Back to School

We got the results of our midterms today! I did the best in grammar which really surprised me. I felt that was the hardest and I didn't know the most, but I scored an 87% on that test. The next best was listening at an 81.5% (I'm kicking myself because we went over the test and I always get the numbers 1 and 2 mixed up --"il" and "i" and so I wrote it down correctly as I heard it, but I picked the wrong number! :( Sad.) The reading was a 73%. The writing test we got back and looked at, but there was no score--the red pen was not all over my paper, so I'm hoping for a decent grade and we also did not hear about our speaking test score. Overall, I'm actually satisfied with my scores. We also talked about our upcoming fieldtrip and started chapter 15.

After class I came back to my room to relax for a little. Then I went out and did some errands. I had some prep and help from my friend Ahyoung and learned how to ask for stuff for getting my haircut....so off I went on my own for a haircut!!! After that, I got some groceries AND I finally bought a frying pan! I know I should have done it a long time ago, but... Anyway, it's a cute little thing. I saw one that had a pretty light green color on the bottom, but it was made in China--I'm really trying to steer clear of Chinese made things for the moment--so I passed even though I loved the color. I also bought a small bowl (also Korean made). After my errands, I came back to my room and did some homework and housekeeping stuff.

Brian and I made plans for dinner, but at the last minute he told me he was meeting with his classmates. I debated for half a second about going out on my own and then made mandu (dumplings) in my new pan!

After my rice and mandu dinner, I was back to homework and now I'm ready for bed!

My hair is this long before I decided to cut it

Back view

My hair is this short now that it's cut!!!

Back view!

What a day!

Well, I had my day all planned out except there was one problem. I remembered the time of Mass wrong. I thought it was at 12pm, but it turns out it was at 11am. So as I was walking into church, everyone was walking out. I was mad at myself, but I had a backup plan. I was meeting my friend Ahyoung in Myeondong and that's where the Myeongdong Cathedral is. So, I went on the subway and got to the Cathedral. However, as 'luck' would have it, as I was arriving there, Mass (in Korean) was also ending. I waited around and was able to get to the homily of the following mass (all in Korean) and then I had to go meet Ahyoung.

She met me with a few other friends in the Seoul area as well. One was Ben-she met him at (MI) Tech and he is in Korea in the military. He's actually going home on Tuesday. Another was Mark-he also went to Tech and is a Korean adoptee teaching English. The other was Alan-he teaches with Mark and he's from England. We went to the Myeongdong noodle shop and had mandu and noodle soup. It was perfect because today was cold and rainy. After lunch we walked to Cheonggyecheon. We decided to get ice cream and I pointed the way to the Baskin Robins. Ah yes, as it turns out, both Ben and Mark knew my cousins Kaitlin and Lauren from Tech too-small (Tech) world. Around 5 we all headed our separate ways-Ben was able to travel for awhile with me towards our different destinations.

I was off to the World Cup Stadium; there are 2 small fields that can be rented behind the big stadium. I met with other adoptees there. I was the only girl and one of the only Americans. Man, those Europeans are SERIOUS about their soccer--and they are GOOD. We were also fortunate/unfortunate to have another set of 5 Korean players on the other small field that needed a team to play against. Fortunate because we were able to play basically non-stop; unfortunate because we were able to play non-stop (tired!!) and because they too were really good. We also had an unfortunate turn of weather events. The rain had mostly let up around 2pm, but it was still quite windy and cold. When I got to my exit, I found that it had begun to rain again. I met the group and then, as other players are trickling in it starts to rain REALLY hard and then all of a sudden the rain turns to HAIL! It hailed for almost 10 minutes!! Then it stopped and the rain let up a bit again. About an hour later, it began to rain and Jes (pronounced "yes" from Denmark) commented to me, I don't know what's worse the rain or the hail. I said, "I think the rain". A few seconds later, it started to hail again! It was crazy.

On my way back in the subway, I noticed an older gentleman wearing a Notre Dame jacket, so I thought I would be nice and say hi. I asked him if he was from Indiana because of his jacket. He said no, Iowa. So we talked for a few stops before I left, but I thought it was a nice thing to do. I thought he might be a business trip worker or just a vacation or something, but it turns out he's been living in Korea for 3 years!

I came back to my room and I took a hot shower. Now I have some homework I've been putting off and then I think I will sleep really well tonight!

Inside Myeongdong Cathedral

Famous Noodle restaurant in Myeongdong

AHHH!!! It started hailing!!

