Roomie's Place

So, I just got back from my roommate's place in Bundang and it's pretty swank I must say.  We had to get on the subway and transfer onto 2 buses to get to her place and it was quite a journey.  It took about an hour to get to her house but the city she lives in is way cleaner and less populated than Seoul.  I think I like it better than Seoul because it modern yet serene.  The first place we went to was Seohyun Station and it was a shopping district with a bunch of high end stores in the middle (Coach, Prada, Fendi, etc...).

Outside the station though were independent stores that were very cute and they were stacked upon each other like little Lego blocks.

We stopped by this uber cute clothing store and I bought my very first piece of clothing in Korea.  It's a "Paris is for Lovers" rhinestone studded t-shirt and it was only 5000won which is quite reasonable considering that the material feel is so soft.  Anyways, I tried the potato on a stick thing and it tasted like a really good crispy french fry. At 1000 won, I would've bought more but we were on the move.

And one more thing about Seohyun, I bought my first Kpop Magazine at Kyobo bookstore and it came with 2PM/SNSD and SHinee/SUJU posters!  And, Younha was there and I got a picture (even though you weren't allowed to take them from outside for some unknown reason...)

After taking another bus, we stopped in front of "The Parkway" which was this giant apartment complex center.  The first 3 buildings (formed a warped "C" shape) was home to a lot of stars apparently and it's where the actress Lee Eun-Joo from Phoenix (the first Korean drama I've ever watched) lived and committed suicide.

  Then, we got to 609 and it was quite nice.  The complex itself was very clean and modern and had beautiful gardens in random central areas.  When we got on the elevator, Yoon pushed the button for the top floor (over 30 stories up) and we bumped into a man who started chatting to Yoon.  After he got off, I asked her who he was and apparently he was her father's driver.  Then we got to her floor and I found out that the entire floor was her house.

She lived in a penthouse that was richly decorated with a romatic/Victorian feel.  I was just stunned, her family was very well off and I had no idea of it because she acts so humbly and doesn't flaunt her money like some people I know back at home.  Anyways, they have a Chinese maid and once they told her that I could speak Chinese, she started speaking in Chinese to me every time we talked, elated by the fact someone else shared her mother tongue.  I slept in the guest room and the view is spectacular, especially at night time.

We had shabu shabu (it was the best shabu shabu I've had here) and tons and tons of fruit.  Also, I met Deng-yi and Kevin, Yoon's kawaii doggies and Kevin slept with me on the ondul (heated floor bed like thing).  He has got to be the cutest Yorkshire terrier I've ever seen ^^

Anyways, after watching some variety shows, I passed out in a food coma and woke up bright and early the next morning.  Everyone in that house is an early to bed, early to rise kind of person so we went out to eat for breakfast.  We went to a breakfast place called Butterfinger's Pancakes.

It was REALLY good and it was the first time I'd had an all American breakfast ever since I've been here (bacon, waffles, french toast, pancakes, sausage, potatoes, eggs...yum).  What I loved was how they had real honey to top your pancakes/waffles/toast and the amount of food was astronomical.  They also had this drink called "Milky Vanilla" and I LOVED it.  After breakfast, we took a short stroll around the area and then when Yoon and I got back to her penthouse, we passed out in a food coma again.  Lunch was bulgogi and soondubu jjigae and Yoon's mom made it herself.  Yoon says that it's rare to see her mom cook anything and since I was a special guest, she decided to do some housework that day.  The maid is off on Sundays and they go out to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on Sundays normally haha.  So yeah, after a delicious monstrosity of a lunch, we headed back and now I should go and do my laundry. WWL!

KU

Wow. It's been a week since my last post.  I finally took pictures of the school to put up here.  Korea University is one of the most beautiful campuses I've seen (not that I've seen a lot of campuses).  The Gothic style architecture really leaves an impression on a person and the elegance is just breathtaking. 

Here's the Samsung Centennial Building. It has an underground passageway that leads to some plaza in front of the main gate. 

