bre in seoul

So, I hurt my ankle... (발목을 다쳤다)

2015-05-19T21:05:00.000+09:00

Geez, I haven't written here in almost 6 months.^^ Since starting grad school, I pretty much just study, or feel guilty about not studying, all day, every day.. even weekends. Especially this semester, with this class that's basically nothing but translating a poorly-written English textbook into Korean...

Anyway, the point of today's post is to talk about how I hurt my ankle. People ask a lot.. and I also wanted to write everything down before I forget the details, so here we go:

The Accident - April 21, 2015
The aforementioned class that's taking up ALL MY WAKING HOURS was canceled the following week, so I finally had some free time. I was on my way to meet my friend to go to the river. The transfer subway stations always have a ton of people, and even mid-afternoon on a Tuesday was no exception. I was on my way down the stairs when the train came. I was 4-5 steps from the bottom when some middle-aged lady ("ajumma") behind me decided she just had to make that train, and pushed me out of the way to go down the stairs faster. My hands were full (and I was kind of in the middle of the stairs, not near the railing), so I couldn't do much but fall forward. I skipped the remaining steps, and landed sideways on my ankle. I heard a pop and started seeing green and grey spots, and my ankle wouldn't support my weight. But, being in the middle of a subway station, about 4 levels under ground, I couldn't think of what else to do but get on the subway, pray for a seat, then try to get my friend to help when I got off at the other end. In hindsight (with it being 20/20 and all), I should've just sat down on the stairs (off to the side!) and better assessed the situation. I remember taking about 10 steps, then the next thing I know, two other ajummas are picking me up by my underarms, and a third is calling 119 (Korean 911). Some subway security dude showed up and started asking me questions. They laid me on my back with my head on some lady's purse, and people were starting to gather around, all talking to me in Korean, and making me dizzy. Half a dozen ladies all got out their wet tissue packs, and offered them to me. (Thank goodness for these nice ladies that picked me up, called 911, took care of me til the ambulance came...) My head above my left eyebrow hurt the worst, followed by my chin. I didn't even feel the cuts between my lip and nose, but people said it was bleeding pretty badly and judging by their reactions, I knew it wasn't pretty. (I also learned the Korean word for that area -- 인중/in-joong -- before I learned the English one -- philtrum... inasmuch as that's English, anyway, ha.)

Maybe 10-15 minutes later, 2 or 3 ambulance guys (can't remember..) showed up. This was by far the most frustrating part. They got me up and sat me in some chair on wheels. Then we sat there 2-3 minutes (or longer, I don't know) while they asked me "어떤 병원" (which type of hospital) I wanted to go to. I kept thinking, I dunno, one that can fix me??? There was another foreigner there, talking to me in English, asking me if I could speak Korean, and trying to translate, and I had to talk to her, thinking, like, I understand what they're saying, but I don't understand what they're asking. What do you mean what type of hospital??? I still don't know what that means. Finally they asked where I live. I said by SNU Station. They finally decided to take me to 중앙대학교병원 (Chung-Ang University Hospital). And, being Korea, even though there was some girl in a chair surrounded by ambulance people, no one wanted to get out of the way, or let us on the elevator first. So after the "what kind of hospital" incident, and waiting forever for an elevator, my face felt really warm, and I was starting to see black. I tried so hard on the elevator not to pass out, and I think it worked? I felt instantly better when we got out of the elevators and into the main area (right when you come down the stairs from outside). Anyway, the highlight of the trip was when they asked me for my transit card so they could beep it on the way out! What.the.heck. They charge the base fare on the way in. Guess they really need that extra 10-20 cents if I traveled further than 5km! (Though I had only gone 2 stations, so...) So I had to dig through my purse for my phone (I keep my transit card in a pocket in the phone case), and because I have a bunch of other cards, I had to use one hand to hold the tissue on my face, and the other to pull my transit card out of the phone case... and.. what the hell.

So we finally make it to the ambulance. My first ambulance ride! And they bent the chair back and just lifted the top part and slid it on the bed-thing. Pretty sweet. Unlike US ambulances, though, Korean ambulance people aren't medical people. I'm sure they have CPR training and stuff, but they can't do much but fill out your hospital forms and, in my case, with a broken and bleeding lip, make you laugh (to pass the time? I dunno). The dude was so damn relieved I spoke Korean (sort of. Definitely not my most eloquent of days... but given the head injury, we'll pretend it's cool). I remember him telling the ER nurse when we came in, and her making this face of relief. Anyway, they also don't get priority at red lights (they have to wait like other cars) and no one really moves out of the way. It's pretty shitty and ridiculous. Seriously. Shit like this is ridiculous. Someone's possibly dying... Ugh. Anyway. So the trip felt like it took forever. And the dude kept talking to me. Perhaps to make sure I wasn't unconscious? I dunno. I was a little disoriented. He also gave me some gauze with some liquid that burned to use on my face, instead of my ajumma-tissue.

Eventually we made it to the ER. Also a first! A nurse talked to me, asked my name, etc, etc. But luckily the ambulance dude had pretty much filled out my forms (from looking at my alien card, and asking me a few things). They gave me some wristband with my name on it. And then I waited a long time (again, it could've been 5 minutes but it felt like forever) for a doctor to come. I was the only one there, though. He asked me what happened. And he had a trainee in tow (it's a teaching hospital), so he moved my foot in every possible direction, most of which hurt, and was saying stuff like, "Well, the patient said it only hurts if you move it this way, but if you moved it this way and it hurt it could be (this) problem." Yep... So in total, my left ankle, my knees, my chin, front left tooth, lip and forehead hurt. So I had to see different doctors for all of it. Though the guy that not-so-gently inspected my foot also inspected my lip, and dumped a bunch of saline-like solution on it... by putting a plastic tarp thing under my head and dumping about a litre of liquid into it. It was almost up to my ears (and soaked into my jacket) by the time they were done. But it was after that that I finally assessed the damage:

I actually didn't take many photos, but I did get that one, because I had no other way to see myself, besides with my phone's camera.

So, they took a bunch of xrays of my foot, and my face, including some special dental xray (where I bit down on some plastic bar, and a thing spun around my head) for my tooth, which was numb (and pushed a little backwards, but thankfully still in my mouth). Once again, KNOWING THEY WERE TAKING PHOTOS OF A POSSIBLY BROKEN FOOT, the xray techs were totally not gentle, moving it whatever way they needed. I suppose they assumed it was faster than explaining shit in Korean to a foreigner? Who knows. But that didn't help things, haha. And finally, they dealt with my lip. And finally, someone spoke English! He told me all the xrays looked good. As in, no bones in my jaw, forehead, or foot were broken. And my tooth was also okay (no chips/cracks). He put some blue cloth thing (like in the movies!) over my mouth, but I could still see. He did the first couple stitches before the anesthetic cream kicked in.. so that hurt. But afterwards I didn't feel anything, but seeing the needle going up and down was still freaking me out. Anyway, I ended up with 7 stitches. And he told me (of course) there'd be a scar forever. :\

That's a photo I took about a week later, actually, because he bandaged it up nicely after he finished stitching. My lip was super puffy, and the very bottom stitch poked out from the bottom of the bandage (as the cut went a little bit into my lip), but.. it felt better already. (Probably the anesthetic, ha.)

Then the foot guy with his student in tow came back and told me it was probably just 인대(in-dae), or my ligament. Nothing showed up on the xray. He told me I could just go home. I'm like... "What? Just go home? I got in this mess because my foot wouldn't support my weight.. what do you mean just walk out of here?" Ugh. So I tried, thinking.. okay... maybe it magically got better in 3 hours? Nope. I took two steps (toward the nurses station, heh) and almost passed out again from spots. I said there was no way I could walk out of there. So a nurse (not the same lady as at first) went to get some dude to give me a cast (a splint, really) and crutches. Another nurse came and told me my appointment time with the foot doctor. (For my face, they actually asked me what time I wanted. But I guess there's only one foot/ankle specialist.) He came and said either he could cut my pants, or I could change into this hospital gown(pants). Who actually chooses to have their pants cut?? Anyway, so I changed into that, and he put the splint on my foot. It was actually pretty cool. He wrapped it in some puffy..gauze.. like stuff. Then two ACE bandages. Then he took out this long piece of cloth..something.. that got really hot and molded to my foot and became hard. It was just the back half of my foot, though. Then more ACE bandages. Some dude fit me for my crutches. Then I got two antibiotic shots in my ass (seriously, why, Korea, why??) from some embarrassed-looking male nurse.. got my meds and paid my bill at the main counter.. and was on my way home. There were a ton of taxis right outside, so I didn't have to hobble far on my crutches.

The whole thing, from fall to ER to arriving back home took about 3-3.5 hours. The bill for everything was $210. I have Korean National Insurance, but I'm not actually sure how much that paid for. Still, that's a fraction of an ambulance bill in the US, so... More on the follow-up checkups and recovery later. This post is long enough.^^

I'd say the left photo about sums the experience up: exhausting. But, as I've said many times, it could have been a lot worse, considering I basically blacked out and fell on my face. Anything could have happened. It's been a month since that day, as I write this. The scar's noticeable if you know I have it, but it's not too bad.. and it's suppose to get keep getting better in the next few months. My tooth is (thus far) okay, besides being pushed back a bit (and still feeling a little odd). My ankle still hurts, but I can walk on it. Etc. etc. But more on all this later. :)

감사 (Thanks)

2014-11-28T14:17:00.000+09:00

It's a little late, but... I decided to roll my "Holy shit I've been in Korea for 2 years!" and "Hey, it's Thanksgiving back in America!" posts into one. Basically, I'm thankful for:

- the fact I can live in Korea, on my own, doing what I want, without really having to worry about money. I was lucky enough to get a couple well-paying jobs after college. I paid off all my student debt in a year, sold my old car & bought a new car, and still managed to save enough in 5 years that I can live comfortably here in Korea (not completely carefree, mind you, but...well enough). I know lots of people struggling to find a job, or to pay back student loans... so I'm glad I was able to do that.

- my new friends in Korea. I'd be lost without my roommates, in particular. We've been living together about 21 months, but it feels like so much longer. They're really like family. But, I'm also happy to have met my other friends as well, including my new ones from grad school. When I'm feeling down, they make me laugh or take me out for dinner or a drink (or both). I'm especially thankful for all the Koreans that either suffer speaking English with me, or suffer listening to my attempts at speaking Korean. (I'm really not sure which is worse for you guys.)

- did I mention the fact that I *can* live half a world away from my hometown? Honestly, I knew growing up that I didn't want to stay in Smalltown USA forever, but Korea? I didn't see that coming, but it's worked out well. Sometimes it sucks (mainly due to differences in cultural expectations), but it's starting to feel like home.. But, I'm glad my parents are supportive. I probably would've moved to Korea even if they hadn't approved, but I don't know that I could've stayed here so long without their support. It's nice to know I have a place to come back to, should things not work out here in Seoul.

- my boyfriend. Oh wait, I don't have one. Going to work on that this year, I think, finally. One thing I'm not thankful for: terrible, terrible eyesight. So... step one: contacts. They're really not as bad as I remember, though I suppose it has been 20 years since I last tried to wear them.^^ I think it gives me slightly more confidence, so we'll see how that goes.

But, basically, if you're reading this, and you know me in person... well, thanks for being my friend^^ Sadly, I only see most of you on Facebook these days, but it's still nice to see what people are up to. Keep in touch^^

한국에 온 지 거의 2년 되었다 (I've been in Korea almost 2 years.)

