, but these would all be trains on the inside and platforms on the outside--so I had to pay for a fare twice because of that mistake. Also, because it was getting to be around 9 or later, they kept condensing trains and I had to get off twice and wait for the next subway to arrive--it took me quite a long time to get home.

Ah, and I forgot to mention, this cousin's daughter of Mrs. Kwon, I will be meeting her on Thursday. Her name is Bohae. I am looking forward to making another Korean friend and I hope I will be brave enough to practice speaking Korean with her!

Beautiful red leaves in a park

Giant FAIL of a museum! Grr

The market--if you look carefully, you can see the lady in the red on the right side of the picture; below her arm are cow hooves + part of the leg. Ew, ew, ew!! They were also selling cow tailbones there too

One of the many photos on display

Namdaemun Gate under construction

Namdaemun Market breaking out the Christmas decorations!

Westin Chosin Hotel all set for Christmas

Inside City Hall--those are REAL plants!

Friday, Nov 16

I think I forgot to mention that Mt. Seorak National Park is located on the North Eastern side of South Korea. It is close to the East Sea--and many Koreans go there on New Year's Eve to watch the sunrise on the new year for good luck.

I woke up and was able to snap a few pictures of the sunrise--or the sun after it was partly up. We had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and then loaded the buses and went to an area called "Jeongdongjin" Beach. There was a nice overlook on a bluff. We also went to "Sun Cruise Hotel" which is a hotel shaped and decorated like a cruise ship. There, we were able to go to the 9th floor for an observation deck to have a nice view of the area.

We loaded the buses again and were off back to Seoul. We stopped for lunch. It was a tofu stew with little shrimpies in it--I just ate my rice and the side dishes. The highlight of the stop was not the lunch, but the 2 dogs chained up outside the restaurant. There was also a little puppy walking around too. :) It made me miss my Toby-baby though!

When we arrived back at Kyunghee University, it was drizzling. I walked back and tried to decide what to do for the evening. I picked going to downtown Seoul to find a cafe to have dinner. I wandered around and finally picked a chain, Holly's Coffee for a bulgogi sandwich and a white hot chocolate. It was funny because they were playing Christmas music--but my favorite style--Bing Crosby era. Anyway, after I ate and finished my drink, I wandered back to my dorm and headed to bed--what a long day!

Sunrise over the EAST Sea

Waves crashing

At the very edge!

The girls in my class

Boat Hotel

Best part of our lunch stop was these furry faces!

And then it got better cause this puppy showed up!!

Back in Seoul

Gyeongbok Palace lit up at night

The new City Hall in the background

Thursday, Nov 15

We had to be to school a half an hour earlier than normal to load the buses and such for our field trip. I wasn't exactly sure where we were supposed to meet, but luckily I ran into another classmate and she walked with me to where we were meeting. We loaded the buses, sitting with our class and we were off. I slept once we got outside of Seoul and we drove for about 2 hours before stopping at a rest area. Then we had about another 40 minute ride until we arrived at the restaurant for lunch. It was a mushroom stew-I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms and there were maybe 3 or 4 different kinds of mushrooms in it. It was okay, but I mostly ate the side dishes. After lunch we loaded back up and then had a short ride to the hiking location.

We walked with our class, but the only problem I had was that everyone was very slow. I was walking half of my normal speed and they were still far behind me. Some of the students really struggled with the climb (however, it was not a very intense climb) and when I was coming back down, I ran into two of them who had stopped and not gone up to the ending location. Anyway, most of the class met up at the ending spot, where there is a big boulder on top of another rock and you can try to push it--it rocks a little (no pun intended), but I don't think it can actually be knocked off. Then we hiked down and when we got to the parking lot we had to wait about 25 minutes for our bus. It was so cold! The sun was setting and we were up in the mountains!

After we got on the bus, we had a short drive to dinner, which was bulgogi stew. It was alright. Then off to our hotel. We were placed in rooms with our classmates. The hotel was more like a suite/apartment. It had a small kitchen and 2 bedrooms-one room had a bed and one room just had blankets to put on the floor (Korean style; Koreans traditionally slept right on the floor-no beds). We had an hour to relax and settle in, and then we met with the whole group for games. After the games, we were given snacks and then reminded of the rules and sent off to our rooms. Around 10:30 they did a room check and I hung out with my classmates in the other girls room before ducking out to go to bed. 

