Today was kind of challenging, but I think in a good way...maybe. I have discovered that my method of teaching is not exactly respected here. Korean's are very scientific when it comes to their approach to learning, so creative thought isn't accepted or understood. And as a creative writing major, I wanted to implement some of that creative element into my classes, and well I learned this morning that for most of my classes, that's a failure. Only 1 class took to it, and that was my class with the two ladies. They're really funny and very well educated, and speak English very well. All of my other students are business people, which surprised me. I expected to have some university students. I have 1 class of middle school/high school every other day, but that's it! That class is going to be rough, it's 2 hours instead of 1, so I have to figure out what to do with them!
Embarrassing story of the day. My second class of the morning is just 1 lady, and she's really friendly, but (I've noticed--maybe it's just me, but the ladies are often very forthcoming with their personal issues, i.e. marriage problems) she's a little sad I think. So today she was a little late, and I waited for her to show up. My stomach has been a smidge uncomfortable lately, I'm not sure why...but it was really bad today and yesterday. When I thought she wasn't going to show up to class, I packed up my bag and let one rip before turning to walk out the door. Before I got to the door, she rushes in! And it was SMELLY. So, I quickly pulled out my super delicious Vic. Secret lotion and slathered it on to cover the smell. She didn't seem like she noticed with was awesome.
My mom has gone south to visit her brother (and has taken my phone with her!), so I am on my own. It's kind of nice because my agenda is completely mine, but of course, I'm a little scared since I don't speak the language!
Korean fashion: Mullets, acid wash jeans, perms and highwaters are in style...but that's just the men.
I really miss my buddy. It's more that I miss him though. I'm really sad for him right now. I think when he goes back to my mom's house he'll be much better, but right now from what I'm hearing his behavior is breaking my heart, because as his mom I know he's really sad. He normally adjusts really well to new places, but I'm always with him in new situations. So, I think he's scared and he feels abandoned. And I don't like it. I don't like being away from him. And I KNOOOOOW he's just a cat.
*EDIT*
I feel so much better now! <3 exercise and "fresh" air...the air is not exactly fresh here...pollution and all. Eddie took me for a mini hike, we walked up to the wall (the fortress wall from my previous post) and we walked the entire perimeter of the wall. It was beautiful...SUPER hot, but gorgeous. And my back really hurts now, but the endorphins have kicked in and I feel much better than I did this morning. He's been great, though. Really helpful and friendly...though I think I talk a lot about stupid things and sometimes worry about that scaring people away, but oh well, I am who I am and who I am is who I am. :) It's too late to change now!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Gross....and did I say, GROSS??
Today, I had my first experience with strange Korean food. My mom, my aunt, my cousin and I all went out to lunch after I had moved into my apartment before shopping. We ate fish soup. I'm munching away at my fish soup, when my aunt ladles another spoonful of soup and there's a strange looking something in my bowl all of a sudden. So, I casually ask my mom "What is that?" And she just kind of looks around, like I hadn't said anything. I repeated my question and she kind of looks at me and says, quietly and very nonchalantly, "inside." I sat on that answer for a few seconds, deciding whether I wanted her to elaborate...then I decided, that I wanted to know, so I asked, "inside what?" Again, she tried to ignore the question that fell from my mouth, forcing me to repeat myself. "INSIDE WHAT??" "Stomach." 
She says and continues eating her food like she hadn't said anything at all. I still don't know inside who's stomach it was...cow? Pig?...fish...?? But in an effort to be brave, I tried it. It didn't really have a taste but the texture was really disgusting.
Last night we went to Hwasong Fortress. We hiked up, which was wonderful, it's the first form of exercise I've really gotten! But it was a short, really easy hike to the top. It was a gorgeous sweeping view of the city. And it's really neat to learn all that history!
And the BIG news!! Finally moved into my apartment! Woohoo!! I'm sure my cousin is glad to be rid of me, though I will miss all the space in her house! I live in a tiny studio...It's probably about the size of the bedroom in my Raleigh, NC, USA apartment. But, it'll do I suppose. I've decorated to the best of my ability for now, and will have to purchase some small thing later to make it homey and pretty...though my parents don't approve of homey and pretty. The apartment wasn't really dirty..but it was kind of gross...especially when you get into the knitty gritty stuff that most people don't bother to check. My mom is on a bit of a cleaning frenzy...which makes me really thankful she's here! But I feel bad because so far she's cleaned everything...and I've decorated. In all truthfulness though, I tried to help her and she kind of shoo'd me away...so I cleaned what I could (like the floors) and she complained that they're still dirty. So, I left her alone and did what I needed to do! I'll post something at some point when the apartment is ready to be seen.
