The Rest of My Semester

Whew! Time flies.

After Rachael left, I had two very busy weeks of school left. For some reason, my econ professor gave us 3 homework assignments in that time. I also managed to write a big paper for math (on factorization methods) and do a presentation on it. That was a bit stressful. A week after Rachael left, I had my first final, in math. I also had 2 papers and an econ final. I'm extremely glad that I'm finished. Another semester down, three to go.

Inbetween all of that, I made some sweet purchases at the electronics market and around my university. Walking through the markets for the last time made me sad, because there's really nothing quite like it in the States. I'll miss bartering and getting free things (service). I'll definitely miss the food, though I'd like to mix it up a bit every once in a while. The multitude of shoes for sale and women's clothing in front of Ewha will be greatly missed. Now what am I going to do if I need a pair of shoes fast? Also, the easy and cheap transportion will be missed. Perhaps not the crazy taxi or bus drivers...

As our last dinner in Korea, Simon and I ate samgyeopsal. It was absolutely delicious, and I'll surely be sad when I can't fry big pieces of bacon or marinated kalbi in front of me. We said goodbye to our PEACE buddies and are almost done packing the last things. Tomorrow morning, we're leaving for Belgium. I'm staying for ten days, then heading home for the holidays. I'm really hoping to bring home a wheel of cheese if I can. My suitcase is going to HEAVY!

Until I get home, keep it real.

So, My Sister Visited...

This should be a rather long entry, but I can't remember everything that we did. I wrote everything on a sheet. However, I put it in the box that I sent home by boat. Thus, I will update this entry when I get that box in a month.

Brrr!

Monday (11/17) was the turning point of the seasons. We woke up to a chilly morning, which has only stuck around since. Yesterday (11/20), we had rain and snow for a short span of time. Of course, none of the snow stuck around, but it was sort of fun to see. However, this doesn't mean that I'm really a fan of snow. I suppose I would rather have it snow than rain at this point.

Rachael will be here tomorrow night. I'm sure we'll have a good time and hilarity will ensue. She said her suitcase is half full, so she can bring lots of shoes, etc back. Who wouldn't want to buy lots of inexpensive shoes?

Holiday, Election, Mathematics

Halloween has come and gone. Unfortunately, Korea does not really have pumpkin patches or apple tree farms. So, I missed out on carving jack-o-lanterns, drinking hot cider, and trick-or-treating this year. Luckily, Simon knew that I wanted a jack-o-lantern and he did the best he could. We're not allowed to have candles in the dorm, so he put his cell phone in it for a while to light it up^^ I think it's creative!
On more historically, monumental note, Barack Obama is the new president-elect. All of the Europeans are happy with this, for the obvious reasons. This was the first presidential election that I voted in, and I voted by absentee ballot. I am rather proud to say that I am a part of the amazing history taking place. This is the extent of my political views.


Also, I have a math project to do with 4 other Korean girls. We have to write an 8-10 page paper about factorization methods, Fermat numbers, and the Pollard rho method. You know about these topics? Then, we have to make a 10 minute power point presentation in front of the class, where 2 of us speak about our respective topics (in English). When this project was announced, I had to face that I going to present, no matter whose group I am in, because I am the only native English speaker in the class. At first, I dreaded writing the paper, because I would have to teach myself the material. However, it's not as difficult as I thought it might be. Last night, I sat in the computer lab and created some sweet excel files. I plug certain numbers into the cells, and it does all the work for me. I love Excel!

Quick Update on My Life

I'm failing to keep up with my blog entries. There seems to be so much going on, but not enough time to write it all down. Okay, major events that have happened since I've last written:

*Simon and I went to Sunny's wedding. Sunny was the international program coordinator at Ewha, last semester. Her husband, Eliot mostly grew up in America, so they're moving somewhere on the east coast. Anyway, it was interesting to see a wedding in Korea. First, everyone cheered and clapped when Eliot walked down the aisle. Then, everyone cheered and clapped as Sunny and her father walked down the aisle. It was a bizarre way to begin the ceremony. Afterward, they took pictures with everyone. It was long and dragged out. Then we had a fabulous buffet dinner of delicious Korean food. Sunny and Eliot came down in traditional Korean clothing. Simon and I got to say hello, but sadly, we had to leave early. So, we missed the traditional Korean wedding ceremony. The reason we had to leave early was because we had a airport pick-up that evening.