Just a sampling of the many pictures I took on our fieldtrip!!

Campus

Campus

Seorak National Park

Beautiful mountains

Classmates in front of the giant Buddha statue

Most of my classmates at the finish

Climbed up to join my bear friend

Winter is here Wednesday

Brr, what a chilly day!

I had a nice morning chat with my Mom and Grandpa before heading off to class. Classes went well, we got a lot of homework and a few last minute updates about our field trip tomorrow! (Will return Friday evening)

I came back and chatted with Jenny for a little. She is so great. I was asking about some motion sickness medicine my teacher suggested I get, and I asked if she knew how much it cost. She said she didn't know and then stopped chatting. A few minutes later she said, "I've been googling the average price and it should be between 1-3,000W". I know I had asked how much it was, but I wasn't expecting her to go look for a price if she didn't know it! And, when I did find and buy some, mine was 1,500W.

Then, I was off exploring. I found the science museum. It was kind of fun-but I think it would have been more interesting if I could have read things and had someone to go along with to do some of the activities together. After the museum I walked around the area--and I found myself back along Cheongyecheon--so I walked to Dongdaemun and did a little bit of shopping-finally bought a new dress!

I made my way back to campus and got japchae again--I was really craving the taste I was expecting not the one that I got yesterday. So, I went to a Kimbap shop. It was pretty good-on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the perfect taste I'm looking for, I would give it an 8. I'll have to keep looking. After dinner, I packed and listened to some Korean lessons online and it really helped me understand better what we've been doing in class the last 2 days.

Ahhh!! T-REX!!

Love this skyline

Changgyeong Palace

All this food for 5,000W (this japchae didn't have carrots like I was expecting and a lot of mushrooms)

My new dress

Second Tuesday of the Month...

Well, first, I want to wish Joe a happy birthday! :)

Class went alright. We had a 'substitute teacher' in for the 2nd teacher today. We had a male teacher and he was very loud and enthusiastic. It made the time go by much faster I think. We started chapter 16--we are just flying through this textbook!

After class, I was able to talk with Joe so that was nice. :) I was going to go to Seoul's Flea Market, but it is closed every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Of COURSE it was the day I planned on going! But luckily I did my homework and found this out before I went! So, I looked up other museums or places to go--most closed around 5 or so, which felt like a bit of a waste because I was leaving around 3 and couldn't get to them until closer to 4. I found one that stayed open til 6--I wasn't really sure what it was a museum for, but I thought I could at least check it out. As it turns out, it's quite near Bukchon, which is traditional Korean "village" area with homes 600 years old (it's where royalty and the rich lived back in the day-though I'm sure it probably continues somewhat today too). I wandered around for a bit but couldn't find the museum. I backtracked and took another street and found a tourism booth-stopped in there and got a map of the area and figured out how to get to the museum-it was not quite on the main street, so that's why I didn't see it at first. Well, I went into the "museum" it was more just a room in a basement and it was full of masks and other sculptures. No one was there so I didn't pay the 2,000W entrance fee, but I was in the room for maybe 30 seconds before deciding if someone did appear, it was not worth 2,000W so after a brief look around, I headed back outside. I noticed on my tourist map some sights around Bukchon that sounded interesting, so I followed the walking tour a bit. I came to a part of the road that overlooked "Samcheongdong" a street that is famous for small art galleries, cafes and boutiques. I took a steep staircase down to street level and walked around there a bit. From there, it is not too far from Insadong, (see Friday for Insadong notes) so I walked to Insadong. Then I hopped on the subway and headed back. I went to dinner at a restaurant right next to my dorm. I had seen an 'advertisement'/picture of japchae (a noodle dish that I love) from this restaurant and had been thinking about it for a few days. It was pretty good, except I think it was a Chinese restaurant so the japchae was a bit different than "Korean style"--it was a little bit spicy. 

I returned to my room and did some homework and also talked with Jung Yoon (Jenny-my old roommate) for a little. I can't believe it's already 10pm! Time for bed!

One of the houses in Bukchon

Looking down the street

Sunlight and Fall colors

What I love about Seoul: the mix of old and new--Seoul Tower in the background

Start of the sunset and overlooking Samcheongdong and Gyeongbok Palace

Mountain behind Gyeongbok Palace