Today honestly didn't have a whole lot of adventure about it. One thing did happen. They moved the Vietnamese boy out of our class before it started. I'm going to guess that he was progressing faster than us and they put him back in the regular course. Either that or they sent him to North Korea. Anyways, he gone! I'll miss him, he was a nice kid.
There was a Korean teacher trainee watching us for the first 2 hours today. He came up and introduced himself in Korean, then went and sat down. We continued on our review, and then went into crazy mode again. We ended the last 20 minutes of class going over past tense 과거 (Gwa Guh) verbs. Yeah, you read that right. 20 minutes. Here's how to conjugate verbs. Go enjoy your weekend of studying til you die. Love it.
I'm not mad, I'm actually really excited to learn more. I would even be a bit upset that I don't have the time to study as much as I could because I'll be working, but honestly I probably wouldn't put the time in that Hwa E put in. I like to learn by just soaking things up. That's what I've been doing so far, and I'm enjoying myself much more than stressing about every little thing we have learned.
I skipped lunch today, I wasn't hungry. I know I know, I gotta feed this big body. Honestly though, its hard to tell when I'm hungry anymore. That may seem like a silly thing to say, but most of the time I just feel like "meh I could eat...I guess" when it comes time for a meal. That's not to say I'm growing tired of being here, or the food (which is still beyond excellent), it's just that my hunger has changed. I think this is for the better as I'm not craving food 24/7 anymore like I was back home.
At 3pm it was time to go get jacked with An Hyo Sang. You know, the guy who's girlfriend told him he needed to become more muscular for her. Guess we know who wears the pants there. Anyways I'm happy as it gives me a workout partner. I'm able to teach him things in the gym, and in return I have someone to hold me accountable.
After working out we had about an hour before dinner. I hung out and watched my boy Alex stream on Twitch. That was nice because it's something I haven't had all that much chance to do as I'm so busy every day. He has a wonderful community of people that follow him and I enjoy being a part of it. Go check him out sometime if you get a chance. https://www.twitch.tv/theendboss
Post dinner it was time to go monitor the K-PACE students at the rec center. This is a fun time. We get to watch the students workout and help them if they need anything. Some of them actually work out pretty hard. When we finished up at the rec center, we all walked back to the dorms together and started homework check, and rest time. Luckily I don't have any homework of my own to do tonight so I get to write my blog real quick and relax.
Oh! I almost forgot! I tried some Korean Gatorade today, and it was actually pretty good. I also know what I'm going to have for breakfast tomorrow...but that will have to wait! Join me tomorrow for a rundown of Saturday, its shaping up to be a good one!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 주말 (Joo Mal) The weekend! Yay! If you want to ask your Korean friend what they're doing on the weekend you would say 주말에뭐해요? (Joo Mal Eh Mwuh Hae Yo?)
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
The Mongol Invasion!
Well. Today started out just like any other. I woke up and hit breakfast with mah boi YJS. We went to CJ kitchen which isn't my favorite but it still makes good food. After eating we walked to class, and I dropped him off at the K-PACE center as usual and continued onto the global lounge building where my class is at.
I showed up about 20 min early as I usually do and started to look over some vocabulary when I noticed 4 new sets of books on the teachers desk and a list of names. Hmm what could this be about? The names looked very foreign to me so I couldn't figure out what nationality they might be. As you may have guessed from the title, they were Mongolian! I was pretty excited about this because I have never met anyone from Mongolia, and in fact I was looking at the map on the way over to Korea and was thinking to myself how you never hear anything in the news about them. Well now I get to meet them first hand. What would they be like? Do they speak English? Do they hate Americans like the rest of the world? Are they all related to Genghis Khan?
The group ended up being 3 guys and a girl. The girl was one of the guy's sister, and apparently had talked him into joining her in Korea after he wasn't able to go to Australia. They all spoke English, which was interesting. Their English wasn't bad either, as good as most of the people I have met here in Korea. I wondered how they would fare basically joining a class already in session and being 4 weeks behind.
They seemed to do alright, I think they had studied a bit of Korean before they came. The girl was pretty good though, I believe she had been here a bit studying though. Physically they looked Asian, and you couldn't really tell them much apart from other Chinese in my opinion.
I also asked the Chinese girl Li Ting ting who sits next to me for the pictures she took yesterday on our field trip.
This was the best picture and apparently it was a movie file so I posted it as such even though it barely moves. Anyways, this is me with Li Ting Ting, and Hwa E the Vietnamese boy from our class.