:

Here's the President's Building. I love the clouds in this picture. It has the calm after the rain feel.

Here's a closeup of one of the buildings:

I think this is the business building but I'm not too sure:

Outside the campus, it's pretty ghetto though:

On one of my mini expeditions, I walked out of this gate, turned left 2X's and just kept trekkin. It was not pretty.  The houses were really unkept, trash was piled onto tree bases (not in bags I must add), and everything just looked...dirty.  Anyways, back to the cool things on KU's campus.  For all the females out there, this is for you.  In the Dongwan Global Leadership center, first floor to the left, there's a women's lounge.  This thing in the lounge is seriously one of the best ideas out there and they should have one for males as well.  Anyways, here it is:

Confused? They're beds. Lots and lots of beds that girls can just take a nap in or even spend the night after some hardcore studying (like most the students do).  This is called the resting room and it was full when I went but still, such a convenient thing to have on campus considering quite a few people travel over an hour to get here.  Why would students journey over an hour to go to KU?  Because it is prestigious. KU is part of SKY (Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei Universities) which are the top tiered schools in South Korea.  Getting into one of these schools basically means your life is going to be smooth sailing from then on.  If students go to a lesser school, then most likely they will face discrimination when they enter the workforce.  Education here is VERY important, as in most Confucian societies.  Children have to get into the best middles school, best high schools, best uni's, even good kindergartens.   Every other day, I see a bunch of elementary children running around on campus because they come for tutoring here.  And these children aren't mentally retarded or anything, they're getting tutored to have an advantages when it comes to testing.  Kids in the US don't do that.  Primary school ended at 2:30 (for me at least), and we go home to just be kids.  Here, elementary school children don't stop learning until 5 or 6 o'clock (after school tutoring), and middle/high schoolers don't go home until 10ish because they're studying so much.  This idea just boggled me the first time I heard of it.  My roommate said that her high school friend didn't get accepted into KU and instead of going to another university, she's studying for another year to take the entrance exam (not working, studying).  Not many people would do that in the US but educational pressure here is staggering.  I'm kinda glad I didn't grow up in an Asian country due to that fact.  I'd probably be so stressed if I had to go through the schooling here...

Thai food and roomie

Today was a rather cool day. I woke up at the crack of dawn to bid on a DKNY Be Delicious perfume on ebay. It was not a random decision to buy it. When I was browsing through some department store a while back, I was sniffing perfumes (cuz I like to do that?) and they were selling that one for $60! I really liked the scent so I've been mulling for weeks about it and decided to get it. Anyways, I won it for $30 and after my momentary "I won it!" high, I decided to buckle down and learn the Sino-Korean and natural Korean numbers. Now, I know my numbers pretty well and don't how to ask "olmayeyo" (in english: how much?) over and over again when I'm at a store (so embarrassing. Then my roommate Yoon came right as I was about to leave. I thought that having a roommate would totally put a dent in my flow (did I just make up a new phrase? lol) but I think she'll actually get me to shape up. I'm somewhat messy on my own and now I have a reason not to be a slob. Only thing is she said she shores -__-

Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I brought a box of earplugs :) Anyways, she's a native Korean who's a freshman at KU majoring in Public Affairs and she seems really nice. Within the few minutes we met each other she invited me to her family's house next weekend for a homestay experience. Yay! Well, I left on a mini adventure to find a Thai restaurant. I've been craving Thai food like crazy the past couple of weeks (working at a good Thai restaurant 2 months before this trip definitely had an impact on what I crave) and after some research on the internet, I found this place called Yum Thai near Apujeong. The atmosphere was really nice and they had Thai ballads and traditional music playing. Also, the owner greeted me in Thai when I came in (when everyone came in in fact) and was surprised when I greeted him back in Thai. I guess they're used to a bunch of Koreans coming in all the time. Anyways, the food was okay, not the best...but I want to go back for some Som Tum and Pad Thai. The other table beside me ordered it and it looked absolutely scrumptious! I then went shopping for lotion, conditioner, and hairdye at the local Watsons across the street. I definitely want to change my hair color back to it's natural color but they didn't have it at Watsons so I stopped by the subway Etude House and got stuff there. These "face and beauty" stores (Skinfood, the Face Shop, Etude House, Tony Moly, Banila Co., etc.) all give LOADS of free samples even if you just buy one cheap thing, like a $2 bottle of nail polish. I like that type of marketing. I wish America would adopt it lol. Anyways, that was my day. I'm going back to Apujeong tomorrow to check out Rodeo Dr. and take lotsa pictures!

