I Graduated! Not quite sure where that has me fitting in but I have a feeling that question will have many changing answers from now on. I got a job - a salary - at a local bank, for which I've interned before. It's not the dream job, but i'm thankful for it, and the steady schedule so I can focus on other options. I considered jumping on a plane to Korea...actually just considered it again today...but I don't think it's the best career move right now. I'm studying on my own, and staying up to date on current events :) Right now I want to be a Foreign Service Officer, but i think I need to study more.
I love cfr.org and bbc news, and really dislike the fact that my local library doesn't get The Economist. Does that make me a nerd? Speaking of libraries I'm reading for pleasure...and it's not summer! It's a lifestyle. Love it. Right now the book of the week is Eat Pray Love, as recommended by Natash a long time ago, and I love it - there are awesome quotes. Here are some of my favorite tid-bits so far (paraphrased because I don't remember the pages):
"When life closes one door...it opens a box of Girl Scout Cookies."
"Responsibility is the Ability to Respond"
"Different schools of thought have found explanations of man's apparently flawed state. Taoists call it imbalance, Buddhism calls it ignorance,Islam blames our misery on rebellion against God, and the Judeo-Christian tradition attributes all of our suffering to original Sin. Freudians say that unhappiness is the inevitable result of the clash between our natural drives and civilizations needs. The Yogis say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity."
...and that's where I am: page 122 of three hundred something. SO: I had to pay a 70 cent fine to the library for this book that isn't due until Thursday, because I renewed it too many times (once! and i did it online so they didn't even have to do any work!). Then I renewed it again after them trying to persuade me that it was impossible to renew it because I wasn't at the exact location that I got the book from in the first place (UM....isn't that why county library systems were set up?). Oh well I paid the undeserved fine because I feel bad, I heard the librarians are getting their hours shortened because of the bad economy - they need the money...although they could also use a tip on efficiency and accuracy.
Here's the ringtone of the week.
Really glad Natash called me for a latino-themed weekend of a musical, mexican food, and/or salsa dancing.
Other random news - I got a new laptop, with a cam, and I've skyped my penpals in Korea, and even some of the orphans from past mission trips to argentina...my lil bros and sisters :) LOVE IT. I've also discovered the 'video message' ability on facebook and will be really happy when someone gets humble enough to send me a video fo them on my 'wall.' Oh the simple joys. Speaking of, the owner of the Korean grocery I frequent in Pittsburgh keeps recognizing me, but realizes I don't speak much, and last weekend gave me and my friends free beverages. It was like I was in Korea for a split second ^^ Very cool.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, September 3, 2009
I think Full Time Students should get overtime pay.
Hello dears lots has happened in too many places...story of my life, and the last 4 months. I'm back to school for my last semester (don't ask 'so what are your plans?'...That's so hard to answer.)
Summer was amazing by the way. Brief: Went to Argentina. Lived in Florida with my Best, Heather. She got engaged and now I'm helping her plan a wedding, and honeymoon in Greece! I got tan, learned to live on little $, worked at a 7-eleven full time for a month, practiced my spanish and koreans, and did some Zumba and a few memorable Karaoke nights.
I thought this would be an easy semester but it turns out I'm busier than ever with meetings for the club I'm president of, and various other activities I've roped myself into. Granted, I'm doing lots of stuff that involves culture, volunteering and current events, so I'm enjoying most of it but it's tiring to have every minute booked. I'm truly a fan of 'google calendar' because it organizes every hour for me...I went to a birthday party tonight after work and ended up talking about a meeting I have coming up for an event I'm planning. LAME.
Great things about the semester: my new roommate likes Michael Buble and is downloading my suggestions as we speak. The newest Korean girl is wonder woman to me...she's fixed our sink, helped rearrange my dorm, and fixed a computer. Besides that she's absolutely cool and we have the same shoe size (Girls you know how cool that is). Really love her (NaHyun)...and Jisoo who was here from last year is still one my best friends on campus - and plays a mean set of drums. Nahyun called me her "korean friend"...I love succeeding in being a wannabe 한국인/Korean.
I've been getting close to that group of friends I've had back in Freshman year but it's more fun this time. I DO MISS my friends that graduated last year, especially IBA friends Natalie and Laura. Plans are in the making to visit Laura...and to meet an old Korean friend in NYC -- have to use that little money I earn working my butt off somewhere fun. Plus in NYC I'll see some family and other friends. Love my life. 
This semester's classes are mostly business, plus a soc and world history - not too bad. But I do think I deserve overtime pay for this job of being a full time student...wish my income tax prof would let me put that on my 1040 as a deduction.
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Hectic Life of a Wannabe Nomad
This semester has been ridiculous. My mother passed away about a month ago, on April 17th, 2009. It was completely unexpected and I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that she's not here. She lived in Las Vegas with my stepdad and his sister, but we brought her back home to Pennsylvania to be buried next to her grandmother, whom she loved dearly growing up. It was really easy knowing what my mother wanted and to honor her life many people showed their support and sympathy for our family. I'm not bitter or angry, I just want to live the life she wanted me to live. 
I know she loved me more than anything and was proud of who I am and who I'm becoming. As soon as I found out the news I flew out to Las Vegas to be with my stepdad, aunt and step brothers, it was really rough for all of us but it was most important that we were together. I was in this state of shock that just made my head clear on what needed to be done, and I took control. I didn't really stop to think for myself i just did things. I had never even been to a funeral before but I made all of the arrangements I could including detailed updates for my family back in Pennsylvania that were waiting. The services were beautiful and eventually I broke down, and it hasn't been the last time. I learned a lot about my mother that I didn't know by talking to the people whose lives she touched along her way. It was one of the hardest things to say good bye to my stepdad and brothers when they went back to Las Vegas after it was all over. I love them so much, we're all suffering now but the memories of my wonderful mother will stay much longer than the pain.