Today was mostly review, and the teacher informed us that tomorrow a teacher would be sitting in to learn how to teach Korean so he wouldn't be able to use English like he normally does. Oh well, I guess I can try one day without a crutch haha.
Moving onto lunch! YJS, Heavy G and I all hit up the student cafeteria in the middle of campus for lunch. An Hyo Sang had his 100th day anniversary (A huge deal here) with his girlfriend so he was unavailable. However, on the drive over we saw him and I punched him a few times through the window for his betrayal.
All 3 of us got Dak Kalbi, and it was very good. This place made it spicier than the typical kitchen I go to. I welcomed the change, but I still think 8 Ho Gwan is better. YJS likes the spiciness though so his vote was with the student cafeteria.
After lunch it was time to nap before my workout with An Hyo Sang! He knocks on my door at 3pm and tells me that he can't go because he's busy. Man, this betrayer. Ok I can deal, more nap time!
Another knock on my door at 5pm and its time for cooking class! YJS and Mr. Choi our ROTC student helper are ready to go so I throw on some clothes and head out with them. We gotta drop by the K-PACE building to pick up the students on the way to the engineering school.
When we get there, things get started much quicker than last time. We are making 호박전 (Ho Bak Jeon) or Pan Fried Zucchini Fritters. Along with this we made some rolled omelets with carrots and green onions cooked in. These turned out very well.
I continue to be fascinated and amused at the Korean obsession with ketchup on eggs. I feel that it's sort of a polarizing topic in the states. You either swear by it or you abhor it. Personally I think it tastes good but rarely use it on my eggs. Either way their eggs are very American.
Afterwards it was time to head back to the dorm and get the simple things done. Work on homework, finish the blog, check students homework and check them into their rooms. I get tired pretty early these days, and those of you who know me know that's not typical. I've settled into a good sleeping schedule and I intend to keep it that way. It feels good to be able to hit my natural circadian biorythms. That's all for today! Come back tomorrow for more adventures!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 배신자 (Bae Shin Ja) Traitor! Just like An Hyo Sang! I'll get him back for this I swear...
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
I showed up about 20 min early as I usually do and started to look over some vocabulary when I noticed 4 new sets of books on the teachers desk and a list of names. Hmm what could this be about? The names looked very foreign to me so I couldn't figure out what nationality they might be. As you may have guessed from the title, they were Mongolian! I was pretty excited about this because I have never met anyone from Mongolia, and in fact I was looking at the map on the way over to Korea and was thinking to myself how you never hear anything in the news about them. Well now I get to meet them first hand. What would they be like? Do they speak English? Do they hate Americans like the rest of the world? Are they all related to Genghis Khan?
The group ended up being 3 guys and a girl. The girl was one of the guy's sister, and apparently had talked him into joining her in Korea after he wasn't able to go to Australia. They all spoke English, which was interesting. Their English wasn't bad either, as good as most of the people I have met here in Korea. I wondered how they would fare basically joining a class already in session and being 4 weeks behind.
They seemed to do alright, I think they had studied a bit of Korean before they came. The girl was pretty good though, I believe she had been here a bit studying though. Physically they looked Asian, and you couldn't really tell them much apart from other Chinese in my opinion.
I also asked the Chinese girl Li Ting ting who sits next to me for the pictures she took yesterday on our field trip.
Today was mostly review, and the teacher informed us that tomorrow a teacher would be sitting in to learn how to teach Korean so he wouldn't be able to use English like he normally does. Oh well, I guess I can try one day without a crutch haha.
Moving onto lunch! YJS, Heavy G and I all hit up the student cafeteria in the middle of campus for lunch. An Hyo Sang had his 100th day anniversary (A huge deal here) with his girlfriend so he was unavailable. However, on the drive over we saw him and I punched him a few times through the window for his betrayal.
All 3 of us got Dak Kalbi, and it was very good. This place made it spicier than the typical kitchen I go to. I welcomed the change, but I still think 8 Ho Gwan is better. YJS likes the spiciness though so his vote was with the student cafeteria.
After lunch it was time to nap before my workout with An Hyo Sang! He knocks on my door at 3pm and tells me that he can't go because he's busy. Man, this betrayer. Ok I can deal, more nap time!
Another knock on my door at 5pm and its time for cooking class! YJS and Mr. Choi our ROTC student helper are ready to go so I throw on some clothes and head out with them. We gotta drop by the K-PACE building to pick up the students on the way to the engineering school.
