Hey, real quick post, as I need to wake up in 7 hours.
I got a text from one of my friends from the yonsei poongmul group yesterday asking me if I was interested in playing with them again. I had thought about it at the beginning of the semester, but decided I was too busy. But this text made me really want to reconsider. I mulled it over all last night and this morning, and today I was talking with a few classmates who told me to totally go for it. Nik also agrees. I mean, the kids I entered with, the '08 class, are now the people running the club, so it'd be pretty cool to play with them again. And next year, I wont have any connections, as the '08s will all be sunbaes and not actively partake in the club.
So, I decided to go to practice tonight. The problem is I have finals in 2 weeks. The performance is ON the day of my first final. ugh. I guess I'll just have to figure out how to manage my time really really well... They practice Monday-Friday from 6:30-9:30 and on Saturdays and Sundays from 2-6. Whew. Wednesday is for sure out for me, as I have two tutoring jobs.
Anyhow, tonight was fun! It was so nice to be back. Kind of like old times, except my weigookin (foreigner) friends, Emily and Pang, weren't there. Sad. It rained all day so the normal practice area near the soccer field was too wet. It looked like it was going to rain the entire time we practiced but never really did. We ran a lap around the field, and then practiced the bouncy walk and spinning necessary to dance and play. Oh man, are my legs sore. Already. I can only imagine what they'll feel like tomorrow. And I really need to improve my balance!
Anyhow, that's all for now. I'll try to post more often!
Good night!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
done with midterms, whew.
First off, my most avid and dedicated reader, my grandpa, had his 94th birthday was on April 10! So Happy birthday Pop!!!
So midterms are over! yay! I did surprisingly better than I thought I might. I got in the 90%s on both my paper tests and got a good evaluation from my teacher on the oral dialogues and one-on-one interview.
My partner and I weren't the most efficient with our dialogues. Over a span of a week, I think we worked about 7 or 8 hours and averaged about 1 dialogue per hour and a half. We had 8 dialogues to create and memorize... the last four we split between the two of us. Most other people met once or twice for maybe a total of 2 hours... but, I think it worked out for the best. We felt pretty prepared.
Last Wednesday, we had our oral tests. Luckily, I had an early time slot, so I was out of school by 10:30 am! I met up with Sarang and we went to TechnoMart and hung around. We looked around a bit, ate lunch, and Sarang talked me into getting my very first manicure.
Honestly, I think that manicures seem like a waste of money, that I could spend on something else more fun or productive, but she paid for almost all of it, so I agreed. It was kinda fun, I'll admit. But the color I ended up with totally reminded me of malibu barbie... As I strongly detest pink, I wasn't too happy. There were so many colors to choose from and since it was kind of overwhelming, I let Sarang choose. Thus, I ended up with hot pink/orange nails. haha.
So on Wednesday evening, I went to drumming class. There's this kid who goes to the same University I do, but is a regular student, not a language student. He can be pretty awkward. During class, he lean over and pat me on the leg a few times. I was wondering why he was touching me. And during our break time, he took one of the snacks and tried to shove it in my mouth. Awkward. After class I was really tired and didn't wanna go out with my classmates, so we ended up riding the subway together. As we were riding, he leaned toward me, way too close, and said, "noona (what boys call older girls), I like you." In my head, I was like WHAT?! I kindly told him that I liked him as a friend. He took it kind of hard and kept saying, "you don't like me, you don't like me." I felt really bad... then he leaned toward me again, really close and told me I had a pimple on my face and stroked my hair. AH! so weird! And telling a girl she has a zit on her face is certainly not an effective way to woo a girl. Seriously.
On Thursday, my Korean class had 반말 (banmal) day, or "half talk" day. Korean has different levels of formality depending on who you are speaking to, so most of the time we learn formal Korean in class, which is used with adults and strangers, but not between friends. I was really impressed that we were actually formally going to learn banmal, as I've found it rather inconvenient to not know it and talk with Koreans my age. It freaks them out when I talk formally to them. Anyhow, the rule was that everytime you failed to speak banmal, you had to put a sticker on your face. I think I ended up with the most stickers on my face. By the end of the day, I had five stickers on my face. Most people had two or three. Banmal is hard! haha!
After class, Sarang came to Sogang and we took pictures around campus and then went to hangout in Hongdae, a nearby area that has lots of fun shops and restaurants etc.