On the field

My new Danish friend, Jes, also camera enthusiast (Works IT for GOAL)

LOTS on the ground! (the blurry splotches is rain/hail water on the lens)

You can see how much is falling under the lights (Sorry for the big dot on the right--water on lens)

Stefano (from Italy and actually I met him in 2009!) and all the hail!

Socializing Saturday

Today was a pretty good day. Busy and full.

I started out heading to Hongdae area (same as last weekend) to do a promotional "photo shoot" for GOAL--more on that later. I left a little early so I could find it and wander around a bit before stopping by the cafe where it was taking place. I had looked up a cafe/restaurant, but when I looked at the menu it wasn't really quite what I was in the mood for. As I was wandering, I realized I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to eat. I found a Mexican restaurant called Dos Tacos and ended up going there for a beef burrito. It was good-a bit spicy but nice to have Mexican food. Then I went to this yogurt shop for dessert. It's a cool concept (I did see this while I was in LA in January)--you take as much yogurt and toppings as you want, and then it gets weighed and based on the weight is how much you pay.

After dessert, I went to the cafe--I stopped at a few hair salons to check out prices of haircuts but still waited on making a decision. It was nice meeting some other adoptees again. I'm not exactly sure what they are doing with the pictures, but they wanted us to write our name, where we're from and what we are doing in Korea. Then we went outside the cafe to have our picture taken. I sat and chatted for a bit before heading out.

I went to the Catholic Martyr's Museum. It was interesting--I'm always so ...for lack of a better word, amazed with the cruel and horrible things people can do to other people because of their differences--or different beliefs. There was a nice park with a stations of the cross and other statues so I walked around there for a little.

Then I hopped the subway to the Express Bus Terminal to shop. I walked around there for an hour or so. Again, I can't believe how little I like shopping these days. I just want all the crowds to disappear. I also don't like how the shop keepers hover over you as you are looking at their merchandise. And by hover I mean literally standing right next to you and moving along with you as you go through the store.

Then I walked to find dinner. I had looked up a burger place, but once I got there I didn't really see anything on the menu I had to have. I had remembered seeing another burger place, but thought it was closer than it was-I ended up walking back a whole subway station to find it. There too, nothing looked that great to me. So I walked back again and wandered the area.

My friend Maite (the Swiss adoptee) is leaving to return to Switzerland and had a going away party. So, after wandering, I went to a coffee shop and waited for my friend Mark to meet me. He has a smartphone and could get maps/direction to the cafe where Maite's party was being held. Her party was a lot of fun. There were probably a good 20 people mingling in the small cafe. It was neat to see all the different people she knew and had befriended during her stay in Korea. I enjoyed talking with the many other adoptees there. Mark had not really experienced networking within the adoptee community, so it was a really cool for him. I invited him to play soccer with me since that is with adoptees so he might join tomorrow. He has also 'adopted' me as his little sister. Ah, yes, as a reminder Mark is also an adoptee from Troy, Michigan.

This little sweet face is the mascot of a restaurant I passed

Dos Taco's Menu

My beef burrito

Yummy yogurt and toppings!!!!

Info about the Catholic Martyr's Memorial

Mary

Through the trees you can notice the domed building; that is the National Assembly Building--essentially Korea's "Capitol Hill"

More vibrant colors and you can see some of the stations on the right

Korea's first priest--he was only a priest for less than a year before he was sentenced to death at age 25

Midterms and Exploring

We had four 50 minute sessions of testing in the morning. First was reading, then questions (which to me, seemed pretty similar to the reading portion--except it was more about grammar and correct usage), then listening, and finally writing. I think I did the best on listening and reading; we'll get our tests back on Monday and go over it.

After class, I had planned to go see an outdoor taekwondo performance. I got to the subway and I saw Mark, one of the other adoptees. He and I started chatting while waiting for the subway and then got into our background and adoption history on the subway. I was going to be transferring lines to go to the performance thing, but Mark and I decided we would continue our discussion so we went to Cheonggyecheon and walked and talked. We parted ways and I went to where the taekwondo performance was being held-except there was nothing going on. I was a little bummed, but the location was at a park and also holds Korean's National Treasure #2 (a marble pagoda) so I walked around the small park and enjoyed the trees and other sculptures there.