When we get there, things get started much quicker than last time. We are making 호박전 (Ho Bak Jeon) or Pan Fried Zucchini Fritters. Along with this we made some rolled omelets with carrots and green onions cooked in. These turned out very well.
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| Finished! |
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| Nom Nom Nom. |
Afterwards it was time to head back to the dorm and get the simple things done. Work on homework, finish the blog, check students homework and check them into their rooms. I get tired pretty early these days, and those of you who know me know that's not typical. I've settled into a good sleeping schedule and I intend to keep it that way. It feels good to be able to hit my natural circadian biorythms. That's all for today! Come back tomorrow for more adventures!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 배신자 (Bae Shin Ja) Traitor! Just like An Hyo Sang! I'll get him back for this I swear...
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Field Trip!
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| Entrance to the ancient tomb excavation site. |
I finished eating and got out to the buses. Our teacher yesterday had told us that we were going to be on bus 3. However when we got there, our other teacher told us bus 4. I wasn't going to complain, we got on the bus and departed about 10 min late. It was an hour and twenty minute ride to our first destination. This was complete with a rest stop. I was pretty surprised since in the states we would have likely gone the entire way without even thinking of a rest stop. The rest stop was very nice though with restaurants and even workout equipment in a little park area.
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| Pretty good workout equipment for a rest stop! |
Our first stop was Daegaya. This is a very historic place I found out. Home to the tombs of many ancient kings, as well as a trading post with China and Japan in early Korea. There was a resort park, as well as a museum, and ancient tomb excavation where we visited. A very cool spot. I'm going to let pictures do a lot of the talking on this one.
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| A model of an ancient Korean hut. |
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| Just inside the resort a depiction of Korean children playing traditional games. |
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| Ancient Korean military models. |
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| A beautiful Goddess watching over Daegaya. |
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| Unfortunately it's still March so the trees leave a lot to be desired. |
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| A maze! |
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| We did it! |
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| The house of King Gasil. |
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| Nice little heart shaped flower walkway. |
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| Ancient tomb excavation! |
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| This was fascinating. |
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| Many many marked tombs. |
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| They had platforms you could walk up and over the excavation. |
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| These enabled you to look inside a lot of the tombs. |
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| OMG What's in here?! |
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| A body! |
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| A king buried with his treasure. |
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| This was truly fascinating to look at, I didn't get enough time before they rushed us out. |
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| First rest point. |
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| This was maybe a 5 minute climb from the bottom. |
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| Overlooking a hill with other tombs across the way. |
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| Overlooking Daegaya. |
Welp, the picture movement in this blog is less than intuitive so I'm not going to add captions and try to keep the post from being 100 miles long. After climbing this good sized hill it was time to head back down to the bottom and go to the market for lunch.
As you guessed it, I didn't bring any cash so I doubted my ability to actually buy anything from this traditional market. I wasn't really hungry anyway since I had a good breakfast so I used the time to walk around and enjoy.
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| Traditional market! Street food looks so good! |
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| Fresh fish and other disgusting things. |
After lunch it was FINALLY time to go to the strawberry farm. This was about 2pm. We got to the strawberry farm around 2:30 and it was time to pick strawberries! Unfortunately I was one of the last ones to go in so there weren't many good ones left by the time I got to picking. I still got a small styrofoam case of them to take home and chomp on, and they are excellent.
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| The strawberry farm! |
After getting ours wrapped up it was time to hit the bus and head back home. Another rest stop was hit on the way back, and pretty much everyone was taking a nap. I was more than happy to join in and we were back at the university in no time. Thanks for taking a field trip with me and I will see you tomorrow!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 괜찮아 (Gwen Chan Ha) This is usually pronounced Gen Chan Ah and means fine or ok. You would use this if you're asking someone if they are ok or to say that everything is fine. Add a Yo at the end for that little twist of formality you're looking for.
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
I'm finally caught up!
Phew, it took me this long just to catch up on blogging each day. If I miss one day it feels like such a heavy weight. I put a lot into this blog so I hope you all are getting something out of it. Today was Tuesday, and it was a good day.
I woke up and went to breakfast with YJS at CJ kitchen. That's the less popular place. It's actually a nice interior, but it is set up kind of strange. You decide what you want, and buy a ticket worth that amount. Then you scan the ticket at the station you want food at, and you tell them what you want. Seems rather unintuitive to me, and since I can't communicate well with the chefs I don't like going there. Someone else always has to order for me. One time I tried by myself and the chef kept demanding my ticket, and I tried to explain to her that I was with the K-PACE program but she couldn't understand. That was pretty embarrassing and frustrating as I was holding up the line for the entire soccer team behind me.