I took a couple more days, one at grandma's house and one at my dad's house but I had to get out of the house before my parents went back to work. I didn't want to be alone. I went back to my university, not knowing whether i'd stay or not, I just had one mission, I decided to take things one step at a time: sign the housing contract, so I'd have a dorm room next semester. I was lucky in that God provided a roommate for me in the upper class men dorms, I had avoided making arrangements because of all of the stress but it just worked out. My friend Jisoo, who was one of the girls with me when I found out about my mom, called me and walked over to the student services office with me to see Kelley and sign the contract. I walked upstairs and saw one of the guidance counselors and a professor - people I know well - talking. They stood up and gave me that look of sympathy and asked me how i was and gave me a hug...I thought i was good, i said "ok" and tried to be strong. Kelley was on the phone so I had to wait but in the meantime almost every person in that office passed me by and stopped to see how i was - by the time I got to Kelley she hugged me and I couldn't talk or tears would fall. I just signed and got out of there...joking with my friend on the way out, but she didn't laugh, she knew I was trying to be strong. It was like everyone expected me to just get back into things right away - since I was there I must have been ready they thought...Maybe I thought it. I didn't know what I needed so I just did it. I went to classes and most of my professors told me to just take it easy and not worry about class, except one professor. I walked to class and everyone was starting a test on the material i missed during the funeral. I asked to talk to the professor and asked him if he got the notice from the school about why i missed. He said yes and he was sorry, but then he said "you can take both this test you're missing today and the cumulative final next Thursday during the final period." I looked at him like it was impossible; i missed a week the month before because my mom was in the hospital and I got a D on the test I took when I returned - he wasn't any help then either. I found out that my roommate went to him to see if he got the email about my mother's death and he said "yea it must be really hard with 2 deaths in the family" WHAT?! He thought the reason I was gone the first time was a death?? did he not listen? and he was a jerk then! I couldn't expect anything different. After fretting over how I was going to fail this class I eventually let my roommate convince me to take the class as an incomplete. I insisted to him that I have until next semester to take those tests, and he shrugged with an "okay but I don't know anything about that you have to do all the paper work." AHHH he was such a jerk, I am so glad I got that off my chest, at least until next semester. I ended up doing well in my other classes however.
All semester I had been preparing for the mission trip to Argentina. I went last year and I wanted to go again. Dad told me he wouldn't help me with it so I kept it a secret from him so he wouldn't feel pressured to pay for the trip, and I set up a payment plan with the university because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money. After the funeral I decided that going to Argentina would be the best thing for me. The trip was to an orphanage, and I could now relate in that I lost a parent, I hoped to help some children, make someone smile and get the same in return. I went and it was amazing. They all remembered me and I could just start my relationships where they left off, I didn't have to work on gaining their trust again. After I gave a testimony that included the story of my mother, one girl opened up to me about how she has been since her mother died and how she feels like she needs to take care of everything. I think I helped her, and if that was all I did that would have been worth the $1600 trip.
This mission trip is so personal, it's about giving love to these orphans that they don't get regularly, and about listening to them. Thankfully my Spanish came back to my head once I got there - now I need to keep practicing both Korean and Spanish so I can stay sharp...who knows where God will send me after I graduate in December.
It's Thursday May 21st and I'm sitting in my room taking a break from packing/cleaning my room. Yesterday I went to my mom's grave, planted some flowers. I also got some information on getting a headstone and visited my grandparents. I got a serious cold the last day i was in Argentina, so I didn't stay there very long - the last thing i want to do is get my grandparents sick. This weekend I'm going to go with my dad and stepmom camping. It's not that exciting of a place but it'll be much needed time together and it'll make my dad happy to do something with me - plus I'm jobless and he'll be paying for my food and such haha. I quit my job near school because it's summertime and I moved out of my dorm. My best friend lives in Florida and just graduated from her undergrad program. She's been begging me to visit her and live with her during a summer, so I'm finally doing it. She's flying up here and next wednesday we'll drive my car down to florida together. I'll be there as long as I'm welcome, try to find a job so I can pay some bills, visit my stepfather's family that lives in FL, and just have a good time with my best friend.
I guess I'll go continue to pack, I've been typing for quite a while. Tonight is our weekly wing night with my dad, step mom, aunt and uncle at a local bar; it should be an interesting night.
I know she loved me more than anything and was proud of who I am and who I'm becoming. As soon as I found out the news I flew out to Las Vegas to be with my stepdad, aunt and step brothers, it was really rough for all of us but it was most important that we were together. I was in this state of shock that just made my head clear on what needed to be done, and I took control. I didn't really stop to think for myself i just did things. I had never even been to a funeral before but I made all of the arrangements I could including detailed updates for my family back in Pennsylvania that were waiting. The services were beautiful and eventually I broke down, and it hasn't been the last time. I learned a lot about my mother that I didn't know by talking to the people whose lives she touched along her way. It was one of the hardest things to say good bye to my stepdad and brothers when they went back to Las Vegas after it was all over. I love them so much, we're all suffering now but the memories of my wonderful mother will stay much longer than the pain.I took a couple more days, one at grandma's house and one at my dad's house but I had to get out of the house before my parents went back to work. I didn't want to be alone. I went back to my university, not knowing whether i'd stay or not, I just had one mission, I decided to take things one step at a time: sign the housing contract, so I'd have a dorm room next semester. I was lucky in that God provided a roommate for me in the upper class men dorms, I had avoided making arrangements because of all of the stress but it just worked out. My friend Jisoo, who was one of the girls with me when I found out about my mom, called me and walked over to the student services office with me to see Kelley and sign the contract. I walked upstairs and saw one of the guidance counselors and a professor - people I know well - talking. They stood up and gave me that look of sympathy and asked me how i was and gave me a hug...I thought i was good, i said "ok" and tried to be strong. Kelley was on the phone so I had to wait but in the meantime almost every person in that office passed me by and stopped to see how i was - by the time I got to Kelley she hugged me and I couldn't talk or tears would fall. I just signed and got out of there...joking with my friend on the way out, but she didn't laugh, she knew I was trying to be strong. It was like everyone expected me to just get back into things right away - since I was there I must have been ready they thought...Maybe I thought it. I didn't know what I needed so I just did it. I went to classes and most of my professors told me to just take it easy and not worry about class, except one professor. I walked to class and everyone was starting a test on the material i missed during the funeral. I asked to talk to the professor and asked him if he got the notice from the school about why i missed. He said yes and he was sorry, but then he said "you can take both this test you're missing today and the cumulative final next Thursday during the final period." I looked at him like it was impossible; i missed a week the month before because my mom was in the hospital and I got a D on the test I took when I returned - he wasn't any help then either. I found out that my roommate went to him to see if he got the email about my mother's death and he said "yea it must be really hard with 2 deaths in the family" WHAT?! He thought the reason I was gone the first time was a death?? did he not listen? and he was a jerk then! I couldn't expect anything different. After fretting over how I was going to fail this class I eventually let my roommate convince me to take the class as an incomplete. I insisted to him that I have until next semester to take those tests, and he shrugged with an "okay but I don't know anything about that you have to do all the paper work." AHHH he was such a jerk, I am so glad I got that off my chest, at least until next semester. I ended up doing well in my other classes however.
