Annnnd More Pictures

Street Performer! He was really good:

Castle Praha, a microbrewery (so fancy!):

Eating a street waffle! Yummm:

A really pretty Hongdae bar:

ㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁ

For dinner last night, I had pho (same price as in America but bigger portion) and vietnamese spring rolls. For dessert? A street-cart waffle! It was delicious. There was a guy playing live music outside on the walk to the theatre, and he was really good. I saw him again this morning. Anyways, Harry Potter 7 was, of course, fantastic. It was interesting seeing the difference between the Korean subtitles and the actual lines, and the way the character dynamics matched up as far as deferential/formal speech goes. The movie theatre smelled so good, too, which made me hungry even though I'd already eaten so much.

This morning I went back and had lunch with Dayoung, Bomi and Alex, and I'm going again tomorrow (the food is so ridiculously good and they're so nice!) After that I had a laze-around day so nothing much to report here. The weather has been fantastic! (At least, compared to the entire week before, haha.)

Oh and not that anyone really cares, but on top of my designer shoes that I got for $3.00, I purchased a really cute pair of wedges for $5.00! Yesss so happy.

Anyways, laterrrr!!!

Love,

Janet

More Pictures!

Levis and I Posing with a Drunk Guy in Hongdae (Haha)

Dalgi/Pat Bingsu! (Yummm)

Sand Sculpture in Gwanghwamun

Cooked Budaejjigae!

Ingredients I Bought for Buddaejjigae!

연세, 친구

Yesterday I went to Yonsei and was able to speak to Mr. We about a few of my questions. I have to get blood tests and a chest x-ray so that I can go live in the dorm (ya know, just in case I have TB) and I have to get my ARC card before I go to school. I also have to send in my bank account number, fill out some medical assessment form, and look around for some spring semester form on their convoluted website. I guess I should just be happy that I don't have to sacrifice my first-born.

As I was enjoying the beauty of the Yonsei campus and abhorring the torrential rain, I was interrupted by a call of, "escuji me, escuji me??" coming from far to my right. I turned and saw two girls running up to me, one with short hair and the other very skinny with long hair in a bun. The girl with short hair explained in very broken english that they were from a Bible class and had an assignment to speak to someone about their doctrine. She attempted to explain what she was supposed to be saying, but apparently she hadn't spoken English regularly for a few years now, and I had absolutely no idea what she was saying. The other girl, shockingly, asked me, "parlez-vous français?" and I nearly popped out of my skin and squeaked out, "oui, mais oui!" It was very surprising. Apparently she studied in Marseille for a year! We spoke in French/English/Korean for about half an hour there on the sidewalk and she asked me what I thought was whether I wanted to come to her church and see a baptism ceremony. I said sure, why not, and went with the two of them to the church.

Apparently, the baptism I was about to witness was my own. Something was definitely lost in translation. In any case, yep, I got baptized! I had my name put into their church's registry and everything. I guess 15 years after becoming a Baptist isn't too late for being baptized, right?

In any case, the two girls invited me to come hang out with them today. We had a delicious lunch and talked a lot, and I'm very happy to have made new friends. Their friend Alex (I don't know his Korean name) was there today as well, and he's also very nice. Their names are Bomi and Dayoung, by the way. They're great.

The weather has calmed down significantly, also. There are many volunteer projects going on for victims of the landslides and flooding in the Seoul area, so I might go do some of that. There was sunlight today! Good thing I had a premonition and put on sunscreen this morning!

Anyways, right now I'm just chilling out now. Yesterday and yesterday night were fun, today was fun as well, and tonight I'm probably going to have dinner and go see Harry Potter 7!!!

Yep, fun times.

Pictures to come as well!!

Love,

Janet

비가 오고있어

Well, yesterday was pretty exciting. I met with Jamie, Alecia, and Gayin at 광화문 for lunch. I got there a couple of minutes late because I missed the subway by 5 seconds, but luckily a new one comes really quickly and it wasn't too much of a problem. We decided to go eat at this fancy restaurant, but it was way too full, so we walked around the streets until we found this little place in a side alley. It was SO hot inside, because every table had a personal stove plate. We ate a really good 갈비 (beef) stew dish, and then decided to go for 빙수 (bingsu - flavored shaved ice with fruit) to finish off our meal.

