I have moved!

to clee37.tumblr.com

:)

See you there!

Midterms...

Yay my midterms are almost all done, just one more oral presentation for Korean class!

Things to accomplish this week: update this blog and move it all to Tumblr.
Work out (via party? Who knooows :D)
Catch up on e-mails (hulll)
Give all of you guys some loving through amazingly inspiring posts!

Esther Im, I finally ate Ponderi donuts. And lots of other stuff (I went to Myungdong last Sunday) which I'll talk about lataaah

10.10 to present

Sunday was cool, I'll write real quickly that I pray for God's blessing on Jubilee Church and that the 70 year old gomtang restaurant in Myungdong isn't THAT great.

I've started watching Cinderella's Sister, REALLY watching it, and I have cried twice already. It's only been two ep.

Monday I tried Mr. Wow hotdogs... writem ore later.

went to Tom N Toms, love that place I LOVE CAFES

And Tuesday was awesome! In the morning I had breakfast with Mary at Casa della Luce, went to class, did bible study in Casa delle Luce and studied with Mary again, and then Angie and Jamie joined... after class there was a talk on north korea by Andrei Lankov, SO AWESOME more on this later, and then a bunch of us went to drink makgolli because a friend of mine hasn't tried it yet.

This led to us going to a club late at night and dancing for a while... my thighs burn... so out of shape... sigh

SORRY but...

I'm going to switch my blog to Tumblr soon! Sad to say this but I really do not like Blogger and so I'm going to gradually move all my posts over to Tumblr and then delete this account.

I also still have to write about Japan, but until then...

I went to an Emmaeus dinner, which is a Christian group on Yonsei's campus. I don't think my schedule is going work out but it was fun. Maybe this shows how prideful I am, but I was amazed that people didn't know anyone from Boston and that they didn't really know about Cornerstone. I guess I just assume everyone will meet someone from Boston and that, since Cornerstone is mainly Korean, someone would've somehow been a part of Emmaeus... :) but one of the Emmaeus leaders did know about Wellesley, woot!
________________________________
Somehow we started talking about Brave New World, my favorite book, and I guess my summary sounded intellectual because some people were like wow, this is out of my league...I remember feeling a little shocked and then shocked at my shock. It's bad but this was my thought process:

1. I am seriously not trying to sound intelligent. I just am very passionate about the book.
2. This reminds me of my life in grade school, when I would take things seriously or get into talking about something, and then people would say stuff like oh you're using such big words, you're so smart, this is too intellectual for me...
3. And I'd always get kind of uncomfortable. Because I know I'm not that "smart" or anything, and I don't want to make the others uncomfy because my vocab or my verbal content makes them feel "dumb"...
4. But then I'd secretly also be like, yep I'm smarter, you need to work harder to keep up with me. I hated that pridefulness in me, and when people said what I said/did was "smart" or "too intellectual" I'd always have this conflict of feeling sorry that the person (oftentimes) obviously was putting down him/herself, and then feeling smug about myself. GAH. And being Asian doesn't help, the model minority stereotype... seriously... people need to get a grip.
5. Anyway, I remembered these experiences during the dinner and was surprised at the tide of memories--it really did stress me out when I was younger, to see people put themselves down.

____________
Moving on...

I ate at a place called Loving Hut last Thursday, 10.7.2010, which is apparently all around the world but has different things on the menu depending on location. It is environmentally friendly and cute!

I got a new pair of eyeglasses today... America makes stuff so complicated, my frames and lenses were only 65,000 Won alltogether, so less that $65. In America even just the frame is at least $20...

I went to a place called Club Vera in Hongdae because there was a special discount thingy going on for foreigners. I really wanted K-Pop music to be played but alas it was not forthcoming...

Friday and Saturday I already blogged about...

The Frypan, Caffe Bene and more...

Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated! I definitely will write about my time in Japan in a future post (with pics, yay!) but for now, I am studying in Tom N Toms Cafe with my friend Maizoua and I just want to express how awesome the cafe culture of Korea is. I know that Europe is big on the cafes but seriously, Korean cafes are bomb. When I went to Japan there were hardly any, and then I return to Shinchon and am surrounded!

Yesterday I met my friend from Ewha, Yoonyoung, along with my friends Yuko Atsumi and Diana, and we went to The Frypan. Kind of infamous, apparently (we had to wait a whole hour! There is always a line) because they make their own potato chips and their fried chicken is really good.

And yes, it was really good, so I recommend! Pic later. I will try to remember.

Afterwards we street shopped a little and Diana and I ended up going to Caffe Bene. I was going to study but then we ended up bonding over our love for Choi Minho from SHINee (will this be a future friendship or future rivalry? Haha just kidding) and then going to noraebang to sing straight up ONLY SHINee songs :) we're a good noraebang duo, I guess.

It's random but I can't find dduk anywhere! There is like a small dduk place across from Caffe Bene in Shinchon but the dduk is kind of expensive and it has been glorified into being a cafe. WHERE IS MY RAINBOW DDUK?!?

I'm going to church tomorrow with my mom! Jubilee, 10 am service. WOOT.

Poop-Pig Syndrome, and Off to Japan soon!

Sunday I went to Times Square, which is a still-developing-yet-already-big shopping complex a little off of Sindorim, on the blue 1 line, with Ben and Joe. It was pretty big and nice but... ㅋㅋㅋ... I ended up shopping in the underground subway shopping complex because stuff in department stores here is quite pricy.

While we were leaving though, the four-man group of opera singers that appeared on Star King one time (anyone who is reading this watch this episode?) like last year happened to be doing a showcase, so we listened to some opera before leaving. :)

My roommate's REAL birthday was on Monday, so after class we went to Mad for Garlic in Mapo for dinner. A little pricey, like 14-21,000 Won per meal (pricy for Korea, that is average for Boston) but not bad. The food was good and I reserved a table for eight, which happened to be in a private room with lush seats. Cool. :) I and her friend Lindsey (a boy, not a girl) went during the day into Sinchon to get a cake for her, and we ended up deciding on a Blueberry Yogurt cake from A Twosome Place. So we went back and picked it up before dinner, asked the Mad for Garlic staff to put it in their fridge, and had it after dinner. It was pretty good and RANDOM but I LOVE KOREAN CANDLES why are they so thin and pretty?! EEEE I wish my birthday was here because the cakes are soooo pretty... maybe I should celebrate my half birthday or something... ㅋㅋ

Anyway, I ended up staying out until about 1 am afterwards because we went to a bar and then an arcade following dinner, because if I wasn't there Nikki would have been alone with four guys (two of the girls split without telling me) which I didn't think was right. So although I meant to do homework... I ended up doing it on Tuesday...

but I had a presentation in Korean class I was supposed to make and I didn't know I was presenting that day until the day before so I did what all college students have had experience with in the past... rushed an assignment that could've taken 8-10 hours into... 2.5 hours... -___- My mom helped me though, so that was good. I was supposed to find an article related to Korea, in Korean, but it was hard at first because reading news articles in Korean takes me a looong time. Anyway, I chose a kind of strange topic, so I attached the summary below. ^^

Tuesday I went to noraebang with my Korean class, some of them, which was awesome! Chinese Japanese Korean and American songs were all sung ^^

Wednesday I tutored and then went to the last hour of noraebang that my friend, Courtney, wanted to do for her birthday. Noraebang two nights in a row... wow...

I'm going to Japan soon! Osaka and Kyoto! Too bad I can't go to Tokyo but I'm looking forward to the trip anyway. I should try and learn Japanese tonight probably... as I pack...
________________________________________________________________
Random note: On the subway coming back from tutoring, I heard two women next to me talking about how they wish they had more confidence. That even if they look down on people who are too confident when they speak/present at work, they are secretly jealous too because they want that confidence. I think this sentiment is prevalent in many Koreans because of how the education system here works. Even during the summer, the other Korean students told us Wellesley/BU students that one thing they really admired about us was our confidence and manner in even intimidating situations.
________________________________________________________
Poop-pig Syndrome
똥돼지 신드롬

요약
제주에는 특별한 돼지가 있습니다. 옛날에 제주 토종돼지가 있었는데, 보통 털이 길고 겉이 까만색이었습니다. 예전에 수세식화장실이 없었을때, 이 흑돼지는 옛 초가집 밑에 살면서, 인분과 음식 찌꺼기를 먹었습니다. 그렇니까 이 돼지가 똥돼지라고 합니다.

저는 이 기사를 읽으면서 정말 놀랐습니다. 인분을 먹을 수 있는 돼지가 있는지도 몰랐고 또 그런 돼지를 사람이 먹었다는 점에도 놀랐어요.

지금은 화장실이 생겨서 이런 흑돼지가 많이 없어졌습니다. 지금 흑돼지라 불리는 것들은 진짜 똥돼지가 아니고 그냥 교잡종돼지라 합니다.

하이튼, '똥돼지 신드롬'이 한국에서 생겼습니다.똥돼지는 공무원•민간기업•공사•금융기관•대학 등에 '낙하산'으로 들어간 사람이라고 합니다. 어느나라에서 이 ‘낙하산’으로 들어간 사람이 있지만, 한국에는 유행으로 생긴 것 같습니다. 인터넷과 트위터 등 소셜네트워크서비스에는 '똥돼지를 고발한다'는 글들이 많습니다. 사람이 실력이 없는대도 특별하게 취작한 사람이 많아지는 것 같습니다.

사람 들은 9급에 시작하면, 5급으로 올라가는데 거의 25년동안 걸린다고 합니다. 그런데도 이런 낙하산으로 들어가는 사람들은 9급에서 시작하지않고 5급부터 일을 시작하니까, 다른 사람들이 당연히 열을 받고 있습니다.