Insadong is a neighborhood in Seoul that sells traditional and cultural items (along with more knickknacky souvenirs as well). Insadong is very close to the park I was at, so I went there and browsed a bit. I had researched a restaurant selling juk (a Korean rice porridge--it is kind of like soupy risotto) which was near Myeongdong--just across Cheonggyechon, so I walked south towards Myeongdong and found the restaurant easily. It was good, but not that great. I think the thing about juk is that it's known to be healthy, so it was a little bland tasting. I then headed on to Myeongdong, a popular shopping area. I just window shopped and didn't really see anything that I had to have. I headed back here and researched and prepared my plans for tomorrow.

Entrance to the park

Gingko tree with sunlight behind

Another tree being hit by sunlight

Entrance to park (from inside)

A side entrance to the park-love the redish orange tree

In the park

Marble pagoda--Korea's number 2 National Treasure

One of many "sculptures" depicting liberation or agony under Japanese rule

Juk-rice "porridge" for dinner; many side dishes

Myeongdong Cathedral at night

Cafe Bene (a chain coffee shop) ready for CHRISTMAS!!

Was walking and saw a bunch of company emblems....Whirlpool one of them

Speaking Midterm

Today was the first of two days of midterm testing. Today was the speaking part. We had to speak with the teacher one-on-one, however there are 15 students in our class, so it was a short session. I think it went okay-not the best I could have done, but not horrible. The second part was being paired up with another student and having to create 3 dialogs. We knew we would have to draw numbers and have to do one of the dialogs--did not realize that we had do to this in front of the class! My partner's name is Snowy and she is from Hong Kong. We did a good job I think, even if it was a bit short. The second half of our class was...A normal class! We are still moving forward in the textbook!

After class I came back and studied. I did a quick workout and then more studying. Brian and I went out for samgypsal with kimchi and beansprouts that cook on the same pan. It was pretty tasty. We also ordered a boiled egg dish as a side. After dinner, back to the studying.

"Kimchi Kongnamul Samgypsal" Read: Kimchi-Bean Sprout Pork

The boiled egg dish is on the left--the rest is a typical table setting in Korea; lots of little side dishes

On my side of the world remembering Dad, In the US Presidential Election Day

For me, November 7th came half a day early. It was hard in the sense no one knew what today meant to me and it was difficult for me to explain in Korean (therefore I did not really share). I thought about my Dad a lot.

Class went well. I am nervous for the speaking portion of the test tomorrow. There are 2 parts to it: the first is a one-on-one session with the teacher and the second is creating a dialog with another student and speaking it to the teacher. I guess I shouldn't be too worried, but it is a little bit nerve-wrecking.

After class, I got kimbap to bring back to my room. I think the kimbap shop ladies are finally beginning to recognize me (maybe only for the strange request to leave out the sesame leaf). Then, the rest of my afternoon and early evening was devoted to studying. Though it is hard to prepare for a speaking exam by yourself... However, I did some speaking practice with my Rosetta Stone program and listened to an online podcast. I also studied from my textbook and listened to the speaking dialogs from the book.

For dinner, Brian and I met up. We were going to go to get samgypsal (bbq pork) but his favorite restaurant was busy and there was a long line. We walked back to try a bbq place closer to our dorms, but passed a pizza restaurant and he suggested going there. We ordered a bulgogi pizza. I think this particular restaurant is more for carry-out or delivery because there were only 2 small tables in the small restaurant. The pizza was decent-crust not too bad, could have been more cheese and toppings, but the meat was flavorful. On the way back, we stopped and got hodduk.

The rest of the evening: studying.

A Good Tuesday

Class was as expected. We finished yet another chapter. I'm surprised that they keep forging on ahead and are not spending any time reviewing--guess that is expected of us to do on our own time. I don't think tomorrow (the day before the midterms) will be spent reviewing either--maybe in the second half, but the first half one teacher said we will be starting on the grammar point and listening to the opening dialog again. We spent the last 5-10 minutes talking about how the midterms will go. Basically the question portion is multiple choice and then there are 2 types of speaking--one is one-on-one with the teacher and the other is to have a speaking dialog with a classmate. I think the speaking part of the midterm is the one I will like the least.

After class I went to........ Burger King. Womp, womp. So ashamed. They give you your whole meal (drink included) in a nice little to-go bag with handles; the drink is put inside a plastic baggie and then inside the paper to-go bag. It works surprisingly well.