*Mom and the AUNTourage (Ann Marie, Maribeth, and Janis) visited for a week. They were very lucky to visit the time they did, because the exchange rate for the dollar to the won had increased by almost a third.

GENERAL SIGHTS AND EVENTS:
They went to the basic markets-Insadong, Namdaemun, and Dongademun- and bought enough gifts for half of America. They went to the Korean War Museum, and they even found their way to New Songdo City by themselves. The Auntourage went to the DMZ one day, and my mom and I went to Eastern to see the babies. Unfortunately, Madre lost her camera with the baby pictures :( Simon also hauled them up Gwanak Mountain. We should all be proud of them for not breaking hips. We also saw Ballerina Loves a B-boy performance. Too bad I forgot my camera again...Simon was asked to dance in front of the audience. Let's just say that hilarity ensued.

MAIN SHOPPING ITEM:
For some reason, scarves were the main attraction during shopping. Perhaps it was because most of the scarves were 5,000 won, and with the exchange rate, it was about $3.80. That is a steal. At Target, I'm sure the scarves are about 12 bucks each, which I think is a ridiculous price for a piece of cloth.

FOOD:
Every morning, they had to have Starbucks coffee and a donut from Dunkin Donuts. Leave it to the Americans to hold up such stereotypes. To counteract their extreme American behavior in Korea, Simon and I brought them out for lots of different foods, though not all Korean. We had shabu shabu, bulgogi, kimbap, samgyeopsal, and sushi. I think the Auntourage tried bibimbap one day. I brought my mom out for mandu seollongtang. Amazingly enough, every restaurant that we went to had forks for them.

*Midterm season has come, so I find myself studying most nights and weekends. Hopefully, I will find time to relax and not do homework for a night.

Fun Things Thus Far

In the haste to complain of my ailments, I forgot to mention all the fun stuff I have done.
So, here goes:

I went to Everland, again. This time Suji (Simon's buddy at Ewha), Andreas (Simon's brother), and obviously Simon made the trip. This time, I rode the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world. The line was about half an hour wait, but it was definitely worth it. I was pumped with adrenaline, scared of falling out of the train (it was only a lap bar). However, it was one of the best roller coasters I have ever been on. It started with the huge drop (77 degrees of free fall). The dips and turns, though not always big, created enough force to make me feel like I was falling or going to be thrown out the side. To say the least, the thrill was maintained throughout the duration of ride. It's too bad that none of us brought a camera with that day.

I also went to Namsan Tower.
The fencing around the base observatory decks were heavy with locks. Sometimes they were simple locks with just the names and date, others were complex set of 12 red locks in the shape of a heart...

The War Memorial was very interesting. I kind of skipped over a whole lot, because I had a headache and couldn't read without adding to the pain. So, I would like to go again, before I leave.


LAST WEEKEND, Simon, Andreas, and I met up with Jimmy. He was an exchange student at Ewha last semester. He's Korean, but his family is in the process of moving to Canada. (I'm only mentioning this because otherwise the story is bizarre and unlikely.) His dad used to work for a company that has housing in Sokcho, where we wanted to go for the weekend. So, his dad booked a room for us, which ended up being free. Isn't it bizarre that a company would still offer a former employee a free room, which wasn't even for the former employee, but his son and friends? This is Korea.

We originally planned on going to the beach one day and mountain hiking the next. Saturday, the weather was okay in the morning, but it got cloudy and rained later in the afternoon. At the beach, I noticed that all of the Koreans just wore their regular clothes. If they got wet, they got wet. No Koreans wore swimming suits, which made the foreigners really noticeable. Although, most didn't even go swimming. They may have gotten a bit of their pants wet, but that's it. I think it's because many Koreans don't know how to swim. Jimmy was saying that swimming lessons aren't really a priority, and hardly any schools (besides large universities) have pools for people to learn. He was afraid to go in too far, because he doesn't know how to swim. This is just amazing to me.

This is Jimmy. We buried him well, with his favorite shirt to keep him warm.

Side note: my roommate and some other int'l students decided to go Seokcho the same Saturday. So, I ran into my roommate on the beach. I guess we had the same thought, but just didn't invite one another...

