Calligraphy, clubbing, and a K-pop concert

My weeks have never gotten less busy since classes started! In my reunification class on Monday we started digging into how international politics affects the possibility for reunification in the Korean peninsula. This class is very interesting by how it is run by the professor. It varies between either a lot of lecturing by the professor or a lot "discussion" between students, which is really just students stating opinions and some students talk but obviously do not know what they are talking about (which is really annoying). Additionally, the professor can be hard to understand at some points and he is overall a very enthusiastic instructor, but in a way that makes it look like he's stressed. It's hard to explain if you're not in person. I have learned a lot from the readings though and it's looking like I will end up learning more from the readings than I will through class time. However, this will not deter me from going to class. Just like my time at MSU, I plan on not skipping class unless I'm dying from sickness and physically cannot move (which hopefully never happens, haha).

On Tuesday I finally began to practice calligraphy in calligraphy club. I learned very basic strokes, including straight lines, diagonals, 90-degree angles, and curves. I also learned how to hold the brush correctly, how to make ink, and how to clean the brush properly. Long story short though, calligraphy is much harder than it looks. I spent two hours practicing those basic strokes and I was nowhere near perfect. A lot practice will be needed to make it to the advanced level. When I watched the instructor last week I thought that calligraphy was going to be a quick learning process but I learned fast that that was very incorrect. Calligraphy also requires patience; you cannot give up if you keep making mistakes and your lines do not turn out perfectly. The instructor has 30 years of experience so of course he is going to make it look easy and I cannot expect to be as good as he is in such a short period. Fortunately I have a lot of time to practice!

Practicing basic strokes in calligraphy club.

On Wednesday my Korean class went out to dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant and later we headed to Baskin Robbin's to get some ice cream and we ended up talking there for almost two hours. It was enjoyable getting to know my classmates outside of class and I'm very fortunate to have the class that I have because we all get along and we have interesting personalities that doesn't make hanging out boring. My class is also very diverse. The countries that are represented are: USA, Germany, New Zealand, Brazil, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. I look forward to hanging out with them in the future.

KLI class dinner. Too bad you can't see my face because I was all the way at the end of the table, haha.

After class on Thursday I had dinner with Inho at a Korean soup (chigae) restaurant. The entire restaurant is run by one man which is quite impressive and the soup was really filling and really cheap. The only soup that is served is kimchi chigae, one of my favorites. We each got a bowl of rice and chowed down to the last drops of soup. For the two us it was only $10 for a huge pot of soup. If I can find the restaurant again I am definitely going there in the future.

On Friday I had my North Korean class which delved into the political system of North Korea. North Korea's political parties are leader-oriented and are always changing, so it was actually quite difficult to get all the parties and organizations straight in my head. I will have to go back and review the names of the different organizations and how much power each organization has relative to the other. Later that night Marisa, Lea, and another friend Helen went out clubbing in Hongdae. We started off the night by buying some bottles of soju in a convenience store and then sitting and drinking in a park in Hongdae. Hongdae, and Seoul in general, is bustling at night. It was interesting and fun seeing how much the city comes to life at night and how there are just endless things to do. I also love how convenience stores carry cheap alcohol so you don't have to pay for expensive drinks at the club. While we were in the park we met with other exchange students from Yonsei and we all headed to a club called NB2. We bought a ticket where we could access numerous clubs and have two free drinks for only $15 but we ended up just staying at the same club because we were having so much fun. I can't wait to go clubbing again this coming weekend which is what I'm going to do for my 21st birthday. I figured since it's my 21st I need to go big so we're going to Gangnam and going all out at some expensive but really good clubs. Apparently one of the clubs had a trampoline in the middle of the dance floor. How awesome is that? And before we go clubbing, Seoul is going to set off fireworks so we're going to watch those.

A night of clubbing in Hongdae.

On Saturday Marisa, Helen, and I headed to Incheon (the city where the international airport is located) to attend the Sky Festival. Tickets were free which was really great considering how much we were able to do and see. The festival had numerous tents set up for cultural activities including making soap and wearing traditional clothes. There were also food tents where I ate my fill of mandu (dumplings). Later that night at the festival was a huge K-pop concert. Many groups were represented including big names like Super Junior, Girls Generation, Sistar, Vixx, etc. The concert lasted for two hours which definitely gave me my fill of K-pop. I'm personally not a huge fan of K-pop but I figured since it was free and since I was in Korea I should go at least once while I'm here. Plus I got to witness crazy fan girls screaming behind me which you can only get at K-pop concerts (trust me, I mean crazy).