'빽' 없는 보통사람들은 지금분노를 느끼고 있습니다. 그렇니까 이 숨어있는 부정을 드러내고싶어합니다.

Lotte World, Nikki's Birthday, Tutoring, Saturday Night

Mwahaha.

Teeheeheeeee.

Hohohohoooooooooo.

I went to Lotte World with Mary on Friday! She had work and I had class so we went from 9:30 until 2 pm. Unfortunately we only went on four rides, but we went on the biggest and *scariest* (<---not really) rides. We had a lot of fun and yay for foreigner and student discounts... bwahaha.

I bought one of those ridonkulous (<--this word is for you, Emma, even though you flake on our Skype dates and then try and blame it on me) headbands that has a huuuge sparkling bow on top. Black, thanks, since I don't like red.

ROLLERCOASTERS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Couples. Sigh. ㅠㅠ

Pineapple on a stick? Yum. ^^

People writing SHINee and other k-pop group names all over the rides: Chortle chortle.
____________________________________________
After Lotte World, I went back to Korean class, and then after that went to Naan (slow service :[) for Indian food with my roommate and her friends for an early birthday celebration. Then we went to Boss, a big bar that wow can fit forty people?! I pretty much laughed hysterically at my roommate's antics and met lots of people, then left at midnight since I wanted to wake up early to study. Wellesley habits, can't get rid of them... :(
___________________________________________
Can I say that tutoring is flippin' awesome. I am making BUCK WOOT I am going to save up and take my uncle mom and grandma out for dinner sometime when I go over for a weekend again. :) I tutored last Sun, last Mon, and yesterday (Saturday evening).
__________________________________________
Sunme wanted to go out last night so after tutoring I met up with CIEE friends and we went to a bar.

Who cares about alcohol, I was hungry. I ate while others tried to play Korean games and failed over and over. Is there some sort of chemistry in each group that one needs to know about... it's like when Team 4 of Cornerstone Church's OneLove Missions tried to play games and we just couldn't get into it. This group was one that just had A.D.D. to the max and couldn't pay attention harharhar ^-^

We migrated somewhere else and I met up with my roommate again. After a brief sit-down we went to noraebang woooot

But it was until 5 am this is baaaad
_____________________________________________________
And so I was determined to still go to Jubilee Church at 10 am even though my plans for the night kind of... disintegrated, because I don't think I should compromise meeting with God for my shortcomings of not sleeping early enough...

but I failed ㅠㅠ I swear I set my alarm but when I woke up at 11 am it wasn't in my phone. Something didn't work. GAH.

So I'm listening to the 8/29 sermon by Pastor Drew online right now... Father, forgive me for compromising my planned time in worship with your body. :( Siiigh.
____________________________________________________
Thought: Your finances reveal where your heart is. Where are you committed?

Happy Chuseok!

This is my first Chuseok celebration, my first time seeing my grandma since coming to Korea, and my first time making about 40 pancakes of binddehdduk (빈대떡).

Since the party fail on Friday I went on the International Yonsei Community's M.T. and it was insanity. We left at 2:30 pm and went to Hanbok Goong in Gyeonggi-do for a night. After arriving, teaching the newbies drinking games (well, in my opinion, they are just games that can be used for drinking. The watermelon game seems pretty innocent, in my opinion) and watching people swim in the HUGE swimming pool, IYC tried to get us into groups and to play couple dodgeball, but it was largely a fail because everyone wanted to drink. So after a dinner of bulgogi and rice at 5 pm and failed attempts at group games at 6:30 pm... people settled into their groups to drink at like... 8 pm. -___- (And then some people proceeded to go all night. Wah-ow.)

I, being a light-weight and not a fan of drunkenness, drank a little 막걸리 during the games and ate Honey Twists (FTW!) and then just wandered around. Randomly, around 10 pm, pretty much a whole pig was butchered and people ate huge hunks of... cooked pig, with sauce, as... a snack?! What do you even call that? Second dinner? It was good but it was a little unexpected... a cat came later to eat at part of the pig's spine that was on the floor and was pretty happy. But seriously, it was part of a pig's spine. What is going on...

And then, of course, around 3 am, people started making huge vats of ramen. Ah yes, Korean drinking culture is always consistent. I met a few of the Korean IYC members, so I hope I can meet up with them later and become friends? As far as the international students... most were too drunk. HAHA.

Finally found a place to sleep around 5 am... you'd think there are lots of places to sleep, but the music was blaring and people were passed out or still drinking in even the nooks and crannies... X_X
________________________________-
SUNDAY
Woke up at 9 am, wandered blearily out. Looks like it is the morning after a miniature apocalypse. Am I this much of a newbie to drunk college kids? Yes.

Because I found myself avoiding: a cat, pieces of pork over the floor, ramen noodles, people's clothes, shoes, socks, phones, cameras, still sleeping people, used cups and bowls and spoons, empty soju beer and makgolli bottles...

and everyone who was awake wasn't even really cleaning, but more like sitting next to each other in hung-over solidarity, in the quiet. Aw, peace at last?

After a quick cleaning up that did very little, we left and went back to Yonsei (surprise, early for the first time!) 11 am. Rest for me? Oh no, have to get ready to tutor (thanks to Jen I got a tutoring job that pays well, WOOT!). So I ate lunch to wake up, took a short nap, went to tutor, came back, fell asleep. Couldn't even go to church. :(

MONDAY: Haven't recovered fom the M.T. yet, I'm trudging through class and am coming down with a cold. I go tutor once again.

TUESDAY: Picked up by my mom uncle and grandma! Going to uncle's house! We stopped at a 두부촌 in Gimpo and had lunch, then went to the house. Mom and Grandma proceeded to start making the ingredients for bindehdduk and then I proceeded to make a huge pile of it. :) Dinner was bindehdduk, pretty much. LOL.

TODAY: Had 갈비 for lunch, with binddehdduk and other stuff. Yum. Went to Ganghwa-do, an island about 40 minutes away from Gimpo. A historical place because it still has the fortresses that Korea built against American forces in 1871. Essentiallly, America wanted to force Korea to trade, but Korea, being completely xenophobic at the time, wasn't having it.

Dinner will be 냉면 and 고구마 for dessert. Homemade food = happyyy

Party Fail...

I and a friend, Courtney (from Montana), left SK Global around 9:40 to go to the Sky Lounge right outside of Gangnam Station Exit 1, but we got there after 10:30 and so the entry fee changed from 10,000 Won to 20,000 Won. And we were like... uh... no...

So we got ice-cream from Baskin Robbins instead!

I felt kind of sad because I had dressed up and even *gasp* worn heels but at the same time, going to a club/lounge/bar with five schools in it for 20,000 Won wasn't that important to me. I more wanted to spend time with my friends. And... I was more depressed that I had spent the energy to dress up, to be honest.

Anyway, Courtney and I had blueberry oatmeal icecream and persimmon icecream and both were good but TRY THE BLUEBERRY OATMEAL so delicious.

Then we left and I ran into a friend from Korean language class, Thomas (from UC Berkeley), on the subway. My friend Mary (from Australia, her accent is awesome and she calls people who are stupids "knobs") texted to ask if I was studying tonight. Which I wasn't but I was like, okay sure for like an hour...

So after I got back I washed up and did some homework with her until 3 am, woke up at 10:40 am, had lunch with Lizzie (a CIEE friend) and I'm now getting ready to depart on the M.T. at 2 pm.

I'm just hoping I can become friends with the Koreans in my group, there are maybe four? In a group of... eleven?

MY MOM IS COMING!!! ^-^

My mom is arriving in Korea tonight!

FOR THE WIN FTW TO THE MAX YAAAAAAAY WHOOOOOO

Tonight, Gangnam. Tomorrow, IYC M.T.

Tonight I will be venturing into Gangnam for a huge party that is having internationals from five schools (Korea, Ewha, Yonsei, who knows who else? Communication is unclear, as always). If we go before 10:30 we pay less so I'm going with a bunch of people at nine.

I am looking forward to this experience, because unlike the dance style in fraternities, sororities, bars and clubs, there will be no grinding or even male to female contact, ladies and gentlemen. Oh no. There won't even be much footwork going on because all the females where massive heels, so I won't even get stepped on. No, tonight will *hopefully* be just be hand raising and maybe a little moving the torso from side to side awkwardly, with no human-to-human contact. Which is great because I hate getting someone's sweat on me. I dislike my own sweat, let along someone else's sweat.

Of course, I'll be better at dancing than anyone else there... because I won't have drunk a single drop. :) And since I'm not looking for a boy, I can enjoy a good old time of just dancing to k-pop *hopefully* and techno. Woot.
_______________________________________
**One of my friends found out her aunt has cancer that has spread through her whole body. Can we keep this aunt in our prayers? The cancer is possibly beyond treatment stage, although it isn't for sure.

**Also, let's remember to keep our nation's leaders and North Korea in our minds!
________________________________________

TOMORROW

Since I don't plan on staying out too late, tomorrow I'm going to study in the morning and then I'm off to International Yonsei Community Membership Training (the infamous M.T. that is a huge part of Korean college culture.) Although, of course Membership Training is a total misnomer since most M.T.'s end up with extreme drinking and extreme pressure to drink, not training at all. Not really a scenario I would normally willingly sign up for, but I felt like this may be a chance to go out of my comfort zone and still maintain my boundaries. :) After meeting the Koreans in my group I think I'll be fine, they all seem pretty chill. And if all fails, I'm bringing a book. Drinking to get drunk is not something that will ever appeal to me...

before leaving for the M.T. some of the group are going to GrandMart to get food for dinner. I am going to push to get as many apples as possible. I haven't had an apple for soooo loooong!!!