We also visited the Expo Tower. I gladly took the elevator up the 15 stories. Besides, I don't think we could walk up.

The weather was soooooo nice the next day, so we decided to hit up the beach again. We went speed boating, which was fun but too expensive. Simon really wanted to go, because he had never gone cruising around at high speeds in a boat before. We ended up discussing the differences in American and Belgian summer leisure time. Basically, Americans seem snobbish for owning toys like boats, jet skis, cabins, etc. He has never been water skiing or tubing in his life. I was rather shocked. I'm fairly certain that all of my friends have been speed boating, have gone water skiing/tubing/wakeboarding, or been to someone's cabin. Maybe Americans really are spoiled by such luxuries.

How Quickly a Semester Becomes a Year

So, my semester abroad has turned into a year abroad. I'm happy that I got to go home for 2 months, but I really missed Korea. Don't worry, dear family, I will be home for Christmas.

I went home June 17th, volunteered at a Korean culture camp (this time as a resident counselor) and I worked at 3M to pull in some extra cash. Here's the good news: I finally got a 30 cent raise. I am grateful they gave me a job when I came back, after skipping town for so long.


Before I came back to Korea, I went to Belgium for 9 days. That was a great adventure. I saw old buildings, small towns, ate wonderful mussels, fresh bread, rabbit, fries with mayo and ketchup...it was all delightful. Simon and I went to Amsterdam, too, to meet a friend from spring semester. We hung out at the zoo, which turned out to be quite an eventful day. We made it to Antwerp, which I thought was a lovely city. We found shelter inside a mall, since it was raining quite hard. I found a nice scarf when we were shopping. Then, we went to the seaside (Ostend), where I met his friends. They were very nice, except when they were throwing bread in my direction so the seagulls would flock over me. That was a frightening moment. The movie, Birds, came to mind. The next day, we went to Bruges, wandered the city, and took a lovely boat ride on the canal. I went to his university (Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven), ate a huge kebap, adventured on the outside of a cathedral (we couldn't find the entrance door...) We also went to an open air museum that showed the traditional parts of Belgium. I don't think much of the Midwest has museums like this. We have civil war reenactments. That's not really the same though. Maybe the east coast? I had a great time, and I want to visit again. I know there was so much that I didn't get to see.

Since I've been back to Korea, I've gotten really sick. Now, let me put this in a time frame for you. Classes began on September 1st. That day, I went to the clinic on campus. They basically give the same drugs for most ailments. Somehow, I made it to my classes that day, but obviously feeling terrible. On September 2nd, around 5am, I went to the ER. This was a very frustrating situation, because the nearest ER was apparently full. We were sent to a much smaller one, where the doctor kept asking me if I spoke Korean. I was in no way condition to practice speaking Korean when I was sick. The diagnosis: viral pneumonia. They gave me super strong medication, and I basically slept for 5 days. I slept through the rest of my classes that week. Good thing my schedule has free Fridays.

After sleeping for nearly a week, I was able to stay awake for Simon's birthday on the 7th. Simon's brother, Andreas and I went out to buy a cheesecake from Baskin Robbins. This is the time that I curse being lactose intolerant. I absolutely love cheesecake, and it doesn't matter how many lactaid pills I take, cheesecake is too much dairy in one serving. Take a smaller slice you say? I tried that. Maybe I can only have a bite, but that's just mean and tortuous to myself.

My second week of classes went much better. I was still exhausted, but at least I attended all of them. It's a holiday weekend here. This holiday is supposed to be the time that everyone can be with their families. No class on Monday! Happy Chuseok everyone.

Side Note: If you haven't seen Wall-E, go see it. I thought it was a great movie.

Some Topics I Should Have Discussed Earlier

Recently, I had lunch with a girl from my sorority, who studied abroad in China last semester. We shared stories, much that were the same. Then, I realized that there are some things about Korea that I probably should have mentioned:

For those of you who don't know, I attended Ewha Womans University. It is the top womans university in Korea and ranks 4th among all Korean universities. The girls usually come from wealthy families, but still complain that the tuition is too high. Any guesses on how much it costs for a semester? $4 000 is the tuition rate (per semester) for this prestigious school. I told those girls not to complain.