The soap I made! It's supposed to be in the shape of a traditional Korean mask. The flavor is cocoa butter so it smells really good!

One of the groups at the K-pop concert.

Lastly on Sunday I worked on my homework and I met up with other Boren scholars and fellows studying in South Korea. We got some Korean BBQ (can you tell I get Korean BBQ a lot?) and then later went to a cafe and got Oreo bingsu and fruit bingsu. We ended up meeting for around three hours just talking about our lives but mostly our plans for the future, which for all of us includes working for the government. Similar to my Boren orientation, it was really insightful and fulfilling being able to discuss my life with people who have similar goals and experiences. There's definitely a "we're in this together" attitude which will help me in the future and has already helped me so far in Korea (I received a lot of advice from past Borens who studied in South Korea).

A cultural aspect that I will discuss this week is bathrooms. Korean bathrooms, like most non-Western bathrooms in the rest of the world, are unlike American-style bathrooms. In many cases there is no bathtub or shower curtain. Instead the whole bathroom is like a shower so you end up getting the whole room wet when you bathe. Additionally, in some bathrooms (I've only seen these in the KLI building), the toilets are non-Western. For those of you who aren't familiar with non-Western toilets, they are essentially a glorified hole in the ground where you have to squat to do your business. I'm actually surprised I haven't encountered more because I've had my fair share of using those style of toilets when I lived in India and travelled around Asia. Anyways, I will see you next week!

Errands, a movie, and my first MT!

Another busy week went by and it was filled with a variety of errands and fun outings. I can't believe I've been here for a month! Time seriously flies by when your days are filled with so many activities. On Monday Marisa and I went to pick up our Alien Registration Cards (finally!) from the Immigration Office. I really hate the Immigration Office because there are always a lot of people and the building and staff are not very helpful towards foreigners (ironically enough). The building opens at 8:00 a.m. but by the time we got there at 7:30 there was already a long line out of the building and once we got into the building we still had to wait until 9 a.m. for the counter to open. I'm glad we got there earlier though because we were 5th and 6th in line instead of 50th or 60th. As far as the Immigration Office goes, it's oddly the place that I feel the most unwelcome in Korea. All the signs are also in Korean, they make announcements in Korean, and barely any of the staff speak English. As a foreigner who does not know Korean, how do you get around?

After we left the Immigration Office, I headed back to campus to open up my Korean bank account. I wasn't planning on opening a bank account but it makes everything a lot easier here as far as payments go (such as rent, phone plan, etc.) Opening the account was also relatively easy and it was free, so it would almost be silly if I didn't open one while I was here, especially since I'm here for a year. I then headed to class for the whole day (1:00 to 6:00 p.m.).

On Tuesday I FINALLY got my phone plan! I forgot how much I missed having data at all times to talk to people and listen to music. Seoul has an abundance of wifi but the majority of the ports cannot be accessed if you do not have a Korean phone plan. I ended up paying for a sim card through Olleh and now I am able to access Olleh wifi which is found literally everywhere in Seoul, inside and outside. I bought 4G for now because I plan on using my phone a lot but if I find that 4G is too much I'm going to go back in and switch to 2G to save money. My host mom also accompanied me which was a prerequisite because no one at the phone store spoke English and even my host mom said that she could barely understand the lady's Korean at times. Who knows what I would have ended up with if I went alone.

On Wednesday I met with my language partner for about an hour and then we had lunch together in the cafeteria. We spent the first half going over informal, slang Korean. My calligraphy club has a Kakao group chat and a lot of the members use slang. It's difficult for me to understand what they are saying because they use a lot of abbreviations. My partner and I went through some of the group conversations and he taught me some vocabulary, grammar points, and common abbreviations. During the second half I taught him some English grammar points. I explained the differences between would, could, and should and when to use articles with nouns. I always forget how hard and irregular English is until I have to teach it to someone. But, he seems to have understood my examples and explanations so I hope I did my part well in the language exchange. I look forward to meeting him again next week.

Where Jeong Bin and I meet for our language exchange! The Yonsei Global Lounge in the student center.