We ended going up to a REALLY cute cafe called 5CIJUNG in the bottom of the Seoul Finance Center Mall, and had 달기 팥 빙수 (strawberry bingsu with red beans) and also shaved persimmon. It was delicious!

Alecia has been going to Yonsei for the summer, and she's offered to sell me her cell phone for cheap, so I'm going to have my own cell and a number on around the 4th of August! Lucky me :))

While we were at 5CIJUNG I had my first non-awkward transaction with a cashier - I was able to successfully ask him to break my 10,000 won bill for two 5,000 bills without stumbling or using hand gestures! I've been acting too nervous around Korean natives, being exceedingly quiet and not using the Korean I know to my full potential - but this gave me a lot of extra confidence. I'm going to try harder from now on!

After dessert, Jamie went back to work and Alecia and Gayin and I decided to head back to Hongdae. We took photobooth pictures (so cute!) and hung out for a while, and then Alecia had to go back to campus for her summer classes. Gayin and I went to Paris Baguette and got drinks. While we were sitting and talking, out of the blue it starts to downpour ferociously. She walked with me back to my apartment with her umbrella because I'd left mine at home, and we both still got soaked even with the umbrella. Monsoon season is intensely crazy here. Gayin left to meet her family for dinner, and I hung around for a while.

I had chicken out in Hongdae last night and ate it the Korean way - using two forks! It was strange because I kept forgetting it wasn't a knife and would start sawing at it, haha. I ate ice cream from a convenience store, which was tasty, and then it was bed time!

Full day! Today I might head over to Yonsei campus to straighten out a few things with them.

Having a blast!

Love,

Janet

지하철, 쇼핑, 음식 만들기

A fun day of shopping, banking, miscommunications, and cooking!

I woke up, lazed around a bit, and then set off on my own to find my way through the Seoul subway system to get to Mokdong. I only got lost once - I asked a very nice boy selling overpriced shirts and he was able to point me in the right direction. Once I got to Mokdong I met up with Kyle and had a REALLY good lunch of donkatsu with ddukboki and three different types of kimbap (sort of like sushi only there is NO way you could ever claim it was the same thing to a Korean because they will KILL you). I was stuffed and extremely happy. The weather was smouldering, though, and I kept wanting to stop for water every ten feet (because I'm a "weak sweaty foreigner" of course!)

After lunch I went to 우리은행 (Woori Bank) which is now, officially, my bank!! I traded in all of my American cash for some good old Korean 원! I'm one step closer to being better at living here.

I then went to E-Mart which is a giant Target-like grocery store. They have the most intense grocery section ever, though. I encountered a lot of people that wanted to say random English phrases at me like "Baseball good!" etc. By the way, everyone in Korea LOVES the Cleveland Indians because we've got Choo! Seeing all of the Cleveland sports memorabilia around me makes me feel like I belong a little. I've never felt like my city was so appreciated until I left the country! When I tried to purchase tennis shoes for $20 (they were REALLY good shoes that sell for $80 in the states) I found out that...I am one half size bigger than the largest size in tennis shoes here. This is a problem. I stumbled through "this item...do you have bigger?" trying to ask he boy at the counter, but he just held up his hands about a foot apart and shook his head at me, as though I have to wear clown shoes or something! I wanted to protest, "no! Just a half size bigger! I don't have giant feet! You don't understand!" but all I know how to say out of that is "No! You don't understand!" and the thing is...he did understand...he just didn't have shoes for my enormous American feet. Guess I'll have to look harder! I finished my E-Mart journey with buying supplies to make dinner tonight - I wanted to try my hand at 김치찌개, that dish that I mentioned earlier (I got a version of it when I met with Heekyong for lunch) made with basically scraps around the kitchen but still has a great taste. I figured I should start easy.

I also stopped at my faaaavorite pastry shop, Paris Baguette, and got a strawberry cake and a green tea latte! Yummm...I was so satisfied :)

I made it home on the subway (not without having an awkward conversation with an old man about being American, of course) and walked around Hongdae for a while just browsing and familiarizing myself with the area. I'm getting better at not getting lost!

Making the kimchi jjigae was not so hard. I did pretty well! I ate well and had a sort of honey cake thing that I bought in E-Mart for dessert. I was full and happy. I've felt a little nauseous lately, so I'm thinking I might be more jet-lagged than I thought. We'll see what happens!