All semester I had been preparing for the mission trip to Argentina. I went last year and I wanted to go again. Dad told me he wouldn't help me with it so I kept it a secret from him so he wouldn't feel pressured to pay for the trip, and I set up a payment plan with the university because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money. After the funeral I decided that going to Argentina would be the best thing for me. The trip was to an orphanage, and I could now relate in that I lost a parent, I hoped to help some children, make someone smile and get the same in return. I went and it was amazing. They all remembered me and I could just start my relationships where they left off, I didn't have to work on gaining their trust again. After I gave a testimony that included the story of my mother, one girl opened up to me about how she has been since her mother died and how she feels like she needs to take care of everything. I think I helped her, and if that was all I did that would have been worth the $1600 trip.
This mission trip is so personal, it's about giving love to these orphans that they don't get regularly, and about listening to them. Thankfully my Spanish came back to my head once I got there - now I need to keep practicing both Korean and Spanish so I can stay sharp...who knows where God will send me after I graduate in December.It's Thursday May 21st and I'm sitting in my room taking a break from packing/cleaning my room. Yesterday I went to my mom's grave, planted some flowers. I also got some information on getting a headstone and visited my grandparents. I got a serious cold the last day i was in Argentina, so I didn't stay there very long - the last thing i want to do is get my grandparents sick. This weekend I'm going to go with my dad and stepmom camping. It's not that exciting of a place but it'll be much needed time together and it'll make my dad happy to do something with me - plus I'm jobless and he'll be paying for my food and such haha. I quit my job near school because it's summertime and I moved out of my dorm. My best friend lives in Florida and just graduated from her undergrad program. She's been begging me to visit her and live with her during a summer, so I'm finally doing it. She's flying up here and next wednesday we'll drive my car down to florida together. I'll be there as long as I'm welcome, try to find a job so I can pay some bills, visit my stepfather's family that lives in FL, and just have a good time with my best friend.
I guess I'll go continue to pack, I've been typing for quite a while. Tonight is our weekly wing night with my dad, step mom, aunt and uncle at a local bar; it should be an interesting night.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Jet-lag induced Post Korean thoughts
It is 8:00 in the morning, Tuesday, and I have been awake since 6:30. I thought jet-lag would be an excuse to sleep more, but my body is still acting like it is in Korea. I have finally eaten some American food successfully. I'm not sure this is a good thing because American food is very unhealthy and I'm eating at odd times. The first two days I couldn't eat anything, and was only craving spicy food. My first real food was a Primanti Brothers sandwich at midnight on Sunday. If you've seen a Primanti Brothers sandwich you will know how big of an accomplishment this was. I still think it would have been a little better with some Kimchi.
I don't know who this person is...but he had a Pittsburgh Pirates hat on so I had to get a picture...I'm not even sure he knew where the hat was from.
Things I Miss:
Korean Food (mmm: Samgyupsal/Korean BBQ)
Saera, Amy, Shelby and Colin - the Waynesburg in Seoul crew
ALL of my Korean friends
Public transportation (although I love driving HyunCha)
meeting random people
the challenge of watching a korean movie without subtitles
fast service (i waited 45minutes for a sandwich in a restaurant!...Seoul made me a little impatient.)
and ALOT more I'll probably be talking about when you see me.
On my way home, while sitting in the Chicago airport waiting for my next flight, I started to miss Korea. Ironically, 30 Korean high school students, waiting for a flight, came and sat near me. I talked to a 15 year old boy in Korean (and English) for an hour!
I think my best friend, Heather, understood that I would need to adjust to home again, so she's been keeping me busy. We even went salsa dancing! I do love my friends. However, they don't easily tolerate my random use of Korean language in everyday life, or the Korean pop music I've come to adore despite its horrific representation of art and poor use of English.
Before I left almost every phone call or voicemail from any family member started with "I know you're not ready to come home, I'm sorry you can't stay longer, etc....but we really miss you." I was starting to think I talked about how much I like Korea so much that everyone became convinced I would never be happy at home. I hope they understand that although I could have stayed and I'm not a person that gets homesick, I do love my family and home...I'm happy where ever I am.