2014-11-21T13:33:00.000+09:00

The title of this post still confuses me. How has it been 2 years??? (Almost. It's Nov 21, 2014, and I arrived Nov 26, 2012.) I really wanted to do a "things I've learned (about myself)" post, but I'm not sure I can put it into words. hah.

When I came here initially, I planned to learn Korean for a while, then go to grad school. Luckily, I've been able to do that. But I'm really disappointed with my Korean skills these days. I hardly speak Korean at all. I feel like I've reverted to level 1 or 2. There's another American in my 연구실 (research lab). We both have the same TOPIK level (5), but no one would ever believe it... because speaking skills are all that others really evaluate you on, and there's no speaking section on the test (thankfully). I don't know that he's better than me, but he's more confident. I get so nervous... nothing comes out. It's still interesting to me, though... when I do speak in Korean, my Korean classmates are like "You know Korean?!" ...What did you think I was doing during these many hours we've been in class (a class taught entirely in Korean!) together? I guess because I don't speak much, everyone assumes I don't know anything. The other day, one guy was actually talking about me in Korean to someone else, like I didn't understand. His conversation partner then pointed out that I understood Korean, and you could see his "oh shit" face forming. Sigh. It's my own fault for never having the confidence to speak in Korean... I really need to work on that. I really want to try only (mostly) speaking in Korean during the vacation, which is coming up soon.

Speaking of vacation... In the US, the "main" semester starts in September, but there are a few students that apply/enroll in the spring. In Korea, it's the opposite. The "main" semester is the spring semester. I started in the fall semester, so I was the backwards one. But maybe this was a good idea, because there was probably a lower application/competition rate. Most Koreans graduate HS/undergrad in Feb, and so many apply for Spring semester. Anyway -- in the US, we get 2-3 weeks off at Christmas, then early May-late Aug/early Sept for summer break. Here, we get mid Dec-early March and mid June-early Sept for breaks... so ~10 weeks each time. SNU offers shorter duration classes during these times... but nothing really worth taking this Winter session. Still, I have a huge list of things to do --- learn IPA, learn more linguistics terms in Korean, preview phonology (mainly the points of articulation), read a bunch of Comp Ling papers, practice Korean, learn to program in Python more "pythonically" (instead of my current Java-style code). I'd also like to GO somewhere... but where? I still want to go to Macau, Hong Kong, and Australia/New Zealand before I leave Asia. And Maldives^^ It's 16* Celsius right now in Seoul...and 26* in HK. That might not be a bad long weekend. And Macau is right there... but... money. Sigh. I'll probably be unable to decide on anything, and just stay at home (or worse, the lab!) for 2.5 months, heh.

Anyway, that self-reflection post may still be coming... but.. probably not.^^

Catching up

2014-09-20T16:03:00.001+09:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. My bad. heh. Let's see if I can (briefly) summarize what's happened..

I finished level 6 in May, and signed up for the Advanced Research class in the summer. I pretty much just did it for the visa extension, and I did the bare minimum (I didn't finish the thesis paper, or do the presentation, or even go to half of the Speaking classes). I really felt like my Speaking skills were far behind my classmates', so I didn't try very hard. Luckily, 2 of the 4 teachers had had me in previous semesters, so they knew I was quiet and didn't push it. Anyway, I managed to finish the class with a 59% grade (much higher than I was expecting) and 77% attendance.

However, this gave me trouble when changing visa status at the immigration office. Originally, I entered Korea on a D-4 Language visa, and I planned to change to a D-2 Student visa after I was accepted to grad school. Did I mention I was accepted to grad school?*** Anyway, I had another fun time at immigration. I initially went in early July, but the lady told me I needed my tuition payment receipt, housing contract, grades and attendance rate at language school, and a recent 3x4cm photo. The Immi website doesn't mention tuition receipt at all, but it does say that requirements vary by school. My friend that got accepted to KU undergrad didn't need proof of payment at all. So.... yea.

You can pay Yonsei and KU in early July, but you can't pay SNU til early August. So, I came back after paying at the bank (the SNU website says you can do a bank transfer, but I was afraid to not have proof. I never did see a tuition receipt online, but the bank teller gave me a stamped paper). And the immi lady told me I needed 80% attendance and 70% grade... which, as it was the last week of Language school, it was too late to obtain these (as I slacked off all semester). It was sort of funny.. because, for the previous 6 semesters, I got 100% attendance and 85%+ grades.. but the one semester that actually mattered to immigration was the one I didn't really try. :\

So, I ended up going back the next week and trying for a different lady. Pro tip: the ticket machine says to only take one ticket, but I took two (take one, wait til people take few numbers, take another). The first number called was for the unhelpful lady I got the previous week. I pretended like I didn't hear it. (This is why you have take a ticket, then wait til some other people take numbers... because if no one comes for a number, the same person tries the next one, and the next one.. til someone comes to the counter.) The second number was for a different lady. This one helped me out and processed my paperwork with no problems. I even gave her my level 6 transcript (as Research class hadn't technically ended yet and grades weren't posted) with my 77% Research class attendance. She didn't even ask for a new photo. I also told her I was leaving the country in a week on vacation, so I wouldn't have my ARC at the airport (Immi takes it while they process your change of visa status.. usually 14 days). She gave me a receipt saying my visa was being processed. I showed my passport and the 'processing' paper to immigration at the airport on the way in and out and had no problems whatsoever.

It's just really unbelievable... the difference in service you can get, just by going to different people. I asked the first lady (in early July, before I had my tuition receipt) for a list of required papers. I also asked the 2nd lady (in early August) for a list. They were entirely different lists. And the 3rd lady didn't even take half the papers on either of those lists. Moral of the story: keep trying til you get someone that will help you. My language school grades and attendance were below the (unwritten) threshold. So the lady took my previous semester's grades, and accepted my -3% attendance. She also gave me a paper to use at immigration, so I could leave and come back without my ARC, with no problems. The second lady, and even the immigration helpline number, said you couldn't do it... but I did. (Granted, I was nervous the whole time, but I figured I could probably talk my way back in. After all, my card was DONE, it was just chillin' at the Immi office, not on my physical person.)

I just finished my 3rd week in grad school. (Technically, though, my 2nd week was Chuseok/Thanksgiving, so I didn't have classes.) The people are all really nice, and my professors all speak English MUCH better than I speak Korean. The textbooks and articles/papers are all in English (probably just because of the major, though). Only my classes are actually in Korean. But the professors all said that I can take tests and do presentations and homework in English, so... aside from Listening skills (and Speaking, to converse with fellow classmates..though they mostly speak English, too), Korean isn't super necessary. Thankfully. Homework already takes me forever, because it's a topic completely unrelated to my undergrad. I can't imagine how long it would take if I had to read everything in Korean. Still, I give my classmates credit. They're reading academic English papers (seemingly) without much trouble. Maybe someday I'll be able to do that in Korean? (Unlikely.)

***It doesn't look like it. Basically, I applied to the SKY schools (Seoul National Univ, Korea Univ, and Yonsei Univ), for a Masters degree in Linguistics. They all had different application deadlines, with different days of announcing results. Luckily, I got into all 3. But, I didn't get a scholarship to SNU or Yonsei, but I did for KU. My original order of going to the schools was Yonsei, SNU, KU. But without a scholarship at Yonsei, tuition was double SNU (a public school, without a scholarship) and KU (a private school, with a scholarship).... so I ruled Yonsei out. However, I applied for a scholarship at SNU after admission (they have a few, for grad students at least). But, by the time the KU payment was due, I didn't know about SNU's scholarship status at all. Still, I decided that KU was really far from my house (two subway transfers!), whereas SNU is very close by. And even without a scholarship at SNU, its tuition is similar to KU (with a scholarship). So I decided to go for SNU anyway. I actually did get a scholarship for full tuition to SNU, but no one told me on time.. so they ended up reimbursing me about 1.5 months after I paid.

부산 (Busan)

2014-06-30T21:49:00.000+09:00

After Level 6 ended in May, four friends and I went to Busan for a long weekend. We left Friday, 5/9 and returned Monday, 5/12. We stayed at the (arguably) most famous area of Busan, Haeundae Beach. We took the train from Seoul Station on Friday morning, and were there approximately 2.5 hours later. The train cost $50 one way for the economy seats, available at Korail.com or at a ticket booth at the station. The earlier trains sell out quick (especially the cheaper $30 tickets, which is what happened to us), so I recommend booking those early online. A credit card is required, though they take overseas cards. Just don't be fooled like me, and assume after you click "Submit" and it takes you back to the Search page that your transaction didn't work. I may have ended up with a few different sets of tickets before I realized it actually WAS taking my money and giving me tickets... it just wasn't giving me any feedback telling me so (returning to the Search page made it seem like there was a problem and I had to search again). Anyway. :) Thank goodness they give full refunds online within 24 hours of purchase (though, obviously not if your ticket is for a train that departs in less than 24 hours). We actually had one girl miss the train, and I was able to get a refund no problem, minus a 10% fee (because it was within one hour of departure). Pretty nice system.

Anyway, just going to post some photos. I know, I'm a terrible blogger.

Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장)

I do recommend if you want to go to the beach, that you go in (early) May or September. Check out these photos (from here) from high summer, and compare it to my photos:

(Compared to July/August: Noooooo thank you.)

We also visited this cool temple that's situated on cliffs overlooking the water. There were SO many people that we didn't even try to go in the main temple area. We just sat on rocks along the water.

Haedong Yonggung Temple (해동 용궁사)

And finally, a food picture.^^ Busan has a famous fish market (Jagalchi Market - 자갈치시장), incidentally right across from where (I think) they have the Busan International Film Festival. We went there one day, and while I didn't really get to sample raw fish like I wanted (Joana and I did eat fresh octopus though), we walked around and saw a bunch of fish in tanks (free aquarium!). My favorite are called gaebul (개불)... though, I suppose, it's technically a (spoon) worm.

hehehe.

A few days after I got back from Busan, my parents came to stay for two weeks. We went to most of the touristy spots in Seoul, and also spent 5 days in Jeju. Photos soon(ish). :)

문화 충격 (Korean Culture Shock)

2014-05-26T22:38:00.002+09:00

I've been wanting to write about this for a while, but, as with writing posts in general, I kept putting it off.^^ (Let's just say that I originally wrote this in July 2013, and it's now May 2014...) I also don't think this needs to be said, but just in case.... this does NOT apply to every Korean/situation, but these are just some things I've noticed living here for 1.5 years (as of 5/14).