Today I'm going to 광화문 (Gwanghwamun) to meet with my friends Jamie, Alecia, and Gayin! We're going to grab lunch and hang out for a while. I still don't know what my afternoon/evening plans will be, but I'll probably study for a while (I REALLY need to brush up on Korean) and then more exploring!

Miss you guys!

Love,

Janet

사진!

City street in 강남:

Me near the 강남 subway station:

Cool Einstein graffiti in the streets of 홍대:

안 피곤해!

Day 2 in Korea!

Shockingly, I went to bed at a normal hour and woke up rested this morning - I think I might actually not be jet lagged! I'm shocked.

In the morning I woke up and lazed around a bit, just unpacking a little and getting settled. For a late lunch I had seafood udon with sushi, and then hopped onto the subway for a long trip to 강남 to meet up with my friends Heekyong and Eunkyo! Dinner was Donkatsu 부대찌개 (Don-pot-stew was the pun they made up for it) which is a Korean dish that came after the Korean war where citizens would take scraps of the American rations and throw them all into a pot to boil. It has ham, mushrooms, hot dogs, kimchi, ramyun, onions, and all sorts of other food just tossed together and cooked at the table. Ours had donkatsu in it, though, which made it especially delicious. I was so excited (I love donkatsu, in case you didn't notice yet).

After that I headed back to Hongdae, helped carry a recently-purchased futon/couch about half a mile to the apartment, and went to sleep. It was a really nice day. I keep on realizing over and over again that I'm in Korea - it's so weird!! I had some interesting run-ins with people on the subway (I keep on forgetting to say "죄송해요" instead of "sorry!" when I bump into a person.)

I have gotten good at asking where the restroom is, though!!

Anyways, today I'm going to make my bank account! So excited!

Ttyl,

Janet

왔어!

I made it to Korea!!

The plane ride was long, but I took Tylenol PM and some melatonin and so I think I don't have very bad jet lag. I had 비빔밥 on the plane and spoke Korean with the old lady next to me. Unfortunately, I have airplane cankles, but hopefully those will disappear soon!

I love this place already. I saw the breakdancing boy band that Stephanie saw right outside of the airport!

I went out and made new friends last night in the clubbing district right near where I'm staying. A few of my new friends got into a fight with some Koreans from Australia and things got crazy, but no one got caught by the police, so it was alright. It was so much fun! I had 냉면 for dinner, which is basically chilled spicy noodles, and it was delicious! I'm so happy to be here! I'm already having an awesome time. Today I'm going shopping and meeting up with my friend Heekyong.

My posts will hopefully get longer as I get to do a variety of things. I'm so excited!

It's SO humid and hot here, by the way, I feel like such a typical "sweaty foreigner," haha.

Anyways, having a great time. I'll write again soon!

사랑,

Janet

안녕히계세요!

I'll be getting on the plane in 5 hours. Goodbye, America! I'll miss you!

The next great adventure :))

가자!!

피곤하고있어

I have gotten so little sleep lately that I think I'm going to throw up - but even if I'd had the time to sleep lately, I don't know if I could. I'm so restless and excited! I feel like I'm going crazy.

My place at SK Global House - the newest dorm on campus - was confirmed yesterday. I also spent a few hours switching things into my brother's biggest suitcase, so now I'm taking two huge bags along with my personal bag and carryon. Hopefully the new suitcase is also under 50 lbs, or I'm gonna have to take a few things out, which I REALLY do not want to do. I want to take some of my shoes with me!

I'm up really early to take Stephanie to the airport - she's going to Ulsan for a week, Busan for a week, and, finally, Seoul for a week, along with her besties Maddi and Sun. I'm going to meet up with them when they're in Seoul, so that should be fun.

Today's To Do List:

• Go to bank
• Ask about any incurring international charges (using Visa in an emergency situation)
• Photocopy important documents, ID information, medical cards, etc. (and preferably scan them into my computer)
• Print ticket confirmation
• Sign up for Stephanie's classes for her (since her course planning period takes place while she's on her flight)

Take computer to the apple store for diagnostic/footpad replacement

...

Wow...I just realized...how very much...I have to do....

I might take Danny with me to run errands, since he's always entertaining.

Wish me luck!

언제 잘래? T_T

비행기

Just bought my plane ticket!

I'm heading out from CLE on July 22nd, arriving at ICN on July 23rd local. I am so. Friggin. Stoked.