Things I'm Happy about at Home
My parents (i can't explain how good my dad is to me, and my mom is always calling to check on me)
My best friends
My car, room, home
Salsa dancing and my ahjussi/ahjumma friends
Christmas - the music in the malls, the desserts, plans to go to grandmas' houses
Upcoming father-daughter trip to Texas
My Korean class, me and a professor, and one last shot on the subway ^^
Korea meant more to me than you can imagine. I got here with the help and push of my professors at Waynesburg and support of my family. I thrived with the great program at Ewha, and the endless opportunities to experience things. I made connections with many different people on many different levels that I can never forget. I learned alot about myself, and even changed a bit. Korea's seemingly perfect mix of old and new, traditional and modern, made this a great place to study abroad. I hope more people will follow Colin and myself and take on South Korea, and make their own stories (one already is...good luck Bethany!). My only regret is that I didn't stay longer, and I don't have a plane ticket to return (yet). Now, I'm ready to visit family, share my experiences, enjoy my vacation and return to school to make the best of my last two semesters. Bring on the next chapter.
Saranghae - love you all,
Alisha
I don't know who this person is...but he had a Pittsburgh Pirates hat on so I had to get a picture...I'm not even sure he knew where the hat was from.
Things I Miss:
Korean Food (mmm: Samgyupsal/Korean BBQ)
Saera, Amy, Shelby and Colin - the Waynesburg in Seoul crew
ALL of my Korean friends
Public transportation (although I love driving HyunCha)
meeting random people
the challenge of watching a korean movie without subtitles
fast service (i waited 45minutes for a sandwich in a restaurant!...Seoul made me a little impatient.)
and ALOT more I'll probably be talking about when you see me.
On my way home, while sitting in the Chicago airport waiting for my next flight, I started to miss Korea. Ironically, 30 Korean high school students, waiting for a flight, came and sat near me. I talked to a 15 year old boy in Korean (and English) for an hour!
I think my best friend, Heather, understood that I would need to adjust to home again, so she's been keeping me busy. We even went salsa dancing! I do love my friends. However, they don't easily tolerate my random use of Korean language in everyday life, or the Korean pop music I've come to adore despite its horrific representation of art and poor use of English.
Before I left almost every phone call or voicemail from any family member started with "I know you're not ready to come home, I'm sorry you can't stay longer, etc....but we really miss you." I was starting to think I talked about how much I like Korea so much that everyone became convinced I would never be happy at home. I hope they understand that although I could have stayed and I'm not a person that gets homesick, I do love my family and home...I'm happy where ever I am.
Things I'm Happy about at Home
My parents (i can't explain how good my dad is to me, and my mom is always calling to check on me)
My best friends
My car, room, home
Salsa dancing and my ahjussi/ahjumma friends
Christmas - the music in the malls, the desserts, plans to go to grandmas' houses
Upcoming father-daughter trip to Texas
My Korean class, me and a professor, and one last shot on the subway ^^
Korea meant more to me than you can imagine. I got here with the help and push of my professors at Waynesburg and support of my family. I thrived with the great program at Ewha, and the endless opportunities to experience things. I made connections with many different people on many different levels that I can never forget. I learned alot about myself, and even changed a bit. Korea's seemingly perfect mix of old and new, traditional and modern, made this a great place to study abroad. I hope more people will follow Colin and myself and take on South Korea, and make their own stories (one already is...good luck Bethany!). My only regret is that I didn't stay longer, and I don't have a plane ticket to return (yet). Now, I'm ready to visit family, share my experiences, enjoy my vacation and return to school to make the best of my last two semesters. Bring on the next chapter.
Saranghae - love you all,
Alisha
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I love people; "I want Alisha to come to Korea Again"
My favorite thing about studying abroad is meeting people. I have a few pen pals that I have kept in touch with, and I have met three while I've been here. Saturday I met Yulim for the first time, and had a blast. First we went to the Garak Market, a huge produce and fish market, to walk around. We weren't sure what to do, and it was already 1:30 so alot of the market was closed, but i was curious so we went. She thought it was entertaining when people stopped us and asked her where I was from and what I was doing. Since I wore long pants I got fish water up my legs but i survived. After that, we went to Konkuk university station for lunch, and had 보쌈 -- really good pork and rice for 2 people (21,000won). The we went to a coffee shop and ordered an exotic coffee and a hot choco and talked. Okay, it's an underestimate to say we talked, because we had a 6 hour conversation - 3:30-9:30pm. The coffee shop atmosphere was too good, the owner might have said. We discussed everything from how it felt to ask our parents for money, prostitution, church volunteering, and prejudices people hold about their neighboring countries, to what is considered "good" food in different countries, dating customs, and foreign language accent differences.
I could really impress you if I said that this whole conversation was in Korean, but Yulim's English was pretty good. She wanted me to meet her favorite cousin because he was home from the US, so we waited for his teaching job to finish. We met him and his three friends, all of whom were Koreans that went to college together in Pennsylvania. I believe a few of them were in Korea because they had to do their military service (In Korea, every man is required to serve in the army for two years.) We had dinner with them and spoke in lots of Konglish (a mess of Korean and English). Her cousin and friends didn't have accents, or rather had American accents, and spoke quickly so Yulim got shy about her English. Although it was hard to believe because we had just finished speaking together in English for six hours. No one could believe that we met on the Internet and this was the first time we've met in person, everyone thought we were best friends. At the coffee shop there were papers we could write our hopes and holiday wishes on to hang for Christmas decoration, and Yulim wrote "I want Alisha to come to Korea Again." Such a sweet friend. I love making connections with people.
Yulim was the third pen pal I've met in person, one in Pusan that took me to one of the best meals I've had, and the other is Kwangsoo. Kwangsoo is now affectionately called a "best friend." We chat about everything and he helps me find things around Seoul...hopefully he'll come visit the US so I can be as kind. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace the last time we met.