Merriam-Webster defines culture shock as, "a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation." I guess it's safe to say that by the time I arrived here from the US 7 months ago, I wasn't really "shocked" by many things. By that point, I'd seen 60+ Korean dramas (1000+ hours), listened to numerous songs, watched a bunch of YouTube videos, read some blogs. So, I guess this is really more a compilation of cultural differences (문화 차이) and things that surprised me. Regardless:

Sharing food
I'm talking sharing the same BOWL of food. In Korea, everyone at the table dips their spoons (yes, the ones that were just in their mouths) back into the stew on the table. In the US, unless you're really close with someone (or if it's a food you can just dip once, like nachos & cheese), no one really shares a bowl. My roommates and I usually have a separate/personal bowl of rice, then everything else (kimchi, omelettes, soup) is communal. It saves on dishes, but is a little worrisome when a dinnermate is alternating coughing and eating soup...
Directions
When asking for directions in Korea, chances are the person helping you will tell you how to get there via landmarks, which may or may not still be there. Everything starts from a certain exit at the nearest subway station and goes from there. (Usually, minimally, subway stations will be at a big 4-way intersection, and each side of each intersecting road will have its own exit.) I'll never forget this time we tried to find a place in Hongdae. The directions said go out Exit 2, make a left at the big intersection, turn right across from an eyeglass shop, then turn left at a certain coffee shop. No distances or anything. We weren't sure the first intersection we saw was a "big" one... and we walked all the way up the hill til we reached the university gates and never saw an eyeglass shop... and that coffee shop definitely went out of business since the last time the website was updated. Things are sort of starting to come around now. Every road has a name and every building has a sequential number.... it's just no one uses them. And the definition of a road is still open to interpretation. In the areas with older houses (and narrower streets), "1st Street" (for example) could cover the entire neighborhood, regardless of any twists or turns or the number of times it intersects with itself. But at least it gives you a general idea. The old building numbering system was actually done by neighborhoods, and each building had a block and building number, assigned chronologically by date of construction. So Block 2 was potentially no where near Block 1, and Building 2 was probably no where near Building 1. And multistory buildings are awesome. Find the Staircase to Go Up is one of my favorite Korean games. Anyway, supposedly people have to start using the new addresses for realz by the end of this year.... We'll see how that goes.
Home "necessities" not included
A lot of the things I took for granted in the US are really hard to come by here. My Korean apartment has no oven, bathtub, dryer, or microwave. Those just aren't used here, except by richer people. Korean food isn't baked, there are public bathhouses/saunas, everyone line dries their clothes, and even I have only found myself wishing for a microwave a few times (once I became used to boiling water in a kettle). The lack of clothes dryer is probably one of the few things I couldn't really prepare myself for. Never used fabric softener in the US. Here, I try (when I remember) to use it every time. And with high humidity in the summer, line drying is rough, but you just have to wash a few times a week, so there's less water to evaporate and you've got at least a few dry things to choose from.
Public drinking and drunkenness
Koreans view drinking a lot differently than Americans. Employees go out for drinks with their bosses after work. Prospective son-in-laws drink with their girlfriend's fathers, answering questions 'til someone passes out. College kids head to the river, order chicken for delivery and break out the beer and/or soju (similar to vodka). Alcohol is everywhere, which means drunk people are everywhere, even in public (parks, the subway, staggering down the street). In the US, public drunkenness is A Thing. Here, it's really not a thing. Koreans work hard ~ seriously. In 2008, they worked an average of 2357 hours.. the 2nd-highest country worked 2052.. and Americans worked 1797. In that spirit, they also play hard. Places that serve drinks are busy on weeknights as well as weekends.
Traffic
Drivers in Korea take traffic laws as more of "traffic suggestions" than do drivers in the US. There are so many delivery scooters here, and they're especially bad at following the rules. One way street? Big mistake if you assume traffic will only be coming from the indicated direction. Is the light red and you find you're too tired to move your foot to the brake pedal (or hand to the brake..handle..)? No problem. Just swerve around the pedestrians in the crossing! Motorcycles especially ignore red lights if they're only so people can cross the road. They also ignore those..what're they called..? Oh. Right. Lanes. Motorcycles drive on the lines to go between cars. People drive cars on the sidewalk. Sometimes there are actual parking spaces there, but oftentimes it's actually just a sidewalk. They also park in the right-most lane.. in the middle of rush hour.. forcing every car to swerve around them. It's seriously crazy. I'm amazed I've only seen one accident so far (where one taxi took off another taxi's mirror).
House heating, cleaning
Most Korean houses are equipped with floor heating. As in, water pipes under the floor circulate hot water to heat rooms in the winter. With this in mind, most people sit on the floor, especially when eating and sleeping. My roommates and I do for eating, but we've taken the Western approach to sleeping and actually have beds with mattresses. There is no carpeting (which is also strange). Our communal areas (kitchen, living room) have vinyl flooring, and my bedroom is.. linoleum? The bathroom is entirely tile, even the walls. And the bathroom itself IS the shower (no separate stall). All these things make cleaning super easy... just mop the floors, open the windows, and everything is dry within a few hours. Though, since Koreans take their shoes off at the door (and usually walk around in slippers... though I prefer to be barefoot), there really isn't much dirt. Which is always nice when you're eating (and potentially sleeping) on the floor.
Personal space
In America, I preferred people to be at least an arm's length away, unless it was a close friend or family, and even then... kind of weird. Here, there's no such thing as personal space. There are queues for many things (buses, subways, restaurants, tickets), and complete strangers will stand less than a foot (.3 meters) away. They've also occasionally sat and/or leaned against me on the subway. But the worst invasions of personal space are almost always committed by ajummas (middle-aged ladies). I've been elbowed out of the way countless times. Seriously, I don't know what happens to the polite young Korean women at age ~50. They go from "Excuse me" to just walking with elbows thrust outward, ready to jab anyone and everyone in the kidney. :(
Strangers asking personal questions
Questions I'd find weird coming from people I've known a while are fair game within five minutes of meeting someone in Korea... things like age, job, religion, marriage status. Age is understandable because Koreans have a fairly strict social hierarchy, of which the two main placement/determining factors are age and socioeconomic status (job). Based on your age and/or socioeconomic status compared to the other person, an entirely different form of the language must be used. I mean, you start out using a polite one anyway, but similar-aged people can talk more freely. The other things... well, I'll chalk it up to being curious about a foreigner, but they probably also ask other Koreans. (I've heard Koreans like to know as soon as possible if they can be friends with a person, and the quickest way to do that is to grill them on lots of things in quick succession...)
Bathrooms
In most places, toilets have gone from squatters (pull down your pants, squat, and let it go) to "Western style" (with seats) in a few decades. But subways still cater to the "old school," so you have to be careful when it's your turn in line. Make sure that you get a "Western style" seated toilet (if that's what you prefer) instead of a squatter. There have been a few times where squatters have been 3:1, and I've had to wait an additional 10 minutes to sit to pee, but I consider this time well spent. Also, Koreans have a thing I call "soap-on-a-stick", where they literally stick a bar of soap on a stick, and you use that to sanitize your hands at the sink. I figured it out the first time I went to wash my hands, but I guess it's not so obvious to some (to be fair, if it's worn down, it doesn't always look like a bar of soap).
Restaurants
One (of many) nice things about Korean restaurants is that they often have water dispensers, so you can refill your own cup of water as often as you like. Also, checks come when you're done ordering, and are updated if you order more things.... or, if it's a smaller restaurant, there is no "check" per se, you just walk up the cash register and the Magic Waiter tells you your total. Also, tables often have buzzers on them, to call the waiter over without having to shout, or wait impatiently for them to complete their next circuit of "checks." I actually found it somewhat frustrating in the US, waiting for the waiter to come back, then waiting for a check... Go Korea.. with your efficient Restaurant Etiquette.
Cellphones
I will admit it. Before I came to Korea, I had a dumbphone. I held out on my dumbphone for MANY years. Frankly, I didn't really need it in the US. But in Korea, EVERYONE is on their cellphone, practically all the time. If you're planning to come to Korea, familiarize yourself with an app called KakaoTalk. Sign up for an ID. Most people in Korea don't ask for your number (though some do), they ask for your "KaTalk" ID. KakaoTalk is THE way for Koreans to talk to each other, though Facebook may be a close second (for those Koreans that are somewhat Westernized... i.e. those Under 40). Within a month of moving to Korea, I had to purchase a smartphone (Galaxy S3 at the time), because it's just so essential. They have this app called DMB here, where you can watch TV on the subway with an antenna, like it's a Radio signal in the US. But people are always playing games or listening to music or talking on the phone (both with headphones)... Even employees at the local convenience stores are looking at their phones if someone isn't actually at the cash register. It's an entirely internet-based culture here. People are hyper-connected...or are they? (I may be old enough that I still generally prefer face-to-face interactions...)
Phone call etiquette
I don't have much to say about this, but this is still one of the strangest things to me. Koreans will end their phone conversations with just a "Yep." That's is. Phone call over. In the US, we're always like "Talk to you later" or at the very least, "Goodbye." But I've heard, on several occasions, entire phone conversations consisting of 3 minutes of "Yes," and "OK," and then ending like that. 네~ 네~ 알겠습니다~ 네. It's still disconcerting to have a conversation end the same way it started. ("Yes?" and "Yes.")
Dress
Korean fashion takes a bit of getting used to. Supposedly, revealing your shoulders is a big no-no, but shorts can be as short as you want (and I've seriously seen some things I wish I hadn't) without a problem. But a popular outfit includes shorts/miniskirts with tights in winter. This also goes (a bit less frequently) in summer. Short shorts + nylons is an acceptable outfit in summer. With the high temps and humidity, I sort of understand, but it still is a little weird to me, having grown up with "skirts must be longer than 2 inches below the fingertips." It is interesting to see a number of people covered head to toe in clothes (so as not to get any sun/a tan?) even in high summer. I've heard Koreans prize whiter skin above tanned/darker skin... in which case, this makes sense... but it does make life more difficult. Being so pale, I don't tan well, but I do burn well.. but still, with SPF 50 sunscreen, I'm just fine. I think if I wore long sleeves in summer, I might bake to death....
Rejection
To be polite, I've heard Koreans can reject something they actually want up to three times. As in, "Please, take this seat." "No thanks I'm good." "No, please take this seat." "No, I'm getting off soon." "I really don't want to sit down." "Well, if you insist..." type of things on the subway. It's all to 'save face' (which I understand), but can be a bit frustrating for all involved, especially foreigners. OK, you say you don't want that seat? I'll take it, I guess. When really they do, and they're now in the process of cursing three generations of your family for being so greedy. Generally, I offer once or twice, then walk away, obviously indicating I'm not interested, thus giving them the chance to take the seat without the need to 'save face'.
Dating
I wrote this topic in a long time ago... and man, I don't feel like writing about this now. But basically, once you're over 25 or so, dating becomes A Thing. You go on Serious Dates set up by your family. Both sides are interested in Marriage, and you basically go to see if you can stand each other for the rest of your lives (or at least, if you can pretend to). If so -- woo, successful matchmaking! Marriage follows soon after. There are also SO many couple days... like, in the US, we have Valentine's Day on 2/14. In Korea, every "14" (mostly) is Some Day. 2/14 girls give guys candy. On 3/14 aka "White Day," guys reciprocate (if appropriate). On 4/14, "Black Day," singles (who didn't get anything on 2/14 or 3/14) eat black-colored food together. 5/14 is Rose Day, where you give a rose to your Special Someone. 6/14 is Kiss Day, which is self explanatory. After that, I stopped keeping track. But basically, Koreans often see Dating as equivalent to Marriage (not always, but frequently), especially after 25, and ESPECIALLY after 30. Thus, if you're in a relationship, you are given many opportunities to flaunt it. (Did I mention "Couple Outfits," where couples dress alike for dates? Gag-inducing from an outsider's perspective, but probably pretty cute, if you're that couple.)

Housing options in Korea

2014-02-24T13:43:00.000+09:00

Someone asked me a question about housing options while studying in Korea via email, but I thought I'd post my (slightly edited and reformatted) response here, too. This list is, of course, based on what I know, which may not be 100% accurate, but should at least give a rough idea...

Dorm rooms: I can't speak for other schools, but SNU has on-campus dorm rooms (where you live amongst the Korean students) and off-campus dorms available exclusively for international students. When I first came to Korea for SNU's language program, I applied for an SNU-managed dorm room. It's first come, first served, based on availability (you can live there up to 3 semesters, so someone has to move out before a room is available). The on-campus dorms were full, but they placed me in an off-campus dorm. I stayed there one semester before finding my own place. The on-campus dorm rooms are all double occupancy, but the price (last I looked) is ~USD$200/mo plus USD$100 refundable deposit. Off-campus dorms are single occupancy, but the monthly rent is ~USD$500/mo, also with USD$100 refundable deposit. I posted some pictures of my off-campus room here.