WWL!

14

Here's a list of "holidays" Koreans celebrate on the 14th of every month:

January 14th - Diary Day
Couples are meant to give each other a diary or year planner thing, and note down all the rest of these lovely gift-giving days.

February 14th - Valentine's Day
In contrast to Western society, today is traditionally when women give chocolates to their men and confess their love.

March 14th - White Day
Men give candy to the women they love (and flowers and choc and cuddly toys....in fact, anything really!). The gifts are suppose to be 3X's the worth of the gifts the girls gave back in February. Other popular gift items include jewelry and lingerie lol

April 14th - Black Day
A purely Korean day, for those singletons out there, who havnt received choc or candy so far, console yourselves by eating ja jang myun - a black noodle soup - or other black foods.

May 14th - Rose Day / Yellow Day
Couples exchange roses, and those lonely hearts gather for curry and companionship. Apparently dressing in yellow is also recommended.

June 14th - Kiss Day
As one site puts it: 'Lovers confess their feelings to one another and kiss passionately.' Just another excuse to make out really!!

July 14th - Silver Day
I'm liking this idea - couples can freely ask their friends to give them money to pay for a date! (I shall call this 'free date day'!!) Couples exchange gifts made of silver, and announce their relationship to their friends.

August 14th - Green Day
Couples are supposed to dress in green, and walk outside in the woods (ooh camouflage opportunity!)
Singles drink a (green) bottle of soju to console themselves.

September 14th - Photo & Music Day (I'm really not making these up!)
Any guesses...?! Couples take photographs together, then in the evening go out with friends to noraebangs and night clubs. (Which is what we Westerners do every week, right?!)

October 24th - Apple Day
You ready to learn something? The Korean word for apple, sa-kwa, also means to apologize. On Apple Day, friends, family and couples give an apple to each other to apologize for past mistakes.

November 11th - Pepero Day (Ah yes, the choc stick day!)
A new day that has taken off in South Korea, it is named after a pencil-shaped cookie stick covered in chocolate, given mostly by young Koreans as an expression of their affection.
The 11th day of the 11th month is specifically chosen as the number looks like a Pepero stick. Students exchange the treats with one another with the thought of growing tall and thin (an obsession in Korea, tho don't think eating choc cookies is gonna help there...!)

November 14th - Movie Day & Orange Day
Hmmm...you're supposed to watch a movie and eat an orange on this day. I think it's because the Jeju Oranges come in season.


December 14th - Hug Day
Couples are meant to hug one another lovingly to stay warm in the cold winter months.

Interesting huh? ^^

credits to Seoul Eats for the list. I love that blog, it's like my dining bible with quirky tidbits of randomness (such as this list).

Souvenirs

Yo! If you're reading this and you're my friend, comment on what type of souvenirs I should get. Something uniquely Korean(culturally), something really cute you can't find in the states, skincare/makeup stuff (it really advanced here apparently?), cute tops, cellphone charms, key chains, hello kitty everything, jewelry, lunch boxes, food, celebrity stuff (which ones), a girlfriend/boyfriend, soju (:P), etc...

I have some things already but I'm just wondering what you guys would like

First REAL day of classes, Biya, Waffles, Snow?