Leaving at 12 for Mart, eating lunch together, 2 pm leaving for the countryside, coming back around 1 pm Sunday. If all goes well. Wish me luck!
______________________________________________
Maroon 5's new album, Hands All Over, is pretty good. I still like Songs About Jane the best though.

Things to Do...

It is so strange but even though I'm not at Wellesley I still feel like I'm behind... something.

Behind because I haven't been able to go to church yet. So I haven't gotten plugged into the church community here yet. (I tried to go via clubs but one of them meets during my Samulnori club, the other one had meetings during my Korean language class.)

Behind because I still don't know if I want to pursue an econ minor or try and get a teaching certificate from Wellesley.

Behind because I want to meet people but I never really want to do the same thing other people I meet want to do (go out late)... I haven't found people who I really click with yet... I think I'm spoiled at Wellesley.

Behind because I still don't know what I want to do with my life, and my regular prayer time has been irregular as of late.

Behind because there are so many Korean words I must memorize, because I haven't read the book for my Pre-Modern Korean History class yet (I don't want to buy the book but because I lose my student ID card I can't go to the library yet), because I'm always wondering what others are doing when I'm alone in my room reading. It's hard to know what is going on because Yonsei doesn't have any sort of comprehensive system that tells students what is going on.

Behind because I want to join the art club here, or the calligraphy club, or the club that discusses current politics, but I have to open a cyworld to get their info and I haven't done that yet. I guess I'll do that after finishing this post.

I'm really just astonished that, even though I have more time here than at Wellesley, I don't feel more rested but rather like I never really know what I'm doing. Yonsei, why do you not have a central communication system? X_X

I like it here but I miss my friends and my brother and sister being so close by...

My Second Korean Concert! (First one was the Wonder Girls, in NYC in March 2009)

Because I'm a "foreigner" I and my friends were able to get free tickets to the Hallyu Dream Festival Concert. September 12, 7:00 pm. Gyeong Ju Citizen Stadium. Oh yeah, baby. Drawback? The place is about 4.5 hours away from Yonsei. T_T

I'm not going to write out the logistics of transporting eleven people to Gyeong ju and back in a day, but let's just say that (praise the Lord) everything thankfully went smoothly. We left in the morning. Went to Express Bus Terminal. Took a bus to Gyeongju, which did take about 4.5 hours. Got in line, got our tickets...

started seeing celebrities come out of their extremely, extremely, extremely dark tinted cars (Taemin of SHINee is so cute, he is so smiley and waved very enthusiastically. I hate that I'm writing about this when I'm 20 years old)...

heard screaming fans, saw tweens running around, felt old but also resolute to see this out to the end and see SHINee perform before I'm 22 (I was with people older than me and there were definitely ahjummas in the line so I wasn't out of place even though I got really exasperated at all the girls screaming all the time when anyone came out of a car. So many false alarms!)...

bought a 4,000 Won pair of plastic binoculars because I was afraid I'd really regret not buying them once I was in the stands (I ended up buying a poncho too because it rained some)...

was told to go to this line, no that line, wait get out of the way the huge bus is moving and is going to mow down some 200 fans if we don't all move out of the way (some fans are ASKING to be run over. Seriously. These stupi* thirteen year olds stood there like looking vainly for another pop star to come out of the extremely dark [all Hyundai] vans was more important than their lives. The bus was clearly beginning to move and they wouldn't budge. I began to understand why there were hordes of policemen there [yes yes, many many policemen. Even some ROK marines])...

heard the performers practicing in the stage while we were waiting and people watched (some girls are scary, I forgot how scary crazed teens are. Teens and their hormones, thank God that stage of my life is over)...

and voila, entrance! Voila, because we miraculously butted the line early enough that people didn't do anything, we sat in the best possible spot in our block! Voila, there is no real food available so we must live off chips but who cares, I am finally, finally going to see SHINee, Se7en, and 2NE1 perform!

Suffice to say the concert was awesome. The waiting sucked. But wow, even though I diss K-Pop for its lack of... well, quality, and labor regulations, and undertalented and underaged people taking the stage... my fervor has been renewed!

And yes, thank you for wondering. I will indeed continue studying diligently--what I mean is that I will listen to K-Pop more, again (I have been on a non-K-Pop streak, actually. I've been listening to trip-hop and electronic...)

Performers are way better in real life. Gikwang of B2st is so cute. I now like F.T. Island. Se7en is awesome, as expected. Onew's mic didn't record his voice so SHINee performed Lucifer twice. ^-^ I type that calmly here, but yes, I was going nuts at my good fortune. They also performed Ring Ding Dong. So three song perfs by them, woot! They were third to last, only before Super Junior and Se7en, so that tells you how much their popularity has grown. Not a big fan of 2PM although I like them, but seeing Taec's shenanigans as MC was nice. Good to know he's still the goofy person he was back when I met him at the Wonder Girls' Concert. Wish f(x) was there. Davichi sang very well! I saw miss A on Saturday, I'm glad I saw them close-up since I think they all have great voices. 2NE1 is... well, very, very marketable in my opinion. I think CL is as rad as ever, but after seeing this perf. the thing I thought was wow, they could really break into the American market, if anyone can.

If you are surprised at how calm this post sounds, now that I have been within 500 meters of my love, Choi Minho, and was breathing almost the same air as him, I am surprised with you. What can I say? I'll annoy everyone, including myself, if I unleash my feelings via blog. I will just close by saying the waiting and commute back was definitely worth it. SHINee is great live, everyone is so much more impressive live, and I'm glad I could experience a huge concert like that even if half the audience should have been in bed by 8 pm.

So long K-Pop stars. Until next time?

^-^V

Korean Global Forum, Korean International Art Fair and Yon-Go Jun

THURSDAY 9/9
선공! I was successfully on time to the Korean Global Forum last Thursday, and was able to interview the guy from Germany, Matthias something (don't have the business card with me now...sorry), without revealing just how nervous and inexperienced I was.

The KGF was mostly in English, woot! They have these interesting headpieces that simultaneously translate though, that many people were using... very cool. Our past Secretary of Defence, Secretary Cohen was the keynote speaker. I have to admit I felt pretty cool--I was without a doubt one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person in the whole place. :)

After listening to some speeches and Q&A, we had lunch (which was amazing, I took the menu with me hahaaa just because Shilla Hotel is a very nice hotel and yes I was allowed to take the menu I didn't steal it)
and then it was show time. I had prepared a few questions beforehand, which is what I used to open up. Unfortunately, although I was supposed to interview the actual German Ambassador, he didn't end up making it to KGF for some reason, whether he was late, got sick, wasn't coming, or something of that nature... which is why I interviewed an Advisor from the embassy instead.

The interview was about 10 minutes. Once I have the write-up I'll post it here, in case anyone is interested in what I asked and in what he said. He was surprisingly young, actually.


__________________________________________________
FRIDAY 9/10
friday
Got to CoEx Mall by 11, ate amazingly delicious pizza at Mr. Pizza with Sehee unni, looked around the Korean International Art Fair (SO COOL YAY art by Asian artists!) that was being shown there, had 설렁탕 for dinner and left. Pouring, pouring rain. Had to grab a cuppa in the Charlie Brown cafe next to Ewha University because it was pouring so much.

The cool thing about KIAF was the special exhibit of video art! The first video artist was Nam June Paik, a Korean-born but NY-based artist. I didn't even know about video art until I went there are saw it myself. Wish I could've recorded some of it for you all but that would be an epic no-no. Most artists don't want people to take pics of their stuff anyway. But if you are interested in more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_June_Paik

Today was also the first day of Yon-Go Jeon, the epic battle of sports teams between Yonsei and Korea Universities. Of course Korea is still a weensy bit behind on the gender front and thus only the guys' teams played. >_< However, art takes precedence over sports any day! I did see a huge group of supporters from both schools enter CoEx right as I was leaving though, to grab some dinner and then party in the area, I presume.

SATURDAY 9/11
Deciding not to be a pooper I went to the soccer game, the last game of Yon-Go Jeon, with my Yonsei Mentor, 태웅. Being a completely newbie and wet behind the ears, I was taken aback when I first entered the stadium. Half blue. Half red. Chanting, dancing, singing, shouting, stomping... wow Akaraka people work hard! (The cheering squad.) It was fun because

A. My mentor is really into the chants. Like really. It was funny.
B. I ran into my study abroad friends, and they were half exhausted, half into it. It was funny.
C. Some members of Akaraka dress up in these weird semi-European fruity costumes and are on these small stages at strategic areas to lead the crowd on. Watching them was entertaining.

It was a little uncomfy because

A. Lots of the chants include bumping hips or putting our arms around each other's shoulders. AKA I got people's sweat on me and my sweat was on them. Gross.
B. Everyone is sweating. Koreans don't have B.O. exactly, but it was getting there. Maybe because I was in the international section.
C. I didn't know the chants. And I was tired. Did I mention that in Korea...

they
are
constantly
cheering?

CONSTANTLY.

How am I supposed to watch the game? Oh wait, I can't. I have to stand and be awk and watch the game and seem awk because everyone else is cavorting around, or I have to do the cheers and not watch the game.

I don't mean to say it wasn't entertaining or fun, but it is def. a workout. I respect Akaraka members so much.