Friday, my class (and the other 2 level classes) took a field trip to Insadong and painted ceramic cups. It was really fun! and a nice break! The place had transfer images to put on the cups and then we could paint the images. I chose a city scene. We haven't gotten them back yet, but I wanna see mine!
After class, I wandered around Insadong with one of my classmates for a bit. She had to leave and I was wandering around alone and ran into two of the Japanese students, one of whom is in my morning writing class. I needed to buy a ggwegwari stick, so I took them to "국악길" or the traditional musical street, which was pretty close to where we were. I like hanging out with my classmates from non-English speaking countries because I'm forced to use my Korean and we're pretty much at the same level. Its fun to try and get your point across when your common lingua franca is a language you're not fluent in... haha!
I met up with Emily, who came into Seoul, and Sarang at Hongdae at 4 and we went to Eastern. Emily had a file viewing. I thought I was supposed to have one too, but there was a mis-communication on my part, so I rescheduled for later in the week. Afterward, we went to the Coffee Prince Cafe, which is the setting for a really popular drama, or mini-series TV show. It was fun, but overly expensive... At least I get to check it off my "to do list". One the way to the subway, we found an awesome Turkish Kabob stand! We were all a bit hungry but not in the mood to spend more money, since our drinks at the cafe were so expensive, but the kebabs were only 4,000 won (roughly $4). Nice. And amazingly delicious!
Saturday, my friend Kyungmoon and I had to attend a conference and give a short introduction and talk about our experiences at Sup Sogui Hosu (the camp I worked at two years ago) in Korean. One of the staff from camp is a Korean teacher and is currently doing a fellowship at Univ. British Columbia, but came back to Korea to give a presentation at this conference. I was sooo nervous! I HATE public speaking, and this wasn't even in English. It really wasn't so bad; my introduction was probably about a minute at the most, but I was freaking out. And while I was outside in the hallway waiting, I ran into my Writting teacher from Sogang! She was really surprised to see me at the conference, as it was for Korean teachers. haha!
I was so nervous, I have no idea how it went. I don't remember anything after saying hello.
Afterwards, a bunch of staff from camp got together for dinner, which was really fun!
Sunday morning, I tutored the two kids who live 5 floors below me. After tutoring, their parents invited me to lunch. We met downstairs and their dad pulled up in a Jaguar! I'm normally not into cars or anything, but I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty cool. One time, the kids had told me their dad works at a parking lot. What he really does is own four parking lots in Seoul.
We went to this traditional Korean restaurant and the food was insane! It all looked so cool. Presentation is important here. I can't remember the name now, but its more traditional than just normal Korean food. The dishes just kept coming and coming!
I also went to my host dad's work place because there are lots of cherry blossoms there. The trees were gorgeous! and afterwards we went and ate 20 cent ramen from a vending machine at his office. Awesome!
On Monday I hungout with Youngwha unni and we went to Yeoido. Its cherry blossom season and thats one of the most famous places to go see them. It was really pretty, but the sky was cloudy, so my pictures didn't turn out as well as they otherwise could have. The flower blossoms kind of blend into the sky.
Tuesday, Sarang's family was celebrating her dad's birthday, so I met up with her and her family after class. I met them at the Children's Grand Park, where there are lots of blooming cherry trees. The weather was surprisingly warm, as its been unusually cool here. After, Sarang, her dad and I went to the biggest market in Korea to buy fish for his party. Her dad really likes sushi, so he bought 4 fish for sashimi. The market was really cool! There were fish and other sea creatures in tanks and out on display everywhere. Her dad chose his fish and then we watched them as they were filleted and cut up into bit size pieces and placed on serving platters for the party.
Wednesday is my crazy day. I have back to back tutoring right after class and then have drumming after that. I was so tired, I didn't make it to drumming...
Thursday, I had my rescheduled appointment at the adoption agency to view my file. The new social worker, who is much younger than the last one, was really great. She went through my file and let me look and ask questions etc. I found out my blood type, which is important in Korea because people think that it determines your personality. I'm O+, however, I don't think that fits my personality at all.
I went to Bandi and Luni's bookstore because I wanted to buy The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian (If you haven't read this, you must!) for my friend. The internet said that the store didn't have it but I went to check anyhow and surprisingly, I found it!