Besides Penpals I've met some great people just randomly. One day Pauline and I met KiTae, a 27 year old student at Seoul National University, that invited us to tour his school. Seoul National is the largest, and best (sorry to say that Ewha, just repeating the general consensus) university in Korea, so it was worth seeing. He brought two friends to meet us, one of which could speak great English, and they showed us the campus. It was getting dark but we saw a good bit of things including the library and a few places couples go to hide out, haha. You can say it was an insider's view. KiTae treated us to dinner in one of the dining rooms. This particular dining room was mostly used by professors for meetings, because all of the meals were about $35 and there was even wine on the menu. After a great Korean dinner, we went to a coffee shop before heading home to celebrate a friends' birthday.
Other activities I've done with people I've met off-campus have included going to Lotte World amusement park, lots of dinners and coffee shop visits, batting cages, trips to the movie theater, and even one ridiculous random trip to a street-side fortune teller.
OH also recently I went to the DMZ, the border of North and South Korea. I could talk about the tour with the USO, how odd it felt traveling with 40 Americans, the feeling of being in a war zone and how much I learned, but I don't think I can do it justice in this setting.
Here's a photo from Panmujeom, the UN building used for negotiations, that straddles the boarder...yes I crossed into North Korea for a few minutes ^^.
I could really impress you if I said that this whole conversation was in Korean, but Yulim's English was pretty good. She wanted me to meet her favorite cousin because he was home from the US, so we waited for his teaching job to finish. We met him and his three friends, all of whom were Koreans that went to college together in Pennsylvania. I believe a few of them were in Korea because they had to do their military service (In Korea, every man is required to serve in the army for two years.) We had dinner with them and spoke in lots of Konglish (a mess of Korean and English). Her cousin and friends didn't have accents, or rather had American accents, and spoke quickly so Yulim got shy about her English. Although it was hard to believe because we had just finished speaking together in English for six hours. No one could believe that we met on the Internet and this was the first time we've met in person, everyone thought we were best friends. At the coffee shop there were papers we could write our hopes and holiday wishes on to hang for Christmas decoration, and Yulim wrote "I want Alisha to come to Korea Again." Such a sweet friend. I love making connections with people.
Yulim was the third pen pal I've met in person, one in Pusan that took me to one of the best meals I've had, and the other is Kwangsoo. Kwangsoo is now affectionately called a "best friend." We chat about everything and he helps me find things around Seoul...hopefully he'll come visit the US so I can be as kind. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace the last time we met.
Besides Penpals I've met some great people just randomly. One day Pauline and I met KiTae, a 27 year old student at Seoul National University, that invited us to tour his school. Seoul National is the largest, and best (sorry to say that Ewha, just repeating the general consensus) university in Korea, so it was worth seeing. He brought two friends to meet us, one of which could speak great English, and they showed us the campus. It was getting dark but we saw a good bit of things including the library and a few places couples go to hide out, haha. You can say it was an insider's view. KiTae treated us to dinner in one of the dining rooms. This particular dining room was mostly used by professors for meetings, because all of the meals were about $35 and there was even wine on the menu. After a great Korean dinner, we went to a coffee shop before heading home to celebrate a friends' birthday.
Other activities I've done with people I've met off-campus have included going to Lotte World amusement park, lots of dinners and coffee shop visits, batting cages, trips to the movie theater, and even one ridiculous random trip to a street-side fortune teller.
OH also recently I went to the DMZ, the border of North and South Korea. I could talk about the tour with the USO, how odd it felt traveling with 40 Americans, the feeling of being in a war zone and how much I learned, but I don't think I can do it justice in this setting.
Here's a photo from Panmujeom, the UN building used for negotiations, that straddles the boarder...yes I crossed into North Korea for a few minutes ^^.
Monday, November 10, 2008
“I want nobody nobody but you…” Pop Culture
Since my last post I've been staying around Seoul and keeping up with the normal random activities. The only complaint I have is that my camera has been going crazy on me by not working half of the time, so my tourist look isn't quite complete. One day I went to the 63Building to see the sunset over the city, and thankfully got some great photos.
^^63 Building
^^Snapshot of the Subway when you get on at the wrong time...chaos.
(^^ Random Band, 제8극장, that played covers of Elvis and other random bands.)
One thing that is evident here is the impact of commercialism and pop culture, and I surprisingly have grown to love it. Even while taking a walk to the subway station from the main gate of Ewha you’ll be bombarded with sales pitches and catchy tunes. Well this is a popular women's university, so of course the shopping outside the main gate is called “Fashion Street” in all of the tour guide books. It is truly a street shopping paradise, or at least a convenient place to buy a new pair of shoes to celebrate the end of midterms. But it’s the same everywhere here, sales people with microphones trying to get people to come into their stores, people trying to pass out advertisements, and at every street cart selling accessories you’ll see pictures of your favorite celebrities wearing scarves. Earlier in the semester the picture of Paris Hilton and her purse-sized puppy inspired quite a few purchases. My first week here I felt like I had to get a pair of high heals and a fashionable boyfriend on my arm. However, I like that everyone usually dresses professionally, a change from the typical sweat shirts and t-shirts wardrobe of most American university campuses.
Korean popular (K-pop, rock, traditional) music also has its interesting place. There are some great bands, and some crazy fans here. Like I said, I went to a concert last week, luckily a free benefit concert with about 15 bands. I haven’t seen one band that doesn’t have a dance routine to every one of their hit songs. And since being a fan is not taken lightly, most people learn the dances. One band, The Wonder Girls, is probably one of the most popular now, their current hit being “Nobody.” Look it up on YouTube if you’re interested, it’s all in Korean except the addictive chorus. Speaking of which, why did I start writing this? It’s replaying in my head again. Ahhh. One night I was sitting with some friends and the song came on in the restaurant. Looking around I spotted a few grown men saying how they loved Wonder Girls and one mimicking the dance moves under the table. People are hilarious. Before I came to Korea, I memorized one Korean song, so I could impress my friends in Karaoke, but I regret not learning a dance as well. Well sad to say the Wonder Girls weren’t that great in concert, and they only sang “Nobody”, but I still like their music. There’s no way I could escape it anyway.