The trash situation here is kind of annoying. You have to buy trash bags and are only allowed to use those for trash. And they're small and expensive. Then you have to sort all of your recyclables...and food trash has it's own separate trash can, but they don't put it in bags, they just dump old food in this dumpster which is pretty gross. The trash situation is even more annoying since there's all this crap leftover in the apartment...some of it is left from the girl who lived here before the guy that just moved out...so it's been sitting for about 2 years. And some stuff is from the guy who just moved out..I assume, through my rose colored glasses, that he was trying to be nice by leaving some stuff that he would have thrown away (like hangers...and noodles, and a 1/2 used bottle of vodka. Maybe he thought I would enjoy those things. And some stuff, I thought would be ok to keep, like the dishes and whatnot...but my mom, being super grossed out by everything in this apartment has disposed of everything. And what she can't throw away (like the dishes) she has put on the top shelf and has ordered me not to touch them..to just leave them there for whoever lives here next. What would I do without her??
My mom, holding a wooden cutting board "This. Is. Gross." She then tosses it under the sink. Funny lady.
Theme for the day?? Gross.
P.S. I HATE T-Mobile. I was told I could put a hold on my contract while I'm out of town..and I'm trying to do that now, and this lady is trying to tell me that I'll have to pay the full amount every month still...soooo I won't have my phone to use, but I still have to pay my montly bill??? Nuh uh, no way, no how.
She says and continues eating her food like she hadn't said anything at all. I still don't know inside who's stomach it was...cow? Pig?...fish...?? But in an effort to be brave, I tried it. It didn't really have a taste but the texture was really disgusting.
Last night we went to Hwasong Fortress. We hiked up, which was wonderful, it's the first form of exercise I've really gotten! But it was a short, really easy hike to the top. It was a gorgeous sweeping view of the city. And it's really neat to learn all that history!
And the BIG news!! Finally moved into my apartment! Woohoo!! I'm sure my cousin is glad to be rid of me, though I will miss all the space in her house! I live in a tiny studio...It's probably about the size of the bedroom in my Raleigh, NC, USA apartment. But, it'll do I suppose. I've decorated to the best of my ability for now, and will have to purchase some small thing later to make it homey and pretty...though my parents don't approve of homey and pretty. The apartment wasn't really dirty..but it was kind of gross...especially when you get into the knitty gritty stuff that most people don't bother to check. My mom is on a bit of a cleaning frenzy...which makes me really thankful she's here! But I feel bad because so far she's cleaned everything...and I've decorated. In all truthfulness though, I tried to help her and she kind of shoo'd me away...so I cleaned what I could (like the floors) and she complained that they're still dirty. So, I left her alone and did what I needed to do! I'll post something at some point when the apartment is ready to be seen.
The trash situation here is kind of annoying. You have to buy trash bags and are only allowed to use those for trash. And they're small and expensive. Then you have to sort all of your recyclables...and food trash has it's own separate trash can, but they don't put it in bags, they just dump old food in this dumpster which is pretty gross. The trash situation is even more annoying since there's all this crap leftover in the apartment...some of it is left from the girl who lived here before the guy that just moved out...so it's been sitting for about 2 years. And some stuff is from the guy who just moved out..I assume, through my rose colored glasses, that he was trying to be nice by leaving some stuff that he would have thrown away (like hangers...and noodles, and a 1/2 used bottle of vodka. Maybe he thought I would enjoy those things. And some stuff, I thought would be ok to keep, like the dishes and whatnot...but my mom, being super grossed out by everything in this apartment has disposed of everything. And what she can't throw away (like the dishes) she has put on the top shelf and has ordered me not to touch them..to just leave them there for whoever lives here next. What would I do without her??
My mom, holding a wooden cutting board "This. Is. Gross." She then tosses it under the sink. Funny lady.
Theme for the day?? Gross.
P.S. I HATE T-Mobile. I was told I could put a hold on my contract while I'm out of town..and I'm trying to do that now, and this lady is trying to tell me that I'll have to pay the full amount every month still...soooo I won't have my phone to use, but I still have to pay my montly bill??? Nuh uh, no way, no how.