But the English section was so odd! Basically, all the novels were just thrown onto the shelves. I couldn't figure out any rhyme or reasons to how it was organized. It certainly wansn't by author, and it wasn't by title. When I was looking through the "Religion/Science/Spirituality" section, I found a Hillary Clinton memoir and "The Boy Called It." I'm fairly positive it was completely arbitrary. Weird.
Today after class I went to Youngwha unni's house. Her mom is in town and cooked us a feast for dinner! It was so good! Then I had tutoring and then I met up with Kyungmoon in Myeongdong. I finally found a pair of sneakers that have a good arch support. Whew. All the walking here, in archless shoes is doing a number on my feet.
Anyhow, I need to go to bed!
So midterms are over! yay! I did surprisingly better than I thought I might. I got in the 90%s on both my paper tests and got a good evaluation from my teacher on the oral dialogues and one-on-one interview.
My partner and I weren't the most efficient with our dialogues. Over a span of a week, I think we worked about 7 or 8 hours and averaged about 1 dialogue per hour and a half. We had 8 dialogues to create and memorize... the last four we split between the two of us. Most other people met once or twice for maybe a total of 2 hours... but, I think it worked out for the best. We felt pretty prepared.
Last Wednesday, we had our oral tests. Luckily, I had an early time slot, so I was out of school by 10:30 am! I met up with Sarang and we went to TechnoMart and hung around. We looked around a bit, ate lunch, and Sarang talked me into getting my very first manicure.
Honestly, I think that manicures seem like a waste of money, that I could spend on something else more fun or productive, but she paid for almost all of it, so I agreed. It was kinda fun, I'll admit. But the color I ended up with totally reminded me of malibu barbie... As I strongly detest pink, I wasn't too happy. There were so many colors to choose from and since it was kind of overwhelming, I let Sarang choose. Thus, I ended up with hot pink/orange nails. haha.
On Thursday, my Korean class had 반말 (banmal) day, or "half talk" day. Korean has different levels of formality depending on who you are speaking to, so most of the time we learn formal Korean in class, which is used with adults and strangers, but not between friends. I was really impressed that we were actually formally going to learn banmal, as I've found it rather inconvenient to not know it and talk with Koreans my age. It freaks them out when I talk formally to them. Anyhow, the rule was that everytime you failed to speak banmal, you had to put a sticker on your face. I think I ended up with the most stickers on my face. By the end of the day, I had five stickers on my face. Most people had two or three. Banmal is hard! haha!
After class, Sarang came to Sogang and we took pictures around campus and then went to hangout in Hongdae, a nearby area that has lots of fun shops and restaurants etc.
Friday, my class (and the other 2 level classes) took a field trip to Insadong and painted ceramic cups. It was really fun! and a nice break! The place had transfer images to put on the cups and then we could paint the images. I chose a city scene. We haven't gotten them back yet, but I wanna see mine!
reading/writing teacher and another classmate
most of my class and our speaking teacher
After class, I wandered around Insadong with one of my classmates for a bit. She had to leave and I was wandering around alone and ran into two of the Japanese students, one of whom is in my morning writing class. I needed to buy a ggwegwari stick, so I took them to "국악길" or the traditional musical street, which was pretty close to where we were. I like hanging out with my classmates from non-English speaking countries because I'm forced to use my Korean and we're pretty much at the same level. Its fun to try and get your point across when your common lingua franca is a language you're not fluent in... haha!
I met up with Emily, who came into Seoul, and Sarang at Hongdae at 4 and we went to Eastern. Emily had a file viewing. I thought I was supposed to have one too, but there was a mis-communication on my part, so I rescheduled for later in the week. Afterward, we went to the Coffee Prince Cafe, which is the setting for a really popular drama, or mini-series TV show. It was fun, but overly expensive... At least I get to check it off my "to do list". One the way to the subway, we found an awesome Turkish Kabob stand! We were all a bit hungry but not in the mood to spend more money, since our drinks at the cafe were so expensive, but the kebabs were only 4,000 won (roughly $4). Nice. And amazingly delicious!
Sarang, Emily, and me at the Coffee Prince Cafe
Saturday, my friend Kyungmoon and I had to attend a conference and give a short introduction and talk about our experiences at Sup Sogui Hosu (the camp I worked at two years ago) in Korean. One of the staff from camp is a Korean teacher and is currently doing a fellowship at Univ. British Columbia, but came back to Korea to give a presentation at this conference. I was sooo nervous! I HATE public speaking, and this wasn't even in English. It really wasn't so bad; my introduction was probably about a minute at the most, but I was freaking out. And while I was outside in the hallway waiting, I ran into my Writting teacher from Sogang! She was really surprised to see me at the conference, as it was for Korean teachers. haha!