I also went to my first calligraphy lesson on Wednesday. The lesson was from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. but because I had Korean class on the other side of campus at 4:00 p.m. I had to leave early. The class consisted of the student members watching the older instructor draw characters. They also showed him their "homework" and asked for his comments. The entire lesson was in Korean so I didn't quite catch everything he was instructing, but I hope that as time goes by I will be able to understand more and more. I think next week (or I guess this upcoming week) we are going to go out and buy brushes and supplies.

On Friday Marisa, Patrick, Lea and I (Patrick and Lea are other Boren scholars who are also studying at Yonsei) went to see Maze Runner since it was the movie premier. Compared to the movie theaters I've been to in the U.S., Korean movie theaters are SO much better. They are much more fancy and clean, they sell gourmet popcorn and even have coffee drinks, and you have to reserve your seats beforehand. I like having the requirement of reserving your seat because you can get there right before the movie begins and know that you will have the seat you prefer. Additionally, because this movie theater is in a city, there were multiple floors which had one or two theaters on each floor, which is different than the U.S. where most movie theaters are only one level. Maze Runner was also excellent. I have not read the novels, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Highly recommended. And watching it in a Korean cinema? Even better. The only slightly annoying thing was that the movie had Korean subtitles, but at the same time I actually appreciated the subtitles because it helped me learn more Korean phrases.

Some of the popcorn flavors they were selling at the movie theater.

Lastly, on Saturday I attended my first MT for calligraphy club in Cheongpyeong, a town about 2 hours outside of Seoul if you take the subway. Steven Bammel in his blog explains what MT is pretty well: "MT", which stands for membership training, is a modern phenomenon in Korea. It is basically a retreat where a group of people from an organization go away together for a day or more and carry out a variety of group-bonding activities and training activities. It is a rite of passage for university students who might go on several MT retreats for the various clubs and associations they have joined and is a good way for the younger students and older students to bond with each other and establish and strengthen the all-important "senior-junior" relationship. (See the feature article in the previous edition of the eZine for an explanation of the senior-junior relationship.) Drinking alcohol together is considered by Koreans to be one of the best ways to bond with others, so naturally there is lots of drinking when people go on MT.

Flowers in a local garden in Cheongpyeong.

Scenery of the mountains in Cheongpyeong. The Korean peninsula is 70% mountainous so there are mountains everywhere!

We stayed in a pension for the night, which is basically a large room with a bathroom, kitchenette, pillows and blankets for sleeping, a karaoke machine, and tables and a barbeque outside for cooking. After we arrived we split off into groups to introduce each other. I taught my group the game "Two truths and a lie" because I figured that would be a good way to introduce everyone. 20 people attended MT which was a good number because if too many people came then it would be a little too overwhelming to get to know everyone. We then all went outside to play Korea's version of dodgeball. After that we went back inside and played some card games and Korean games, including Korean mafia, while the group leaders went out to the grocery store to buy food, drinks, and snacks. All of the conversations were in Korean and unfortunately learning games like mafia in another language is quite difficult. Fortunately some members spoke English so they served as translators. I was able to understand the general gist of the rules but in order to follow the game correctly you have to understand the rules in detail. The leaders came back so we headed outside to start eating some dinner. We had traditional Korean BBQ, which usually and most likely always includes pork and beef meat, kimchi, a red pepper sauce, garlic, rice, and lettuce for wrapping everything up. And of course there was an abundance of soju, Korea's most popular liquor which is basically like a weak vodka (I prefer the taste of soju a lot better though). One of the ways you can drink soju is by mixing it with blueberry vinegar and taking it as a shot. It sounds strange and a little gross but it actually tasted really good. As we were sitting we played a little drinking game where you go around the table and try flicking off the metal strip on the soju bottle cap. Whoever flicks off the metal strip gives out two shots. We finished off our meal eating some patbingsu (red bean bingsu). They bought more food than we ate so I was stuffed by the time dinner was over. 

The part of calligraphy club that went to MT!

After dinner we headed inside to start the night of drinking. We all sat in a large circle and we put bottles of soju, mixers including the blueberry vinger and Chilsung cider (which is basically like Sprite), water, cups and shot glasses (which were actually like Dixie cup shot cups, something I've only seen in Korea), and an abundance of shrimp and potato cracker snacks (which were soooooo addicting). We started off by playing a game called "kimbap mari." You go around the circle with one person saying "kim," the next "bap," then "kimbap," "mari," "kimbap mari," "myeot (this is so difficult writing Korean using Latin letters) jil," and then the next person saying the number of "jil" (or rolls), and then that number of people after that person stand up. If you stand up incorrectly by miscounting then you have to take a drink, which is usually a shot of soju. Unlike American drinking games, Korean drinking games are much more vocal, cheery, and in my opinion, more fun. And before someone drinks the entire group does a little chant to encourage the person to take the drink.