Guesthouses: These are dorm-like rooms that are good for shorter stays. They run about USD$20-30/night. In particular, the Hongdae/Sinchon area has quite a few, like http://hongdaeguesthouse.com or http://kpopstay.com, but there are probably some in every area. This might be an option for a few nights (depending on how much stuff you have) while looking for a more permanent place to stay.

Goshiwon/goshitel/one-room: Small, single-person rooms with a shared kitchen and laundry room. If you pay a bit more, you can get your own bathroom, otherwise it's usually a single-person washroom, but shared among everyone on the floor (there are separate floors for males and females). These are about USD$400-550 per month, depending on size, if there's a window, if there's a private bath, etc. They are all over the place, especially in college neighborhoods. The benefit of a goshitel is that there's no deposit up front and the contract length is variable. (More on that in a sec.) My friend found a goshiwon room after two days of intense searching.

Hasukjip/homestay: These are apparently becoming less and less common... but some are still around. This is basically where you pay to live with a Korean family and they feed you meals (and also maybe do your laundry, etc). This is the type I know least about...

Aside from these, there are also apartments (per Korea's definition, a tall 20+ story building in a cluster of similar buildings), officetels (rooms above businesses), villas (shorter 3-5 story standalone buildings), and houses (usually single family homes, but often divided like duplexes). I previously lived in a villa that I came across on craigslist. I *think* craigslist is a US-based website, but there's an entire section for Seoul, and it's used mainly by foreigners, so almost everything is in English. Most of the listed rooms are near Hongdae and Yonsei, but there are occasionally rooms posted in other areas.... http://seoul.craigslist.co.kr/roo

Also, every few blocks, you can find a 부동산 (real estate office). Housing owners list their rooms here, and you go in and tell them what you want and how much you can spend and they'll take you around to all the rooms that meet that criteria. These rooms usually have a refundable deposit, a monthly fee, and a 1- or 2-year contract, though. Most single person rooms are ~USD$5000 deposit, plus USD$500-700/mo rent. Usually, electricity, water, gas, internet, and a "maintenance" fee are not included, adding up to another USD$100/mo or so. Two- or three-room apartments are USD$10,000 deposit and USD$600-800/mo (plus USD$150+/mo in additional fees). (It should be noted you can find rooms for USD$2000 deposit and USD$400-500 rent, but the quality is questionable...) The real estate office also charges a fee for their service... usually ~3% of the deposit amount. (So an apartment with USD$10,000 deposit would require you to pay an additional USD$300 to the agent upon signing the contract.)

If you know some Korean, a website like http://oneroom.com can be useful. In the left column, under "Speed Search," it says 전세 and 월세. 전세 rooms have a huge deposit (USD$100,000+) but low or no rent. 월세 is what I described above, with a USD$5000+ deposit and rent. After that is "지역" (area), "보증금" (refundable deposit ~~ the omitted units are "만원" or 10,000 won/USD$10), "월세" (monthly rent) and optional info (for example, the neighborhood/동). (FYI, SNU's 지역 is 서울 관악구 and Yonsei's 지역 is 서울 서대문구.) For 보증금, the options are none (없음), less than 5백 (~USD$5000), USD$5000-USD$10,000, etc.. 월세's options are less than USD$200, $200-400, etc. Usually, as the deposit goes up, the rent goes down... but the standard is 5백/50만 (USD$5000 deposit/USD$500 monthly rent). You'll see this a lot in room listings.... "500/50" means 5,000,000 won deposit and 500,000 won/month rent.

It depends on the kind of housing you're looking for, but generally I'd bet you could find a goshiwon within a week of coming to Korea. Probably an apartment as well (from a 부동산), but that does have a year contract, and I'm not sure if this requires a resident card to apply for.

If anyone happens to stumble upon this and has more specific questions, I'll try to answer. My email's listed in my profile to the right.

5급/2월 (Level 5/February)

2014-02-22T20:54:00.001+09:00

Level 5 came and went. I really feel like I didn't do anything but homework and studying. :( Hopefully when it gets warmer, I can get outside again...

Level 5 was my lowest grade yet. Listening has become my worst skill. (Not that I'm great at speaking, but that's at least subjectively graded, heh.) The vocab is just really hard, and very similar. Reading, at least, I can generally understand from context, but it's a lot harder to not recognize a word when listening...

Rows say Reading (of 20), Writing (30), Listening (20), Speaking (30). Average of 80, 100% attendance.

In happier news, because I didn't miss a single day of class in levels 1-5, I get level 6 for free. I paid for level 5 and 6 together back in November (for a 6-month visa extension instead of a 3-month), so they refunded me the full price a week after level 5 finished. I am, however, looking forward to missing a few days in level 6 when the weather is nicer. Or maybe not...if classes are hard and there are daily quizzes. I dunno. But it's nice to have the option. :)

Speaking of visa extensions, I'm glad I pay for 2 semesters at once and only have to go to the Immigration Office half as often as J and H. They changed the requirements at the end of October and didn't tell anyone (it wasn't even updated on the website). Now, in addition to all the old stuff you needed (proof of enrollment, proof of bank deposit >$3000, paid tuition receipt), you also need a copy of your housing contract. And when J went a few weeks ago, the price to renew also doubled (from $30 to $60). And they were a lot pickier about the housing contract. Ours says one roommate's name (who actually signed for it) and "plus 3 people." Because J's name isn't actually on it, they gave her trouble. The American friend I went around with on Seollal also had trouble. He brought his contract but it also didn't have his name on it, so he had to bring proof (whereas J just begged and they let her pass). The lady supposedly processed his renewal anyway, but threatened him with trouble if he didn't bring proof of address the next day. But, I mean, if he was actually scamming them and gave them the wrong address... how are they going to find him if he doesn't bring proof? The address would be wrong. What a screwed up system. I hate the immigration office. Lines are getting longer, employees are getting less patient (and still don't speak English or Chinese... and I must say, Korean-speaking foreigners in Korea are rare... because most are English teachers!). I really get the feeling they are trying to kick out all but the most dedicated people. I'm dreading going back in May to renew. :\

Hard to believe there's only one week of vacation left (of 3). I spent almost the entire first two weeks sick, most recently with an ear infection. It was an annual thing in the US, so I wasn't surprised, but it still sucked to spend 3 full days in bed sleeping in silence. I did go to the doctor and he gave me a script for anti-inflammatory drugs. Yay for Korean medical insurance ($40/mo for students). The visit was $4 and the meds were $2.

I did manage to get out of bed last Friday (2/14) to volunteer at Gyeongbok Palace's Light Up Night. Previously, they opened the palace at night only for a week in May and a week in October(September?), but now they're adding time in February and July, and extending the length a few extra days(I think.. don't quote me). This time it was open 2/11-2/17 6-9pm (last admission at 8 unless you preordered tickets online). They didn't really explain anything to anyone, even in Korean, but I overheard some other (experienced) volunteers talking in Korean, which was good, because I did actually have to answer two English speakers' questions (namely about why the heck they couldn't get in after 8 when the signs said it was open til 9). Still, we got a few free minutes to walk around and see the buildings for free, and also got 2 coupon packs for free admission to 5 of the palaces ($20 value). My parents are coming in May, and those will be handy, unless they don't accept them, because it says they expire a month after the date stamped on the cover. :\ Anyway, some photos:

Our volunteer outfits were reflective (great for pictures!), and the one building
on the lake (called Gyeonghoeru) + its reflection were awesome to look at.

Earlier today I did my taxes... and, man, it was a lot more annoying than I was expecting because I lived in Korea all of 2013. My Korean bank account also gave me trouble. I heard you only had to claim it if your balance was ever over $10,000, which it wasn't. But I said it wasn't, and TurboTax still made me pay $20 to upgrade to Federal Basic edition, just to have them tell me "Oh, looks like you don't need to file this paperwork after all." Yea, great. So there goes the $11 in interest I made all year on my pocket change in my Korean account (just used to transfer tuition and rent payments). And apparently Virginia (where I kept my residency) is one of the 4 crappy states when it comes to filing taxes from overseas. I couldn't submit electronically because I filed a Non-resident Tax Return, so I have to get my parents (who have my physical interest/etc forms) involved. Yes, because I live on the other side of the world, please make me send paper copies to some PO box in VA. That's fun. I'm looking forward to next year, when the health insurance requirement/penalty kicks in. Hopefully it's easy to prove my overseas residency, but somehow I doubt it... Sigh.

Speaking of continuing to stay in Korea, I should probably get working on my letter of introduction and study plan for grad school apps. I meant to start sooner, but that was about the last thing I felt like doing when it hurt to sit up, or breathe, or swallow....^^

사진을 찍는 것 (Taking Photos on Seollal/Lunar New Year)

2014-02-22T19:09:00.000+09:00

As I mentioned last post, I spent Lunar New Years (1/31) with an American friend, walking around Seoul taking photos. Specifically, we went to Mullae (rundown industrial area), Myeongdong (tourist shopping trap), and Namsangol Hanok Village (traditional houses). I'll just divide the photos by photographed area. And as I said, I'm not a photographer, so these aren't great, and I didn't photoshop anything, but...

Mullae

Myeongdong

Namsangol Hanok Village

That is all. It was a little cold (though the warmest day in a while), but it was fun walking around, seeing different things, from a different perspective. (Despite my shameful use of a digital camera, and not a film camera like everyone else in the group).^^

12월, 1월 (January & February)

2014-02-22T18:34:00.000+09:00

As I mentioned last post, level 5 was a haze of homework and quiz/exam studying. We did get a day off for Christmas and (Solar) New Year, and several days off for Lunar New Year, thankfully. In addition to class stuff, I also took mid-level TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) for scholarships/admittance to grad schools here.

I'll start off by saying Korea is darn cold in winter. Based on temps, it's comparable to the weather in PA, but I guess I wasn't out in it very much (walking from house to car, car to wherever), because it feels so much colder here. Then again, Koreans call the cold winds in winter "knife winds," which is true. It feels like I'm not even wearing a jacket, though I've got layers and layers on. This year, I splurged on "heattech" (thermal) shirts. They're sold at Uniqlo for $20 (I bought them for $15 on sale) and may actually be Japanese in origin, but they're really thin, come in every color imaginable, and are really warm. Once I started wearing these, life became much better. They also have thermal tank top version (as you can see on the left below), but that seems counter intuitive...

Pick the color you want your frozen corpse to be found in....

One day during class, it snowed suddenly, and the snowflakes were huge and pretty.

Snow!

Buses are also abnormally packed on snow days cos no one wants to walk...

Our "field trip" for level 5 was to make bibimbap (rice and mixed veggies). In level 2, we made bulgogi (marinated beef) and japchae (noodles), which I think was more exciting... but, I was just glad for the day off of lessons. And in level 6, we supposedly head to the DMZ (border with N. Korea), which will hopefully be uneventful...

On Sunday, 1/19, H and I went to Gachon University in Gyeonggi-do, just outside Seoul, to take the 33rd edition of the TOPIK test.

There are 3 different versions of TOPIK given on the same day - beginner (levels 1 & 2), intermediate (levels 3 & 4) and advanced (levels 5 & 6). Beginner and Advanced are given in the morning, and Intermediate in the afternoon, so, in theory, you could take Intermediate and another test the same day. If I would have been smart, I'd've done this, but I didn't think about it til after registration had closed. :( Anyway, there are 4 sections on the test - grammar & vocab, reading, writing and listening (no speaking). If you get a combined average >70% with no section less than 50%, you get the higher level for the test (2, 4, 6). If you get <70% but higher than 50% average with nothing <40%, you get the lower level (1, 3, 5). If you don't manage this, you get nothing. Without studying much additional time (besides regular class study, and learning the TOPIK format):

Columns say grammar & vocab, writing, listening, reading, average, level received.