Today was a delightful day...NOT! I had to actually had to get in the learn something/education mode after being in chill mode for 3 months (uber long break huh? lol). I woke up at 7:30 this morning thinking that I had plenty of time to shower, meditate a bit, and read over some stuff. Boy was I wrong. I was in the shower for quite a bit standing in the steam awakening from my slumber and I lost track of time. After drying off, brushing my hair, makeup, a little zen time and reading over my syllabus, it was 8:45 and I had to go (class starts at 9, tardy is not an option with my teacher I soon learned). Then it hit me, I had to print something off for one of my later classes and I didn't know how to use the printer downstairs. It was somewhat complicated because they had a pay-per-page system here (another part of their recycling initiative) and a girl helped me out. Because patience is not one of my virtues, I hit the print button multiple times and ended up with three copies of the assignment but I was running late and had to get going. The clock was ticking and I had to be in my seat in 10 minutes and just the building itself is a good 10-15 minutes walk...my class is on the 4th floor. Soo, with no other option , I started sprinting to campus and every time I hit a "roadblock" (girlfriends linking arms walking like -5mph) I'd power up and pass them with annoyed "humph!" :P

Well, I made it on time and the class was interesting! Professor Kim is such a cool guy (he wears jeans. every day is casual Friday lol) and the class laughs quite a bit. He stresses how participation must become habitual and I have a feeling that my classmates will loosen up sooner or later and we'll have really interesting discussions. Anyways back to my mundane story, we talked about the culture of Korea and symbols and whatnot. Afterwards, I had some kimbap and a "mild cafe latte" from the Ministop (soooo good yo!)and rushed over to my social problems in a global context class. Guess who was teaching it, Professor Kim! Same cool teacher in a row. I found this class to extremely informative and interesting. We talked about overpopulation and how developed and developing countries differ in terms of doubling rate. Did you know that in about 10 years the female population of Korea will decrease by about 20% because of male preference. Also, developed countries produce 30X's more waste and consume more raw materials than developing countries despite the fact that developing countries make up over 2/3 of the world's population and developing countries produce an exponential amount of people? Another neat point which has nothing to do with the overpopulation this is the legality of marijuana vs. cigarettes. Cigarettes are the most lethal drugs in the world yet it is legal whereas marijuana , which has the same effect as strong alcohol with an odd twist, is totally illegal everywhere though the mortality rate of using marijuana is significantly lower than that of cigarettes. I just found that interesting.

After that class, I begged the teacher to let me into Contemporary Korean ( I wasn't technically registered in it b/c it was full, but I REALLY wanted to take it) and after running around all campus trying to get permission from the higher-ups, I finally got in! Went to my art class, nothing special. We just talked about cave paintings and I filled out the worksheets that almost made me late to my 1st class. I had a huge break so I studied hangul at "Paris Baguette" and let me tell you, that bakery is the shiznit. My favorite bakery in Korea and since it's a chain, I can basically find it everywhere. After that, I went to Family Mart and got a travel toothbrush kit because I think every Korean girl brushes her teeth after eating lunch and I thought it'd be a good habit to pick up. I rather enjoy feeling minty fresh after eating stinky kimchi ^^

On a side note, the building where the registration office resides has a section entirely dedicated to women. There's a women's study lounge, computers, powder room (hair dryer included o.O), changing room, private restroom with bidets in the stalls, and a RESTING ROOM. It's a room with tons of bunk-beds that female students can take naps in or SPEND THE NIGHT IN. How awesome is that?! I totally know where I'm headed if I ever need to pull an all nighter lol.

Back to my day, I went to language class, learned the rest of the Korean alphabet and I can proudly say in the span of 2 days, I can read/write Korean (albeit very very slowly, and my spelling sucks). After that, I met up with some friends to eat dinner and it was raining. The rain soon turned to sleet and then into snow. It wasn't the cool kind of snow though, Seoul is really polluted to I assumed that the snow would be like acid snow and flipped out internally. I'm so glad I wore my hoodie otherwise I'd be freakin out about my hair falling out or something due to the fact that it made contact with the poison snow 0.0 We at at this place called Biya and it's like a hotpot of ramen in the middle with hotdogs and spam. The appetizers consisted of Tater-Tots (yeah baby!) and pickles. It was like spicy warm heaven eating that inside compared to the freezing cold outside. My friends (mildly crazy haha) got ice cream stuffed waffles in the snow! They looked pretty darn tasty but due to the fact that it was like 2 degrees outside, I passed on that (even if they were only $1 lol). So yeah, I'm back now and I'm tired. I totally can't wait until we have to do 15 page papers! Not :P

WWL!