I like that Yon-Go Jeon is about friendly competition. Some of blue to go to red side (AKA Yonsei to Korea's side, or Eagle to Tiger's side), some red come to blue side, we switch cheering teams at the opening ceremony to cheer for each other... yeah it is nice! People in America get knifed because they go to the wrong school (sad but true T_T) but here it was pretty friendly. No booing, dissing, threatening, etc...

like! But yes, tiring.

Closing ceremony of Yon-Go Jeon: miss A came and performed! But before that I had to stand, waiting, for two hours X_X The concert began at 7 pm but of course there were random performers, and of course no one really knew who was performing or why or how and when or in what order or to what degree... okay I am exaggerating... but yes communication on Yonsei's campus is next to nil, I never know when anything is going on and no one else does either. It is lame. >_< Miss A was awesome though! Like them a lot, they are very talented and cute.

Samulnori

After school I went to the first meeting of Tteh (떼) which is a samulnori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samul_nori) club. I played the jang-gu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janggu) a little bit.

I'm sad to say this but Korean drumming just isn't the same as taiko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiko), Japanese drumming. With taiko you have a big drum in front of you and you use gravity with your arm motion. With jang-gu the places you hit is on the sides... it just isn't as fulfilling. Or stress relieving. Not sure I'm going to join this club...

I am interviewing the German Ambassador Johannes Regenbrecht this Thursday...

...and I have to come up questions to ask about "The Korean Question in a Regional and Global Context". The interview will last about 10 minutes and I am representing the Ministry of Unification (I found out I do have to dress up, I knew it) and, in my opinion, myself, my family, Wellesley, and America. Maybe even Yonsei. How Grace and the other girls of the volunteer team did the radio interviews so coolly I will never know...

I guess I will ask something about whether the Ambassador sees similarities between the division of Germany in the past and the division of Korea but I'm going to have to brush up on my European history before Thursday, that's for sure. Anyone have ideas? Anyone know Germany and its culture and mentality and history reallyyy well? Your help would be great, thanks.

I've met the Governor of Gyeonggi-do, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Unification, people working in the Ministry, and now will meet the German Ambassador plus, possibly, others. I feel like I should be awesome to have met these people but I'm still so confused as to how I got here LOL. And now I have to brush up on my North Korean history and German history...

Feet-eating Fishies

Warning: Possible queasiness may occur.

I went to Gangnam today with a bunch of CIEE friends for one thing, and one thing only. To hunt down Dr. Fish. What is Dr. Fish, you ask? It is the name a cafe has given to its pool of fish that eats the dead skin off of your feet.

I retype, there is a cafe in Gangnam, about 150 feet from exit 6 and a little past Paris Croissant, on the second floor, that has patbingsoo, gelato, tea, drinks, self-serve bread AKA all you can eat bread... and a small pool in which you put your feet. A pool that is filled with maybe fifty fish about as long as your fingers, with gaping little mouths opening and closing, aching for the chance to eat your ddeh.

I do not know WHY Dr. Fish is in a cafe, of all places, or HOW they got this idea, but I do know that my feet were the most POPULAR feet in the small rectangular pool! There were four other pairs of feet but wherever my feet went they would come. Am I particularly tasty? Are my feet particularly attractive? I do not know...

Let's just say it is super creepy to have little fish eating your dead skin. It is really ticklish and doesn't hurt at all, but... for goodness sake, there are silvery fish as big as my fingers swarming around my feet. And yes, that is the whole point but I didn't know how weird it would be until I did it. I was alternating between screaming through clenched teeth and digging my fingers into my roommate's arm (she was next to me). I couldn't look the whole time. Thanks to a certain male someone who was there, however, I couldn't stop freaking out because his commentary was something like this: "Wow Christine! There are so many fish around your feet! Wherever you go they're following you! Whoa that is a really, really big fish at your toe. They are going crazy!" And then of course I imagined it even if I wasn't seeing it and I'd freak out all over again. X_X (My roommate tried to pretend they were kissing her. That didn't help me, though.)

After having our feet in the pool for about 15 minutes, we got out, rinsed our feet, put on our shoes again, and left the cafe. Yep, just another group of people in and out. Not like we had living creatures which live off of people's dead skin cells eat our flesh or anything...

But of course, now that I've done it, I'm happy I did it and think everyone should try it. Cultural experience? Not necessarily, I doubt this is widespread in Korea. But still, you're not going to find a cafe with flesh-nibbling fish anywhere in America, I'm sure.

Pictures to come :D (Said male friend took a short video too. If he puts it on YouTube I will share it with you.)

Friday night series of unfortunate events; Meeting with 상생 기자단

Since the first day of school I have gone to classes, finished reading a book loosely based on the history of witchcraft trials in Massachusetts ("The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" [I also finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" last week... can anyone tell I have a lot of spare time so far?]), sat in on random classes, gone to a business class that has a crazy professor and is so filled with males that the smell of cologne almost knocked me out (was it all the guys? just one guy? the teacher? it was so strong why are these boys like old ladies who put on too much perfume because their sense of smell is fading?), marveled at how cheap the books are here, realized how much America rips off college students, finally got in touch with Neda, Dixon, and Emma, *almost* finalized my schedule, and met many new people.

Korean language class is going well, the set up of the class is exactly like at Wellesley. So this either means Professor Eun-Jo Lee learned how to teach here, or there is a universal way of efficiently teaching Korean, or the Yonsei books we use force teachers to teach a certain way, or Yonsei is of better caliber than expected, or I'm just awesome. Maybe all of these? :D

I want to buy Yonsei books 5 and 6 and bring them back to Wellesley. Each is only 30,000 원, AKA cheaper than from the Wellesley bookstore by about $20.

Friday night I attempted to expand my I-know-you-by-face-and-if-I-focus-can-remember-your-name group by hanging out with my roommate's friends. While my roommate couldn't come because she had a special Vietnamese get-together she felt she shouldn't miss, I and five other girls left SK Global House *kind of* dressed up in order to eat at a "classy" restaurant in CoEx Mall (apparently there are some nice restaurants there?) for a girl's night out.

We left too late (some girls were late). The traffic was bad. The taxi driver might have taken the long way, we'll never know. CoEx was almost all closed. We ended up eating at a cheap place (still good food, but not "classy".) There is a lounge where we could just chill in InterContinental Hotel in the area, but there are two parts and we went to the wrong part. We had to walk back for about 15 minutes, and after getting slightly lost a couple times, found the lounge. By then we were afraid we wouldn't get back to Shinchon before the subway closes (it closes around 12:15 am. Wherever you are at that time you have to get off) so we took a quick peek into the lounge and had to leave. Some girls had high heels on and were in pain :( We got on the subway. The subway stopped early than expected, and we were six stops away from SK Global House. We had to get a taxi. Fare is more expensive after midnight. We finally got back to SK Global after a cheap meal and lots of (sadly) wasted time. I'm glad I met the girls though and that we got back safely!
_______________________________________________________________
SATURDAY

Meeting with the 상생 기자단 and someone from 통일부 who is going to teach us about... stuff. (Not sure.)

10:30 am. Leave SK Global.

11:30 am. Arrive at place, meet 정환 오빠 at 온수역, 6 출구. Take bus and get to the meeting place, 서서울생활과학고등학교. Meet some new people who didn't come on the 3박4일 trip.

1:00 pm. Have been waiting with about four other people for 1.5 hours. Where is everyone?

1:15 pm. A few more people come. We have to begin. I don't know what's going on. I thought we were getting a presentation from a 통일부 representative?

1:16-3:45 pm. Talk about... stuff. Not sure. Momentarily meet some old guy, whom I don't know. Get a short presentation from another guy about the school we're in. Apparently the 상생기자단 (not necessarily all of them) are going to be teaching stuff about unification to the high school students attending the school we're in? The thing is, however, the school is some special school that has what amounts to a small museum on North Korean life in the bottom floor. So the students here get a special, in-depth, consistently talked about education on North Korea and unification issues.

3:46 pm. Return from tour of school. I don't understand why this school has specially compiled this stuff on North Korea, but it's cool. I hear people playing basketball... upstairs. Upstairs? Apparently gyms are often upstairs. Doesn't make sense to me, what with the pounding and screeching and thud of feet. Oh well.

3:47-6 pm-ish. I think the 상생기자단 are discussing how to revamp themselves. So many people were late by more than an hour, so many people didn't even come, people had the wrong time written down, people are concerned about their articles and if they need to reevaluate what they're writing... lots of discussion going on. Oh and 준영 언니가 저한테 이번 목요일에 인터뷰같은걸 하고십니 물어봤어. Apparently there is some big 행사 on September 9th in which many ambassadors are coming together to talk about North Korean and unification. (I wish I understood EXACTLY what is going on! Anyone who knows me well knows I am a detailed person. I want to know who these ambassadors are, why they are coming, is this an annual thing, can I meet other ambassadors besides the one I'm interviewing, etc? I guess I will get someone who knows Korean to e-mail 준영 언니 later X_X) Anyway, some of the ambassadors have agreed to be interviewed by us, the student reporters for the Ministry of Unification, and one of them is the German Ambassador. I will be interviewing him, asking English questions.

NOTE: Culture difference? I thought I would have to dress up but I was assured by three different people that in Korea, reporters wear really casual clothing, all the time. So no worries. As long as I don't wear flip-flops. Regardless, I'm representing America, the Ministry of Unification, my family, and Wellesley College, so I'm going to dress up anyway.

CONTINUING ON...
I wondered why I can't interview the ambassador from America but apparently he/she? I must look this up... declined for some reason.