Another game we played was "kay, mi, hal, ki." The game goes around the circle with each person saying each word, except "hal" has to be at a higher pitch. And each round another "hal" is added but at a higher pitch. So round one: "kay, mi, hal, ki." Round two: "kay, mi, hal, hal, ki." Round three: "kay, mi, hal, hal, ki." And etc. The game ends when the person can't make a higher pitched sound so they take a drink. It's such a funny game and I really want to teach my American friends back at MSU.

Yet another game again went around in a circle and this time you count up to 51 and then to 71. The person who gets 51 and/or 71 has to take a drink. Each person can count either one, two, or three numbers. So the game can go like this: Person one: 1, 2, 3. Person two: 4, 5. Person three: 6. Person four: 7, 8. Etc. The game is very fast paced and let me just say that by the end I got really, really good at counting in Korean.

The night simmered down after awhile and we finished by playing an abundance of card games such as Egyptian Ratscrew, Bullshit, and Uno (in Korean is called "One Card"). I ended up falling asleep around 2:30 a.m. We had to sleep on the floor, which wasn't a huge deal, but because I wasn't used to sleeping on the floor I woke up pretty sore the next day which didn't make the two hour subway ride that enjoyable. Overall though, my first MT was really fun and relaxing. I enjoyed bonding with other members in the club, practicing my Korean, and learning Korean drinking games. I also really liked leaving Seoul and entering the countryside. Seeing green and houses instead of tall apartment buildings and skyscrapers was a nice change of pace. I look forward to going on my next MT!

I will end this blog post by discussing beauty standards in Korea. Beauty standards in Korea are very high and sometimes this pressure can be discomforting. You will often see people carry umbrellas in the sun because they do not want to get tan (being pale is seen as more beautiful), there are an abundance of cosmetic stores in Seoul, plastic surgery advertisements are everywhere, and Koreans will constantly comment on your appearance (for better or for worse). While it does kind of stink that I have to worry about my appearances more here, I have taken advantage of the copious amounts of beauty products. One product I just bought is blemish spot stickers. Basically they are clear stickers than you put on a zit, usually overnight, and after a day the zit should be gone. I just put a sticker on today to try it out for a little troublesome zit on my face and I'm curious to see if it actually works. Koreans swear by them and I often see people with them on their face so I have faith.

The blemish stickers I purchased. I'm so curious to see if they actually work!

Next week I plan on running some more errands and also booking some weekend trips in Korea. See you next week!

Meeting Korean friends and a birthday celebration

This week marked another busy week even though I only had two days of school on Thursday and Friday. After skyping with friends and family from home in the morning and afternoon on Thursday, I headed to Korean class and then afterwards I met my language partner! A week or so ago I filled out a form for a language partner, someone you meet at least once a week to exchange languages. My language partner, Jeong Bin, lived in Canada for a year and he is a civil engineering major. He's very nice and really accommodating for my level of Korean speaking. After the orientation for language partners we went to a dakkalbi restaurant (dakkalbi is a spicy chicken dish) and then later to another restaurant to get some beer. During the whole time we communicated in what I call "Kanglish," which is basically speaking Korean until I don't know the Korean words or grammar points so then we speak in English for a little bit. I've had four language partners in the past at MSU and even though we only met once a week, my speaking greatly improved especially speaking informal, casual Korean. Additionally, since Jeong Bin was an exchange student in Canada he is really understanding of my situation and wants to show me around to other places in Seoul.

On Friday I had my first full class of Politics and Society in North Korea. We started the class by introducing basic history and characteristics of the North Korean state. We then focused on Juche ideology, the predominating ideology of North Korea. By understanding Juche ideology, one can understand the behaviors of North Korea and the decisions its leaders make. It is so refreshing learning about North Korea in a detailed, serious manner. Many people analyze North Korea in a haphazard, stereotypical manner that is so frustrating; I rarely can have a serious conversation with someone about North Korea. I look forward to transferring the information I will learn from this class to my friends and family back home. I have already taken an abundance of notes and if anyone is interested about the course material, feel free to contact me and we can have a discussion.

