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.