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it’s been a while.
okay. mom got on my case today, and reminded me that this blog was here. (oops.) so, i figured i should update you all on the past month or so. get ready. it’s going to be long.
let’s see. after the blizzard, it got really cold. wind chills as low as -22°C during january. my work schedule was changed for the month because the kids were on a break from regular school. so, we taught from 9am-5pm (earlier and longer hours) instead of the usual 2pm-9pm. it was tiring, and really busy. but the month flew by.
in the middle of the month, one of my good friends left the country. he was the first korean i met here, and probably one of the sweetest guys in the world. he thought it was hilarious that i could always understand him, even when he forgot to speak english to me and started rambling in korean. he’s been gone for over a month now, and i miss him a whole lot. i may have to take a trip to australia at some point over the next year!
also, during january, i started really trying to find some indie korean music. korean music is overloaded with enough pretty boys and pop princesses to make you want to kill yourself. not that i don’t love the upbeat, techno, bubblegum-y style in a certain place and time. but i was dying to find what decent music korea actually had to offer. so i made an effort. i saw quite a few live shows in hongdae (an area near one of the bigger universities in seoul). i have yet to be disappointed by a korean band there (the foreigner bands are another story). i also found a few blogs that critique new albums, etc. my ipod is now full of music i can’t even totally understand. but somehow, i feel like i gained a little bit of myself back last month. feeling comfortable in korea has been easy, but getting back into music has made me feel even more at home.
hm. what else… i’ve been learning quite a bit of korean recently. my vocabulary has probably quadrupled. (but i guess that’s not a lot, since i only knew like 8 words before. ha.) i’ve also almost completely memorized hangul (the korean alphabet). i’m way behind on that. i should have done it months ago. it’s so easy. but, by the end of the week, i should be literate. i also tried a couple of new foods recently. let me introduce you to 감자탕 (gamjatang, aka potato soup).
…potatoes, pork spine meat absolutely falling off the bone. it’s delicious. i can’t believe it took me 6 months to try it. i’ve also come to terms with kimchi. and when i say “come to terms with”, i mean i love it now. my tolerance for spicy food has also gone way up. sometimes, in the middle of a meal, i’ll just stop and think “what on earth am i doing? my mouth is burning. why don’t i care?” strange.
also, michael and i have been trying to find cute coffee shops for our sunday meet-ups. a couple of weeks ago, we tried a little place near my apartment called “classico”. it was so cozy.
if i wasn’t so attached to joe’s (my regular place), i would probably go there every day.
but speaking of joe’s… i adore the girls that work there. we’ve always been friendly to each other, but since they barely speak any english, it’s just kind of hard to actually be friends with them. so, when one of the girls told me it was her birthday a couple of weeks ago, i decided to jump at the chance to be nice, and i made her a mix cd. it was so great. now, every day when i go in, they almost always have questions for me or things to tell me (that they’ve looked up in english). then, the other day while i was eating, i could see them looking things up online and writing on a little piece of paper. when i got up to leave, the cd girl handed me this:
it was the greatest thing. if anything makes me want to learn more korean, it’s my relationship with them. these girls are so lovely, and they are my age. i just wish we could actually communicate and be friends. ahhhhh. so frustrating.
anyhow. it’s now mid-february, and the weather is slightly warmer than frigid. we’re back to our regular schedule at work. i’ll be saying goodbye to another good friend in the next couple of weeks. i’m starting to fix up my resume. and i’ll be applying to some public schools within the next couple of months. this year is flying by! it will be july before i know it.
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on monday, we had the most snow that south korea has seen since 1969.
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i love learning new things about korean culture. i just finished having lunch with some friends. in korea, december 22nd (the shortest day of the year) is a holiday, and you are supposed to eat 팥죽. so, we did. then, they sent me home with a christmas cake. cute.
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a new semester started today. this means new kids for the most part. but, i walked into my first class to see sweet little elly again. how lovely.
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after our walk, we went on the roof of james’s building for a bit. it was so cold! i was being daring though, and sat on the ledge to take some pictures. this one is my favorite.
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i bought a camera this weekend! it’s a canon digital slr. (in other words, it’s pretty nice.) i’m still learning how to use it properly. i’m sure i will be for a while. but, james and i went on a walk today and played with them a lot. (he bought one too.) so, here is a little look at the area i live in :)
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a sweet moment.
living here, i’ve gotten very good at avoiding the awkward “i want to practice my english and you look like an american” conversations with strangers. i generally have my ipod with me wherever i go, and i just don’t make eye contact. it sounds terrible. but it just kind of happens after a while. the conversations get tiring.
however, today… i walked to the edge of the sidewalk across from work, waiting to cross the street, and i noticed this cute old man walk up beside me. i could tell he was saying something to me, so i took my headphones out. we then proceeded to have a great little conversation about what korean food i’ve come to like and how he once went to new york in 1979 (“i’m sure you weren’t even born then”, he said). he asked if i could understand his english well, and when i answered that i could he got very excited. then the light changed, he smiled and said “have a nice day!” and we parted ways. it was a beautiful start to my day. i love korea.
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this week’s weather forecast is looking great. tomorrow is already the last day of november, and it’s not even really cold here yet. supposedly seoul has a pretty cold winter. but, i have a feeling it won’t be quite as long as the winter in ohio. that gets me excited. i’ll keep you updated.
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VICTORY.
i’m buying a camera sometime this week. get ready to be overwhelmed.
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my apartment is getting homier by the second.
i now have a toaster oven which i bought off of cinthia, along with a bunch of baking supplies. on sunday, james and i stopped at i love cookie (a store with a ton of overpriced foreign foods, one subway stop from me) and bought duncan hines brownie mix. i’m a little too excited to make those tomorrow.
after kieran left for home this weekend, james raided his apartment and got me this wonderful floor mat/rug i’m currently sitting on. then we went back up there later, and i swiped a few mugs (including this cute polkadot one) and a bowl.
also, yesterday i put up my christmas tree (which was already in my apartment) and a stocking (which came in the mail from grandma yesterday).
i’ve only been here for 4 months. i can’t imagine how much crap i’m going to have to leave here in july.