Traffic: The idea is to flow like a river. If there's space that you can fit, go there. Red lights are a polite suggestion. Motorcycles and scooters go to the front of traffic to wait at a stoplight. Motorcycles also have big hand mits. I personally find them quite hilarious. Taxi drivers are crazy and drive quickly so they can get more business. However, it is fairly reasonable to take a general taxi (as opposed to deluxe taxis that charge more for higher quality service). Flat fee is 1900 KWN or about $1.90 for the first 2km. Additionaly 10 cents for every 144 meters or 35 seconds if sitting in traffic. Bus drivers drive like they're in a nascar race. They also don't know how to shift properly and must be killing the transmission.

On the Streets: It is so easy to barter on the streets. The numerous clothing shops make it easier to shop, although I found it difficult to shop for pants. Many places didn't have places to try things on. Some shops wouldn't let me try on clothes or unfold shirts. That's when I got stressed out and bought ice cream instead. I couldn't complain much though. I bought two shirts for $10. I won't start on the fashion, because I don't understand it. Besides clothing, there also are cheap street food and fruit sold. There was even a guy with a "Cocktail Take-out" stand. He sold multitudes of cocktails for about $4. I never had the enthusiasm to buy one, but I thought it was interesting to sell it in front of a womans university.

American restaurants: Subway, Burger King, Quiznos, Cold Stone, Baskin Robbins, Bennigans, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds (they deliver in Seoul), Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts -Koreans really love donuts. I don't know why- Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, and probably more that I can't think of right now.

Jeju Island and the Trip Home

Simon and I flew down to Jeju at 4pm. It only takes an hour from Seoul, which is awesome. We had booked a pension called Herb Beach. Our taxi driver from the airport was crazy. He stopped quite frequently and even got out of the cab to ask for directions to the pension. The first night, we scoped out the surrounding area and then ate sushi bibimbop.

Saturday:
*We had the nice lady at the pension call a cab for us. We went to the information center to find out some things to do. We went to the Dragon Rock. From a distance, I suppose it looks like a dragon. At the same place, we saw some of the old women divers. Afterwards, we went to Samsunghyeol, the origin place of the three demi-gods. When we were there, it started raining. It continued until early the next morning.

*We took a bus (only 3000won) to the Mongalgul (lava tube cave) towards the east side of the island. I'm fairly certain the cave was my favorite thing of the day. We nearly missed the stop though. I'm sure the bus drivers was thinking “stupid foreigners.” We had to walk about 2km from the bus stop to the cave. Fortunately, a cab stopped and picked us up halfway.

This was at the end of the lava tube. I wish I could remember everything about it...

It became extremely windy by the time we left the cave area. Simon's umbrella hilariously blew inside out.

Sunday:
We met up with Ralf. Oh, it was a blast. We took a bus out east again, to Sunrise Peak. I didn't realize we were going to climb the thing. It just proved how out of shape I am. One of the old women pulled the octopus out of the tank and diced it.

*After the funky mountain, we took a cab out to see a huge crater. This crater was really huge, but quite overpriced.

This is a harubong. They're all over Jeju. No one really knows why they're there, but they are. Then, we had to wait for 45minutes for the next bus to come. In the mean time, while we were wasting time, again, we got someone to take a picture for us, and we played a lame version of baseball with our umbrellas and pinecones.
We found samgyeopsal for dinner. It was alright. Simon and I went back to our pension and said goodbye to Ralf. We were quite exhausted from the day of traveling and sightseeing.

Monday:
We rented a cab for the day (10:00 – 6:00) picking us up from the pension and finally dropping us off at the airport all for about $75-80. Our cab driver kept asking if we were on our honeymoon. There were many embarassed looks and awkward moments.

First, we stopped at Hallim Park. That was really cool, because it was so big. It had many gardens: palm tree, botanical, bird, water, and even caves.

Then, we quickly stopped at the beach to take a picture. After that, we were off to the south. Our driver suggested the Osulloc Cha Museum (Tea). We saw many tea fields and a bunch of tea cups. Since everything was in Korea, we didn't really spend much time there. At least it was free.

We skipped the next botanical garden and instead went to take a boat ride around rock cliffs. Then, we actually went to see the rocks. We whipped through that a lot faster than we thought. So, once we got through that, we went to see the Chyeonji Falls. It really was beautiful. There were prayer areas, too. The whole site was relaxing. We saw a scuba diver in the river, picking up money around the statue. I think he was just trying to pick up a few bucks. We also went to the Mysterious Road. The car was turned off and put in neutral. Then, it starts to roll uphill. It was crazy, just bizarre. I have no idea how that could happen.