I managed an 88 average, with my lowest being 77 in reading, so I received level 4. Most grad schools only require level 3 for admission, but level 4 is nice to have for scholarships. I really wish I would've taken Advanced in the morning, and maybe received level 5 (my SNU level). Alas... I'll try that in April. Anyway, I'm a little disappointed in my writing score. I didn't miss any points in the multiple choice section, and only a few points in the short answer. My main loss came in the essay because I ran out of time. The topic was to write about who you respect, and to list two reasons. But they stipulated it couldn't be family, so I had a hard time coming up with someone to write about... I was about 25% too short and lost 5~10 points for that. Oops. Ah well, it worked out regardless.

On 1/24, H, J and I went to Kim Jae Joong's backpack product launch (called Moldir) at a Gangnam hotel (Hotel Sunshine). We saw him a few times, as well as Jang Geun-seok (just as creepy IRL as I imagined him to be), and a few other famous faces I recognized but didn't know the names... and J's favorite rapper Dok2 (said "do-kki") performed a couple songs on the stage. It was...interesting. Because we were foreigners, we also got free upgrades to the VIP section, but that turned out to not mean very much. :( Jae Joong and friends were in the VVIP section. Darn you Korea... adding more V's.

Advert poster in the hotel, the lasers on the dance floor that fascinated us
more than they should have, and Dok2 performing just feet from our faces.

And, of course, food. :)

Jjulmyeon (I was curious what this was for a long time... it's similar to
brothless naengmyeon crossed with bibimbap), a watermelon ice bar, and
Christmas cookies (sugar & reg/white choc macadamia) that 4 of us split 4 ways.

TOP: Odeng (fish cake) soup made at home with radish and scallions added,
grilled fish from the restaurant next to our house (Korean restaurants serve
you the whole fish and you pick around the bones). And look at the side dishes!
MID: I'm not sure what this is actually called but it's ddeok and ramyun and
udon (thick Japanese noodles) mixed together in a spicy sauce, oxbone soup
BTM: "water jelly" (actually pretty descriptive... is it water? is it jelly? it's both).

On Lunar New Years itself (1/31), I went around with an American friend and his photographer friends. I'm not a photographer by any means, but I'm still giving the photos their own post. Off to write that now. :)

11월 (November)

2014-02-22T17:18:00.000+09:00

So it appears I managed to avoid blogging for the entire length of level 5. With weekly vocab and grammar tests, near-daily writing homework, daily lesson review and preview requirements, I didn't have much time for anything else. Seriously, it was pretty amazing. I heard in level 6 that there are daily vocab (and grammar) quizzes, and lots of newspaper reading (harder Chinese-based vocab), so... that should be fun. But now it's the second week of vacation, and I have a bit of free time to catch up on this thing...

In November (it's only February, ha) for school break, I went back to the US for 17 days. But before getting into that, I also went to Kim Jae Joong's solo show at COEX with H. In January 2013, I went to one of his fan meetings, and I must say, I preferred that to this mini concert, but it was still a good time. As always, no photos allowed during the show (and the staff is very vigilant), but uh... there were some pretty flowers outside, though they were completely unrelated to the show. :)

I also redyed my hair (amazing how much it faded in 3 months), and ate some tasty Korean snacks.... 11/11 was Peppero Day, so chosen because Peppero sticks (crackers dipped in flavored chocolate) look like the number 1... Usually, there are a few flavors... plain (no dip), chocolate, chocolate + almonds. For Peppero Day, there are tons of other flavors... strawberry, Korean melon, cookies and cream. Melon is delicious. I wish I would've bought more. :(

Melon- and sweet potato-flavored ice cream bars. Melon was delicious. Sweet potato was...edible. :)

US I spent the time at my parents' house in PA, minus an overnight trip to VA to visit coworkers/friends. I ate a lot of good food, and saw a lot of family, and just generally relaxed.

Crepes, blue waffles, barbeque, chili, gnocchi, lasagna, sloppy
joes, tomato soup & Ritz crackers, Jioio's pizza, my favorite
beer (Blue Moon) & Korean soju, sushi, our Thanksgiving meal.

Mom and I also made Grandma's chocolate pie for Thanksgiving. The crust was premade, but look how nicely I placed it in the pan for baking! :)

I also used my mom's sewing machine to convert a roommate's broken umbrella into a waterproof shoulder bag. Simplified directions:

Step 1: Remove cloth from frame.
Step 2: Fold cloth in half and cut a square. Extra side pieces can be used for the handles/straps.
Step 3: Pin 3 sides for sewing. Though one side is still connected (from the fold), pin anyway. Leave the side across from the fold open (though I did pin down the pointy edge to make it flat across the top).
Step 4: Sew. I sewed each side twice because it'll probably be used for groceries.
Step 5: Make the handles. I cut the extra cloth into 2 long strips, folded in half and sewed along the length.
Step 6: Attach the handles to the inside of the bag. I sewed a box with an X in the middle for extra support. Make sure the nice side of the handle will be out when you turn the bag right-side out.
Step 7: Turn the bag right-side out.
Step 8: Iron nicely.
Done. :)

Finally, some scenery photos... before and after the snow at my parents' house, the fields nearby, and of the sunset during my takeoff back to Korea.

I was tempted to backpost this in November, but I'll just leave it in February...

Onward to December! heh.

edit: Oops, apparently I never posted my level 4 final grades (not that it really matters, but for the sake of completeness). The final exam was a lot easier than the midterm.

Final level 4 (average) grades. 85% average, 100% attendance.
Rows say writing (of 30), speaking (30), listening (20), reading (20).

드디어 가을이 됐다. (Finally, it's fall.)

2013-10-25T20:07:00.000+09:00

I keep thinking of things I want to write about on this blog, but by the time I am able to... the moment has passed. I hear there's a mobile app (or some way to post via your phone, anyway)... I may look into that, cos maybe then I'd write smaller less time-consuming posts (for all involved).

It's definitely autumn here in Seoul. The leaves are changing, the weather is getting cold. It's still, on average, about 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit (14-20 Celsius). I actually thought I was doing pretty well with metric units (we use our own units in the US...) until the teacher, yesterday in class, asked me how much gas cost per liter in the US. I had absolutely no idea how to convert gallons to liters (turns out it's about 4 liters to a gallon... 3.78 to be more exact). I'm getting pretty good at feet to/from meters, degrees F to/from degrees Celsius, pounds to/from kilos. Still, what the heck, US? Get with the metric game. It's base 10!! So much easier. Except degrees C/F. For temperature, I still like F more. It's a lot more precise (as everyone pretty much drops the decimal in C), though I do appreciate 0=water freezing and 100=water boiling, instead of seemingly arbitrary 32 and 212, respectively.

Aaaanyway... the trees are really pretty. I finally took some pictures on the way to class today... I think J was embarrassed by my constant shutter sounds, but.. y'know.

Fall foliage on our way to SNU. Pictures aren't in chronological order.^^
And the poor, pretty flowers are a little confused as to the season, I think...

Speaking of trips to school, we live near the district office. A few weeks ago, they put up a display with lots of umbrellas, and a stage for afternoon singers/etc to perform. The umbrellas each had a long fishing line hanging down, and every time I walked past, it took everything I had not to pull on the strings...^^

Gwanak District Office.

Level 4 midterms came and went. I had a pretty terrible time w/ the listening section... though, most people didn't do too well, either. The last three levels, I got over 90% average each time (and level 2, I had the highest grade of everyone in the level).. but this time, well, I got 80.5% at midterm. I basically need 100% to get an average of 90% (for the certificate) this level, which will never happen. :( Ah well.

The "Mid-term test" column says Reading (of 20), Writing (of 30), Listening (of 20), Speaking (of 30).

J and I were partners again in class this week, and we had to make a travel ad. We chose a town in Portugal, where you can swim with dolphins, eat cheap and tasty food, and the beach is really nice (as is the weather!). Obviously, we should have both become artists.... Look at that realistic dolphin!

Finally: food! We made steaks, salad, sauteed mushrooms, and mashed potatoes for our friend's birthday. So much food, so many people. It was fun. :) They also have a street food in Korea that's basically deep-fried red-bean stuffed dough, in a fish shape. So delicious... and only 3 for ~90 cents! :)

Seriously, going to try writing shorter, more frequent blog posts from now on but... it probably won't happen.^^

4급 중간 (Level 4 midterm)

2013-09-30T21:34:00.000+09:00

I finally made it to the Banpo Bridge before sunset....

Sunset over the water. :D

I also wandered around the park near the bridge (there are also looong walking and bike riding paths, an area to skateboard, kids' playground, etcetc).

The park area nearest the bridge (complete w/ tarp-covered seats)...
and Cherry Coke always tastes better along the water.^^

Weather here has been weird lately... It's really cold one day, really hot the next, pouring rain one day, blue skies the next...

Blue skies, and waiting for the bus in the pouring rain...

On 9/14, we moved to the other side of the subway station (nearer to school... maybe a 20 minute walk), to a bigger place with 4 usable bedrooms. It's actually the 3rd and 4th floor (and rooftop patio) of a house. It's more expensive per month, but we invited a 4th person to live with us (J), so it ended up being about the same price per month per person. Once things are cleaned up (namely in my room), I'll post some pictures. Meanwhile, here's a pic of how much the mosquitoes here love me....

In one night, I managed to get 3 bites on the back of my hand... Bugs here are vicious.

Sept 18-20 was Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. The actual Chuseok Day was Sept 19, but everyone travels home for the holiday, so the days before and after are both public holidays as well. We didn't have school. The night before, J and I went over to H's room and she made us some traditional food from her country, made mainly of chicken and tomatoes. It was really good. :) I really want to make some 'Murican foods here, but most of what I can think of require spices (or recipes) I don't have, or an oven (which only the really expensive apartments here have). I guess when I go back to the US for Thanksgiving, I'll buy some spices like Cayenne Pepper and Cumin... Foods here are often very spicy, but it's a different kind of spicy... hard to explain if you haven't had it, but generally, it's not really an enjoyable spicy. It burns without the added benefit of taste.^^ (Not to say that I don't like it, it's just not the same as, say, spicy chili...)

The microwave-made brownies actually turned out pretty well...

Also, as I mentioned almost 2 years ago when I was first here on vacation (also over Chuseok), I like that the news shows here have sign language interpreters rather than subtitles...

Sign language interpreter in the bottom right hand corner during a random news program..

On 9/29, I saw my favorite kpop band (FT Island) live... I bought the tickets myself online (though I thought sales started at 9 when they actually started at 8, so my seats were not very good), paid for them myself, had them delivered to my house... It was a nice feeling, to finally be able to do all that alone. (As the website was all in Korean... and usually they only accept Korea-issued credit cards.) Unfortunately, like most kpop concerts/fan meetings, pictures weren't allowed at all... so I didn't really take any... but... here's one of my ticket... and the signs outside... and, uh... a few of MANY "congrats!" banners purchased by the official fan club. Beneath the banners are a bunch of eggs, for donation to charity (they also donate literally tons of rice, in the band's name).

FT Island :D

Finally, more Korean food!

Mixed veggie and rice (bibimbap, a supposed favorite among foreigners),
large dumplings (wang mandu), and steamed chicken w/veggies (dakjjim or jjimdak).

Hard to believe level 4 midterms are this Friday (10/4) and Monday (10/7). Off to study (or maybe sleep...).

반포대교 달빛무지개분수 (Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain)

2013-08-30T02:21:00.000+09:00

The 25 districts of Seoul, courtesy of wikipedia.
I live in the northern part of Gwanak-gu.