(^Random band at the concert)
Speaking of commercialism, some genius invented a wonderful unofficial holiday for a pretty sweet candy: Pepero Day. Pepero (빼빼로) is like Japan’s Pocky, a long cookie covered in chocolate. On November 11th, you may be honoring Veterans Day, but thanks to the Lotte candy company we’ll be trading Pepero with friends, teachers and anyone we may “like” here in Korea. It’s on November 11th because 4 Pepero looks like 11/11. Every convenience store I’ve passed today going to and from church (I travel an hour away from campus, that’s a lot of convenience stores) had Pepero in the windows of all sizes and flavors. I've met people that told me they're giving some to their boyfriend/girlfriend, then a few that say definitely not, it's not romantic, or they went to a men's high school so they had no experience to help me out...poor guys. I think it’s more for couples once you get out of high school, a Valentine’s or Sweetest day kind of thing, but I still hope I get some Pepero!
This weekend was the Peace Buddy party for international students, with a costume theme and Mr. Ewha contest. Colin definitely represented here, putting on a great talent performance, unfortunately, yet entertainingly enough, someone in cross dress, dancing to “Nobody” won the title.
I was fortunate to make a friend outside campus that invited me to a birthday party, so I went after the I-Party. The typical birthday (well this one at least) turns out to be hanging out at a restaurant with friends. This one was particularly interesting because I was the only foreigner, and only girl ( also known as: “홍일점”). Everyone was really cool, tried to speak in English a little, and asked me questions about home and such. It was a blast, it kind of reminded me of hanging out with friends back home, and even though I didn’t expect to be the only girl, it was definitely an experience I’m happy I was able to have. Now I’m excited for my birthday next month! The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing: movies, window shopping, girl talk…just ended my Sunday with a load of laundry and a game of Uno with some girls. I'm really comfortable here, but I'm still doing new things, so I'm really sad there's only a month left.
^^63 Building
^^Snapshot of the Subway when you get on at the wrong time...chaos.
(^^ Random Band, 제8극장, that played covers of Elvis and other random bands.)
One thing that is evident here is the impact of commercialism and pop culture, and I surprisingly have grown to love it. Even while taking a walk to the subway station from the main gate of Ewha you’ll be bombarded with sales pitches and catchy tunes. Well this is a popular women's university, so of course the shopping outside the main gate is called “Fashion Street” in all of the tour guide books. It is truly a street shopping paradise, or at least a convenient place to buy a new pair of shoes to celebrate the end of midterms. But it’s the same everywhere here, sales people with microphones trying to get people to come into their stores, people trying to pass out advertisements, and at every street cart selling accessories you’ll see pictures of your favorite celebrities wearing scarves. Earlier in the semester the picture of Paris Hilton and her purse-sized puppy inspired quite a few purchases. My first week here I felt like I had to get a pair of high heals and a fashionable boyfriend on my arm. However, I like that everyone usually dresses professionally, a change from the typical sweat shirts and t-shirts wardrobe of most American university campuses.
Korean popular (K-pop, rock, traditional) music also has its interesting place. There are some great bands, and some crazy fans here. Like I said, I went to a concert last week, luckily a free benefit concert with about 15 bands. I haven’t seen one band that doesn’t have a dance routine to every one of their hit songs. And since being a fan is not taken lightly, most people learn the dances. One band, The Wonder Girls, is probably one of the most popular now, their current hit being “Nobody.” Look it up on YouTube if you’re interested, it’s all in Korean except the addictive chorus. Speaking of which, why did I start writing this? It’s replaying in my head again. Ahhh. One night I was sitting with some friends and the song came on in the restaurant. Looking around I spotted a few grown men saying how they loved Wonder Girls and one mimicking the dance moves under the table. People are hilarious. Before I came to Korea, I memorized one Korean song, so I could impress my friends in Karaoke, but I regret not learning a dance as well. Well sad to say the Wonder Girls weren’t that great in concert, and they only sang “Nobody”, but I still like their music. There’s no way I could escape it anyway.
(^Random band at the concert)
Speaking of commercialism, some genius invented a wonderful unofficial holiday for a pretty sweet candy: Pepero Day. Pepero (빼빼로) is like Japan’s Pocky, a long cookie covered in chocolate. On November 11th, you may be honoring Veterans Day, but thanks to the Lotte candy company we’ll be trading Pepero with friends, teachers and anyone we may “like” here in Korea. It’s on November 11th because 4 Pepero looks like 11/11. Every convenience store I’ve passed today going to and from church (I travel an hour away from campus, that’s a lot of convenience stores) had Pepero in the windows of all sizes and flavors. I've met people that told me they're giving some to their boyfriend/girlfriend, then a few that say definitely not, it's not romantic, or they went to a men's high school so they had no experience to help me out...poor guys. I think it’s more for couples once you get out of high school, a Valentine’s or Sweetest day kind of thing, but I still hope I get some Pepero!
This weekend was the Peace Buddy party for international students, with a costume theme and Mr. Ewha contest. Colin definitely represented here, putting on a great talent performance, unfortunately, yet entertainingly enough, someone in cross dress, dancing to “Nobody” won the title.
I was fortunate to make a friend outside campus that invited me to a birthday party, so I went after the I-Party. The typical birthday (well this one at least) turns out to be hanging out at a restaurant with friends. This one was particularly interesting because I was the only foreigner, and only girl ( also known as: “홍일점”). Everyone was really cool, tried to speak in English a little, and asked me questions about home and such. It was a blast, it kind of reminded me of hanging out with friends back home, and even though I didn’t expect to be the only girl, it was definitely an experience I’m happy I was able to have. Now I’m excited for my birthday next month! The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing: movies, window shopping, girl talk…just ended my Sunday with a load of laundry and a game of Uno with some girls. I'm really comfortable here, but I'm still doing new things, so I'm really sad there's only a month left.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
우리 부산에서 만날까요?