After three hours of class I headed to Korean for two hours. Thank goodness language classes fly by because they are so fast paced and require participation because I was already pretty tired of school at that point. Once Korean concluded I headed to my calligraphy club "party!" I decided to join calligraphy club after attending their meeting on Thursday (I jumped back between that and the language partner meeting because they were at the same time). I wanted a club that taught me Korean traditions, where I could speak Korean, and where the activity was relaxing. Calligraphy fit all of those categories perfectly. Every week on Wednesday we are encouraged to attend the calligraphy lesson from the tutor and during the rest of the week to come and practice and do your "homework." Clubs in Korea are very different than the US in that they are more time intensive and taken more seriously. Each club also has their own room on campus, so once I pay my membership fee (which is only $40), I can access the room anytime and I will also have my own cubby and supplies. The room even has a bed! Apparently members take naps there in between classes, haha. The room is also nice if you want a quiet place to study. Once I start learning hanja, traditional Chinese characters, I'll post some photos! Anyways, on Friday I attended their "party," which was just eating and drinking at a Korean BBQ restaurant. I was able to meet other members there and even some alumni of the club joined us (the alumni paid for the whole meal, including drinks, which was super generous!). There were about 40 members and about 10-15 were exchange students, which was surprising because exchange students don't usually join Korean clubs. Instead they will join the exchange student clubs mostly because those clubs are in English. I conversed in Korean the entire night and I can tell already that my proficiency will greatly improve. Next week we have our first MT (member's training), which is going to require it's own separate blog post so I'll fill you in on that later!

As if my week wasn't busy enough, my weekend was just as busy. On Saturday I met with a Korean friend to get lunch in Sinchon. We decided to get some sashimi and we ate SO much salmon. We got a plate of literally just salmon sashimi. My American friends, you should be jealous, because that salmon was delicious. After lunch we walked to Hongdae, the home of Honggik University next to Sinchon and known as the "hipster, artsy" place in Seoul. I've been wanting to walk to Hongdae for the past couple of weeks so it was nice getting the chance to walk around. The area is indeed artsy; there are art galleries everywhere and people dress in more hipster attire (you know, tattoos, beanies, that hipster clothing). Hongdae, like Itaewon, also has a street with a lot of Western restaurants and shops. I found the place that has H&M, Forever 21, and Taco Bell. I will be definitely frequenting that in the future.

Salmon sashimi!

At 3 p.m. I had another plan to hang out with another Korean friend so In Ho and I parted ways back in Sinchon. Like Jeong Bin, In Ho was also an exchange student (in California) so he is really easy to get along with. And my other Korean friend (so many Korean friends!) that I met at 3, Myeong Hwan, was also an exchange student in Germany. It's turning out that all my Korean friends were exchange students in the past, which makes sense because Koreans are usually very shy to speak to foreigners. Myeong Hwan and I went to Namdaemun, a traditional market located right in the center of Seoul. The market really reminded me of Istanbul in that it was touristy and full of cheap goods and street food. It was fun just walking around and sampling the street food while conversing in Korean. I had a sweet pancake filled with molasses and nuts (SO GOOD), mandu (dumplings), and "banquet" noodles, a basic noodle soup which was also very delicious. By the end of the day I was so exhausted from speaking in Korean all day. I definitely take speaking English for granted, and it also speaks to how difficult and time intensive learning different languages is. We also walked to Myeongdong, a major shopping center. Again there were a lot of tourists but I could see why because of the abundance of modern stores. We ended the night by drinking beer and eating some bar food, like most nights in Seoul. Myeong Hwan and I had a lot time to talk and get to know each other and I think he will be one of my closer friends here. I met him through my mentor, So Yeong. We had dinner last week at a maekkoli bar (we had kiwi maekkali and oh my goodness, my American friends are missing out) and we met there. All of my Korean friends I've met here are so friendly. Developing a friend group is super comforting because missing my friend group from back home has been tough at times. I really do look forward to hanging out with my Korean friends for the rest of the year not only because I want my Korean to improve, but because they are genuinely good people and probably lifetime friends.

Namdaemun.

Myeongdong.

Myeong Hwan and I!