My favorite place in Seoul definitely has to be the Han River. My favorite place to go anytime is Yeouido's Han River Park*, located on that little island in the middle of the river. But my favorite place.. early in the evening (8 or 9pm).. (nightly) April through October... is the Banpo Bridge Light Show**. I posted about it before, but I went again the other night, and ahhhh...so pretty. Commence picture spam!

The river cruises are smart and time it so they're at the bridge for the duration of the show (~15 minutes).

And a couple of fun pics (taken w/ my Nexus 7 cos my phone's battery died and I forgot my backup at home...).

I think I may go back this weekend...maybe with a real camera and not just my phone. So.. there may be more pictures posted shortly. :)

*Yeouinaru Station, Line 5, exit 2 or 3. It's right there.
**Express Bus Terminal Station, Lines 3/7/9, Exit 8-1. Go the big intersection & make a right and walk (~400m) til you reach a crosswalk that leads down into a tunnel under the bridge. Keep walking to the water and you can see it pretty well from there.

Taiwan, Days 4 and 5

2013-08-30T01:42:00.000+09:00

Taiwan
August 13-18, 2013

Day 4 On Day 4 we went to a restaurant called Dim Tai Fung for brunch. It's famous for its dumplings. The original/best one is in Taipei, but the one in Taichung was very good. After that, we took the bullet train back to Taipei, rested at our hotel for a bit, then went to see the 101 Building. It's a 101-story building with observation decks on the 87th-90ths floors (I think). It's the tallest building in Taipei by far (and the world, for a while), but the skyline was a little...boring compared to Tokyo's (and Seoul's, but.. I'm biased^^). Then we ate at a nearby Thai (that's Thailand "Thai" not Taipei "Tai," heh) restaurant called Rama. A little expensive, but man, I used to eat Thai every weekend and haven't had it in MONTHS... and we ordered Pad Thai and green curry dishes that were unbelievable and filling, so we were happy. :)

You can see the dumpling place from the top of my roommate's friend's
apartment building... (though it's not visible in THIS photo though, heh).

Directions on how to eat the dumplings, a cucumber appetizer that tasted
a lot like kimchi, pork dumplings, and my favorite(!), taro dumplings for dessert.
I could have eaten a whole tray myself. (And I did, for the most part!)

Some views from the ground, and a view from the top.
The moon was very bright that night.

On the way down, they make you walk by stalls that sell items made of
metals and gems and coral. Some things were pretty, but most made
me wonder who would buy such a thing... (someone, apparently).

Unfortunately, I was too busy eating, and didn't take any photos of
the Thai food... but I did get one of the pretty rooftop pool.
Those are glass panes that let you see through the floor...

Day 5 Our flight back to Seoul was at 7pm, and the airport was only an hour or so away, but we weren't quite sure where the airport bus stop was (since we changed hotels midstay)... so, we passed time at a nearby mall until about 2:30, then made our way to the bus stop. It took maybe 30 minutes for the bus to come. And it was only 70 New Taiwanese dollars (about $2.35). The airport buses in Seoul are $3.50 to Gimpo and $8 to Incheon.^^ Anyway, we made our flight with no problems, and arrived in Korea about 10:30....just in time to miss the last bus at 10:45. So we took the airport railroad (which thankfully runs til about midnight) to Hongdae, then took a taxi back to our apartment. It was a long day, but at least I didn't have to get up early like my roommate. :)

The huge mall we shopped at for a bit, and a picture of the entryway
to our gate (the actual gate was down some stairs...).

All-in-all, a fun few days in Taiwan.... and definitely the highlight of my summer break (though, I suppose there are still a couple days to go.. you never know..). I'm definitely going somewhere warm for spring break in February.. Australia and/or New Zealand maybe. If any family or friends are reading this and want to come along... let me know. :P

Taiwan, Day 3

2013-08-28T02:38:00.000+09:00

Taiwan
August 13-18, 2013

Day 3 On Day 3, we took the bullet train back to Taichung, and met my roomie's college friend at the station. He took us took Xitou Forest (as he'd spent his military service as a guide at the forest, he was quite knowledgeable about the paths), a beautiful, remote location about 45min by car. Nearby, there was a village with stores and restaurants, though we traveled a bit further down the mountain to eat a full course Taiwanese meal (so I was told), complete with Lazy Susan for serving. Later in the evening, we went to a fancy bar/lounge, and ended up staying at the friend's nice house in Taichung. (Another night wasted on hostel fees, but at least our big luggage had a secure place to chill for the night...)

Bullet train from Taipei to Taichung. ~$20 for the ~1hr trip.

It rained on and off during our guided trip through the forest, but still, it was quite pretty (and relaxing!).

The forest was serene (if not misty!). Then we came to this lake w/ a wooden bridge.
When we crossed it, it swayed quite a bit. Scary, but worth it.

We stopped for a snack near the lake. Apparently, guava fruit comes in colors
ranging from white (that we had at 7-Eleven) to red (seen here). You can't eat
the seeds, so you either cut or bite & spit them out. :)

A town near the forest... where they sold souvenirs (namely tea and keychains...).

We had LOTS of tasty food, including pork, bamboo, chicken... and my favorite, fried (with honey
and sesame seeds) sweet potato! The restaurant had a pretty "water feature" in the corner.

Finally, we went back to Taichung proper, to a bar/lounge with a cover band. They supposedly
had to sing any song someone requested, including English covers. Sometimes they made up
the words, but overall, they sang the English songs pretty well (even if the drummer and
keyboardist were relegated to the rafters...). :)

Day 4....soon!

Taiwan, Day 2

2013-08-26T16:41:00.000+09:00

Taiwan
August 13-18, 2013

Day 2 Day 2 started out in Taichung, where we had delicious hotpot for lunch and cakes from a cafe for dessert, before taking the 2.5-hour bus back to Taipei and moving our luggage to our new hostel. Then we went to a bar/lounge called Brass Monkey, owned by an Aussie expat. It turned out to be Ladies' Night, so we bought a few drinks at first, then settled for the free screwdriver-type drinks they offered for free to all the ladies.

The hotpot restaurant, called 輕井澤, which is pronounced "Qīng jǐngzé", but for
some reason it's called Karuisawa (Japanese pronunciation of the characters, maybe?).
Anyway, for $50, 4 of us got huge plates of veggies and meat and noodles/rice to cook.

There was an outdoor cafe next door called 85*C. So many cakes.
And each slice was only ~$1.50. The same cake is at least $4 in Korea.^^

The bus ride back was uneventful. And though it was 3x the price,
the new hostel was >3x nicer than the first place... :)

The service was a little lacking at the bar, and my chocolate martini
was made using bitter cocoa powder... but somehow things improved
when we discovered the free Ladies' Night screwdrivers (vodka & oj).^^

Days 3-5 will be coming eventually....^^

Taiwan, Days 0-1

2013-08-22T01:30:00.000+09:00

Taiwan
August 13-18, 2013

Day 0
My roomie, Mary, was planning to go to Taiwan by herself, but then I said I wanted to go too. She'd bought tickets via a Korean travel agency, and she helped me to reserve the same flights. I booked on Saturday, though, and couldn't pay (via bank transfer) til Monday, and somehow they ended up not actually booking my flights (though I paid). We didn't find this out til the night before, when Mary was able to check in, and all I had was a confirmation number for my payment (no actual airline ticket number). The travel agency didn't open til 9am, and our flight (well, Mary's) was at 10:30am, so after she spent quite a while talking to airline staff and the travel agency, they ended up booking me a seat on the 4pm flight, and switching Mary's flight to match (which was good, because by that point, it was after 10). So we had to kill 5 hours at the airport. The adjoining building has a movie theater, but we were too tired from waking up at 6, so we ended up napping in a cafe with big cushions on their seats, then walking around for a while, and finally sitting at the gate for a couple hours. Sucks we had to arrive in Taipei 5 hours later than planned, but... at least we both made it there. And somehow my hostel reservation was also not actually booked, either. I emailed them myself and received a confirmation email... but, apparently, my luck that day was not very good, heh. Anyway, they had a spare bed, so I had a place to sleep, but the hostel ended up being kind of dirty, so we only booked two nights (of the 4 we'd be in Taiwan), hoping to find a better place in the meantime.

A view from the plane, and the (dirty) $12/night hostel.

We ate noodles (and drank what we guess was plum tea) at a nearby noodle
shop, then had beer and snacks at a 7 Eleven. The green fruit is guava.

Day 1
We woke up about 9 and had breakfast at McDonalds. (Though, they didn't actually serve breakfast foods.. so it was more like an early lunch.) At about noon, Mary's high school friend and her sister met us at our hostel. They helped us book a different, much nicer hostel a couple subway stops away. They took us to Tamsui (formerly Danshui), a seaside tourist area in the NW corner of New Taipei City (conveniently located at the last stop on the Red subway line). Unfortunately, it was a hazy/rainy day, so the view wasn't that great, but it was still a nice atmosphere. We ate lots of cheap street foods. After that, they invited us back to their house in Taichung with them (Taichung literally means "Central Taiwan"). We rode a bus for about 3 hours, then headed to a night market, where we had more street food, including stinky tofu.

A view of Taipei 101 and a mass of motorbikes from/at our subway stop;
our first hostel's alleyway; the new hostel intersection.

We bought bubble tea before our hourlong subway trip to Tamsui.

Tamsui streets and street food (flavored quail eggs and pastries filled with cream).

A view of the mountain across the water, and a "deep water" sign.
There was a man fishing next to it, but I didn't take a picture.

Pens!!! So many pens at a store in Taichung.

The night market in Taichung, where we ate dough balls filled with
radish, an egg omelet, and stinky tofu. Man, that is an accurate name.
It smelled so bad...and didn't taste all that great either.^^

Days 2-5 to follow.

Goodbye, level 3!

2013-08-21T00:16:00.000+09:00

This post is a little late in coming (a recurring theme, it seems), but... better late than never?

On 8/3, Hera and I went to Junsu's concert at COEX Hall D in Gangnam. We bought Standing VIP tickets, and ended up 2 rows back from the main stage. However, he spent a large portion of his time dancing on the stage in the middle and behind us, and it was awkward to turn around... so next time, I think standing further back would be better (at least you'd only ever have to look forward). He sang a number of his songs, and had some fan interaction time in the middle, but he didn't sing my favorite song (of his), You Are So Beautiful, from Scent of a Woman's OST (from Aug/Sept 2011). :( It was the background music to a slideshow during a costume change, so I guess I'll have to settle with that, heh.

Top: A building near the mall. Bottom: Concert logo.

The rainy season here hasn't been too bad (the "humid season," i.e. summer, is far worse), but there have been a few days where it's just poured. Luckily, my $3 Daiso umbrella I bought in the spring has continued to serve me well. I have to wear flip-flops most days, though, because sneakers just end up soggy.

Heavy rains at SNU.

Class ended on 8/9. I did well, but I wasn't the top level 3 student (as I was for level 2). Ah well. :)

Rows: Reading (of 20), Writing (30), Listening (20), Speaking (30).

After the final class, six of us went to see the Busan Lotte Giants play the Seoul LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium. My friends bought $13 tickets for the Giants (the away team), located right behind third base. We ended up losing pretty badly, but it was still a lot of fun. :)

Top: It's BYOB/F, so everyone brought something to share. My contribution
was two Pizza School pizzas. Bottom: A view of the outfield and infield.

Baseball in Korea thankfully follows the same rules as in the US. They don't have baseball in China, so the Chinese kids had no idea what was going on. They speak English well, and I tried explaining it, but... it's kind of hard to explain because the vocab isn't something most people would know, unless you know baseball. (How do you explain a "double play" or an "RBI" without using other baseball terms?)