I got my favorite bulgogi bibimbap from there and put a good helping of 고추장 (Go Chu Jang) a red chili paste. After breakfast I headed over to class to get my homework done. Yet again I was held up from finishing my homework before bed last night so I left it for the morning. I always get to class about half an hour early, so I use that time to study or in this case finish homework. I got it done just in time thankfully.
Today was more of a review session than anything else. That helped me a lot, and I look forward to some more review when we can to straight out the things in my head that aren't quite there yet. I still have plenty of homework to finish for tonight, but the big news is that we have a field trip tomorrow! I went into class having completely forgot about it. We are going to a 딸기 (Ddal Gi) strawberry farm tomorrow about an hour and a half from campus.
This is going to take all day, we leave at 8:30am and don't get back until 5pm. I'm excited since it is apparently a very big farm. I guess it used to be some of the king's land. We are taking a chartered bus, and spending a day outside the campus. This will be good as I haven't spent a whole lot of time outside campus since I got here.
I was supposed to workout with An Hyo Sang between lunch and dinner today but I just didn't have it in me. I came back to the dorm and my roommate was sleeping so I decided to join him. I didn't wake up until dinner time. Afterwards it was time to head to the rec center with the students.
They are hilarious at the rec center. One of them always wants me to help him workout. He is extremely skinny but works very hard using free weights. I spotted him on bench and made sure that he wasn't doing anything that would hurt him. He is pretty experienced though, he goes to the gym every day. Most of the rest of the students just mess around on the machines, or on a bike or treadmill. They get about an hour to work out then it's back to the dorms to check homework and head to bed.
That's my time to get to my blog and my own homework that I so desperately need to do. The teacher assigned a two day assignment that consists of about 10 pages in our workbook. While it shouldn't be too difficult, it will be time consuming so I need to get to work if I'm to finish before bedtime.
In other big news my roommate is moving out. I guess one of the students punched another student and was therefore sent home for the semester. He might even be out a year. So my roommate is going to move in with the student who is left alone. This means I have my own dorm room. I'm going to miss YJS but it's probably for the best. Thanks again for tuning in! I'm sure I'll have a lot to report about the field trip tomorrow.
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 어디에 가요? (Eo Di Eh Ka Yo) this means "Where are you going?". Always a useful phrase.
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
I woke up and went to breakfast with YJS at CJ kitchen. That's the less popular place. It's actually a nice interior, but it is set up kind of strange. You decide what you want, and buy a ticket worth that amount. Then you scan the ticket at the station you want food at, and you tell them what you want. Seems rather unintuitive to me, and since I can't communicate well with the chefs I don't like going there. Someone else always has to order for me. One time I tried by myself and the chef kept demanding my ticket, and I tried to explain to her that I was with the K-PACE program but she couldn't understand. That was pretty embarrassing and frustrating as I was holding up the line for the entire soccer team behind me.
I got my favorite bulgogi bibimbap from there and put a good helping of 고추장 (Go Chu Jang) a red chili paste. After breakfast I headed over to class to get my homework done. Yet again I was held up from finishing my homework before bed last night so I left it for the morning. I always get to class about half an hour early, so I use that time to study or in this case finish homework. I got it done just in time thankfully.
Today was more of a review session than anything else. That helped me a lot, and I look forward to some more review when we can to straight out the things in my head that aren't quite there yet. I still have plenty of homework to finish for tonight, but the big news is that we have a field trip tomorrow! I went into class having completely forgot about it. We are going to a 딸기 (Ddal Gi) strawberry farm tomorrow about an hour and a half from campus.
This is going to take all day, we leave at 8:30am and don't get back until 5pm. I'm excited since it is apparently a very big farm. I guess it used to be some of the king's land. We are taking a chartered bus, and spending a day outside the campus. This will be good as I haven't spent a whole lot of time outside campus since I got here.
I was supposed to workout with An Hyo Sang between lunch and dinner today but I just didn't have it in me. I came back to the dorm and my roommate was sleeping so I decided to join him. I didn't wake up until dinner time. Afterwards it was time to head to the rec center with the students.