I was so nervous, I have no idea how it went. I don't remember anything after saying hello.
Afterwards, a bunch of staff from camp got together for dinner, which was really fun!
camp staff at dinner
We went to this traditional Korean restaurant and the food was insane! It all looked so cool. Presentation is important here. I can't remember the name now, but its more traditional than just normal Korean food. The dishes just kept coming and coming!
the cool ramen vending machine!
On Monday I hungout with Youngwha unni and we went to Yeoido. Its cherry blossom season and thats one of the most famous places to go see them. It was really pretty, but the sky was cloudy, so my pictures didn't turn out as well as they otherwise could have. The flower blossoms kind of blend into the sky.
with Youngwha unni at Yeoido
the fish on the dinner table waiting to be eaten
Sarang and her dad goofing around with the bday cake
Wednesday is my crazy day. I have back to back tutoring right after class and then have drumming after that. I was so tired, I didn't make it to drumming...
Thursday, I had my rescheduled appointment at the adoption agency to view my file. The new social worker, who is much younger than the last one, was really great. She went through my file and let me look and ask questions etc. I found out my blood type, which is important in Korea because people think that it determines your personality. I'm O+, however, I don't think that fits my personality at all.
I went to Bandi and Luni's bookstore because I wanted to buy The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian (If you haven't read this, you must!) for my friend. The internet said that the store didn't have it but I went to check anyhow and surprisingly, I found it!
But the English section was so odd! Basically, all the novels were just thrown onto the shelves. I couldn't figure out any rhyme or reasons to how it was organized. It certainly wansn't by author, and it wasn't by title. When I was looking through the "Religion/Science/Spirituality" section, I found a Hillary Clinton memoir and "The Boy Called It." I'm fairly positive it was completely arbitrary. Weird.
Today after class I went to Youngwha unni's house. Her mom is in town and cooked us a feast for dinner! It was so good! Then I had tutoring and then I met up with Kyungmoon in Myeongdong. I finally found a pair of sneakers that have a good arch support. Whew. All the walking here, in archless shoes is doing a number on my feet.
Anyhow, I need to go to bed!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
midterms, already!?
So, I've been busy studying for midterms. I can't believe they've come so soon! Yikes. I need to memorize a lot of vocab in the next two days. Luckily, since Sogang is a Catholic university, we had Easter break! So, I didn't have class thursday or friday, which was really really nice. I needed the break, although its not entirely a break, since I have to study.
Anyhow, lets see... last week was Marina, one of my classmates last week. She was on this short study abroad program through her Japanese university during her spring break. So, she was only here for thee weeks. But it was sad, as we hung out after class etc. So, on Tuesday, after pronunciation class (from 2-4. It was my first time going and I really liked it) a few of my classmates and I went out to have 닭 한 마리 (an entire chicken cut up in a hotpot style pan in the middle of the table. It was really good! It was one of the foods on Marina's "to eat" list before she left.
Friday was really fun because we had a going away "snack" party for Marina. So, people brought snacks in to share. I made puppy chow and brought some in. I never realized how disgusting it looks, until I was thinking about it from the perspective of someone who has never eaten it... but everyone seemed to like it. Then, we actually got to make chapchae in class! Our chapter was on cooking chapchae, and our reading/listening teacher brought it all of the ingredients. Everything was already cooked, so basically we just mixed it together and added seasoning, but it was really fun!
After class, I went to Youngwha unnis and hung out. I really like hanging out with her. She's so fun and I really get to practice my Korean with her. I met up with Marina and some other classmates in Sinchon at 7:30 for dinner. I had another thing at 8(ish), but I wanted to see Marina one last time. We ended up at some samgyupsal place that Tte used to frequent a lot. lol. That night it was pretty empty though, and the soju man came! He goes around to various restaurants in Seoul and hands out free bottles of soju to promote a certain brand. We kind of buttered him up and he gave us 4 bottles for free!!!
I left around 8:30 to go meet Yunjeong unni, kyungmoon and taesung oppa for taesung oppa's birthday. I had the job of buying an icecream cake for him. I found the cutest one at Baskin robins; it was a tiger!