One thing that is different is that Korean teams have cheerleaders. Ours were located just above and behind us (about 20 rows back from the field). Unfortunately for us (and fortunately for the guys in front of us), this provided a nice up-skirt view of all the girls while they were dancing. Some boys filmed every time they danced... as high schoolers will. Still...ugh.

Me watching the guys watching the cheerleaderz.

Also, they're big on things to help with cheering/team spirit. They sold these inflated...sticks (that you beat together to make noise) for $2 outside the gate. And at about the midpoint, they passed around these orange bags (our colors are orange and black). Most people inflated them and tied them off, and hooked the handles around their ears (me included... but I was super-sweaty, so I'll spare you from the photos heh), but a few girls instead made pretty bows.

Top: Noise sticks. Bottom: Bags on our heads for team support...

On the three hottest days of summer (sambok or boknal), people eat hot foods to cool down. 8/12 was malbok, the final "hottest" day. Previously, people ate dog meat stew (bosintang), but these days, most (younger) people eat chicken ginseng soup (samgyetang). Iza and I went to the same restaurant in February (when I had a cold and wanted something like chicken soup). It was practically empty then, but we went the day before malbok and the place was still packed.

Samgyetang (chicken gingseng soup).

I'll have another post soon about my trip to Taiwan. Hopefully it doesn't take a long to finish as the Japan ones...^^

머리 (Hair)

2013-08-03T02:17:00.001+09:00

Yesterday, I finally managed to tick one item off my non-existent bucket list: blue hair! I remember talking about dyeing my hair blue back in high school.... though, at that time, I meant 100% dyed. This time, I just added some streaks. My American classmate (who coincidentally has purple highlights) was kind enough to take me to her hairstylist in Hongdae, and in 3 hours or so, I went from medium-brown to medium-brown + blue (plus gradient)! Because my hair was medium brown and I wanted blue streaks, he first had to bleach my hair. It was a little surreal to see my hair anything other than brown! After that, he washed the bleach out, then dyed everything "peppermint blue." Sadly, the bleach didn't fully take on all parts of my hair, so I actually have a nice gradient, from greenish-blue to teal to bright blue (the color I originally desired). Because it didn't turn out as anyone intended, he offered to remove the color, and rebleach and redye my hair for free it at my earliest convenience. Unfortunately, I have finals coming up midweek, so Monday and Tuesday were out, he's closed on Wednesday, this Thursday is a vacation day for him, Friday I'm going to a baseball game (which I hear is INSANE in Korea), then we're approaching packing time for Taiwan... so, basically, I decided on Sunday... only 3 days after the first dye attempts. I read you're supposed to wait 10-14 days between bleach attempts, so I'm a little nervous to do it again so soon.... but my hair ended up in pretty good condition (seriously, it's softer than it was before, I think). So it could probably withstand the second bleaching, but... I dunno. The (unintentional) gradient is kind of growing on me. So maybe I'll just take him up on his free deep conditioning offer instead, and consider re-bleaching in 2 months when the color fades and I need to get it redone anyway. Thoughts? :)

8개월 (8 months)

2013-07-27T16:49:00.001+09:00

Yesterday marked 8 months in Seoul. It really is crazy to think I've been here that long. It feels like three or four at the most. Level 3 midterms came and went. This time, listening was my worst area. I mentioned before how quickly everyone speaks (the teachers, the MP3s). It's a lot to process so quickly, not to mention remember until the questions are asked at the end of the passage. Regardless, I did pretty well on the midterm (second in the class, behind the girl who was second to me last semester).

The midterm column reads: Reading (of 20), Writing (30), Listening (20), Speaking (30).

For about two months in the summer, Korea has a rainy (monsoon) season. It starts in late June and goes til mid-August. During those two months, almost 30" of rain falls. There have been several heavy days (though, thankfully, mostly nights) of rainfall so far. Overall, it's been a little underwhelming, but I still wear sandals most of the time now to avoid soggy, wet tennis shoes.

Left: The back of the classroom on a rainy day. (Though I put mine in a bag,
because it's probably going to get wet again on the way home.) Right: Rain Woman.
My backpack conveniently came with loops (which I use as an umbrella holder),
which is good for me, because unless it's pouring, I don't bother opening mine.

The skies here have mostly been overcast and ugly grey/white, so on sunny(ish) days, I tend to take a lot of photos.

First: Looking up at the language buildings at SNU (I like the clouds' reflection in the
glass building). Others: The sun setting at the end of my journey home, and at the start.

On 7/12, Vicky, Joana and I went to a cat cafe near Bongcheon Station (one stop west of SNU Station). There were probably two dozen cats around. The admission fee is $8, but you get a free drink (probably $4-5 elsewhere). Minors (<19 I think?) can get in for $6. At first, there was no one there but us, but eventually two high schoolers showed up. Seeing these cats really made me miss Ony and Nef back in VA. :( They were cute, but not particularly playful. Vicky said the other cat cafes she went to (in Hongdae) provide string, etc for you to use to play with the cats. This place did not.

So many cats. The last 2 were my favorite.

On 7/13, my roomies and I went to a fancy party at the fancy Banyan Tree hotel in Seoul. We dressed up in formal dresses. It was fun, but less fun than I was expecting. Unfortunately, I don't have any solo shots of me or my dress.

There was a pretty water area (a pool with public lounge chairs and private cabanas)
with pretty lights... and it was dark so we mostly used that lighting to take photos.

In the US, I didn't really do much with my hair besides pull it back into a ponytail. But in Korea, I've been trying a few different styles, mostly involving Dutch braids (inside-out French braids, where you braid under instead of over, so the braided part sticks out above the rest of the hair). A few weeks ago, I discovered the waterfall braid as well (where you French/Dutch braid at an angle and leave 1/3 of the newly-added hair out each time). However, I've found the simplest way is just brushing it out and letting it dry with some waves/curls. This works pretty well for parties... and less-humid days.

The first is my "AMG, is the fan even working?" at-home style. The second is my "party" style.
The 3rd & 4th are twin plain Dutch braids, and the last are my attempts at Dutch waterfall braids.

French/Dutch braiding is surprisingly annoying to do to yourself. One trick I've found: lay down on the bed and do it! (The same goes for high ponytails. Though in the picture above, I bent forward.) My embarrassingly weak arms get less tired this way. :)

Finally, food!

Korean muskmelons, our fish dinner before and after, Indian food, ice cream waffle.

Korea has a yellow muskmelon called 참외 ("cham-way"). I'm not a fan of seeds, but the seedy pulp is the sweetest part, so I'm slowly getting used to eating them. There are also a lot of roasted/grilled fish (생선구이, "saeng-seon-gu-ee") restaurants here. The other day, a few classmates and I went to one of the more famous ones in Dongdaemun. We ordered one serving of each of four different kinds of fish. The same classmates and I (plus a few more) also went to an Indian restaurant near where I used to live. I actually really miss Thai food (here, it's mostly just noodles, not the big variety of dishes like in the US)... and I'm not a huge fan of Indian food, but this was pretty good. Alissa and I shared two dishes (and paid about $12 each, for the dish + bread), and I'd definitely get them again. Finally, there's a coffee shop under the student cafeteria that sells waffles for 90 cents each, plus 15 cents per topping. They also sell gelato, and you can get it as a topping, but it's another 90 cents. The green tea gelato is delicious, so I usually do that.

I've been writing another post on culture shock/cultural differences for a while now... I'm almost done, but.. speaking of food, it's dinner time.^^

3급 (Level 3)

2013-06-29T00:06:00.002+09:00

Level 3 started about a month ago, but I was busy writing Japan posts, so this is my first real update of the semester. Hopefully I'll appreciate the Japan ones more in a few years when I can't remember the details as well, because it took a lot of time to sort through and caption photos.

Let me just say... wow. This level is kicking my butt. I thought they'd save all the pain for 4급, but I guess not... (The Sino-Korean number 4 sounds like the word for "death," so often times elevators will skip writing floors containing the number 4 altogether, or, more frequently lately, replace it with the Latin letter F for "four." In some cases, foreigners are also known to try to make bad puns...^^ No, but seriously. There's really a thing.) I think Joana and I have an interesting perspective, because we started taking classes at SNU at level 1. Most people take level 1 and/or 2 during their exchange program semester and that's it. Several people from our level 2 class are in our level 3 class, but they did not take level 1 here. Anyway, there was definitely a jump in difficulty between level 1 and 2, but I feel like there was a considerably larger jump in difficulty between levels 2 and 3. Suddenly the things we have to listen to are spoken much faster. Levels 1 and 2 taught 3-4 grammars per day then had a review day. Level 3 teaches 3-9 grammars per day. 9! And there's only 1 hour of review the next day, instead of 4. And we're using an old, boring book (first published in 2000). Levels 1 and 2 were redone recently, and have color! The new level 3 and 4 books are being released soon, but not in time for me for level 3, anyway. So some of the grammars from level 3 were already taught in level 2, or level 3 assumes some things not taught in the new level 2 book (but, I assume, they were taught in the 2000-series books). But, really, the main problem is the speed, I guess. I spend an hour or two every day previewing the next day's lesson so I can focus on listening to examples in class, rather than listening and trying to understand the grammar explanations. (Plus, the teachers really only speak Korean, and sometimes trying to explain a Korean grammar only in Korean doesn't work...) I dunno. It just seems like those of us from level 2 that came to level 3 should be less confused than the people that tested into level 3, because SNU should've prepared us (better) for level 3. I mean, I guess it's good level 3 is a lot more advanced, but still... I think level 2 should've left us in a better situation... but maybe I'm expecting too much. We'll blame it on the book discrepancies.

Enough class talk.^^

On May 19 (the day after I returned from Tokyo), Joana and I went to a free TalkToMeInKorean lecture at Kyobo Bookstore at Gwanghwamun. It was somewhat surreal to see the teachers in person. I first started seriously learning Korean through their website (with its podcasts/pdfs) 2 years ago. Hard to believe it's been that long and that I've come this far, heh. But, if you're thinking about learning Korean - you can't beat their lessons. For the past...6 months or so, they've been focusing on other things and haven't really released a lesson-lesson in a while (they've put out all sorts of culture and vocab videos, though), but they have ~200 lessons already posted, each covering a different grammar point or fixed expression. Level 1 Lesson 1 assumes you already know the alphabet, so I recommend BusyAtom's videos on YouTube to learn that much (at least, that's how I did it). They started a new website called HaruKorean.com, too, where you can write a sentence daily and receive feedback/corrections from native speakers. I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds cool if you have no one else to help you.

The audience. You can sort of see me in the back-middle-left, wearing yellow.

The next day, Mary, Hera, Joana and I went to the Seoul Zoo. You may recall I went there back in March, when everything was frozen over, including me. This time, there was no snow! The sun and plants and animals were out!

We saw lots of animals, too, but I didn't take very many pictures as they were all in cages....

On 5/25, my favorite actor, Lee Min Ho, had a fan meeting in Seoul. I'd seen ads on the internet about it, but I couldn't for the life of me find the event location or where to buy tickets. Eventually, after some searching in Korean a few days beforehand, I found out it was being held at the Grand Peace Palace (Cathedral) at Kyung-hee University on the other side of the city. I didn't have tickets, but I decided to check it out anyway, and maybe try to get tickets on site. They actually still had some available! Though, by the time I thought to just walk up to the box office and ask, I was a little late. Well, I didn't realize I was late, til I got in and the meeting had already started... I thought it started at 7. Turns out it started at 17:00. Oops. Good thing I came super early, planning to try to buy tickets. Curse you, 24-hour time!

