Like I said, Korean is a lot more challenging this semester and it's hard to stay encouraged when you struggle in class sometimes. To make things worse, the level 3 classes contained too many students so they chose 3 students from each class to create a new section. I was one of the 3 that were chosen, and as much as I miss my old class and had to get used to a new class vibe, I do like my new class. Although, in my opinion, everyone's ability is a lot better than mine so I went from being comfortable in class to being one that struggles from time to time. I think with enough studying though I'll keep afloat, and as long as I'm learning, everything will be worth it and okay.
My history classes remain very interesting, but I did not realize how much work I was getting myself in to. I knew going into the classes that I would have to write a weekly essay and a summary of the readings. Each paper has to be around 1,000 words, and in my head I thought that was around 2 pages. Nope, 1,000 words is more like 4 pages. So each week I have to write 8 pages for one class, multiply that by 2, that's 16 pages a week. Then multiply that by 10 for 10 weeks of class, and that's 160 pages I have to write. That's basically a novel! The writing isn't difficult by any means but that just means I have to spend that much more time for those classes.
My internship is also proving to be challenging because my new "supervisors," essentially the leaders of the organization, are in Geneva for a United Nations event until the end of March. They sort of left the other interns and I high and dry, so we've had to create work for ourselves. As a relatively new intern, that's proving hard to do, so I've had to think of ways to keep me busy. I'm working on two grant proposals at the moment and starting the third, but unfortunately the third one requires a lot of information from the supervisors since they know the most about the organization and about how life, like realty, works in South Korea. All of the interns are in the same boat though so we'll find a way to get through this together.
This past Friday I met up with a classmate, Jeremy, and his Korean friend, Sung-hyun, to get dinner. We ended up going to a Western-style place that was recommended for its quality and good portion size. We ordered bacon carbonara, pork steak, and seafood risotto. Sung-hyun wanted a language partner to practice his English with and I agreed because I wanted to practice my Korean more outside of class. Speaking of language partners, I also was assigned a partner like last semester. Her name is Hansol, and oddly enough like my last partner, she studied abroad in Canada for a year. She's really nice and we have similar career goals so it is easy to have a conversation with her. We plan on taking some trips together in the future, with one dinner trip involving eating Korean raw beef, something I've meaning to try since I've been here but I just didn't know a good place to go.
On Saturday I started off the day by Skyping with Henrik and doing errands. I then had the wonderful opportunity to meet another friend from India, Seo Ha (she changed her name from Ji Young), and later we met up with more of my friends. Just like with Hisu, it was so nice catching up with her after all these years. We talked about our future plans and what we did after India. And of course we reminisced on things we did together in India like field trips and hanging out with friends. I was reminded again that it's been 9 years since I lived in India, and I can and can't believe that much time has passed. I guess a part of growing up is realizing that time will go by much more quickly.
Seo Ha (Ji Young) and I!
We went to get BBQ for dinner and then went to Boss Bar for drinking, the same place my KLI class and I went last semester for some fun. I had fun playing Korean drinking games but I also drank way too much soju. I forgot that if one doesn't drink a lot of soju for a long time and then you drink a lot all at once, it hits you hard. Luckily the morning after I had Korean "hangover food" which cured my headache and tiredness. Seo Ha spent the night since she lives in Yongin (about an hour and a half away from Seoul), and so she was able to take me to a restaurant in the morning for the hangover. We ended up ordering a slightly spicy boiled pork soup which hit the spot so well. From now on I'm going to do it the "Korean way" and eat other types of "hangover foods" (which usually includes spicy soups), because it really worked wonders. We then went to a cafe where we talked some more. We plan on meeting up again in the future especially when Hisu gets out of his army service in June. I can't believe I'd ever have a little India reunion in Korea but it looks like it's going to happen!
I spent the rest of my Sunday relaxing and working on homework. My weeks will probably be very similar to this one except when I take day and weekend trips. Now that it's getting warmer (it's supposed to be 68F on Thursday!), I should probably get started on planning those. My history classes are also giving me good ideas for day trips as well. I think visiting Ganghwa island is in the near future (and I'll explain why later). Anyways, I will see you next week!
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