Monday, August 29, 2011
DoneZo
Orientation is officially over, as is the semester, which I am glad for! I'm sure Eddie and Clarence are also happy to have me out of their hair now, and Clarence will be glad to go home, or South America or wherever he decides he's headed next.
Nothing truly eventful has happened yet, it's all been pretty tedious. I have just been sitting in on Eddie and Clarence's classes, and "learning" how to teach. Since it's the end of the semester though, I do feel like they've been a little more relaxed. My schedule kind of stinks, but I guess it's one of those things I'll just have to deal with. I work 6:30-11am, then 6-10pm, with a nice 7 hour break in the middle. Officially, the new semester starts on Thursday, and I get to move into my apartment on Wednesday.
Today, I have to go to the doctor for a check-up, a requirement for my alien registration card. I'm not happy about it! Who knows what I will find in a Korean hospital!
Suwon, the city I'm in, is considered a small normal city here in Korea, but I think it's crowded and busy like New York. It's bright and the buildings are plastered in signs. Everything kind of looks the same to me, so it's hard to find my way around. And they don't have street names here, they rely on the area or a building in the area to find directions. For example, the bus stop where my cousin lives is the name of her apartment. And our addresses don't have street names. Each apartment has a number, and they're listed in an order so they're easy to find apparently. Then each apartment has a name and that's the address: # Name of Apartment, Individual Apartment #, City, County, State, Country.
On Saturday, my cousin took us into Seoul, the capitol city. It wasn't as crowded as I expected. I assumed it would be like Times Square in New York, but it wasn't like that at all. It was kind of like a normal city. We went to this very touristy shopping center called Insadong. It was cool, they really cater to the tourists though. And everything there is very expensive, like most tourists traps.
Next we went to a castle, KyungBok Gong or KyungBok Castle. It was beautiful and very large. From the outside, it didn't look that big, but walking around inside the palace walls we got lost. The castle is surrounded by mountains and makes for a lovely view. The castle had these guards, some that stood at the entrance and some that just walked around the palace. They looked so angry...and hot (like sweaty hot, not sexy hot). They were dressed head to toe in old fashioned gear. And you can tell they were really annoyed with the tourists constantly trying to take pictures of them/with them. My cousin made me take like 20 pictures with them.
After the castle, we met up with my mom's friend from Virginia, who treated us to potbingsoo, which is kind of like Korean ice cream. It's shaved ice, usually infused with milk, topped with sweet red beans and some other delicious things. Next, we went to Namsan or Seoul Tower. It's essentially like the Empire State building. We went to the top and I was TERRIFIED. It's 777ft tall, but it's at the top of a mountain. So when you look out the window, you're not looking at the base of the tower, you're looking at the bottom of the mountain. It's crazy. It offers a gorgeous view of the entire city though, so I'm glad we went.
And to top it off, I watch the movie Splice with another teacher in between classes...worst movie EVER.
And I think I'm going to start posting pictures here using a photo viewing device instead of on facebook or just posting the pictures on the blog itself. It'll save time, I think! So I have to figure out how to do that!
Nothing truly eventful has happened yet, it's all been pretty tedious. I have just been sitting in on Eddie and Clarence's classes, and "learning" how to teach. Since it's the end of the semester though, I do feel like they've been a little more relaxed. My schedule kind of stinks, but I guess it's one of those things I'll just have to deal with. I work 6:30-11am, then 6-10pm, with a nice 7 hour break in the middle. Officially, the new semester starts on Thursday, and I get to move into my apartment on Wednesday.
Today, I have to go to the doctor for a check-up, a requirement for my alien registration card. I'm not happy about it! Who knows what I will find in a Korean hospital!
Suwon, the city I'm in, is considered a small normal city here in Korea, but I think it's crowded and busy like New York. It's bright and the buildings are plastered in signs. Everything kind of looks the same to me, so it's hard to find my way around. And they don't have street names here, they rely on the area or a building in the area to find directions. For example, the bus stop where my cousin lives is the name of her apartment. And our addresses don't have street names. Each apartment has a number, and they're listed in an order so they're easy to find apparently. Then each apartment has a name and that's the address: # Name of Apartment, Individual Apartment #, City, County, State, Country.