This was at a rock museum that was our last quick stop before the airport. See how strong I am?!
It was all scrambling and packing as much as I could in my suitcase. I ended up leaving all my books there. Simon said he'd send a huge box with all my stuff. He brought me to the airport this morning, but he had to leave before I got everything checked. We got my drum packed. I hope it makes it safely through the luggage.

My first flight was long. The old guy next to me kept sucking stuff out of his teeth. It was so gross. Connecting flight: originally, it was supposed to leave at 1:15. Then, when I checked in, it said departure was at 12:50. So, I was happy about that. However, the plane coming in had to land early in Austin, TX, due to the bad weather around here. So, my flight was delayed 3 hours. BUT, I made it home. Now, I'm just trying to get through the jetlag.

Where Did June Go?

No idea where June went. It has gone by so quickly. I can't believe I haven't posted yet. I suppose I've been very busy, ill, and whatnot. I don't remember most of what went on either. I remember there was a week of humidity and heat. Then a week of rain. That was disgusting because the rain here is acidic. Plus, it got really cold. I do remember meeting up with Mary and her friend. I also did a bit of last-minute shopping. Shopping for clothes makes me stressed out. It's so difficult to find what I actually think looks okay. Half the shirts here would be okay if they didn't have the big bow on it or was made in a solid color instead of crazy patterns. It's the Korean style.

I brought one of my Dutch friends to the tailor to get a suit. (Yes, this is the same tailor that kept messing up on my brothers' orders.) Anyways, I decided to get two more shirts. When I went back to pay for the shirts, he only charged me for one, since I had brought another friend. How awesome is that?! I was really excited. So, I have three tailored shirts now, but I only paid for one. I would consider that a great deal. The tailor is in Itaewon, which is a high touristic place for foreigners. It's next to the US military base. Anyways, the Belgian Embassy is also in Itaewon. Simon came with to apply for a driver's license.

More recent happenings:

Last Sunday, I got food poisoning. It was the worst stomachache ever, in addition to a high fever, and a bit of vomitting. Let me tell you, that was definitely the worst way to go into finals. I pretty much didn't move for a couple days.

I just finished my finals...Let summer begin.

Today, there is a farewell party for the international students. I've been promised a hilarious slideshow, a 'Miss Ewha' Contest with only male entries (the international program is co-ed, even though Ewha is a women's university), and free pizza. This afternoon, I'm going to Jeju Island. It's a famous island, south of the peninsula. It's particularly known for being windy, its statues, and many women. Supposedly, there are no beggars or thieves on this island, and the homes don't have front doors. It's very touristic and popular for honeymooners. So, it should be really interesting. I get back late Monday night, and then my flight home is early Tuesday. I will post pictures when I get back to the US of A.

Recent Happenings

I updated "So My Brothers Came to Visit!" article. I added a video of them stuffing bulgogi in their mouths.

Simon and I went to Eastern to visit the babies. They are quite adorable. Simon really loved this little guy because he was so calm and happy.

This little guy was so hungry. He fell asleep while eating, but would wake up every time I tried pulling the bottle out of his mouth. It was like victory when he finished--extremely tiring but satisfying. He passed out immediately.
The international program also had the 'Mini-Olympics' last Friday. It consisted of a soccer game, dodgeball (although, a bizarre version), group jump rope, dangerous relay, and 6-legged race. It's difficult to take interesting pictures of these events. So, I shall not bore any of my readers with those ones.

Other news: I have 4 more days of Korean class, then finals... I am quite nervous for those finals, because we've learned so much new material in the last month and a half. It's amazing how quickly a semester goes by.

Some Random Bits of Information Part II

On Wednesday, I went on a boat ride on the Han River with a bunch of international students. The international program put together a free ride for the first 28 students who responded.

We stopped at an island. The water is cleaned through the aquatic plants.

I went to see the babies at Eastern Child Welfare Society on Thursday. It's the agency that I was adopted through. I must say, those babies are adorable. Simon came with me, and he pretty much had a great time talking in Dutch and Korean to the babies. In the nursery, I met a couple from Minneapolis that are adopting a baby. They were so nervous, because it's their first child. I also filled out a form about being an escort. The guy said that it was unlikely that they'd need my help, since more and more parents are coming to Korea to get their children.