3/2/10 First day of classes

First day of classes was nothing exiting. All the teachers just gave us the syllabus and told us to leave. I have a huge break from 1-5 so I just went back to the dorm and tried to upload pictures. It failed, I'm pissed. After my Korean Language class (2hrs a day, 4 days a week. 0.0), I went to the other side of KU and just walked around for a bit. There was nothing spectacular, just a couple of restaurants that looked like they would be good. But I can't test that theory out yet b/c I can't order in Korean yet *sigh*

Anyways, I discovered a massive Daiso (like a dollar store but cooler) in Myeongdong and I think I died and went to heaven. Things were so cheap but I had just made myself a budget earlier today and I plan to stick to it so I just bought a binder, a mini camera tripod ($1, that's pretty beast), ginger tea, and a snack. But let me tell you, if I don't so shopping for a week, I'm splurging at Daiso and getting buttloads of cute asian-y stuff! But yeah, I basically had my earphones in the entire day and was listening to happy songs so that made me really happy. Current favorite is Lupin by KARA. It's soooo addictive. I think people were staring at me b/c I basically skipped around Myeongdong because of my good mood. Some of these people need to lighten up some, I've notice a lot of em looked stressed :\

Oh, and I figured out the reason while Koreans are so skinny, they walk...A LOT. Basically, you walk everywhere. Up and down subway stairs (2-3 floors each stop), down streets for long stretches, and up backbreaking hills b/c Seoul is nestled in between mountains so the terrain is quite hilly. After today, after walking for hours on end, I understand how Koreans stay so skinny. But what I don't understand is how the girls can do all this in heels. It's mind-boggling how they fly down subway stairs in 2-4 inch heels so effortlessly. I will learn that art by the end of this trip hopefully. Nothing spectacular happened today, it was just a shopping day. I'll write about more interesting stuff later