I had my American lunch--probably the most American I can get--and then headed out and knocked 2 things off of my "daily goal" list. I went for a run AND did it out in the city! I took the subway to the start of Cheonggyecheon (my favorite stream) and ran the whole length of it. I believe it was 8.3 km and I finished in a little under 50 minutes. It was very cool outside, but peaceful along the stream. It wasn't very crowded today which was nice. After I got to the "end" of the stream (it's not really the end, it just joins up with another stream) I turned around and walked back to see a museum of about the paving over of the stream and then the 'rehabilitation' of Cheonggyecheon. I continued on to the nearest bridge that would get me to the subway line I needed. There is a traditional flea market near that subway station, but it was closing for the evening, so I will have to check back there another time (too bad because then I would have had THREE things on my list--or at least checked off something else I wanted to see while I'm here).

I had a strange experience in the 2 stop journey. There were 4 older gentlemen perhaps in their 70's-80's and they were talking very loud (which is quite unusual because proper subway riding etiquette is to be quiet--and they are 'elders' so typically it's my generation and younger that would not follow that rule). Then, one of them got up and started hitting another one with his umbrella and poking him with his umbrella. Another one got up and joined in, and was pulling on his jacket. They were hollering and hitting each other-it was really strange--they were acting like 20 somethings acting like they were elementary children! Then all of a sudden, the subway stopped! It kind of freaked me out-and the driver said something over the speakers (obviously I did not understand) but a few seconds later, I heard/felt/saw --in that order--a regular train go by. There is a train line that uses the same tracks as the subway, so the regular train line probably has priority over the subway line. Back to my 70-80 year old men...So at the next station 3 of them left, they kind of hugged goodbye to the one that they had been hitting, and THEN poked their heads back in the car and told him to come with them-hit him one more time and left. It was a bit amusing to me, but I think it annoyed the other people in the subway. As I was sitting, I realized the subway had been stopped for longer than normal. I looked across to the other side and saw the sign say "Hoegi" (which is the name of my station) and that subway train was arriving. So, not really knowing if the train I was in was going to Hoegi or not, I decided I would run across because the other one definitely was going to Hoegi! It was strange--I really have no idea if the car I had been traveling in would have also gone to Hoegi Station or not.

I decided I wanted kimchi bokkumbap (fried rice--not quite American-Chinese style fried rice: it is rice fried in the same sense, but instead of the egg being mixed in, you are served an egg I think it is called sunnyside up--if they just cracked the egg open on a cooking surface and then serve it--so then you get that egg on top of the rice). I went to the kimbap shop by my dorm since it is so close. I also got a brothy soup, cucumber kimchi, kimchi and spinach for a side (I can't remember if I've already mentioned this, but side dishes are common, normal, expected even, when serving a meal). I have also realized that I am probably addicted to hodduk. I decided welllll, since I'm already out, I should just go get some hodduk. So that is what I did. I went back to my little lady's stall and got one hodduk. I'm starting to think it is not very common to order only one-or only one from her because when I said "hana" (one) she looked at me funny, and said, "hana?" like she didn't believe me almost, (and I think she might have even gone so far as to shake her head at me...) but gave me my change and my hodduk. This time I had 1,000W to give her. Next time, I will give her 700W!

The rest of my evening---can you guess? Yes. Studying and homework. Ugh, the dreaded midterms!!

Kimbap 천국 (Heaven) and Hodduk Heaven

In class I got my quiz back-I only missed one! Even my teacher said "only one" in Korean when she handed it back to me. We also switched seats today. I am #2 and sit next to the male student from Mongolia. He's friendly too, but at appropriate times-like break time to talk. He knows a little bit of English, but we mostly conversed in Korean. It was hard for me, but I think every interaction is helping me more and more, so I should continue practicing. (It is one thing to KNOW, but a completely different thing to actually DO...)

I came back to my room and because of the time change, was able to talk to Joe a little bit. Then it was study for the afternoon! Around 6:30 Brian and I went to the kimbap shop by our dorms; I really wanted bulgogi--I think Brian misunderstood me and thought I wanted kimbap bulgogi (which this kimbap shop did not have) so we ended up going to the kimbap shop called "Kimbap 천국" (Kimbap Heaven) located near campus. He ordered kimchi fried rice and I got my bulgogi. It was sooo good. Definitely hit the spot! As we were walking back, I spotted a hodduk stall and got a hodduk. I felt AWFUL because I didn't have any small bills (just 10,000W). I asked how much it was--not that it would have really mattered that much to me--but couldn't understand her. She gave me my hodduk and then counted out my change. She kind of glared/stared/gave me a strange look as she handed me 9,300W back. I felt so, so bad!!! (So, in American money terms, it's like going into a store and buying something that is 70 cents and paying with a $10 bill.... And maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal in the US, but it's kind of rude in Korea, especially because she is a small stall owner, not a chain place) That being said, the hodduk was only 700W, so the same price as the other one--and not a 35-40 minute subway ride! Hooray!