I ended up staying the night at Kyungmoon's apt. on the couch since it was too late to catch the subway.
The next morning I booked it to Myeongdong to meet Jeewon unni. I haven't seen her since I got her. We were suppsed to meet last week, but had to reschedule. Unfortunately, I left my phone at kyungmoon's place.... A BIG inconvenience!
Anyhow, we went to Mr. Pizza for lunch and had potato pizza. Yum! and then walked around myeongdong for a bit.
That afternoon I was supposed to meet Youngwha unni and mark to go to the last Dulsori rehearsal. I got on the subway and it went about two stops and then stopped in the middle of a tunnel and sat there for about 15 min! And then, when it finally started moving, it went really really slow! I didn't know what to do, as I was running super late and I couldn't call either of them. So, I decided to chance it and take a taxi. Bad idea. Sometimes taxis are faster, but the traffic was terrible!!! So, I got stuck on the highway for ever and a day! I finally got there 50 minutes late, and ran over to our meeting spot and I saw Mark and Youngwha unni talking. My first reaction was relief that they were both there; my second reaction was, wait, how do they know each other!?
Youngwha unni told me that after about 30 min. she noticed that Mark had been milling around too. So, she walked over to him and asked him, in Korean, if he was Lia's friend. He said something like, "Oh, I don't speak Korean." and she was like yup, its gotta be him. hahaha!
Anyhow, we caught the last half of the Dulsori show. whew. awesome, as usual.
Then we went out for dinner and had뽈쌀 aka pig cheek. sounds disgusting, but it wasn't bad. really. So super unkosher... but its really hard not to eat pork here, as thats the main meat available.
Sunday, Kyungmoon came over to study and drop off my phone. We ended up going out for lunch and wandering around. We found this awesomely cheap samgyetang place! and then wandered around. The weather was sooo nice! Then we came back and studied Korea for a bit before my host family took us out to some very famous duck restaurant, outside of seoul.
The restaurant was so awesome! I love smoked duck, so the meal was amazing. Plus, the scenery was so beautiful! The place doesn't take reservations, so we had to wait over an hour, but we had fun taking pictures and looking at the Han river.
On Monday, I met up with Jeonghye unni for dinner. We went to some famous nangmyeon (cold noodles) restaurant in Jamsil. It was so insanely spicy! Both of us could only eat half. but it was so good. I think next time I go, I'll order mul-nangmyeon (with broth), not bibim-nangmyeon (spicy sauce over the top). whew. I'm positive I killed some tastebuds with that meal.
Then we went to this super cute cafe and I had pumpkin juice. So delicious!
On Tuesday, I went to baram (pronunciation) class again. After regular class but before baram class, a few classmates and I went out for lunch. It was fun because I met some new people, who are in different classes. Its interesting going out with classmates, because often times, the only language we have in common is Korean. Its a good way to practice Korean!
Wednesday, I started tutoring a new student. My monday students decided not to continue. I liked them, but the distance was really hard (1 hr to get there from school and 1.5 hr to get home), so it worked out. Anyhow, this new student lived in the US for two years, but his English isn't fluent. He is in 3rd grade and had a lot of energy. wow. but he lives right near Sogang (my university) so its quite convenient!
I tutored him for 1 hr. and then had to rush off to get back home so I could tutor my other students from 5-6. Then I ran off again to catch the train to drumming class. Wednesdays are going to kill me! everything is back to back. So it goes...
Thursday and Friday, I didn't have class which was amazing! I met up with Dewi on Thursday and she tried to help me fix my phone payment/bank account situation. She is also the friend that helped me get a phone in the first place. Anyhow, because of my short visa, I basically can't do anything, so 1.5 hrs and 2 stores later, we concluded that I couldn't switch it.
Afterwards, we went to yonsei and she showed me the new I-house. They completely redid the international dorm there and it is sooo nice! I wasn't going to eat lunch, since I had a lunch date with another friend, but she talked me into it... I ate two lunches! but I skipped dinner.
I had KLI sundabu, the best spicy tofu soup. I used to eat it all the time after class while I was abroad!
Then around 1:30 I met up with Sooah from the drumming club I joined at yonsei. We hungout in tte bang, the club room and ordered chinese noodles. One of the other members I know came in and a few first years. It was really fun to be back!!! Eating chinese takeout in the room brought back lots of memories (it was a very regular occurrence while I was at yonsei). haha!