This past week (Fri-Wed) was my break from midterms so I grabbed my usual traveling buddies and went to Gyeongju and south to Busan. Gyeongju is the ancient capital of the Silla period, so it was great for sightseeing, especially since we just finished studying Silla literature in my online class. Pauline and I were in Gyeongju for 2 nights, but there was nothing to do for fun at night. We ran into a group of Germans who asked us what there was to do, and somehow we all ended up going to a Norebang together. Here's to making random friends. Sunday we took a bus to Busan, the 2nd largest city in S.Korea, where Jenni met us. The weekend was full of beach visits, shopping, a temple visit, and a stroll in the country's largest fish market (poor Jenni is vegetarian and strolled down a street where they were chopping off heads). I met a penpal that I made online that lives in Busan, and she took me out for what has been the best meal I've had in Korea (except the one Saera's mom cooked for us during the last holiday). One highlight was the empty Norebang we strolled into. We were the only customers, so the lady that ran the place was really nice to us, and kept giving us more time to sing than we paid for. Nothing tops the fact that she joined us for one last song: "Mama Mia."
I'm sitting in my dorm sipping my 26th cup of tea in the past 20 hours. It's the only thing that seems to ward off the head cold that is trying to chase me. Someone in our hostel insisted on leaving the window open, so I think that's why I'm getting sick. Although, it could be a combination of that and laying on the beach on a cold day. It was worth it though, and I found some medicine and Orange Juice, so I'll be good.
It was a short week, and I only have one class tomorrow! I have plans to meet a Japanese girl for a little post-midterm relaxation, and a Kimchi festival. It will be nice to stay in Seoul. Maybe I'll go salsa dancing - it's been at least 4 weeks since I've been. Of course you know I found some great places to dance, it's what I do.
I love it here, and sometimes I feel like a Korean, even though there's no escaping the fact that I don't look like I belong. I'm using my Korean more and I'm more confident, I'm even picking up some habits. I've been facing the question: as an International Relations student, is it necessary to give up my identity to understand anothers'? I think not. It's difficult but necessary to find grounds to share my culture, while still immersing myself in another. Asian countries have conflicts because of the past, and their memories and self-identities. Each country in North East Asia tends to have their own views of the others. If you ask any Korean why it is important for Korea to keep possession of Dokdo Island, you might get into a heated one-sided conversation against the possibility of Japanese imperialism flaring up again. Even with these ideological blockades, there still exists great economic interdependence and political connectedness. However, when it comes to getting business done, there is a lot of sharing and cooperation and success in Asia, and still a preservation of each distinct (with similarities) culture. It's not balanced, but there's an order that can't be denied. Korea has a blend of old and new that is envied by many countries. My roommate says that Chinese struggle to keep their identity and culture preserved while still becoming more global, but realizes Korea has done a good job at doing just that. I'm also learning that the purpose of traveling, or just living life, is not to lose or find myself. Traveling opens opportunities to be who I am, mature where I'm planted, and understand people better through their perspectives.
I apologize if any of the above is confusing or has errors, this cold has me a little foggy-headed. (Praying against that though.) Also I had a few good distractions, chats with my future roommate that's in Russia, and Amy, my past floor-mate that's now here at Ewha (she chose my blog title, it means "Shall we meet in Busan?") ㅋㅋ
I'm going to go continue studying my shopping vocabulary for my Korean test tomorrow. I should also learn how I did on the midterm soon ^^ Hope all is well at home, I think of you all often.
I'm sitting in my dorm sipping my 26th cup of tea in the past 20 hours. It's the only thing that seems to ward off the head cold that is trying to chase me. Someone in our hostel insisted on leaving the window open, so I think that's why I'm getting sick. Although, it could be a combination of that and laying on the beach on a cold day. It was worth it though, and I found some medicine and Orange Juice, so I'll be good.
It was a short week, and I only have one class tomorrow! I have plans to meet a Japanese girl for a little post-midterm relaxation, and a Kimchi festival. It will be nice to stay in Seoul. Maybe I'll go salsa dancing - it's been at least 4 weeks since I've been. Of course you know I found some great places to dance, it's what I do.
I love it here, and sometimes I feel like a Korean, even though there's no escaping the fact that I don't look like I belong. I'm using my Korean more and I'm more confident, I'm even picking up some habits. I've been facing the question: as an International Relations student, is it necessary to give up my identity to understand anothers'? I think not. It's difficult but necessary to find grounds to share my culture, while still immersing myself in another. Asian countries have conflicts because of the past, and their memories and self-identities. Each country in North East Asia tends to have their own views of the others. If you ask any Korean why it is important for Korea to keep possession of Dokdo Island, you might get into a heated one-sided conversation against the possibility of Japanese imperialism flaring up again. Even with these ideological blockades, there still exists great economic interdependence and political connectedness. However, when it comes to getting business done, there is a lot of sharing and cooperation and success in Asia, and still a preservation of each distinct (with similarities) culture. It's not balanced, but there's an order that can't be denied. Korea has a blend of old and new that is envied by many countries. My roommate says that Chinese struggle to keep their identity and culture preserved while still becoming more global, but realizes Korea has done a good job at doing just that. I'm also learning that the purpose of traveling, or just living life, is not to lose or find myself. Traveling opens opportunities to be who I am, mature where I'm planted, and understand people better through their perspectives.
I apologize if any of the above is confusing or has errors, this cold has me a little foggy-headed. (Praying against that though.) Also I had a few good distractions, chats with my future roommate that's in Russia, and Amy, my past floor-mate that's now here at Ewha (she chose my blog title, it means "Shall we meet in Busan?") ㅋㅋ
I'm going to go continue studying my shopping vocabulary for my Korean test tomorrow. I should also learn how I did on the midterm soon ^^ Hope all is well at home, I think of you all often.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Weekend East
This past weekend my travels to the east coast were anything but smooth, but I had an amazing time. Three exchange students and I traveled to Seoraksan National Park,in the northeast of the country. Transportation was the biggest hurdle. No matter where we were going we always happened to miss the bus by 5 minutes.