So Sunday rolled by and it was my host grandfather's birthday so we celebrated that with an abundance of delicious food, cake, and family members. We had sweet potato cake which was a first for me but I really liked it! My host mom explained to me that it is a typical Korean or Japanese dessert. I also had the opportunity to meet some extended family members. Naming family members in Korean is difficult so this gave me good practice. In English we just have names like aunt or cousin or grandma, but in Korean you have different words for your father's side grandma or your mother's side older aunt, etc. I also had more practice switching between formal and informal Korean depending on who I was talking to. I definitely made some notable mistakes but they were all forgiving. Learning a language comes with making many mistakes so I know that it will not be the first time. I spent the rest of the day doing homework and studying Korean vocabulary and then ended the night by eating dinner in the area with a woman from Singapore, Subin, whom Kelly (my host mom) is also hosting at the moment. I've met so many people already from around the world and I look forward to meeting many more.

Some of the food at the birthday party.

Following my pattern, I will discuss something about Korean culture and this time it is about fruit. Unlike the US, fruit is very expensive in Korea and instead of being eaten as snack, fruit is usually a dessert or it is given as a gift. At the birthday party today grapes and tangerines from Jeju Island were given as gifts. Because fruit is less common my intake of fruit has been a lot less than in the US and I really do miss cheap fruit. I'll get used to it as time goes by but right now all I want is an abundance of bananas, cherries, and raspberries.

I think my blog posts keep getting longer and longer, haha. See you next week!

First week of classes and Chuseok adventures

So quite a lot has happened since I last posted. I visited the War Memorial of Korea, I had my first week of classes, and I went to Everland, Caribbean Bay, and Lotte World during Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving that is one of Korea's largest, if not the largest, holidays.

Before classes started last Monday, that Saturday if I remember correctly, three friends and I visited in the War Memorial of Korea. This memorial/museum is MASSIVE. The outside has several statues and the inside consists of several themed rooms based on the time period of Korea's history. The memorial does not just cover the Korean War but rather all of Korea's war history, which is an extensive history to say the least. South Korea became a country through the outcome of war, so you cannot study the Korean peninsula without becoming familiar with its war history. It was very intriguing noticing how South Korea displays its nationalism and ties to other countries at the memorial from flags to displays, statues, and descriptions on walls and other mounts. I could spent at least an hour writing about the museum but since I have so many other things to cover, I'm going to move on for now.

A statue of soldiers at the memorial.

Flags: the perfect example showing Korea's allies during the Korean War.

Outside of the memorial/museum were models of army tanks, planes, helicopters, and missiles. They were HUGE.

This semester I'm enrolled in three courses: Korean Language, Current Affairs and the Reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and Politics and Society of North Korea.

I took the placement exam last Monday and I placed into level 2 of Korean which is exactly what I wanted. Even though some of the grammar points and vocabulary are review, I am learning new material and I'd rather master the material I already know than be over my head. Plus, unlike my other two courses, Korean actually affects my GPA so being in a somewhat easier level will be manageable.

I take Korean through Yonsei's Korean Language Institute (KLI). The class meets Monday through Friday for two hours everyday and we have two teachers: one for M, W, F, and the other for T and Th. Both teachers are very, very nice and they make me comfortable speaking Korean which is huge when one is learning a language; if you don't have confidence then you're not going to want to try and speak, let alone in a class of 12 other students. My class is also small, which language classes should be, so everyday I have the opportunity to speak several times. KLI is much different than my Korean class at MSU though. Not only are the textbooks different but the grading is very, very different. Our entire grade for the semester is based on two exams: our midterm and final. Each exam is also broken up into three parts: oral (speaking), writing, and listening. At MSU, our class didn't have exams and instead the grades were broken up into several tests, quizzes, homework, speeches, plays, and cultural activities. I have been assigned homework in my KLI class but it's not absolutely mandatory. It's also not mandatory to do any studying/reviewing throughout the semester until exam time, but as someone who already hates exams and doesn't want to cram the week before the exam, I am taking the time to memorize groups of the vocabulary every week or two. Even though midterms are a month and a half away I'm already nervous about all the pressure that will be placed on me to get a decent grade.

