'방ing'!

So I havent been updating in the longest time.. .I dont really use the computer much anymore. Instead, I bought a mini notebook where I write about stuff I did that day haha

Today watched 'Salt' with a friend from the around the world day camp we did a few weeks ago.
Yesterday watched 'Inception' with Bus Boy.
Last Saturday was the talent show and we went '방ing' afterwards with friends :)
board game 방, wii 방, 노래방, and even 짐찔방 a little later! So much fun!!! What a long day..:)

Perm!

Got a perm this past Saturday! My hair is now curly / wavy.
Met host-sister's cousins, nephew, niece, and aunts / uncles that day also.
Sunday stayed in most of the day because of perm.

Monday after school went to Hongdae to visit Coffee Prince! But it was closed... but it was still very nice~
We wrote on the  boards there lol

Tuesday went out with supporters to Namsan Tower after school. Ate at donkatsu place before going there. After Namsan Tower, walked through Myungdong and went to nrb. Fun.

Wednesday learned some mask dancing. Good memories...embarassing memories...funny memories. :) Met a huge group of Koreans after school.

First Week of School

WILL POST PICTURES LATER

So Monday July 5, 2010  = first day of school.
We took our placement test that day. It was basically a packet that was fill in the blanks / multiple choice / dictation / vocabulary test. There was also a part at the end where I had to write about my hobby / about myself in Korean. After I took the paper test, I then had to have an interview. My interviewer (who later turned out to be one of my teachers) asked me pretty simple questions...i.e. 'How long did it take for you to get to Sogang from your house?' and 'Why do you want to learn Korean?'



Tuesday July 6, 2010 = first official day of school
I met up with my supporters early before school started.. around 10 a.m. My group ended up being merged with another group (group 1 + group 6 = huge group). I think it's because one of the other group's supporters couldn't be one anymore or something like that... but anyways, we basically got an extra supporter and a whole bunch of other people lol. After everyone gathered, we moved down to this building where the new supporter (Jiwoong) gave a presentation on what we would be doing in Korea when we hung out with them (aka supporters). Then we played Korean games! One was some kind of game where we had to memorize players' names...it was pretty fun. They said it's usually played to introduce people. Then we played 007빵, some kind of drinking game (instead cups were filled with traditional tea lol), and hang man (which ended up being way too easy...all the words they came up with were in their powerpoint. People were guessing the answer just by looking at how many spaces there were haha). We also played an 'American' game, telephone. It was really funny.
...."Anthony likes Melissa" to "Anthony is black"
and something with "shingles" to "Anthony is a sexy beast" hahaha turns out one of the supporters (Hyunwoo) changed it because he didnt get what I said...or he thought that's what I said lol

Ok, so after that, we went to eat shabu shabu. It was good. There was noodles in it too.
Then we went to school. (but we got ice cream before going in too!) First day of real school. I'm in the advanced class, but I'd rather be in intermediate. I can understand a good amount of Korean, but I'm bad at talking and my grammer is really suffering...

Afterschool, I ate at the same restaurant as the one I ate at with my host-sister's friend - with MaiTong, Jessica, Brielle, and Josh. Turns out Josh lives really close to me, so went on the bus with him back to the neighborhood. Later met up with Josh and my host-sister to go to the local DAISO and 노래방. First 노래방 ever in Korea! It was kind of dirty though...with a lot of bugs ...everywhere. Very happy with the mask I bought at DAISO though. Josh bought the cute kitty one and it matches perfectly with him lol


Wednesday July 7, 2010
Met up around 10 am with Jessica and Maitong before school started. Looked around the streets of Sinchon. Found out there's an ARTBOX there and we also went to RED MANGO. Met Zack and Anthony randomly on the streets so we ate lunch at some restaurant. I ate 물냉면.
After school, me, Jessica, Maitong, and Brielle went to MyungDong. Bought watches and a few shirts. Went to a Donkatsu place that didnt taste that good... but it was cheap and the guys working there were nice.



Thursday July 8, 2010
Met up at 9.50 am with supporters and group at Anguk Station. Went to 창덕궁. I'm still not sure if we really visited the secret garden or not... It was really pretty! I want to make a modern version of a hanok to live in back in the U.S. ... or a fusion hotel. Sadly, I know this would be incredibly expensive...
Ate with the group.
After school ate frozen yogurt at the waffle stand (this being my 3rd time there) and went to 노래방 with a bunch of people (Susie, DiMitri, Elwin, Brian Q, Eileen, Tai, Anthony). After singing, we went to the same restaurant again (because it's cheap and good!) We really need to start going to other restaurants though lol

Catching up (part 2)

Today is Sunday July 4, 2010.