Anyway, this is a great opportunity for me as a representative of the Wellesley/BU team and the Ministry so I agreed to do it even though I'll have to miss class that day. I will get an official excusal note though. I just hope I don't get sick later this semester and regret that missed day when I was healthy...

After much discussion about how to change people's attitude about being tardy and how to make sure the articles are relevant and have the right 목표, (I admit I doodled part of this time because it wasn't really my business anyway) we finally left and I had dinner with three students (all of whom I didn't know before today! Yay new people!) nearby. I don't remember the name of what we ate but you have 삼겹살 or 불고기 that you cook in some sort of broth and then you drain the broth with the oil in it and you eat it with 쌈. The new girls I met: Esther, 나눔, 지현. :D

After going back to Ewha Station I got sidetracked looking for corn (like I always do). Today though, was different--I finally found the vendor that sells two cobs for 2,000 W! YAAAY now I will get my money's worth! Now I can try living on corn for a week and see if I lose weight like Gi Yoon said she did last summer! (HAHA just kidding. Maybe.) ^^

Skip to a few hours ago and I met a girl from Vancouver living in a single on my floor, named Sarah. It is through her, God bless her, I resolved my dilemma: what to do with the other corn cob?! I can only eat one at a time, I was too full! Thankfully, single rooms have fridges. My corn is in there right now. :) Wonder if it will be okay after being cold for hours... I also momentarily went to a billiards place with a couple people from CIEE to visit three other guys from CIEE already there about 1.5 hours ago and now I really want to play. And please note it is Korean pool (billiards), ladies and gentlemen, not actual pool. The one with two red balls, a yellow ball, and a white ball. Someday I will play since the place is just down the street and no one goes there so it is bright and big and clean and empty :D but I just wanted to visit tonight.
___________________________________________________________

Reflection 1: Even though there is the stereotype of Koreans being late for everything, which I don't fully subscribe to, I was surprised at how many people were late or didn't come at all to the meeting. I'm not surprised in that, with about twenty people to be accounted for, people are late, but 1.5 hours late? So late you don't even come? I was a little surprised. Albeit I don't know who the people we met were or how important this new project of teaching high schoolers is, but still.

Reflection 2: I was also a little surprised at how long the discussion went. I understand why it went that long and resigned myself to it, so I don't think I had a bad attitude or misrepresented myself or Wellesley in any way, but yes I didn't know we'd go until 6 pm. So the hours kind of dragged on.

Reflection 3: Probably mentioned this already, but I'm glad for my 상생기자단 friends. Even if they are having problems as a team and stuff, each person is still really awesome and nice and not your typical Korean, I think. I admit I was wary of Korean culture when I first came, thinking I'd be judged for my tan skin, my weight, my American-ness, my clothes, my lack of high heels, etc, but everyone is really nice. And yes, Korea does put a huge emphasis on looks, and yes surgery is rampant, but there are plenty of people who don't care.

Reflection 4: Although I'm comfortable enough on my own now, I wish someone from Wellesley/BU was there. I feel like everything I hear or perceive in Korea is incomplete somehow, because I don't understand 100% of what is being said, because I don't have the 100% right cultural context to take everything in, and because I am still developing my 눈치. So I did listen hard, but yes... lots of today went WHOOSH through my ears.

Reflection 5: Sometimes I hold hands with my friends who are girls here, if they initiate it, because the girls all do that here and it is really normal. What's funny is someone said (after the meeting) oh, in America, don't girls not hold hands? And I responded, yes, but we're in Korea... in America guys and girls hold hands, not really guy and guy or girl and girl (if they're just friends, I mean.) So, I guess it is PDA swap? Instead of the ability to casually hug my friends, I can hold hands and link arms with the girls and... high-five guys, I guess.

Reflection 6: I went to a billiards place with some friends for about half an hour, just to watch, and the ahjumma and ahjussi there loved my friend Phil so much that they gave him his own stick. And cooked potatoes for us. And were just super friendly (although I felt like the ahjumma maybe liked Phil a little TOO much... HAHA). Sometime I'll actually play, I'm better at billiards than actual pool.

Reflection 7: I like living in the city but I don't think I am as at home as I expected. Wellesley is not in downtown Boston, and my neighborhood in Utah is not in downtown Salt Lake. I think I like suburbia... not as noisy or polluted. Right now I wish I could go into the Utah mountains to pray for a day, and read in Snowbird... but I can't, and I have no idea where the nearest park is, or where to go besides a cafe to unwind. Oh, and BTW I found out the Coffee Prince cafe in Hongdae is MAD expensive, like 6,800 W for a cup of Americano (black coffee essentially) and that every person who goes in MUST buy something, no splitting, so... yes. Instead of actually spending a day there like I wanted to I guess I'll just take a brief look someday. Boo.

Current mood: Ambivalent.

First Day of Classes

Just went to my first class at 9 am, Pre-Modern Korean History, it was pretty chill and the same as in America. Go early. Stand outside. Be outgoing enough to introduce myself to the people who are there. Smile so I don't seem scary, because I apparently can be scary when people first meet me. Laugh inside at the awkwardness of some. Drink the rest of my drinkable yogurt (there is like no Yoplait-like yogurt here, it is all drinkable. Which is ironic, because I was starting to like the thick Greek yogurt [Chobani, yes this is an advertisement]) and sit in the kind of back because one never knows if where you sit will be your permanent seat from the start, and I don't like being in the front. Check out everyone else in the class and appraise. Greet teacher. Sit quietly and listen to syllabus reading. After self-introductions, ask a couple questions. Leave.

I found out I don't even need a book for this class! I can just go the library and read the book before class, take notes, and then take notes on the teacher's in class lectures. There is a group project which I hope goes well, since I don't like working in groups since there is always a slacker/a couple slackers if the group is too big :( The lecturer (not a professor... :[) is a Korean Canadian and pretty chill.

Yesterday I met with Jen and took her out to lunch as a thanks for letting me stay at her place during July/August. Then I did this cell phone testing thing that pays me for my two-hour session of playing around with an iPad-like development of Samsung's, and headed to Goseok Terminal to meet with Gi Yoon, Max and Jamie--we ended up eating at Omuto Tomato, a fusion mixed rice place, and then shopping around. We also ended up watching Inception, which I have already seen (but someone left his ticket in the ticket machine! We got a free ticket, woot!) but understood a lot better after watching once more. Very good movie.

I also talked with my sister last night for the first time since July. I miss her X_X

Oh and I found out that my sister's friend, Ji, is finally engaged! SO HAPPY YAAAY

I have two more classes today and then my Korean language evaluation test, then an orientation for the language exchange program I signed up for. I'm sleepy -___- and am kind of wistful for Wellesley, even though I love it here too. I miss my girls though...

And then there were four...

Grace from BU left this morning so now it is just Gi Yoon, me, Lydia, and Janice left in Korea. T___T

Last Wednesday I worked out in the little gym in SK Global five floors below mine, and I realized while there that there was no sanitizing station of paper towels and cleaning spray! AAAAH we are all going to die if just one person with some terrible random virus comes and works out there! I ended up going on the treadmill and only touching the button to start and the button to speed up the pace--I would gladly bring my own sanitizing wipes for before and after but that would get expensive. I felt grossed out though. There are all these people sweating all over these machines and there is no sanitizing station?

Anyway, so Friday day/night I just stayed in and caught up on this blog, my e-mails, and my news. Yesterday I met up with Gi Yoon, Grace from BU and her cousin from London, and a couple of the student reporters for the Ministry of Unification who are our good friends. I needed to buy a thicker blanket that the one SK Global gave because my roommate, although lovely, needs the AC on all night. So one of our Korean native friends told us to go to the 광장시장 near 종로5가역. I think this may have been the same place I bought a Korean blanket some five years ago with my bro, sis and dad. It's this big garage-like complex of stalls filled with hanboks, blankets, fabrics, ddukbokki, pig snouts (AH I was so startled when I saw these... I still feel kind of sick thinking about this), pumpkin and red bean juke, scallion pancakes, random non-Korean goods, shoes... etc. I went to three blanket places before deciding on a slightly off white one with a simple design of small flowers... 25,000 Won baby! The first place charged 35,000 W and the second charged 38,000 W. My brother wants a nice thick Korean blanket so I'll probably go back with my mom once she comes in September :)

Navigating our way back to the center of the place, we stopped for a small meal of pumpkin juke (SO GOOD WHOA), random pieces of pig that I later found out was the ears and parts of the face (AAAH thinking about it makes me feel sick, again, good thing I only ate a piece [I guess in Korea all meat is good meat?]), scallion pancakes and other fried things, and a little bit of rice alcohol (I didn't really drink any. Alcohol at 4 pm? Eh?). It was my first time eating the equivalent of street food even though we were kind of in a garage so I enjoyed the experience. :)

Afterwards we went to a mall complex in Dongdaemun although we didn't really shop but rather waited for another friend to meet with us. Once he came we left for Myungdong via the 정구천? Something like that (it is the newly opened waterway that used to be underground for years, a project of President Lee Myung-bak) which was nice. Went to Krispy Kreme so we could sit and talk inside, and although Gi Yoon and our friend Sehmee (we gave her the English name Jamie!) had to leave, a little later our friends Sukho (Ian) and his gf came. Ian, his gf, Jamie and another friend Junghwan (Max) all are planning to visit America in January, during their break, so we talked a lot about that. I hope they do and I hope most of my Wellesley friends can meet them, they are all great!