On Saturday, my cousin took us into Seoul, the capitol city. It wasn't as crowded as I expected. I assumed it would be like Times Square in New York, but it wasn't like that at all. It was kind of like a normal city. We went to this very touristy shopping center called Insadong. It was cool, they really cater to the tourists though. And everything there is very expensive, like most tourists traps.
Next we went to a castle, KyungBok Gong or KyungBok Castle. It was beautiful and very large. From the outside, it didn't look that big, but walking around inside the palace walls we got lost. The castle is surrounded by mountains and makes for a lovely view. The castle had these guards, some that stood at the entrance and some that just walked around the palace. They looked so angry...and hot (like sweaty hot, not sexy hot). They were dressed head to toe in old fashioned gear. And you can tell they were really annoyed with the tourists constantly trying to take pictures of them/with them. My cousin made me take like 20 pictures with them.
After the castle, we met up with my mom's friend from Virginia, who treated us to potbingsoo, which is kind of like Korean ice cream. It's shaved ice, usually infused with milk, topped with sweet red beans and some other delicious things. Next, we went to Namsan or Seoul Tower. It's essentially like the Empire State building. We went to the top and I was TERRIFIED. It's 777ft tall, but it's at the top of a mountain. So when you look out the window, you're not looking at the base of the tower, you're looking at the bottom of the mountain. It's crazy. It offers a gorgeous view of the entire city though, so I'm glad we went.
And to top it off, I watch the movie Splice with another teacher in between classes...worst movie EVER.
And I think I'm going to start posting pictures here using a photo viewing device instead of on facebook or just posting the pictures on the blog itself. It'll save time, I think! So I have to figure out how to do that!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Things I Have Noticed
I just met my first Korean Aunt. It was a little awkward because I can't speak Korean, and she can't speak English. So...there was a lot of awkward smiling. She invited us to go to the spa...which in Korea is naked. I'm glad my mom said no to that..I personally would not like to hang out naked with my mom and aunt...So I suppose we're going to karaoke instead.
But some fun speculations.
Here instead of naming relatives by name, they say the location, for example, the aunt I just met is not called Aunt So&So, she's called Suwon Emo (Suwon=the city she/we live in, Emo=Aunt.
Everything in Korea is cute.
Childrens television is weird everywhere. Miguk,Sponegebob issuhyo, Tehhamiguk, EggBoy issuhyo (in America, we have Spongebob, in Korea we have Egg Boy).
Bus drivers don't wait for anything...I mean ANYTHING. If you're not close enough to the curb when they pull up, they'll leave you. If you're not standing at the back door, they won't stop to drop you off.
Korean fashion is awesome.
Jetlag sucks.
Korea is very aesthetically busy. There are so many signs everywhere.
But some fun speculations.
Here instead of naming relatives by name, they say the location, for example, the aunt I just met is not called Aunt So&So, she's called Suwon Emo (Suwon=the city she/we live in, Emo=Aunt.
Everything in Korea is cute.
Childrens television is weird everywhere. Miguk,Sponegebob issuhyo, Tehhamiguk, EggBoy issuhyo (in America, we have Spongebob, in Korea we have Egg Boy).
Bus drivers don't wait for anything...I mean ANYTHING. If you're not close enough to the curb when they pull up, they'll leave you. If you're not standing at the back door, they won't stop to drop you off.
Korean fashion is awesome.
Jetlag sucks.
Korea is very aesthetically busy. There are so many signs everywhere.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Day Tree
So today is day 3 in Korea, Day 1 at work. My job seems kind of easy, but difficult at the same time. There's no set curriculum, and the class is a speaking class. All I have to do is come up with a topic and then have my class discuss it. My schedule isn't that great, however. I will be working 6:30-11am, then again from 6-10pm monday through Friday, then 10-1 on Saturday. That break in the middle is nice, but the early mornings and late nights are going to be kind of awful.
I had to have my photo taken today in a Korean photo studio. I thought that was neat. They use photoshop to touch up everything, but don't ask you whether you want it or not. So he cleared up my face and then made my face smaller. It was kind of awesome.
I also got to see my apartment..well, not my apartment, one of the apartments in my building. And I helped someone move today...very interesting first day! The apartments are small...really small...but very updated. The bathroom even has a shower stall with a door, which is quite impressive. There's a lot of closet space and a washer machine where the dishwasher should be. However, I think that it will be quite dirty when I get there. They don't clean anything...and they don't require the previous tenant to clean, and since my previous (/current) tenant is a man..I kind of assume it may not be pretty.