After demolishing my hodduk, I continued studying. I hope to head to bed a little bit earlier tonight. This morning I broke my sleeping record and was actually woken up by my alarm at 8!! Maybe the not sleeping adequately is catching up and I can sleep a little bit more and a little bit later every day.

Full Sunday

This afternoon I traveled across town to the college area of "Hongdae". (There are at least 5 big schools over there: Hongik University, Ewha Women's University, Sogang University and Yonsei) I went to a GOAL forum. It was nice to recenter myself a bit and attend an open discussion with other adoptees. It's actually been awhile since I've talked adoption issues with other adoptees. It was in a cafe in the basement of the building where the GOAL office is located. We were able to have a free beverage and there were pastries as a snack.

After the forum, I went to yet another restaurant I had researched. This one was an Italian bistro. I ordered a chicken ceasar salad and linguine (a red sauce with tomatoes, onion, spinach and bacon). Two salads in one weekend! It was so good though. And I was quite surprised about the price of the salad--it was quite a good size and it came with chicken and was only 7,000W. Ah, and the dressing was not really ceasar-like at all, which was a bit disappointing, but to be expected. It was still good and I felt so refreshed eating greens again! I hung around the restaurant eating slowly and doing a little bit of my reading homework, but I felt a bit awkward because it was a restaurant and not a cafe, so I wasn't sure if it was proper etiquette to continue studying or not. So, while I was full, I decided I needed to find a cafe to do my work in until church. I walked towards where church is located to find a cafe closer to church. I ordered a white hot chocolate and studied for about 2 hours before church.

As I was leaving church, I was walking down the big hill (lots of hills here in Korea--actually Korea is 70% mountains...) I slipped and fell. The pavement was wet because it had been raining. I scraped my knee, but luckily my pants did not rip. On the subway ride home, the cars were quite empty so I was able to sit and continue my reading assignments.

Also officially Jihye and I are not able to go to Malaysia. She is really the only contact person in the program (besides Director Kim and he is busy with his teaching job and position at Inje University) at IIIHR and cannot take the time off to go to Malaysia at all. I'm really quite disappointed, I was really looking forward to our trip, but I guess Mt. Seorak it is with my Kyunghee University group.

Ah, yes. Korea does not observe daylights saving time, so while all you luckies get to sleep an extra hour as I write this, I did not get an extra hour! So, if you are in MI I am now 14 hours ahead of you and if you are in WI I am 15 hours ahead of you!!

Close up of my salad

Close up of my pasta

The two together! Also, note the small yellow bowl to the right of the plates... contents: pickled jalapenos!

Soccer and Studying Saturday

This morning I headed out to meet up with the GOAL soccer team and another coed team (with one member that is also an adoptee). I left a little early because I wasn't exactly sure how to find the field. I followed the directions that the adoptee, Katie gave me and found them quite easily. While I waited I did some of my homework. Katie and some of her teammates showed up. Luckily they knew someone who was playing that also spoke Korean and English so he translated for us and got us a spot in the line up to play. The rules were 3 goals and the winning team stays on. We waited quite a long time. As we were waiting, some of the GOAL members trickled in. Typically they play later in the day, so meeting at 1pm was a bit early for them.

It was good to lace up again and play, but I felt bad because I was a bit rusty. The field was turf, but it was really, really dusty. I kept coughing and coughing. There were many, many teams playing. After we had been there for awhile, they kind of cleared out and we had a bit of time just the GOAL team and the coed team.

After we were done playing, I went to find a restaurant called "Greenbasket", a salad restaurant. It was pretty good--very nice to have fresh greens. After my lunch/dinner, I came back to Kyunghee University area and went to the coffee shop "Dilly Dally" for a pastry and coffee. I tried asking for decaf, but both of the workers had no idea what I was trying to say. Hopefully, it doesn't affect my ability to sleep tonight. I don't think it will. While I was studying I got a phone call, but it gave no number. I answered and I hear "yoboseo" (which is how you answer the phone in Korea). Immediately I recognize the voice as our "group leader" from Inje, Ki Chul. Ki Chul is an adoptee from the Netherlands. It was so great to talk with him for a little. :)

Ready to play soccer!

New friends

My delicious salad!

Pastries and Coffee