Oh boy... I guess I'll have to start with what I did on Friday July 2, 2010. I went on a fabulous tour with my host-sister's friend, Bong! (That's what my host-mom and host-sister always calls him, so I got used to calling him that too lol). He goes to Sogang University (where I'm supposed to also go for the Korean classes), so he showed me around Sogang and Sinchon (the surrounding area around Sogang - Ewha and Yonsei are also very close!). Also, thankfully, since he lives nearby, he showed me how to get to Sogang and how to come back.

^ in the elevator

^ the room that I think we'll be taking the placement test in lol

^ the library! it's really big, but I guess that's to be expected of a university library

^ a painting in the law school section of the library

^ I think he said it was the foreigners' dormitory

^ the plaza directly opposite of the above picture. lots of food and there's even a campus store there

^ lecture room from the business department lol .. what we had to do to find an empty one!

^ I think it was the lobby of one of the business / economics buildings

^ what you see when you enter Sogang (but we got to this quite a bit later lol came in from a different way)

^ the wall of the restaurant we went to (can you spot where I made my mark lol?)

^ I had bulgogi soup? it was 4500 won. it was good.

^ the streets of Sinchon! (I really want to go to Red Mango one day...hopefully soon!)

^ first ever Korean arcade that I've been in (it was very rainy, so we wanted to go inside)

played DDR first...which I SUCKED at. (different format from the one I have at home lol)_

^ awesome game ! hahaha so fun

^ a lot of gaming machines (played streetfighter)

^ when I got home, host-sister's other friend came over and I ate duck for the first time. it tasted like pork...

host-sister also makes an awesome onion salad.

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Saturday July 3, 2010. Met my aunt, uncle, and cousin who live here. Went on an awesome tour of Insadong, Samchungdong, Gyungbok Palace, Myungdong, and Jongno-gu overall (including going around the area where the Blue House is).

^ very famous samgyetang restaurant that we went to for lunch

^ it's a combination of a bunch of hanoks (traditional Korean house)

^ samgyetang for all! it was very good, with traditional medicine / herbs inside

^ the courtyard of the hanoks (aka restaurant)

^ gomo's refrigerator is really pretty and the two huge cabinets next to it is actually another refrigerator / freezer

^ krissy unni's delicious expresso coffee (if it wasnt expresso then I think she may have said americano? idk not very good with coffee names...)

^ in the middle of the apartments

^ there are tadpoles inside that water and those people are looking to catch some o__o

^ Insadong with Krissy unni

^ a lot of cool little objects

^ more

^ inside another store in Insadong where I bought some bookmarks

^ cute place with a lot of tea houses

^ amazing! I love this place. there's a lot of traditional / artsy things being sold here (basically like all of Insadong lol)

^ freaky.. they're having a mini-demonstration I think where they want to spread awareness about the horrible things North Koreans have to go through... if you cant see, it's a north korean soldier putting a gun to a young woman for public execution because she tried to escape North Korea and got caught

^ Korean High School

^ Korean Middle School (opposite to the high school shown above lol)

^ hanok house that is meant to serve as a gallery

^ hanoks <3

^ scary stairs.. it may not seem like it in this picture, but these are crazy steep!

^ cute coffee shops in Samchungdong (omg.. this crazy ..begger..grandpa chased me around and almost hit me with his long umbrella! I didnt do anything, but I was kind of on the sidewalk away from others and he just went crazy! definitely the scariest experience in Korea I've had so far...Krissy unni was like she's never seen that before, even if she lived here for a long time. we told the police, but the grandpa most likely disappeared before they could find him)

^ very pretty! on the grounds of Gyungbok Palace

^ patbingsoo at a cute cafe

^ clocks at the Artbox in Myungdong

^ on our way back to gomo's apartment, we walked past the Lee Soon Shin (very great admiral who made turtle boats that were incredibly strong and well built) statue

^ walked a little further and King Sejong the Great comes out! wow to think I would be able to see this statue in person! I did my National History Day project on him and made a documentary in his honor.

^ where many performances are held. it's named after King Sejong and is located right across from the King Sejong Statue

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Sunday July 4, 2010. Went shopping with host-sister in Myungdong and also saw Namsan Tower up close!

^ one of my favorite foods! Donkatsu is delicious

^ host-sister + me = too much shopping...

^ kwon sang woo's gelato shop in Myungdong

^ cool figure of a flying person in front of Namsan Tower

^ Namsan Tower (aka Seoul Tower)

^ locks at Namsan Tower. supposedly you bring a lock there and write a little message on it with you and your significant other and you'll be together forever lol you're supposed to toss the key into the mountains after you lock the lock.. there are so many !!

^ closeup on locks

^ the view from the ledge where all the locks are. you're supposed to toss the key into those trees right there

^ there's also tiles that are kind of similar to the locks

^ more locks.. so cute

^ cold stone. green tea icecream