Everyone had class at 3, so I went to wangshimni and met up with youngwha unni. We just chilled at her house, which was really nice. I asked her a few questions about some Korean grammar and taught her some English stuff. We ordered chicken for dinner, which was super good! Then I went home. It was a nice relaxing way to end the day.
Friday, I pretty much tried to study all day. I did get sidetracked... but I didn't really do much except tutor for two hours.
And today, I tried to study most of the day. Sarang called! She got in yesterday, and invited me to her grandpa's for his birthday dinner! It was so nice seeing her again! and her parents/family!!! I'm so glad she came to Korea!!!!
Tomorrow, I am going to see the Alice in Wonderland movie, 3D, with Youngwha unni and then study for the rest of the day. I have my exams on tuesday and wednesday, and then an interview the week after.
Wish me luck!
Anyhow, lets see... last week was Marina, one of my classmates last week. She was on this short study abroad program through her Japanese university during her spring break. So, she was only here for thee weeks. But it was sad, as we hung out after class etc. So, on Tuesday, after pronunciation class (from 2-4. It was my first time going and I really liked it) a few of my classmates and I went out to have 닭 한 마리 (an entire chicken cut up in a hotpot style pan in the middle of the table. It was really good! It was one of the foods on Marina's "to eat" list before she left.
1.Chen (Austria), Junhye (Taiwan), and Marina (Japan) 2. an entire chicken in a pot
Friday was really fun because we had a going away "snack" party for Marina. So, people brought snacks in to share. I made puppy chow and brought some in. I never realized how disgusting it looks, until I was thinking about it from the perspective of someone who has never eaten it... but everyone seemed to like it. Then, we actually got to make chapchae in class! Our chapter was on cooking chapchae, and our reading/listening teacher brought it all of the ingredients. Everything was already cooked, so basically we just mixed it together and added seasoning, but it was really fun!
1.teacher with the directions on the board behind her 2. Martin (Sweden), Scott (England), and Travis (US) with chapchae
After class, I went to Youngwha unnis and hung out. I really like hanging out with her. She's so fun and I really get to practice my Korean with her. I met up with Marina and some other classmates in Sinchon at 7:30 for dinner. I had another thing at 8(ish), but I wanted to see Marina one last time. We ended up at some samgyupsal place that Tte used to frequent a lot. lol. That night it was pretty empty though, and the soju man came! He goes around to various restaurants in Seoul and hands out free bottles of soju to promote a certain brand. We kind of buttered him up and he gave us 4 bottles for free!!!
1. Marina with the Soju Man 2. Marina (Japan), Travis (US), and Scott (England)
I left around 8:30 to go meet Yunjeong unni, kyungmoon and taesung oppa for taesung oppa's birthday. I had the job of buying an icecream cake for him. I found the cutest one at Baskin robins; it was a tiger!
1. Yunjeong unni and I 2. Taesung oppa and his birthday cake
I ended up staying the night at Kyungmoon's apt. on the couch since it was too late to catch the subway.
The next morning I booked it to Myeongdong to meet Jeewon unni. I haven't seen her since I got her. We were suppsed to meet last week, but had to reschedule. Unfortunately, I left my phone at kyungmoon's place.... A BIG inconvenience!
Anyhow, we went to Mr. Pizza for lunch and had potato pizza. Yum! and then walked around myeongdong for a bit.
That afternoon I was supposed to meet Youngwha unni and mark to go to the last Dulsori rehearsal. I got on the subway and it went about two stops and then stopped in the middle of a tunnel and sat there for about 15 min! And then, when it finally started moving, it went really really slow! I didn't know what to do, as I was running super late and I couldn't call either of them. So, I decided to chance it and take a taxi. Bad idea. Sometimes taxis are faster, but the traffic was terrible!!! So, I got stuck on the highway for ever and a day! I finally got there 50 minutes late, and ran over to our meeting spot and I saw Mark and Youngwha unni talking. My first reaction was relief that they were both there; my second reaction was, wait, how do they know each other!?
Youngwha unni told me that after about 30 min. she noticed that Mark had been milling around too. So, she walked over to him and asked him, in Korean, if he was Lia's friend. He said something like, "Oh, I don't speak Korean." and she was like yup, its gotta be him. hahaha!