My other two courses only meet once a week for three hours each. My reunification class meets on Monday and my North Korea class meets on Friday. I honestly can't say much about each class yet because it was syllabus week, and unlike James Madison College, you actually only go over the syllabus and then you're released for the day. So instead of staying in class for three hours, I was only there for half an hour. I like both of my professors for the courses; they seem very knowledgable and I can understand their English which is key. I also appreciate how both courses are led as seminars. Instead of the professor lecturing for three hours, we are involved in discussion. The homework load is also very doable compared to Madison. We have a couple of very short papers, readings, exams, and presentations. I probably won't be spending more than 3 hours a week per class on homework so that'll allow more free time to enjoy Seoul. Additionally, since I've already done the readings for next week, I can say that I already really, really enjoy the reading for both courses, especially the one for North Korea. MSU unfortunately doesn't offer a lot of Korea-focused courses, let alone North Korea-focused courses, so I'm very fortunate to be able to participate in such a course. Heck, even if I wasn't enrolled in these courses I'd probably read the books and articles just for fun. Once I become more involved in the classes I'll be able to better reflect on the material I'm learning.

So because it was Chuseok I didn't have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Saturday I went to Everland, essentially Korea's version of Disneyland, on Sunday I went to Caribbean Bay, a waterpark, and then on Tuesday I went to Lotte World, the world's largest indoor amusement park. I opted to go the parks during the holiday because there was a huge foreigner discount on the tickets, 50% for Everland and Lotte World and 70% for Caribbean Bay. Because I'm lazy and she did a terrific job describing our experiences, I'm going to link to Marisa's blog to explain all our little adventures: http://studiesin-seoul.blogspot.kr/. As I mentioned in a previous post, Marisa is another MSU student who was in my same Korean class for two years. She was my amusement park buddy for those three days so she experienced exactly what I did. What I do have to comment on is how AWESOME one of the roller coasters was at Everland. T-Express is a wooden roller coaster, and unlike the majority of roller coasters, this one was actually super thrilling and SUPER smooth. I had to keep reminding myself that I was on a wooden roller coaster because it really did not feel like it. There were also two major drops in addition to a bunch of smaller ones, but the two main ones were completely vertical (90 degrees), which I don't think I've experienced on a wooden roller coaster. All in all, T-Express is probably one of the top coasters I've ever been on. As a testament to how much we liked it we spent the time to ride it twice. Totally worth it!

A view from the inside of Lotte World.

Look at how close I was to a giraffe during one the rides at Everland!

On Monday, the actual day of Chuseok, I decided to stay in and relax with my host family. We made food together and I ate a lot of songpyeon, a traditional Korean food typically eaten only during Chuseok. They are rice cakes with filling on the inside. The ones I couldn't stop myself from eating had sesame seeds on the inside. Another popular filling is red bean. Later that day Marisa and I also headed to Itaewon, the foreigner district of Seoul. We opted to go there because nearly all the shops and restaurants in Seoul were closed for the holiday except foreign ones. Itaewon is also where the U.S. military base is located. It was very strange stepping off the subway and seeing more foreigners than usual, usually I'm literally the only foreigner I see. Because there are a lot of foreigners, Itaewon has a lot of foreign restaurants, legitimate ones too. There's Taco Bell, Irish pubs, On the Border, KFC, Turkish restaurants, you name it. Marisa and I also located a grocery store that carries American food that I really took for granted in the U.S. This place had anything from Reese's Puffs to Nutrigrain Bars to CHEDDAR CHEESE. Like, real cheddar cheese. Unfortunately since all the items are imported the prices are pretty hefty. Just one box of Reese's Puffs was 13,000 won ($13). But, after exploring some more, I FINALLY found boxes of Oreo-O's that I've been searching in several grocery stores. Oreo-O's were discontinued in the U.S. several years ago and South Korea is the only country that still produces them. Needless to say, I was very happy to purchase a couple of boxes and relive my childhood. We then ended the night at a Western bar that makes its own beer. It was so nice being able to drink craft stout and dark ale.

The oh-so-wonderful Oreo-O's. 

Similar to my last post, I'm going to end by remarking on some/an aspect of Korean culture. Beds. Korean beds are not the soft, comforting beds you are probably used to. Since Koreans traditionally slept on the floor, and many still do, mattresses are not that much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor. I thought my bed was the only one that was like a rock, but every bed I've been on here is the same. I'm slowly adjusting but I'm super tempted to buy a hotel room in a Western hotel sometime during the year and just spend the whole day relaxing in a soft bed. I fortunately sleep on my back so I don't wake up with bruises on my hips like a couple of my friends have.

Well I want to have some material to talk about for the rest of the year so I'll save the rest for next week! Also, remember that the rest of my photos can be found on my Facebook. I can't believe it's already my third week here. Time sure does fly!