Ian's gf left early and then Ian Max and I waited for Grace from BU to meet us. We ended up going to a bar because there wasn't any place to go (Myungdong closes kind of early) to talk and say goodbye (Grace left for China today). T_T

Two things I've noticed: ONE All my Korean friends are older than me, so they keep buying me stuff (coffee... okay just coffee, but still). How do hoobaes reciprocate to their sunbaes? One day I just say, hey, let me pay this time? I feel like Korean etiquette may not allow that...? But I did tell them that my mom is coming in September, so Mom, can we maybe all go to dinner together and then you can meet them? And then I can pay for their meal? :D

When I told Jamie unni about my mom coming she said she'd be sure to say to my mom that she has been taking good care of me and not letting me get up to mischief. Haha thanks unni, thanks. I've been good anyway ^^

TWO I didn't notice this as much as I was kind of told by Grace from BU, but I think maybe I'm trying too hard to have 눈치. Because of the cultural divide I'm not completely sure, even after all this time, how to act, and so I'm always cautious and observing everyone else and oftentimes just keeping quiet. Grace thinks I should be more relaxed because our Korean friends know where I'm coming from, and I should just tell them to correct me when my actions or words are incorrect or just not culturally done.

So I thought about this more and yes, I'm comfortable with my Korean friends, but yes because they don't really speak English I AM trying really hard to listen and learn and watch how they behave. Which isn't bad, but yes maybe I give off a slightly tense or stressed feeling when I'm with them because I'm always watching myself and making sure I'm respectful enough and stuff. Like last night, when we went to the bar, we had a little rice wine, but when I was drinking it out of my bowl I turned away from them. Apparently you only do that when you are in front of really old people or in a business setting, since we're all friends I shouldn't do it. :)

Ian invited me to the meeting of the Korean student reporters (the Wellesley/BU group got business cards from the Ministry of Unification as well, since we're working for them for the next year, but our title is Overseas Student Reporters) that they have once a month. It will be this upcoming Saturday. If timing works out I think I will go! Although by then it will really only be me, no one else will be there to help me understand what is going on. Good thing all my sunbaes are really patient, understanding and nice. I'm so thankful for them!

It is 1:38 pm now. I'm visiting Onnuri Church for the first time today! Its service is at 4:00, I'm meeting Bryan from Tufts near the church and then we'll go together. I think I'll study Korean now... I'm taking an assessment test this Wednesday and I want to do well!

Some Pictures

And thus my summer work has officially ended!

The first week of summer in Korea: Have preliminary meetings with the Wellesley/BU volunteer team.

The second week of summer in Korea: Meet the other college/graduate school students participating in the Ministry of Unification program, meet Ministry of Unification officials and the Vice Minister, attend workshops on social media, go on a 3 night 4 day trip all along the DMZ, starting from the west and going to the east.

The third week of summer in Korea: Go to Hangyeoulleh Middle and High School, live among the students there, all of whom escaped from North Korea, many of whom lived in China for years and years before they finally came to South Korea.

The fourth week of summer in Korea: Miss out on going to the Hana Centers and volunteering to work with newly arrived North Korean defectors (relatively new, they will all have been in South Korea at least three months beforehand) to go to CIEE orientation. Meet the students, go on a 2 night 3 day field trip to different parts of Korea.


The fifth week of summer in Korea: Have a final time with the Ministry of Unification, and the Governor and other people in charge of Gyeonggi Province, go to the JSA for the second time, see a comedic theatrical performance that incorporates traditional Korean instruments, have a workshop on Culture Shock for CIEE.

Intermittently: Going to church, eating good food, meeting with friends from Boston, friends made during the DMZ tour, moving from Jen's apartment in Jamshil to Yonsei's SK Global House. I haven't gone shopping once!

I'm sad the time of Wellesley/BU volunteer team in Korea is up. This end is bittersweet, but relieving in some ways. I have definitely learned a lot more about the complexities of North Korea and why, as someone told me last semester, focusing just on the refugees/defectors, or just on the human rights issues there, is admirable but not exactly the whole picture. The issue of unification is definitely one that I have been mulling over, and I think my view of what North Korea most needs and suffers most from has changed. Before, I was pained over the concentration camps, prisons, starvation, economic turmoil and lack of any freedom. Now, I still pray about those things but I also think about the difficulties North Koreans face outside of North Korea, and I also think I understand those other issues more thoroughly than before. Meeting people from North Korea is surreal in a way--these new acquaintances and friends have suffered so much, yet on the outside, at first glance, you would have no idea. Only after spending more time with them do you start to see how their past has shaped their present and future, and how they think. And throughout all this, I have seen the huge, huge difference that salvation makes in the lives of these defectors--some have accepted Christ into their lives, and their whole attitude and life has changed.

Three things that I am super glad about that are unrelated to the academic nature of the past few weeks: I met good sunbaes from the DMZ trip with whom I know I can call to hang out with or if I need help, I became closer with all the girls on the Wells/BU volunteer team (we were really random, none of us knew every other member beforehand), and I experienced a lot of Korean culture that was aided by having interaction with important people, North Koreans, Korean students, other college students, and traveling. I wish I could record my thoughts during the important moments in depth... but since that obviously isn't the case this will have to do.

Also...people should care about North Korea. It's not that I think everyone should be as involved (or not involved, lots of people do much more) as I have been (plus I really don't know how I'm going to incorporate this into my future, since I am not planning on having my whole life revolve around this issue, necessarily), but I realize that, at the very least, awareness of what is going on is important.

Awareness can lead to a broader worldview, a more purposeful life, thoughtfulness, and a change in attitude and behavior (for the better). Also, unification is something that needs to seriously be considered. Not that I strongly believe or disbelieve the possibility of a unified Korean peninsula, but that unification may be the best way to achieve peace, and is always a possibility even if it seems impossible--so we must be ready. And that unification shouldn't be wanted just because the Korean people are still one in blood and biologically the same, or that our families are split because of the divide, or that because we were once one means we must aim to be one again, but because the communist dictatorship will one day fall, and the scenario of unification may be the best outcome to work toward making possible. There are so many facets of North Korea that are completely heartbreaking yet fascinating, and I am definitely convinced that, even if it isn't my career or life, that I will work hard to spread awareness (not in an annoying way, don't be scared this is all I'm going to talk about when I get back lol) when I can.

After these past few weeks I am just more and more grateful everyday for my parents, my friends, America, the passion God has given me for this issue, the amazing opportunities that God provided for our team (which was originally going to just volunteer at a Hana Center for four weeks but ended up giving interviews on the radio, meeting important people, participating in official government programs), the people on the team, Utah, my sister and brother, my Wellesley friends, the weather of Boston and Utah since the weather is so bad over here, the new friends I have made here, my Koreanness and my Americanness...

I still don't know what I want to do with my life after graduating, but I am hoping and praying that during this semester and on further reflection of what I have undergone, God will reveal a little more of His plan for me...

_____________________________________________________________________

And now to digress to the FUN TIDBITS SECTION

Tidbit 1: Koreans don't have motions that are meant to be used in awkward situations, like the two-flippered awkward turtle sign so many of us know and embrace. Then again, all of the students in my CIEE group were completely clueless about awkward motions (outside of the turtle) too. Is this a Korean American church thing? (John Byun from BC, I'm talking to you, even though you'll probably never read this blog or this post. ^^) So I showed my Korean and CIEE buddies awkward snail, snowman, clam, lollipop, moose, parked car, parallel parked car, turtle, turtle has babies, balloon, koala, inchworm, shark, cactus, starfish, and jellyfish (JiYeon unni, I will never be able to be as good of an awkward koala as you are) and the looks on their faces... were amazing. AMAZING. Now everyone in my study abroad program (well, the guys) use awkward moose in the stupidest moments and I'm like seriously guys, you're abusing it now...

and the Koreans are like... uh... in Korean culture, when it gets awkward, we grab our glasses and drink more! ^_^

Tidbit 2: Almost everyone knows that I adore Choi Minho, the rapper and tallest guy in SHINee, a male K-pop group. Well, Christine went to the practice performance of Inkigayo, which is one of many music shows through which Korean pop stars perform for the masses, and she saw them! She was actually reprimanded for taking pictures and videorecording some of the performances beforehand, but when she saw SHINee was up next she was determined to record it for me. :)

Tidbit 3: A couple days after I hear about this, Grace from BU calls me at night and tells me she just saw SHINee on the street in Hongdae. They were filming a show and she said she knew she had a duty to take many pictures for me. :) My friends are so thoughtful...

Tidbit 4: I went to a performance called Fanta Stick Thursday evening, which had many performances of tradiational Korean instruments blended into a comedic plot. 송승헉 from 가을 something drama or other was there to watch the performance too, so I saw him and was sitting on the row to the right of his row. People went nuts, there were body guards and soooo many cameramen... and old ladies and young ladies taking pictures... and guys taking pictures with their cell phones... I guess this guy is pretty famous! He was pretty cute. Good body frame.

Tidbit 5: For those of you who were in my Korean Language class 2009-2010... I ran into our TA, Jaehyun Jo in 여의도. It was super awkward... I was so shocked I was spluttering. And I found out he is a graduate student at Yonsei, so he is actually taking classes here... and lives in the iHouse, the dorm that is right next to and connected to mine, the SK Global House. Is this a setup for more awkward moments in the future? Is God telling me I need to form a friendship with Jo 선생님 for some reason? This coincidence is weird, especially because I ran into him in Boston one time during the summer (coming back from my internship in Harvard Square) too!

CIEE Orientation

It's hard to update this blog because the internet on my computer is so spotty. I really don't know how to improve it--there is no wireless so we use ethernet cables, but even so the connection really stinks. I'm sitting in my friend's room using her MacBook Pro to type this.