Dang this JETLAG. My mom is quite affected as well. She started to fall asleep, and then laid down and was passed out within seconds, which is where I'm about to be in about 2 minutes!
I had to have my photo taken today in a Korean photo studio. I thought that was neat. They use photoshop to touch up everything, but don't ask you whether you want it or not. So he cleared up my face and then made my face smaller. It was kind of awesome.
I also got to see my apartment..well, not my apartment, one of the apartments in my building. And I helped someone move today...very interesting first day! The apartments are small...really small...but very updated. The bathroom even has a shower stall with a door, which is quite impressive. There's a lot of closet space and a washer machine where the dishwasher should be. However, I think that it will be quite dirty when I get there. They don't clean anything...and they don't require the previous tenant to clean, and since my previous (/current) tenant is a man..I kind of assume it may not be pretty.
Dang this JETLAG. My mom is quite affected as well. She started to fall asleep, and then laid down and was passed out within seconds, which is where I'm about to be in about 2 minutes!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Day 2
Today was my first real day in Korea..where I left the house. Well, I left the house yesterday, once for dinner. But today I got to go all around Suwon-si. I met another cousin, who didn't speak very much English, and since my Korean is lacking, to say the least, our conversation was minuscule. Luckily, we had Amy, her sister to translate.
We went to see the Smurfs Movie, but they didn't have any subtitle shows so I watched it in Korean. I understood maybe about 1/3 of the movie, partially because of the actions and partially because I had seen commercials, and sometimes I just understood what they were saying. Which being here makes me realize I understand a lot more Korean than I thought I did, but at the same time I don't understand very much at all. It's a little contradicting, I know..and very frustrating. But I have no doubt I will pick it up quickly.
Amy then took me on some personal errands (for me). She took me to Suwon Station and we went to get a phone for me. For some reason, they charge foreigners more for phones, so my phone is technically not mine. Kind of strange, I think. But the salesman was so nice, he didn't speak much English but said he wanted to learn. He was little embarrassed about his accent. At one point, he asked me where I was from, and I told him Miguk, which means U.S. in Korean...and it surprised him that I spoke Korean. So then I felt awesome, because I think he assumed I couldn't understand him because my cousin was translating the whole time, and for the most part, I couldn't understand him. I picked up a few key words here and there to connect sentences, but that was pretty much it. So I felt awesome for a few minutes while he thought I could understand him..then he asked me a question that I just could not comprehend...so my awesomeness flew out the window.
You don't realize how second nature it is to speak your own language until you have to speak another language. My first instinct is to respond in English and I have to stop and correct myself...often times I end up saying both English, then Korean. One day, it will get better!
Then we went to STARBUCKS. Home SWEET bliss.
Next I got to see my workplace and meet a few people, including 2 of my 3 bosses. It was a little uncomfortable, since none of my bosses speak English apparently. So I just said hello, and nice to meet you..and then we would stand awkwardly until my cousin would say something like, "ok, I'm going to show her around some more. Thank you for your time." I also am kind of embarrassed about my Korean because I think my pronunciation is wrong a lot of times and that I have a strange accent, so I tend to mumble through my words which makes it that much more unsuccessful.
She tried to get me set up with a bank account, but that didn't work out as we had hoped. I have to try again in a few weeks.
And I rode the bus! I also bought a bus pass...well, Amy bought it for me...but it's Hello Kitty.
It was exciting to see that the Korean phone bling actually has a purpose! Granted, I'm sure there are some that are purely decorative.
To end the day, I will be going to Incheon to pick up my mommy. I'm excited to see her, and for her to be here. Hopefully everything is going well with her flights and luggage!
Jet lag is some serious business.
We went to see the Smurfs Movie, but they didn't have any subtitle shows so I watched it in Korean. I understood maybe about 1/3 of the movie, partially because of the actions and partially because I had seen commercials, and sometimes I just understood what they were saying. Which being here makes me realize I understand a lot more Korean than I thought I did, but at the same time I don't understand very much at all. It's a little contradicting, I know..and very frustrating. But I have no doubt I will pick it up quickly.
