bridging cultures day 2

Just going to summarize today cuz my battery is going to die soon

woke up at 6:45
had breakfast with the late arrivals at cafe comeon again
toured a temple, had a vegetarian monk meal at the temple, and made a sweet lotus lantern there
then we went to chungkyechun stream and walked down it (it's all totally fake)
went to see JUMP! ( a martial arts musical that was freakishly beast )
ate at chabu chabu (so delicious)
and now i'm back

that's it, WWL!

bridging cultures day 1

WoO! I’m finally back at the hotel. Today was a somewhat tiring day but I’ve learned quite a bit and I’m finally not so socially isolated anymore. Well, I woke up in a sweat because the heated bed was literally baking me, got ready, and left by 8 to Café Come On. Mr. Swift provided up with delicious strawberries but I didn’t want to seem like a pig so I refrained from eating a whole lot. We then headed to Yoo’s Family house and listened to this old guy’s lecture on Korea’s culture. The gist I got from it was that Koreans strive to be one with nature (circle, triangle, and square/ houses in between river and mountain to draw good energy), the history of the floor heating system (kitchen), and a story about a gentleman and his four wives. It was a little boring, some parts were redundant, and he was hard to understand. After the lecture, some high school students majoring in English came to read us some ancient poems and we were filmed! The show is going to air on EBS on 3/5/2010 so I’ll try to tune in on that and see my movie-star self lmao! Then, we made are own lunch. I owned in the veggie chopping and we had legit bulgogi and kimchi puncheon(sp?). We then went to some park/mountain thing and met some elementary school kids who were our tour guides when we were hiking. My guide was named Chelsea her English was REALLY, and I mean legit American-y good. I really miss her. She was so entertaining and educational. Thankfully, I got her contact information. She even said she wanted to give me a tour of a palace if I was going to stay there longer. We then went to Dongdaemun and looked around. I got my first taste of street food and I figured out I do not like street chicken, I do like to buy fuzzy socks, and it’s hard to find my shoesize (the biggest I can find is a little too tight for me).

Just got back from dinner and it was rather fun! The restaurant was set in the middle of a maze in Insadong but it was delicious~ I bought some postcards to mail as well. I’m so excited! I wanna mail em!

Also, we got a lot of questions answered by our resident coordinator and just had ridiculous conversations about random things. I basically love all the people in the program right now! I don't know, but we all just get along so easily. And we've only been hanging out for a day! Anyways, one of the delayed students arrived today and she seems nice. Gotta go borrow the guy’s internet (can't get it in my room for some reason) so I can post this! WWL!

First full day in seoul

So, today was quite an experience.  I woke up and was suppose to meet Hyunwoo Sun (youtube him) and friends for coffee around Jong-ro 5 Ga.  Now, I have no idea where that is and I still have no clue about it's whereabouts but I wandered the streets desperately looking for it. Anyways, I got ridiculously lost but thanks to my awesome direction skills, I managed to find my way back.  I exchanged some currency, ate some snacks (thank god for 7-11), and wandered around Namsan Village and took some pics of the traditional houses.  I wanted to go to Northern Seoul Tower but I don't know how to -__-

In the afternoon, after watching some vids on Korea on Youtube made by Canadian teachers living here, I decided to venture out once more in seach of familiarizing myself with some aspects of Korea.  I went to the subway, and after much confusion, I got a T-money card.  It was very foreign at first (I've never been on a subway anywhere before) but I got the hang of it.  After feeling somewhat comfortable, I decided to go to Myeongdong to shop.  Let me tell you, just walking around and observing Koreans for a while, I've generalized a couple of thing:
1. Sales people stick to you like glue, even when you're only looking
2. Couples stick together like glue
3. Korean women fly down stairs with heels on effortlessly
4. Some guys carry man purses
5. A lot of people smoke (I've only seen men smoke)
6. Subways are impeccably clean
7. It's really easy to balance on the subway b/c you barely feel movement (technological advancements rock!)
8. From experience, bring Immodium AD on any trip.

Yeah, those are my observations so far. 
I bought so many phone charms even though I don't have a phone.  They make really cool souvenirs! And I indulged myself in face packs/masks that are $1 a piece.  They're so relaxing ^^

Those are my adventures today.  I must say, Etude House's stores are realllly cute! KK, WWL!

seoul arrival

I just got into the hostel (Jin's Guesthouse) I'm staying at and it's pretty nice.  Finally, I have free wi-fi and a bed and I'm loving it.  The thing is, the journey here was not too pleasant and really stupid on my part.  I got into Incheon around 11PM local time and was going to spend the night in one of the airport dorms ($15 a night) but then I heard that the airport limousines would run til 3AM, so I thought I could catch one.  But then this dumbass guy comes up and says that the bus I was suppose to take stopped running and then he took my suitcase and said that the only way to get to my destination was by taxi.  I don't know why, but I just followed him.  I knew that taxis would be around $70-$90 but I was dead tired so I just went with it.  The thing is, this guy got lost around 3 times.  He even stopped at a police station for directions and still got lost.  This moron charges by time so all the while I was waiting in the cab, it was charging me a huge chunk of change.  So this idiotic taxi ride cost me $160, but I eventually ended up at this pretty swank hostel and it's only $19 a night.  But in all in all, I should've stayed in the airport dorm, taken the first bus in the morning and gotten to this hostel on my own accord.  If I had stuck to the original plan, I'd probably have only spent $45 vs. $180.  Oh well, bye bye Chinese new years money.  I didn't spend you on anything worthwhile :(

tokyo arrival

Things are ridiculously expensive in Tokyo's Airport.  The end.

leaving the us

So, i'm currently using this awkward metal keyboard at DFW international airport b/c there's free internet lol.  i left this morning in awe of how being so high up made the world seem so small.  Then I slept the majority of the time and woke up to splendor and sunshine.  I must admit, AA smaller regional jets suck. They're soooo cramped and bumpy.  I can't wait to transfer to Asiana b/c I hear it's pretty good.  I'm not sure how currency exchange will work, but I'll figure it out.  Apparently, my bags are checked all the way through to incheon so at least i don't have to worry about that.  This computer's shift key sucks!\

sorry, it's annoying.  anyways, i will blog about land in tokyo and seoul! WWL!