Anyway, it's been a long couple of weeks! I met my CIEE study abroad group which consists of about 20-40 individuals... a lot of them are, surprisingly, from Minnesota. There are also many Hmong American students, and a few Korean adoptees, which was a pleasant surprise. I say pleasant because I volunteer with Wellesley's Korean Adoptee Mentor Program, and so it is great to be able to talk to a few adoptees who are my age about their experiences (so I can be a better unni to my little sister). The group is really diverse so I've enjoyed meeting everyone, although I admit that at times I found myself wishing I was with my Korean and Wellesley/BU friends. We had lots of different events and small lectures for our orientation, and we even had a 2 night 3 day trip to Jeonju and Hadong, which are places known for bibimbap, paper-making, and tea. We made paper, we experienced a Korean tea ceremony, we cooked and rolled and dried green tea leaves... we went to karaoke, we visited the JSA (which was the second time for me) and a few museums here and there... yep it has been a busy orientation! I'm having a lot of fun even though I'm tired from all these different things going on. I really want to post up pictures of what has been happening but because this computer I'm using isn't my own, I'll have to put the pictures on a thumbdrive first. I promise I'll do it soon so that everyone can see what I've been up to ^^

Today is Friday. Last Monday the Wellesley/BU volunteer team met up with the Ministry of Unification officials, and the vice minister, one last time for a lunch and debriefing session. We made all of them cup their faces with us in the classic "I'm cute and Asian" pose, which is awesome. As a parting gift they gave us these small but beautiful Korean jewelry chests.

Last Tuesday I met with the Gyeonggi-do Governor, 김문수, along with the other girls and we again talked about our experiences, took pictures, and were presented with a small tea cup with a filter and a lid as a parting gift. Yay for gifts :) The meeting was quite short, about 40 minutes? But I'm still glad we could meet him, the word on the grapevine is that he may run for President of South Korea soon... and if so that means we have a HUGE connection.

Daisy left on Wednesday. :( Christine left Thursday :( Grace Kim leaves today :( Grace Kwon leaves tomorrow :(

One day, soon, I will post all my pictures. Look forward to it?

8/14, 8/15 Saturday and Sunday

SUNDAY 8/15: Visited Jubilee Church at 1:30 pm. Met up with Grace and Grace, Daisy, Christine from BC and her sister, and Bryan. Jubilee is apparently the church that Tim’s oldest brother I(Tim was a Korean singer back in the day) is pastor of, which I was surprised to learn. Service was short because they had missions teams come and share their experiences... I had to leave early to meet my uncle (finally! I wanted to meet earlier but our schedules never matched).

Grandma couldn't come, so I hope I can visit her later. I haven't learned the amount of Korean I know for nothing, I want to speak with my grandmother soooon!

I met with my uncle, aunt and cousin, which was fun. I haven't seen them in a long time. Now I'm back at the apartment after packing and cleaning. I leave for Yonsei tomorrow!!! I hope the team does well tomorrow--they will be going to different Hana Centers all around Gyeonggi Province every day this week.

Oh, and YAY Jen is going to help me move in tomorrow, and she says she is going to buy me kalbi for lunch! She takes such good care of me :) she even folds my laundry (I was going to do it but her whole family is extremely proactive)

***********************************************************************************

SATURDAY 8/14

Because I just spent the last week sleeping at 11 and waking at 6:10 am, I woke up at 7 am this morning. Which was good because I did bible study in the morning again, but I got tired around 10 am and took a nap. Sigh.

I was going to rest all day today, but Grace said she and some others from the DMZ field trip were going to meet up for dinner and a movie, so I headed over to 경복궁 at 4 pm. It was good to see everyone again! and I even met a couple new people. We ended up eating then going to Insadong, which is a really touristy place that is pretty cute. I want to go back during the day and go shopping sometime. We all had amazing mountain berry bingsoo that was sooo goooood (it had candied peanuts, normal peanuts, rice cake, chunks of fruit and berries, ice cream, sweet red bean, and ice). The oldest in our group, whom we dubbed "Ian" because he wanted an English name, brought along his girlfriend of three years and she paid for them. I still can't get used to this sunbae buying hoobae everything, but I guess I'll just express my thanks, try to not order expensive things whenever I'm out with them, and pass on the generosity. Although I'm hoping I don't meet too many hoobaes since I have no money for these things lol.

There was something being sold on the street that looks like a cocoon--the outside is made of 16,000 strands of honey that look like cobweb because they are so thin, the inside is some sort of sweet nut mixture. I don't remember the name but it was king's food back in the day. It was good--interesting texture though. A different 오빠 bought it for us all, since a pack had ten and there were eight of us.

Day Three of 3박4일 Field Trip (Friday)

I still felt sick this morning. :( I didn't really eat breakfast. This was the first time we've been to a place with chairs :D

Because I was still feeling sick, Christine kept massaging the pressure point between my thumb and first finger. It hurt a lot, but she said it was only proof that I really did have indigestion, because if I was normal it wouldn't hurt. I don't believe that it does anything, or that the pain is an indicator, but I was desperate because the pill for indigestion I took didn't work.

My team leader (not the Wellesley team but the Peace [Green] Team) was sitting nearby, and he wanted to help so he took my hand and massaged it too. So hard that I wanted to cry. Then another friend who is one of the leaders of the 상생 기자단 group wanted to help too, so he massaged my hand too. So hard that I actually did cry this time. (After I finally felt all better on Sunday morning, I tested the pressure point and I swear it bruised.)

We went to a couple different places that morning and later, around two, we got to a place where Buddhist temples are. I’m not sure how they related to our trip but I’m sure there was a reason. I felt too sick to go hiking up there(indigestion is much more serious than I thought, seriously) so I stayed on the bus.

After a couple of hours of dozing, everyone returned and we left for the beach. I felt good enough to swim (mainly because I hadn't eaten anything) and we thankfully got a good three hours of free time to just swim and relax. I forgot how much I LOVE SWIMMING IN THE SEA!!! (Koreans have so many games for all occasions, I'm amazed. They are all kind of intense, though.) The cold water quelled my stomach.

After everyone cleaned up we sat on the beach waiting for dinner to be served. Fun observation: Koreans love to sing and dance, and they are very supportive of people showing these talents off. This must be why there seems to be speakers and a microphone everywhere we go... even on the buses...

We performed our skits after dinner and my team won :) We imitated the striking characteristics of each school group and some of the adults in a before and after kind of skit.

Afterwards everyone headed back over to the beach for a huge bonfire, which was awesome although very hot. And more games were played. I am learning many new games that even Wellesley KSA didn't teach me, lol.

Since I still couldn't eat much food and still felt sick, Christine said I had only one choice. The steps of dealing with indigestion, Korean style: first drink soda, then take medicine, then massage pressure points and pound back many times, and finally... poking your thumbs right below the nail to let out blood.

Um... what?! Can't I take Pepto-Bismol or something?

But apparently this is a very common ailment that is commonly cured this way in Korea. One of the adults on the trip even had the special pen that people use to poke their thumbs.

Anyone who knows me knows I can't stand blood and I have low pain tolerance. I was petrified. But what could I do? I had already tried taking medicine and it didn't work, so I agreed to have my thumbs poked. I bled a lot, which Christine said was another indicator that I had bad indigestion. Apparently, if I didn't, I would've bled very little.

Note: Koreans believe this helps because they (and Asian medicine in general) believe the feet and hands are intricately connected to the digestive system. Cold hands and feet? Bad indigestion.

I guess it kind of worked because I started burping (which ironically is what you want to happen, even though everyone gets mad at me when I burp) and fell asleep for a little. Since it was the last night, however, instead of sleeping Christine Gracfe and I went to a last Peace Team meeting, AKA let's bond over snacks and drinks and play games (formula for successful Korean bonding). I'm thankful no one forced us to drink because I've heard stories about sunbaes (older people) guilt-tripping/forcing/manipulating the hoobaes (younger people) to drink whether they like it or not. We all had water, don't worry parents. The others had beer though, as usual.

More games! More talking! It was fun, I'm glad I stayed awake that night. It was by far the latest I had stayed up in a while. Christine and I left to go to sleep at 4 am (Grace left at 2 am), but the rest (all older) stayed up longer and we also went by other rooms filled with the other teams that didn't look close to sleeping. I'm amazed by the endurance of Koreans and their ability to not sleep. O_O

***Christine and I asked what the others thought of us and they said there were some very good points about our American education. They said they admired our ability to just stand up and speak (referring to the two discussion times we had Wed and Thurs) when Koreans get really nervous and aren't really taught to be bold and individualistic and express themselves that way. They also thought we had a lot of good confidence and openness that they weren't expecting. Because we had this time to talk and be open with each other, I think I also learned a lot. I had a certain view of the drinking, hierarchical, familial, internalizing, competitive and look-based parts of Korean culture, but I think I understand more than before. :) All these people around me are great, I am blessed to be a part of this group!

8/9-8/12 한겨레 중고등학교 Hangyeore Middle and High School

This post goes from 8/12 backwards to 8/9 so I'd recommend reading from bottom to top.

After returning to Seoul: To de-stress after an amazing but tiring two weeks, those of us who could went to a Korean spa (jjimjilbang, 찜질방). Such a good idea, only 12,000 won (less than $12) to go there for 12 hours. Since it was Daisy’s first time, she was extremely startled when she saw a naked woman walk into the locker room about two seconds in (hahaaa). For those who don't know, many Korean spas have certain areas that require full nakedness, and then other areas (like the locker room) in which you can be naked. It takes a little getting used to.