Amy then took me on some personal errands (for me). She took me to Suwon Station and we went to get a phone for me. For some reason, they charge foreigners more for phones, so my phone is technically not mine. Kind of strange, I think. But the salesman was so nice, he didn't speak much English but said he wanted to learn. He was little embarrassed about his accent. At one point, he asked me where I was from, and I told him Miguk, which means U.S. in Korean...and it surprised him that I spoke Korean. So then I felt awesome, because I think he assumed I couldn't understand him because my cousin was translating the whole time, and for the most part, I couldn't understand him. I picked up a few key words here and there to connect sentences, but that was pretty much it. So I felt awesome for a few minutes while he thought I could understand him..then he asked me a question that I just could not comprehend...so my awesomeness flew out the window.
You don't realize how second nature it is to speak your own language until you have to speak another language. My first instinct is to respond in English and I have to stop and correct myself...often times I end up saying both English, then Korean. One day, it will get better!
Then we went to STARBUCKS. Home SWEET bliss.
Next I got to see my workplace and meet a few people, including 2 of my 3 bosses. It was a little uncomfortable, since none of my bosses speak English apparently. So I just said hello, and nice to meet you..and then we would stand awkwardly until my cousin would say something like, "ok, I'm going to show her around some more. Thank you for your time." I also am kind of embarrassed about my Korean because I think my pronunciation is wrong a lot of times and that I have a strange accent, so I tend to mumble through my words which makes it that much more unsuccessful.
She tried to get me set up with a bank account, but that didn't work out as we had hoped. I have to try again in a few weeks.
And I rode the bus! I also bought a bus pass...well, Amy bought it for me...but it's Hello Kitty.
It was exciting to see that the Korean phone bling actually has a purpose! Granted, I'm sure there are some that are purely decorative.
To end the day, I will be going to Incheon to pick up my mommy. I'm excited to see her, and for her to be here. Hopefully everything is going well with her flights and luggage!
Jet lag is some serious business.
Monday, August 22, 2011
I Have Arrived
DAY 1
To detail my experiences thus far, I would like to start by saying...Holy Margarine, I'm in Korea!
I flew KoreanAir, which was luxurious--even for economy class. We ate with real silverware and had hot meals. The flight attendants are all tall and beautiful and very helpful (when they could hear and understand what I was saying..which wasn't that often). And they gave us a complimentary bottle of water, blanket and pillow, toothbrush/toothpaste and house slippers to wear around the cabin! I especially enjoyed the house slippers. I also had an exit row seat which was amazing. I had asked for a window seat, and that's what they gave me, but the window was behind my chair so I didn't really have a window. But it didn't really matter because there wasn't anything to see. The seat I was in though, didn't have any chairs in front of me at all. There was a wall about 6 feet in front, so I had a lot of room to get up and walk around with ease. And 14 hours is a LONG time! After about 7 hours, 6 of which I slept through, I started to get a little stir crazy and couldn't fall back asleep for the rest of the flight. The flight attendants knew I am Korean though, all the other non Korean's they thanked in English but when I walked by they spoke Korean..it made me feel awesome.
Landed, and I must say--Thank Goodness for family! I don't know what I would do without my cousins! My phone doesn't work. Well, I can't call or text but can get online in WiFi hotspots. So I had no way of calling anyone. Luckily, she has an extra phone that she's loaning to me and I'll have to figure out how to get a prepaid card with my cousin Amy tomorrow. I didn't know where I was going. And very luckily, my cousin, Hayon, just bought a car about 6 months ago so I didn't have to carry my luggage on the bus!
Her apartment is really nice. It'll be about a week and half before I get to move into my own place. She has a "2" bedroom, except the second room is a closet...literally. Which is kind of the most amazing walkin closet I've ever seen. And her bathroom is luxurious for Korean bathrooms, from what I seen. There are gian pink flowers on the walls from the previous tenants, newlyweds, apparently.
I slept for most of the day today. I was too afraid to leave my cousins apartment by myself, especially since I don't have a usable cell phone...so if I get lost, I'm just lost. But then she came home from work, and brought my other cousin, Amy, with her and they took me out to dinner. It was a very traditional Korean restaurant, where you take your shoes off at the door and sit on the floor. They brought the food to the table and cooked it there. It was good. I am please to admit that I ate mushrooms and weren't completely grossed out by this particular mushroom. I'll have to figure out which one it is so I know for the future.