This is Simon holding YuTae, who passed out shortly after he was held.

Sarah and Cindy -both Korean adoptees- are here now. I met with them yesterday for dinner. They brought me reeses peanut butter cups, so I'm pretty excited about that.

It's difficult to believe that the semester is coming to a close so quickly. Now, I just need to study like crazy for my Korean final. It's becoming a bit more difficult to study, since the weather is nice most of the time. Although, It's been a humid and hazy for the last few days.

So My Brothers Came to Visit!

Late Wednesday night (4/30): Simon and I picked up Nikolas and Jacob at Incheon Airport. It was an interesting night, getting them to men's guest house in Hongdae.

Thursday (5/1): We walked around Hongdae, trying to figure out the area. Then, Simon and Jason brought the boys to Kyobo bookstore and a palace. We went out for tonkatsu.

Friday (5/2): The boys and I went to InKAS to pay their housing bill, which was ridiculously cheap. We're very fortunate that such an organization exists. Then, we met Bri for lunch and went to Insadong. We bought dragon's beard candy and a few other gifts. We went to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. It's a man-made river that runs through Dongdaemun. Apparently, the natural river was taken out to build high rises, etc. Then, the people of Seoul, said, nope, we want a river back. After the joys of the river, we went down to Gangnam and met Benjamin. We ate samgyeopsal and introduced the boys to soju.

Saturday (5/3): The boys went mountain hiking with Brianna and Benjamin in the morning. They said they had a really good time, but their legs hurt a great deal. So, once they were done with that, we-Jason, Aeryoung, Simon, and I-met the them at Yongsan Electronics Market. The boys bought 16gb flashdrives for $65. It was pretty much a steal. I had no idea that 16gb flashdrives even exists. Apparently, they're made up to 32gb. We had chicken cooked in front of us. Let me tell you, it was delicious! After lots of food and soju, we went to the Beer Castle and had a good time together. Jason passed out in the bar and Aeryoung fell down a flight of stairs when we left. After the lovely bar, we all went to a carnival shooting game. It was fairly amusing to see intoxicated people try to aim and hit targets.
Sunday (5/4): I slept, rested, and cleaned my room.

Monday - Children's Day (5/5): There were no classes. Woot. The boys, Bri, Ben, and I met up in Itaewon. We ordered 3 tailored shirts each for the boys. Sooooooo cheap! We all went to Coex Mall and looked around. Then, we hit up the aquarium in the mall. The goldfish were my favorite, I think. Although, it could be a tie with the two-headed turtle.


Tuesday (5/6): Nikolas, Jacob and I went to Lotte World, which wasn't exactly close. Although, we didn't go on any rides, so it ended up not being nearly as fun as we had hoped. We went shopping and got Jacob some pants with a $10 discount! For dinner, Jason brought Aeryoung, Simon, Nikolas, Jacob, and me to Apgujeong to meet his cousin. She brought paid for our ridiculously overpriced Chinese meal, then had us walking great lengths to go to a ridiculously overpriced bar.

Wednesday (5/7): Simon and I brought the boys to a sushi-buffet. We were all stuffed.

Thursday (5/8): I brought the boys to InKAS so Jacob could get a $10 haircut at a nice salon. After I was done with work, we went to eat an amazing bulgolgi dinner. Really, it was fantastic. See my food entry.

Friday (5/9): The boys and I met up with Brianna to get Jacob's pants hemmed. We ate at Subway in Hongdae. Slooooow workers... Anyways, the pants were $5 a piece - so cheap! Then, the four of us went to an arcade in Sinchon. I haven't been to an arcade in a really long time. I must admit that I had a lot of fun and can easily see myself being addicted to those games. The boys went down to Gangnam with Bri. I stayed in Edae and hung out with Ben (he's the kid who fell off the balcony while highly intoxicated, stayed in the hospital for a few days and did a fair amount of damage to himself).