LMH in action only ~30m away, some posters, the venue.

A powerpoint slideshow before he came out to sing us some songs... :)

On 5/26, Joana, Hera and I went to the last day of the annual, week-long Gyeongbok Palace lightup event. There were soooooo many people. And the walking paths on the palace grounds are covered in gravel, so in most of my pictures, it looks like it's snowing. Sadly, only the front part of the grounds were open, so we couldn't go to my favorite part (....the concubine pavilion, Hyangwonjeong, and its pond).

One of the palace buildings, crawling with people. And another on a pond.

May 31 was Anne's birthday, but we celebrated it on June 1, at Han River Park (my favorite place in the city!). It was a long day, but we all had a great time. Joana actually just talked about that day for her first level 3 presentation (the topic being a person or a day you can't/won't forget).

The river from near Yeouinaru subway station, and the 63 Building.

Playing in the fountain. It started off as volleyball, but ended as water-soccer. I was a
goalie and ended up soaked. Decided to play in the water jets. It was awesome.

Bike riding, listening to jazz on the floating stage, and sunset.

Sunset/night near the fountain.

I recorded sound, but the background convo was distracting, so I took it out...

I've been watching this one Japanese drama lately. It's a remake of my first Korean drama, "Playful Kiss" (which itself is a remake of a Japanese anime, which is based on a manga). It takes place in Tokyo, and the opening credits are basically a highlight reel of my Tokyo vacation... so I was drawn in. And now I'm sucked in, hah. Anyway, the main character always has cool braids, and it made me want to try to braiding my hair again. So lately I've been experimenting with French braiding my hair.... well, Dutch braiding ("inside-out French braids"), really. It doesn't take too much effort and it keeps the hair off my neck. And it looks cooler than a regular braid. I don't really have any good pictures, but maybe by next time I'll have one or two. :)

The fan's on high and I'm still sweating. Time for some ice cream. :)

Tokyo, Japan, Days 6-7

2013-06-16T17:25:00.001+09:00

Day 6 Day 6 was our last full day in Tokyo. We went back to Shinjuku, for breakfast and a visit to Gyoen National Garden. The garden closed at 4:30, so we decided to go to Tokyo DisneySea and buy After 6 discount tickets.

We ate breakfast at a place called Slappy Cakes. The first restaurant was opened in Portland, Oregon. For some reason, they chose Shinjuku, Tokyo as the second location. It's an interesting idea, though. You can order breakfast off the menu (the usual American foods, like pancakes, sausages, eggs benedict), or make pancakes on a griddle at your table. We opted to order off the menu, and I got the banana and chocolate chip with raspberry jam pancake.

The entrance, part of the menu, my breakfast, other people cooking pancakes at their table.

The elevator up to the restaurant (located on the 7th floor of the Lumine Est store... not to be confused with Lumine 2 that's closer to the subway) was covered in interesting drawings.

Inside of the Lumine Est elevator.

There are lots of stationery stores in Japan (and Korea, and maybe in the US... though I never noticed). A Korean classmate from Taiwan gave me some erasable pens for my birthday and I bought more in Japan. The green one already started to run out, so luckily I was able to find them in Korea, too. (Though, even those ones have Japanese on their casings.)

They're like colored pencils, but erase just with friction. No eraser clumps left behind!

We then went to Gyeon National Garden. There was a small admission fee for this one ($1 or 2), and unfortunately, it closed less than two hours after we got there, so we didn't get to see most of the gardens. Still, it was very pretty.

The (south?) gate, a teahouse in the forest, a lake with lots of koi fish (carp).

Me on a bridge on the lake, a koi fish causing ripples in the water, me in front of a pavilion.

After the garden closed, we headed towards Tokyo Disney Resort (technically located just outside the city in Chiba). Tokyo Disney Resort encompasses both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea parks. Tokyo Disneyland is supposedly a lot like Disney World and Disneyland in the US (though, despite my many trips to Orlando and Anaheim, I've still never been to either), so we decided to go to Tokyo DisneySea, which is unique to Tokyo. There are seven nautically themed areas, like Arabian Coast (Aladdin), Mermaid Lagoon (The Little Mermaid), Lost River Delta (Indiana Jones), etc. Regular admission is ~$62, but after 6, it's only $33. Of course, soon after arrival, it became too dark for pictures, but I still took a few, mostly of the entrance and the first area (Mediterranean Harbor).

Tokyo Disney Resort's 30th anniversary (DisneySea opened in 2001),
my ticket, the "aquasphere" at the entrance.

Mount Prometheus, Mediterranean Harbor x2.

Mermaid Lagoon, and me on a camel statue in Arabian Coast.

My favorite area, I think, was the Arabian Coast, though that may just be because I'm partial to Aladdin. The best ride in the park (according to the internetz), Journey to the Center of the Earth in Mysterious Island, was unfortunately closed for maintenance. Still, we rode many rides, all with zero wait time (thanks for going home before 6, everyone!). I don't think it would've been as fun if we had to wait for 2 hours, as some people (again, on the internetz) mentioned having to do.

Day 7 Day 7 was mostly spent traveling. Our flights were later in the afternoon, but hotel check out was 11, so we spent some time at the airport after checking our bags. I just want to say that the route to the airport via subway is probably the worst public transportation experience I've had. There's barely any English, and nothing is labeled or explained. You buy tickets from a machine, and it dumps you on a platform that says multiple trains (local, limited, airport regular, airport express) can be coming on either side of the tracks (usually one side only services one direction)... I dunno. I suppose it's largely our fault for not knowing Japanese, but you'd think if the main city metro had English, the route to the international airport would, too. (And on the way into the city, a nice lady at the ticket booth at the airport explained things well. We figured it'd just be doing the reverse to go back to the airport, but... it wasn't quite that easy.)

My ice cream cappuccino, and an angry Pikachu guarding the fake food displays.

While we were in the food court, I started feeling a little dizzy. I thought it was weird, but thought it was just me until a sign that said "Japanese Food" started swinging like a pendulum. It was nice of Japan to let us experience an earthquake while we were there. This one was a 6.1, off the coast of Fukushima (the same area as the 2011 7.1 quake). Thankfully, it only felt like a 2.-something by the time it reached Narita Airport.^^

Earthquake reports.

It was a fun week, but I'm not sure I'm in a hurry to go back to Japan, especially with so many other places in Asia to visit. (Not to mention, one of these days, I need to get out of Seoul and Gyeonggi-do!) Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore are all higher on my list (also, Australia and New Zealand) before a return trip to Japan. Though, my friend mentioned she wanted to visit Osaka in November.... The main appeal of Tokyo was that the flight was so cheap (though it kind of evened out, with the expensive meals and city transportation), but, still.. going to Osaka with a friend still might be more interesting than going to the other places alone. And the heat made things difficult. That should be less of a problem in November. I'll have to think about it. :)

Tokyo, Japan, Day 5

2013-06-15T13:54:00.000+09:00

Day 5 On Day 5, we woke up early(ish) to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Chuo. Then we walked around Sumida, and visited a love shrine in Chiyoda, and finally had dinner with my friend's family friend. It was cool and rainy, thankfully, or I think we would have been even more exhausted.

The Tsukiji fish market is the largest wholesale fish market in the world. There was definitely a lot to see. The tuna auctions run from 5-7am, but you now have to get tickets through a lottery beforehand to attend, and you can't buy unless you're a licensed wholesaler. The "inner market" (where they process and prep food for delivery) opens to visitors at 9. We arrived about 8:15 and had a nice sushi breakfast in the "outer market" (which is a mix of wholesale and retail shops), then walked around the inner market.

There was a huge row of signs line this at the entrance. Cute, and hopefully effective.

Breakfast at a busy little shop in the outer market.
It cost about $15, but was the best sushi I've had, by far.

Seafood. Sea urchins, snails, squid?

Fish prep.

After the fish market, we went to Sumida, home of Sumo (wrestling). We were just planning to go to the Sumo museum by the Kokugikan Sumo Stadium, but when we arrived there, we found out a tournament was actually going on. Apparently, tournaments are only held during 6 months of the year, 15 days each time. And only 3 of those tournaments (Jan, May, Sept) are held in Tokyo. Anyway, we decided it was fate, and bought general admission tickets for $21. We actually sat in empty $82 seats the whole time, though we left before more people came for the grand masters' matches.

There were several blocks like this along the walk from the subway to the stadium.

The stadium, and some English booklets they passed out explaining sumo.

Inside the stadium, during lower-ranking wrestlers' bouts. Once the professional-level ones
started, the seats filled up quickly. We left shortly after the pro-level ring-entering ceremony.

We left the sumo match early to visit a love shrine before going to dinner. There are (at least) three famous ones in Tokyo. We went to the one called Tokyo Daijingu. Before entering the main gate, you bow, then wash your hands and rinse your mouth. You approach the shrine from the sides (the middle is the path for the gods), toss a 5-cent coin in the box, bow twice, clap twice, make a wish, then bow again. Then you can buy an omikuji fortune for $1 or $2. We did all of the above. My fortune here was (paraphrasing) "super amazing awesome," which is better than the "could be worse" I drew from the Sensoji Shrine earlier in the week.^^

The shrine, and a rest area next to it.

Finally, we went to a local (read: less touristy) restaurant with a friend of my friend's family and her husband. They treated us to a huge barbeque dinner. Since coming to Korea, I haven't had meat very often (especially quality cuts), so this was actually a little difficult for me to stomach, heh. Everything was really tasty, but I was full after the first or secound round, and we had about ten.^^

Mmmmmeat.

Onward to Day 6!

Tokyo, Japan, Day 4

2013-06-06T16:25:00.000+09:00

Day 4 On Day 4, we planned to walk across the Rainbow Bridge from Shiodome to Odaiba then hang out in Odaiba and take a ferry up the Sumida River. Nothing turned out as planned, though, but that's okay. :)

We were initially intending to walk across, but when we got up to the walkway and everything was shaking and cars were speeding by within arm's reach, we turned around, walked to the river, then took the subway across it.^^

Views from the elevator to the traffic level and from underneath.

On the other side, in Odaiba, is a place called DECKS Tokyo Beach. It has an outdoor mall with shops and restaurants, as well as indoor shopping, and some attractions like Legoland, Madame Tussaud's (wax museum) and a Trick Eye museum. We ate frozen yogurt from an area overlooking the bridge, then walked around the shops, and finally went into the Trick Eye museum.

There's a Trick Eye museum in Hongdae in Seoul as well. I'd gone there a couple years ago when I first came to Seoul on vacation, but the one in Tokyo had more interesting paintings, I think. Basically, the "museum" has 2D paintings (including some famous ones, like The Scream by Edvard Munch) that are painted to appear 3D, and altered in such a way that guests can somehow interact with them. The whole point is to pose and take pictures with the paintings. And that, we did.

I really like how the last one turned out. :)

After that, we went to Tokyo Tower (via subway, not ferry...). We were going to walk around there until dark, then go to the SkyTree for a night view of the city. However, we found out the SkyTree's admission fee was $30, while the Tower's was only $8 for the lower level observation deck (you can pay a bit more and go up a few more stories). Given that, plus the additional $5 in subway fare... we decided to just stay at the Tower. I'm not sure how the view from the SkyTree is, but I'm not sure it's 4x better than what we saw at the Tower.^^

There was a display on each side that pointed out various buildings. The displays
could also show a timelapse video of the view during a 24-hour period. They also
had live entertainment one story down. The actual deck showed it on video monitors.

My camera really did not want to focus on the nighttime view
of the tower, but I think the blurry one looks cooler anyway...

Onward to Day 5...!