I'm also realizing that my Korean is really bad. I know enough to get around if necessary, but am completely incapable of having any sort of conversation. I'll need to work on that..and quickly, since apparently my bosses..and some family members don't speak English! And I feel so different, I clearly stick out like sore thumb and people tend to look at me. They don't look in a rude way but still, it makes me slightly uncomfortable.
And so far all of my electronics have failed me. My laptop cable doesn't fit into the adapter I have, so my computer is dead until my mom gets here with a new adapter. My phone doesn't work, but does charge, so it is usable in some fashion! And my hair straightener doesn't work. I think it's because it's a different voltage. It will turn on when I plug it in, but then will turn off right before it's hot enough to use. So that's a bummer, since it's kind of a really good hair straight iron!
But, everything will work out and will be ok.
I really miss my buddy, already. And I feel bad for both him and my dad who have to live together for the next 2 weeks. Neither of them are going to be happy about it. I just hope my buddy behaves himself, because his grandpa isn't going to tolerate a lot.
To detail my experiences thus far, I would like to start by saying...Holy Margarine, I'm in Korea!
I flew KoreanAir, which was luxurious--even for economy class. We ate with real silverware and had hot meals. The flight attendants are all tall and beautiful and very helpful (when they could hear and understand what I was saying..which wasn't that often). And they gave us a complimentary bottle of water, blanket and pillow, toothbrush/toothpaste and house slippers to wear around the cabin! I especially enjoyed the house slippers. I also had an exit row seat which was amazing. I had asked for a window seat, and that's what they gave me, but the window was behind my chair so I didn't really have a window. But it didn't really matter because there wasn't anything to see. The seat I was in though, didn't have any chairs in front of me at all. There was a wall about 6 feet in front, so I had a lot of room to get up and walk around with ease. And 14 hours is a LONG time! After about 7 hours, 6 of which I slept through, I started to get a little stir crazy and couldn't fall back asleep for the rest of the flight. The flight attendants knew I am Korean though, all the other non Korean's they thanked in English but when I walked by they spoke Korean..it made me feel awesome.
Landed, and I must say--Thank Goodness for family! I don't know what I would do without my cousins! My phone doesn't work. Well, I can't call or text but can get online in WiFi hotspots. So I had no way of calling anyone. Luckily, she has an extra phone that she's loaning to me and I'll have to figure out how to get a prepaid card with my cousin Amy tomorrow. I didn't know where I was going. And very luckily, my cousin, Hayon, just bought a car about 6 months ago so I didn't have to carry my luggage on the bus!
Her apartment is really nice. It'll be about a week and half before I get to move into my own place. She has a "2" bedroom, except the second room is a closet...literally. Which is kind of the most amazing walkin closet I've ever seen. And her bathroom is luxurious for Korean bathrooms, from what I seen. There are gian pink flowers on the walls from the previous tenants, newlyweds, apparently.
I slept for most of the day today. I was too afraid to leave my cousins apartment by myself, especially since I don't have a usable cell phone...so if I get lost, I'm just lost. But then she came home from work, and brought my other cousin, Amy, with her and they took me out to dinner. It was a very traditional Korean restaurant, where you take your shoes off at the door and sit on the floor. They brought the food to the table and cooked it there. It was good. I am please to admit that I ate mushrooms and weren't completely grossed out by this particular mushroom. I'll have to figure out which one it is so I know for the future.
I'm also realizing that my Korean is really bad. I know enough to get around if necessary, but am completely incapable of having any sort of conversation. I'll need to work on that..and quickly, since apparently my bosses..and some family members don't speak English! And I feel so different, I clearly stick out like sore thumb and people tend to look at me. They don't look in a rude way but still, it makes me slightly uncomfortable.
And so far all of my electronics have failed me. My laptop cable doesn't fit into the adapter I have, so my computer is dead until my mom gets here with a new adapter. My phone doesn't work, but does charge, so it is usable in some fashion! And my hair straightener doesn't work. I think it's because it's a different voltage. It will turn on when I plug it in, but then will turn off right before it's hot enough to use. So that's a bummer, since it's kind of a really good hair straight iron!
But, everything will work out and will be ok.
I really miss my buddy, already. And I feel bad for both him and my dad who have to live together for the next 2 weeks. Neither of them are going to be happy about it. I just hope my buddy behaves himself, because his grandpa isn't going to tolerate a lot.
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