After we changed into robes, we went into the hottest room first. Yeah um... I thought I was going to die. There literally were eggs right next to us that were baking. Something is wrong if eggs can cook next to me.

Note: When we ate dinner there, we had a sugary rice drink (식혜) that had a lot of ice. To try and melt the ice, an unnamed friend put the whole bowl in between her legs, to the rest of our dismay. She was certain it made a difference after a few minutes, and we agreed, but truthfully, all we wanted was for her to put the bowl back on the table. -__-

1. Visits to hot rooms and steam rooms and hot tubs. Check.
2. Making the towel into sheep horns and putting it on like a hat. Check.
3. Standing on a vibrating machine that is supposed to work out your body but all it does is make your fat jiggle. Check.
4. Sweat loads of sweat. Check.
5. Rub off dead skin. Check.
6. Help a friend rub the dead skin off of her back. Check.
7. Get dead skin on back rubbed off by said friend. Check.
8. Feel disgusted by the skin getting rubbed off. Check.
9. Feel refreshed and rejuvenated and like a newborn baby with new skin!!! Check.

Friday 8/12: I’m sad today is the last day. I have a love/hate relationship with the discipline of Korean education. I'm glad I could experience it as a student even though I was also a teacher.

I was never late to gym (6:20 am, or after three K-Pop songs) after the first day, might I add. That required effort I assure you.

I wrote my student a letter in English and then had a friend help me translate it into Korean. I hope we will keep in touch. As I'm writing this it is Sunday 8/15, and she will be taking her baking test bright and early tomorrow morning. AJA to her :D

Closing thoughts: Compared to last week on the Ministry of Unification field trip, I felt less stressed because there was free time for me to unwind in between tutoring sessions. I wasn't sure what to expect when I came, even though I had visited the school a week and a half before with part of the team--in many ways it is just a normal middle/high school (except the middle schoolers had all gone home, everyone was in high school and there by choice for extra classes, since it was their summer break), but in many ways it was also a school filled with North Korean students. Many of them were in China for years before making it here so it is not like they had just arrived after escaping N.K. but that doesn't lessen their hardships or experiences at all.

Many of my fellow team members felt like the students were closed and apathetic in a way separate of just normal high school apathy. These students have been hurt many times, so of course it would be hard for them to open up--I'm actually thankful they weren't open hostile or suspicious of us (since most of us are American). None of us knew what to expect so we did our best to be personable but not prying. Obviously we were careful when we spoke with them, since touching about hometown or family could and probably would be sensitive topics. Due to the language barrier I couldn't really say everything I wanted to say to the students I met or to my student (she was also my roommate), but just meeting them and watching and listening was such a blessing and opportunity to *hopefully* be an encouragement and embodiment of God's person. Through the week I prayed that God would really use our team, not necessarily through words or action but just through our heart attitude and willingness to help. So even though I nor the rest of the team will necessarily see an impact on the school or the students, I pray that God's work was done there. After all, realistically, how lasting is one week of teaching English? I hope we all learned from one another and that we can be inspired and encouraged. I am very much thankful for my student and astonished by her strength and resiliency and openness.

Thursday 8/12: Last night at this school :( There was more baking today, woot, and Christine Daisy and Grace started playing games in the middle of the school on the floor. Christine was aggressively (but kindly) asking every single person passing by this very key point in the school's architecture if they wanted to play. Eventually we had a sizable group and I think we all had a good time together, even though the team had previously shared that we felt many fo the students were very closed and apathetic to us. Korean games are really fun... but I think part of the point is punishment. Because some pain or humiliation has never hurt group bonding. I made a Facebook for my student so we could keep in touch :)

Wednesday 8/11: My student improves really quickly, she has such a great attitude about learning English! I hope I'm being helpful -_-;

After role call at 6:20 there weren't any stretches so Daisy, Christine, Grace and I went running outside for a little and then did some stretching afterward. Yeah... I hate running X_X

At lunch Christine told me the sad story of how in elementary school (she went to el. school in Korea) the student were forced to drink every drop of their milk every day, and that they had to prove this by standing the carton ipside down on their heads. :(

Today I played badminton with Christine a little, and then we went to the library to read. There is a little store in the building that opens for a couple hours every night, so the whole team went to get Melona bars (melon-flavored popsicles.)

Tuesday 8/10: The schedule I have for the rest of the week: 6:10 wake up, 6:20 be dressed and down in the gym for role call and stretches, clean the room and bathroom and wash up by 7:30, eat breakfast, school begins at 8:20. Lunch at 12:30, school ends at 4:50, dinner at 5:30, cleaning time afterwards, free time from 6:30-9 pm, in room and lights out by 11 pm.

Um... as much as I like having a ton of time in the morning to do bible study, this schedule is kind of strict...

During free time today, instead of baking I joined some others to watch The Devil Wears Prada and She’s the Man. Ah yes, cultural education through movies.

Monday 8/9: We went to the school in 죽산, aka countryside, and met with the administration about the rules for the week. The school is really strict, but apparently most Korean schools, or at least boarding schools, are like this. Since we got there around lunch time, we then had lunch, were given a tour of the place (the rooms are so nice, each suite has a laundry machine! Whaa?), and then within an hour met our students with whom we'd be paired for the week.

My student was so cute and young looking! Very youthful. And then... I found out she is 24 years old. 헉. Everyone was a little unprepared because we really weren't told what to expect until we got there (which I find is kind of normal here. Meetings and plans are constantly changed and made at the last minute.) The session went well though, because my student had her books with her, so I helped her with her pronunciation. Ah, the pain of learning a language. Ah, the pain of going through it right now. It hurts. :)

After dinner: clean up the whole school time! WOOT! (Sarcasm.) Good point of cleaning up? The school plays K-Pop music through the speakers the whole time. YAY. I wonder if Korean pop stars know their music is being used like this?

Another reason I was lucky to have my student--she has some sort of patissier test on Monday, so she has to practice baking... this whole week. :) I watched/tried to help her make angel food cake and chocolate cake.

We have to be back in the rooms by 9 pm, so I returned with her around 8:50 after baking. Apparently the school also provides snacks every night--tonight's was baked eggs and orange Capri-Sun. Capri-Sun either changed its packaging or it is different in Korea...

Sunday 8/8: Saw Toy Story 3 in 3D with Jen and her sister Christine. Woot. Packed for the week.

Summary of the rest of 3박4일 Field Trip

Saturday 8/7

After breakfast we began our way back to Seoul. Which only took three hours (Korea is so small, whoa) so we had a parting lunch too. :) The Ministry really treated us all very well, I am thankful almost everything went according to plan.

***Korean together = a lot of sacrifice on everyone's part. I feel like Americans would leave if their schedule didn't permit certain things, but in Korean culture it is rude to refuse things unless you really, REALLY can't go. So even though many of us kind of wanted to leave for home as soon as we got back, we must all say goodbye properly. During the final meal of kimchi, rice and soup made with blood sausage (I couldn't eat this) tripe and cartilage (wow, writing out the ingredients in English makes the soup sounds way nastier than it tasted) everyone got a chance to stand up and say their closing thoughts about the trip and what they hope happens in the future. I like that Koreans, out of manners, are very patient during long processes like this. Once begun, it must finish! I feel like everyone tries hard to pay attention.

Then people started filtering out, everyone exchanging hugs and phone numbers and many people going to the front of the restaurant on the ground floor (because Korea is so small there has hardly been a time I've eaten in a place on the ground floor, normally the restaurant is a few floors up) to go through byes again. Does anyone else feel like byes can get awkward if they take too long?

Because we are intense like that, the Wellesley/BU team and the 상생 기자단 people went across the street to a big Starbuck's and talked about how to improve the trip next year, how to keep our relationship going in the future, what we felt during the trip, etc. I decided to leave earlier than the others with Haesun, so we left together (in the pouring, gushing rain). Haesun thinks she will definitely stay in touch with a few of the defectors she met (since remember, the people on the trip were from the Ministry, from a South Korean school I don't remember the name of, from a school for North Koreans, from a program that has been running since March through the Ministry, and Wellesley/BU).

Thoughts

*I am so thankful for this experience. It was the first time I met Korean students, and they treated us really well. And because of the frustration I felt because of of my limited Korean phrases and vocabulary, I have learned to be silent and listen to others more. In retrospect, I should have asked the other Wellesley girls to help me more than I did, but I hate being a burden on people and asking people to translate, while they may not mind at first, inevitable does become tiresome. I'm grateful for everyone's patience with me when I spoke Korean, and, in a way, do appreciate this week of forced silence--since I am expressive and tend to talk often, it was a really humbling experience.

*Koreans are much more mature than Americans, in a way. Since the group mentality is so strong here, everyone is careful to not bring down the mood. This means oftentimes having to be very patient, pretend interest out of politeness, and putting one's desires on hold for the best of the group. Of course, this means that the culture (in a way) supports pretending and internalization of stress, which isn't good either. I like how America encourages people to be vocal and independent and to be outside the box, but that can also lead to selfishness and impatience, which I also think of as immaturity. There are good and bad points to both.

*Because I didn't speak often, I don't know how well others got to know me. It was strange to be the quiet one. I'm especially thankful to Christine for this last week, because I think she really tried to help the others get to know me by sharing things about me that they wouldn't know (like the fact that I'm actually really talkative, or that I like dancing, etc). Christine also translated a lot for me, along with Janice, so I am so thankful to both of them for their patience. :)