Osaek, is known for its hot springs, and our motel had one. Actually it's a glorified public bath with the natural water from the springs pumped into it. It was definitely a new experience bathing with a bunch of other ladies. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone. After we checked into our 40,000Won motel, which had mats to sleep on the heated floor and a bathroom with old tile and a semi-functional western-style toilet, we left to go to the beach! A pen-pal of mine told me that the East Sea has the best beach, so I was really excited to go, even if it's the middle of Autumn. We figured out we had to take bus #9 we got to the stop about 5 minutes late. Luckily a persistent taxi driver offered us a ride to Naksan for 10,000won, so since it's usually about 20,000 we took the ride.
The beach was beautiful, and even though it was cold three of us decided to just give in and swim. We definitely played the foreigner card on this move. It wasn't long before we realized the jacket-clad Koreans on the beach had their eyes on us for being so crazy. As I walked to the bathrooms to change a large group of older people stopped me for a short conversation on how the water was. They were fun. I love people. We sat on the beach in our sweatshirts and jeans for a while taking pictures and joking around. I think I left all of my cares there. 
Saturday a few park rangers at Osaek came to us to give us some information, and take our photos for some reason. They convinced us to visit a temple and waterfalls in Osaek before traveling to the main part of the part in the north.
The hiking was very easy, maybe too easy. The leaves were beautiful colors and the mountains were amazing. In the more popular part of the park the leaves were mostly green still, so I'm really thankful we went there first. I'm not very good at describing so I'll just include a few more pictures. 
The weekend was great, even though a few times our girl-fight instinct almost came through. Two of the girls are vegetarians so the whole weekend was a fight to find a pizza hut...which we successfully did! It's definitely not your familiar pan-pizza here, there's actually no real difference between pizza places for those of you interested, except the crazy toppings like potatoes and shrimp. I'm hungry now.
I just returned from my first Midterm Exam! PHEW. it's over. Yesterday reminded me of Waynesburg and normal college days. I wore sweat pants all day for the first time, and relaxed around the dorm studying and visiting people. Haddie, my roommate from freshman year, mailed me stuff to make s'mores (necessary because no one here heard of them) so we had a mini party in the kitchenette on the 2nd floor. I showed them how to make s'mores in the microwave, then we got adventurous and used the toaster oven. It soon turned into Asian marshmallows when instead of a stick, someone picked their marshmallow up with a chopstick.
I stayed up late and then studied 3 more hours today...minus a few times I checked facebook and uploaded pictures. The test turned out to be 3 short answers and an essay on studying comparative politics. I just hope I did alright. Next exam is for Korean language. dun.dun.dun. OH! Just remembered, I have a dinner appointment with my tutor! food and study help. yay.
Thanks for reading, annyeong!
Osaek, is known for its hot springs, and our motel had one. Actually it's a glorified public bath with the natural water from the springs pumped into it. It was definitely a new experience bathing with a bunch of other ladies. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone. After we checked into our 40,000Won motel, which had mats to sleep on the heated floor and a bathroom with old tile and a semi-functional western-style toilet, we left to go to the beach! A pen-pal of mine told me that the East Sea has the best beach, so I was really excited to go, even if it's the middle of Autumn. We figured out we had to take bus #9 we got to the stop about 5 minutes late. Luckily a persistent taxi driver offered us a ride to Naksan for 10,000won, so since it's usually about 20,000 we took the ride.
The beach was beautiful, and even though it was cold three of us decided to just give in and swim. We definitely played the foreigner card on this move. It wasn't long before we realized the jacket-clad Koreans on the beach had their eyes on us for being so crazy. As I walked to the bathrooms to change a large group of older people stopped me for a short conversation on how the water was. They were fun. I love people. We sat on the beach in our sweatshirts and jeans for a while taking pictures and joking around. I think I left all of my cares there. 
Saturday a few park rangers at Osaek came to us to give us some information, and take our photos for some reason. They convinced us to visit a temple and waterfalls in Osaek before traveling to the main part of the part in the north.
The hiking was very easy, maybe too easy. The leaves were beautiful colors and the mountains were amazing. In the more popular part of the park the leaves were mostly green still, so I'm really thankful we went there first. I'm not very good at describing so I'll just include a few more pictures. 
The weekend was great, even though a few times our girl-fight instinct almost came through. Two of the girls are vegetarians so the whole weekend was a fight to find a pizza hut...which we successfully did! It's definitely not your familiar pan-pizza here, there's actually no real difference between pizza places for those of you interested, except the crazy toppings like potatoes and shrimp. I'm hungry now.
I just returned from my first Midterm Exam! PHEW. it's over. Yesterday reminded me of Waynesburg and normal college days. I wore sweat pants all day for the first time, and relaxed around the dorm studying and visiting people. Haddie, my roommate from freshman year, mailed me stuff to make s'mores (necessary because no one here heard of them) so we had a mini party in the kitchenette on the 2nd floor. I showed them how to make s'mores in the microwave, then we got adventurous and used the toaster oven. It soon turned into Asian marshmallows when instead of a stick, someone picked their marshmallow up with a chopstick.
I stayed up late and then studied 3 more hours today...minus a few times I checked facebook and uploaded pictures. The test turned out to be 3 short answers and an essay on studying comparative politics. I just hope I did alright. Next exam is for Korean language. dun.dun.dun. OH! Just remembered, I have a dinner appointment with my tutor! food and study help. yay.
Thanks for reading, annyeong!
Friday, October 10, 2008
little get-aways make my days
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