Saturday (5/10): We had planned to go to New Songdo City, but unfortunately, we didn't wake up in time to really spend a decent day there. So, we ate pork cutlet (tonkatsu) for lunch and headed to Changdeok Palace. The bad thing about the palace is that they only allow tours, and the English tour had over 75 people, in addition to our poor-English-speaking guide. The palace was huge, and I wish we could have wandered on our own. After the tour, we went back to Hongdae to pick up Jacob's pants. Then, we ate at Mr. Pizza. Of course, the boys had to try Korean pizza. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take a picture when I have decent pizza.
Sunday (5/11): The weather was perfect. It was warm with a nice breeze. We took a bus to New Songdo City - by Incheon Airport, about 75 minutes away from my school. It's an international city, privately funded by Americans. It was really cool to see a brand new city being built. It had pathways, parks, trees, and grass. The air was clean, and we could actually breathe.

Monday - Buddha's Birthday (5/12): I did homework for most of the afternoon, enjoying my day of no classes. Then, I met the boys in Itaewon at 5:30pm. They were bringing back their shirts, because there were stains. Nikolas also had his first fitting for his suit. When we got there, They said that they couldn't find Nikolas' suit for the initial fitting, so we should come back at 8. They also told us they would have the shirts dry-cleaned and ready by 8pm. So, we were slightly upset, but hoped for a discount. We walked around, did minimal shopping and at the Hard Rock Cafe. Then, we went back for the fitting and to pick up the shirts. Nikolas had his fitting, but there were no shirts. They told us to come back again the next night to pick up the suit, and Nikolas could have a free tie.

Tuesday (5/13): I met Jacob and Nikolas in Namdaemun Market. It was unfortunate that it was raining fairly hard the entire time we were there. After walking around with wet feet, we decided to go somewhere else. We decided to back to Yongsan Electronics Market. No luck finding anything to buy. We ate a late lunch of bulgogi fried rice that was not good. We got in a cab and wanted to go back to Hongdae. The cab driver brought us to Hongje, which is really far north. Then, I was like, WHAT?! No, we want HongDAE. So, the total cab fair was over $16, but he only asked for 10, which was really nice of him.

At night, I brought a suitcase packed with a lot of stuff to the boys. Then, the three of us went back to Itaewon to pick up the suit and shirts. There, I 'talked business' with the tailor, basically asking for a discount on the suit, for all the extra time and traveling that we did. He said that the suit was a set price by his boss, but he would throw in an extra tie and make me a tailored shirt. How sweet is that?! So, I get a free shirt. That's a good enough discount for me.

After all this business, Jacob met Angie (his friend from high school) there. Nikolas and I went to meet Bri, Ben, Caitlin, and Mike at a restaurant in Gangnam. We hung out there and then Jacob came later. Nikolas and Jacob gave Bri & Ben, Jason & Aeryoung, and Simon & me gift certificates for the movie theater. I thought that was soooooo thoughtful of them.

Busan

Forgive me for not writing as much lately, but I feel that a picture is worth a thousand words.

We took the night train down to Busan, arriving around 4:30am. It was very early and we all were hungry. We found some food and walked around. Then, we went to the beach to see the sun rise. It was really awesome.

View from 3rd floor of Jason's parents' apartment building.
SunriseBusan at night - it's so beautiful

JongWoo's dad took us out to eat at this amazing buffet. It had crab legs, a sushi bar, pizza, steak, pasta...basically everything plus a huge dessert bar. It was easily the best meal we had there. Ralf, JongWoo, Aeryoung, Simon, Chiara, and me at the Busan Aquarium. It had some really messed up looking fish. There was everything from seahorses to stingrays to sharks.
Bulguksa Temple - an hour outside of Busan

We seriously ate this...and other freshly diced fishies.

Pretty flowers :) on the bus tour of Busan

Fish Market

Cherry Blossoms & Jazz Make A Lovely Sunday

Cherry blossoms have bloomed and spring is here. Everything is so much prettier and calmer with the trees in bloom.
After we saw the cherry blossoms, we ate dinner in Hongdae. I should have taken a picture of the food. It was a huge pot of vegetables and beef, which was rather difficult to eat. Then, I had a waffle with ice cream. Yummy!

After the lovely dinner and dessert, we went to a jazz bar called Club Evans. The music was okay. I was falling asleep and could hardly enjoy it. I'm sure I'll go back there eventually for a full night of jazz.
I also picked up my chonggo drum on Monday. It's beautiful!
Check it out!