First Week in Seoul without Adult Supervision

Woo, I haven't been as up to date with my blogging as I had planned. Seoul is freaking awesome so far. I can't even fathom how I should begin to describe it. First off, Seoul is HUGE. It's so mindblowingly large I haven't even begun to explore the superficial parts of it (landmarks, palaces, touristy stuff). It's divided into 25 districts (or gu) and each district is divided up into neighborhoods (or dong). Do date, I've only been to 3 districts and each district in and of itself contains so many stores, businesses, offices, etc. I've started making a list of where I want to go and how I'll get there thanks to this handy website:
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/Seoul/
It's been very helpful in the compilation of my little list, problem is that I don't think I'll really enjoy these sights without friends and at least one person who speaks Korean. My Korean skills are severely lacking and I hope to improve it ASAP!
Anyways, here's a quick summary of things I've found notable:
1)Going out to eat everyday is not friendly to the pocketbook, even if food is dirt cheap. I need to cut back on the eating out b/c I'm quickly going broke.
2) I saw a guy to looked like Max (Changmin?) from DBSK on the subway. I stared for a bit
3) There's this old man who lives down the hill from the Dorms who bikes EVERYWHERE. He's always in his riding gear and he I always see him haul his bike up the stairs at his house. For a 70-80 year old guy, he's in great physical condition. Everytime I see him I think "Old man, when I grow up, I want to be like you"
4) Korean yogurt is watery but I like it. The drinkable ones are like 1.20 a teeny bottle but I love em. I have to buy yogurt in bulk b/c I've turned into a yogurt fanatic here
5)Korean men either look really young or fairly old. It's like I see guys who look like they're in their late teens/early 20's and then I see men who look like they're in their mid 40's. It's like, where did all the 30something year old ajusshi's go?
6)Koreans love their drinking. It's a social thing and it seems like everyone does it. And they love their drinking games too, boy do they love them. Koreans are a very boisterous bunch after a couple of beers and shots of soju. Personally, I'm not much of an alcohol person and I don't want to become one. I just don't handle alcohol well and I feel like that'll hinder making friends here (b/c bonding happens when drinking...)
7) Guys are very feminine here. I only find a few of them attractive
8) On the note of attractiveness, there's this Bungeo-ppang stand here with a REALLY cute vendor. *sigh* This makes me wish I knew more Korean
9) Students are really studious here. They have the work hard play hard mentality down pact. I can't wait til school starts so I have some sort of set schedule and improve my study habits (it feels like I haven't been in school in forever).
10) My KU buddy Seah is really nice and helpful. I have a feeling I'll keep in touch with her throughout the semester
11) My phone battery life is 4 hours which REALLY REALLY sucks -__-
12) I have to trek up a giant steep hill to get to my dorm. Here's to a toned tushie!
13) Korea University's campus is humongous and gorgeous! Buildings seriously look like castles here (I'll post pictures soon)
14) I tend to almost lose stuff here a lot. I almost lost my camera on orientation day and I almost lost my keys at McDonalds
15) I really like the milk here (Maeil). The McDonalds softserve is made from Maeil milk and I really love it (YUM!)
16) Drivers are crazy here. They honk all the time (as do drivers in all big cities) but they drive and park up sidewalks and merge into other lanes like no other. They're nuts, I would def. get into a crash the first day I drive here. Oh! One thing I found interesting is the steering wheel is on the left side here (like in the US) and the side mirrors on the cars fold in so other crazy drivers who try to maneuver through the tight allies don't knock the mirrors off! I've never seen that before. Also, drivers have no regards for lines here (pushy/crazy drivers win in this city). One thing that ticks me off is that motorcyclists or people on mopeds basically have the power to go anywhere with no regards towards the people they cut off/almost crash into. Like, they can weave in between cars AND they can freakin ride on the sidewalks. I'm irked by this b/c I'm used to pedestrians usually having the right of way and for motorists to yield for pedestrians. But that isn't the case here, If you walk, and a motorcyclist is riding down the sidewalk, you better get out of the way b/c he isn't stopping for you.
17) Kim Yuna is HUGE here. Especially at KU. It's crazy. National pride yo.

That's all I can think of so far. I haven't really done anything productive to this date but I will update you all later (and post pictures!).

WWL~

bridging cultures day 3

we went to the dmz and the folk village

Today was a rather eventful day in a cultural sens (duh! lol). First off, I had a nice long BATH and enjoyed it until the lights cut off. I think the the restroom lights were timed. Anyways, we went to the DMZ and went down to the 3rd discovered tunnel and listened to the history. Digging tunnels for sneak attacks and denying the fact is just wrong on the part of the North Korean government. And lying about them being a coal mines is just worsens the fact. Just brazen and indignant actions of the North Koreans makes me angry but I can't get over the fact of how such a minuscule percentage of the population has so much destructive control over the lives of others. The leaders in Pyeongyong bond the poorer citizens to their town (can't move AT ALL)and if they defect, their family and neighbors will be punished. How wrong is that? And what's worse is that the North Koreans in the worst conditions are brainwashed to support the state over all else. Here's a video illustrating an aspect of how horrible powerful the influence off the state is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiUOQgycn6E

Anyways, after the DMZ (it was educational but not really fun/interesting) we had lunch and went to a traditional folk village and observed the folk dance thing (they were really cool, and acrobatic). We also witnessed a traditional tightrope walker (old dude was pretty awesome) and I also was blessed with a horse performance. I love horses! But yeah, that was that day. Went out to eat some yummy samgyupsal (korean BBQ) and just chilled with the other AsiaLearn peeps ^^