Anyhow, we caught the last half of the Dulsori show. whew. awesome, as usual.
Then we went out for dinner and had뽈쌀 aka pig cheek. sounds disgusting, but it wasn't bad. really. So super unkosher... but its really hard not to eat pork here, as thats the main meat available.
Youngwha unni and I at dinner (that tube hanging in the pictures is a fan that sucks the smoke from the grill)
Sunday, Kyungmoon came over to study and drop off my phone. We ended up going out for lunch and wandering around. We found this awesomely cheap samgyetang place! and then wandered around. The weather was sooo nice! Then we came back and studied Korea for a bit before my host family took us out to some very famous duck restaurant, outside of seoul.
The restaurant was so awesome! I love smoked duck, so the meal was amazing. Plus, the scenery was so beautiful! The place doesn't take reservations, so we had to wait over an hour, but we had fun taking pictures and looking at the Han river.
1. with my host bro, John, near the Han River 2. Kyungmoon and me 3. sweet potatoes that cooked while we grilled our meat 4. host parents (note the duck on the grill) 5. kyungmoon's lettuce wrap 6. the grease after the meal... ugh. as Moon pointed out, at least we didn't digest it, right?...
On Monday, I met up with Jeonghye unni for dinner. We went to some famous nangmyeon (cold noodles) restaurant in Jamsil. It was so insanely spicy! Both of us could only eat half. but it was so good. I think next time I go, I'll order mul-nangmyeon (with broth), not bibim-nangmyeon (spicy sauce over the top). whew. I'm positive I killed some tastebuds with that meal.
Then we went to this super cute cafe and I had pumpkin juice. So delicious!
On Tuesday, I went to baram (pronunciation) class again. After regular class but before baram class, a few classmates and I went out for lunch. It was fun because I met some new people, who are in different classes. Its interesting going out with classmates, because often times, the only language we have in common is Korean. Its a good way to practice Korean!
Wednesday, I started tutoring a new student. My monday students decided not to continue. I liked them, but the distance was really hard (1 hr to get there from school and 1.5 hr to get home), so it worked out. Anyhow, this new student lived in the US for two years, but his English isn't fluent. He is in 3rd grade and had a lot of energy. wow. but he lives right near Sogang (my university) so its quite convenient!
I tutored him for 1 hr. and then had to rush off to get back home so I could tutor my other students from 5-6. Then I ran off again to catch the train to drumming class. Wednesdays are going to kill me! everything is back to back. So it goes...
Thursday and Friday, I didn't have class which was amazing! I met up with Dewi on Thursday and she tried to help me fix my phone payment/bank account situation. She is also the friend that helped me get a phone in the first place. Anyhow, because of my short visa, I basically can't do anything, so 1.5 hrs and 2 stores later, we concluded that I couldn't switch it.
Afterwards, we went to yonsei and she showed me the new I-house. They completely redid the international dorm there and it is sooo nice! I wasn't going to eat lunch, since I had a lunch date with another friend, but she talked me into it... I ate two lunches! but I skipped dinner.
I had KLI sundabu, the best spicy tofu soup. I used to eat it all the time after class while I was abroad!
1. Dewi and I (we were in the same Korean class at Yonsei two years ago 2. KLI sundabu!!!
Then around 1:30 I met up with Sooah from the drumming club I joined at yonsei. We hungout in tte bang, the club room and ordered chinese noodles. One of the other members I know came in and a few first years. It was really fun to be back!!! Eating chinese takeout in the room brought back lots of memories (it was a very regular occurrence while I was at yonsei). haha!
Everyone had class at 3, so I went to wangshimni and met up with youngwha unni. We just chilled at her house, which was really nice. I asked her a few questions about some Korean grammar and taught her some English stuff. We ordered chicken for dinner, which was super good! Then I went home. It was a nice relaxing way to end the day.
Friday, I pretty much tried to study all day. I did get sidetracked... but I didn't really do much except tutor for two hours.
And today, I tried to study most of the day. Sarang called! She got in yesterday, and invited me to her grandpa's for his birthday dinner! It was so nice seeing her again! and her parents/family!!! I'm so glad she came to Korea!!!!
Tomorrow, I am going to see the Alice in Wonderland movie, 3D, with Youngwha unni and then study for the rest of the day. I have my exams on tuesday and wednesday, and then an interview the week after.
Wish me luck!
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