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This is a blog of a native Korean Hyunwoo Sun. He's your eyes and ears for the daily grind happening in Korea. Check him out!

Back Home

So, I'm home now and have no space in my room to put all of my stuff (sigh)

I didn't realize I had so much junk andd clothes.  Hopefully this will all work out b/c I have barely any space  to walk haha


OH, and I'm so glad to have a working cell phone. Unfortunately, it is dying. The battery life on that thing on standby is 1hr and if I make a call, it's less than 3 minutes.  That's almost as worse as my phone in Korea.  But yah, I'm going to go see Karate Kid with some people up north.  Finally,some human contact with people other than my family :DDD I'm kinda excited! 

The time adjustment thing is going well. I guess its because I didn't sleep that early in Korea so now I wake up early back here and sleep early as well. I have a normal circadian rhythm! woohoo!

Packing

I literally packed everything up from the last 4 months in about 2 hours.  My room looks so bare save for the suitcases, my backpack and my laptop.  I wonder how carrying this to the airport will work...


Anyways, I'm going on the Hangang Ferry Tour tomorrow morning and then Busan afterward.  Yay for an awesome roomie :D

BE CAREFUL

Today, I must write about a serious topic.  After lunch with my KUBA buddy, my friend and I went back to CJ.  We took the shuttle bus because it was hot and we were tired.  So, after getting off the bus, I look over and the girl who was in front of me ran across the street and got hit by a car.  More like, the car ripped her foot off her leg.  I watched in complete horror and she screamed the most anguished scream I've ever heard as she was holding her leg up in pain.  Her foot swung in unnatural positions and her ankle seemed nonexistent.  She soon crumbled and the next thing I saw was blood and bone.  Her foot had almost fallen completely off and was suspended to her leg by some skin.  I froze.  My first reaction was to call the ambulance but an ROTC officer was already on the phone with the hospital.  The hospital was less than 1/2 a mile from the shuttle stop! You could see the hospital from where we were standing so my next reaction was to put her in the car she got hit in and have him drive her there since it was soooo close.  She needed to have her foot reattached  IMMEDIATELY or else she would lose it for good.  Thing is, I didn't know what to do or where to begin to get her into the car.  I really wished I had some medical training other than CPR right then and there.  I imagined trying to splint the foot and shin but remembered you were not suppose to straighten deformed extremities at the risk of pressuring an area that isn't suppose to be pressured.  The only thing she could do in that situation was keep her leg elevated to stop blood flow to the area which they were already doing.  I stood there helplessly as I watched here laying there on the road while the driver  kept holding her, trying to take some of her pain.  I didn't know how I should keep her leg suspended without affecting the foot long enough for us to get her in the car or how to even get her in the car without affecting the foot.  I wanted to do SOMETHING to help but I didn't know what.  What's worse than doing nothing is having someone try to help and make the situation/injury even worse and I didn't want to risk that with my lack of medical knowledge.  In  my head, I kept thinking, "come on Cyndy! You're going to be a nurse!  Think of Something!!!!" But I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't exacerbate the injury, and all I felt like I could do was stand there and watch in horror.  I wish I had at least one med-surg class under my belt but I can't take that til I go back to the states. My friend was really shaken up because she usually darts across the road (2 small lanes) without looking after getting off the bus and it was obvious she was scared that could've been her.  She started shaking and crying because she could imagine herself in that situation.  We went to the dorms because the situation was too traumatic for her and I understand why.  I honestly hope that they attach her foot and if they fail to due to lack of time, that's just sad.  The hospital  was RIGHT THERE so it should take the ambulance appx 2 minutes to get there because the accident occurred on the back street of the hospital. I'm praying to God that her foot can be saved and that she'll recover from this traumatic ordeal. The accident happened in a split second and it could forever change a life.  My heart goes out to this poor girl.  This could've been prevented had she taken the time to look both ways before she crossed the street.  The driver was also at fault for this accident because he sped around  the stopped bus (going into the opposite lane) to bypass it, thus hitting the girl.  This was a sad accident that makes me want to remind the world to always be careful.  I'll keep her in my prayers.

UPDATE: They saved her foot and she is currently in a wheelchair and will be undergoing rehabilitation soon. Yay to medical miracles! 

Recap: Jimjilbang

I have neglected this blog for oh too long and have decided to do a short recap of all things that stick out in my memory now.

I went to Daegu (which is the 3rd largest city in South Korea) a while back on a spur of the moment trip with some friends.   It was an amazing experience and I cannot say enough about it.  We took the bus from the Express Bus Terminal (You can get there taking lines 3,7, or 9) and it was about $25 for a 3.5 hour ride.  A smart way to travel around Korea is to stay in a Jimjilbang at night.  A jimjilbang is like a public bath with saunas, spas, food, entertainment, and a common area to sleep.  You change into a bath uniform which is just an oversized t-shirt and long shorts and I'm really glad they provide that because some of the saunas don't smell so good once you enter them.  We went into the hot rooms and cold rooms alternately, talked and drank shikkae (a sweet rice dessert drink) until the wee hours of the morning then passed out in the sleeping area.  Warning: if you don't like sleeping on the floor, then staying at a jimjilbang is not for you.  Here are some pictures from there:

so i've been MIA and i will catch up

wooow.  I've totally neglected this blog for the longest time.  I will update on everything as soon as I have some sort of idea to where I left off at.  Here's a rough outline of what I'll be talking about the next couple of posts: first jimjilbang experience, Daegu, Dongnimun tour, Insadong, seeing a movie here (Ironman 2 ftw!), celebrity signing, fishmarket, Everland, Tteokbokki festival and KBS Love Request showing, and Hongdae.  Be prepared!

To Go

I'm going to start doing these short cultural observation blurbs because I'm getting too lazy to write rediculously long passages that I don't even want to read sometimes.

Koreans don't ask for to-go boxes and if they do I haven't seen them do it.  They either eat all of their food or just leave 1/2 of it there.  The latter is especially true for girls.  The "finish everything on your plate" mentality has a historical  foundation for it.  Before Korea's rapid urbanization around 50 years ago (?) people were barely making ends meet and living in poverty.  Food (especially rice) was a rare commodity and extremely coveted and cherished.  People even changed their greeting to "pab mogoseoyo?" or "have you eaten yet?" because food was an important factor in culture.  But back to the point.  I think asking for a to-go box is looked down upon b/c A)it meant you couldn't finish the food or B)it shows you can't afford to waste the food (food here is cheap for the most part).  In America however, if people like their food and can't finish it, it's an automatic "to-go box please."  Seeing a Korean at a sit down restaurant ask for a to-go box is rare.  I wonder if, aside from my lame attempts at explaining, there is a legit reason why