They are hilarious at the rec center. One of them always wants me to help him workout. He is extremely skinny but works very hard using free weights. I spotted him on bench and made sure that he wasn't doing anything that would hurt him. He is pretty experienced though, he goes to the gym every day. Most of the rest of the students just mess around on the machines, or on a bike or treadmill. They get about an hour to work out then it's back to the dorms to check homework and head to bed.
That's my time to get to my blog and my own homework that I so desperately need to do. The teacher assigned a two day assignment that consists of about 10 pages in our workbook. While it shouldn't be too difficult, it will be time consuming so I need to get to work if I'm to finish before bedtime.
In other big news my roommate is moving out. I guess one of the students punched another student and was therefore sent home for the semester. He might even be out a year. So my roommate is going to move in with the student who is left alone. This means I have my own dorm room. I'm going to miss YJS but it's probably for the best. Thanks again for tuning in! I'm sure I'll have a lot to report about the field trip tomorrow.
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 어디에 가요? (Eo Di Eh Ka Yo) this means "Where are you going?". Always a useful phrase.
TL:DR I'm in Korea.
Back to the Grind
Fresh off a refreshing weekend I had another day of class. Over the weekend our homework was to translate about 10 pages of verbs/nouns/adjectives into our own language. Unfortunately I didn't really have time over the weekend so I was forced to have Heavy G help me before bed. Things went rather quickly this way, but I probably didn't retain as much information as I would have had I done all of it myself.
Breakfast was dak kalbi, and man what a good breakfast it was. Then it was time to head to class to struggle through another day. There is so much information running through my head that the lessons are beginning to bleed together. Each sentence particle has a tag to identify it, and those are extremely difficult to get straight.
By the grace of God I'm staying in a Korean dorm where I can just ask my roommate when I have issues. I can't imagine what it's like for the international students. The flip side of that is from 5pm on I am busy with the K-PACE students so my study time is minimal compared to if I was just staying in the international dorms. This is a trade off I'm more than happy to make. I know I will cherish the memories I'm making for the rest of my life.
Monday became a rather relaxed day after class. Everyone seemed pretty worn out from the weekend. I took a nap between class and dinner just after lunch. Then I recruited my roommate to help me sort out the tags in my head. This was extremely helpful as I finally got some semblance of logic connected with what I had learned. This isn't to sa that the teachers in my class are doing a bad job of teaching. They are doing an excellent job of teaching I think, it's just that we are on such an accelerated schedule that there isn't sufficient time to practice in class. Hard to believe with a 4 hour time slot, but that's the case.
Three K-PACE students came into my room last night while I was attempting to type my blog and hung out with me. None of them spoke English so they were talking to each other mostly, but it was a good time. One of them kept saying Geun Mo Noona, which means Geun Mo sister. Every time he did they would all crack up. It was rather funny indeed.
I have to say for the first time since I've been here it felt like things had started to settle. There was no big adventure, or surprise. I was happy for a day to relax and catch my breath. I'm sure there will be plenty of other things that will happen this week. Thanks for reading!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 누나 (Noona) This is pretty simple, it means sister. Don't call your brother noona. Or do. That is always funny.
TL:DR I'm in Korea
Breakfast was dak kalbi, and man what a good breakfast it was. Then it was time to head to class to struggle through another day. There is so much information running through my head that the lessons are beginning to bleed together. Each sentence particle has a tag to identify it, and those are extremely difficult to get straight.
By the grace of God I'm staying in a Korean dorm where I can just ask my roommate when I have issues. I can't imagine what it's like for the international students. The flip side of that is from 5pm on I am busy with the K-PACE students so my study time is minimal compared to if I was just staying in the international dorms. This is a trade off I'm more than happy to make. I know I will cherish the memories I'm making for the rest of my life.
Monday became a rather relaxed day after class. Everyone seemed pretty worn out from the weekend. I took a nap between class and dinner just after lunch. Then I recruited my roommate to help me sort out the tags in my head. This was extremely helpful as I finally got some semblance of logic connected with what I had learned. This isn't to sa that the teachers in my class are doing a bad job of teaching. They are doing an excellent job of teaching I think, it's just that we are on such an accelerated schedule that there isn't sufficient time to practice in class. Hard to believe with a 4 hour time slot, but that's the case.
Three K-PACE students came into my room last night while I was attempting to type my blog and hung out with me. None of them spoke English so they were talking to each other mostly, but it was a good time. One of them kept saying Geun Mo Noona, which means Geun Mo sister. Every time he did they would all crack up. It was rather funny indeed.
I have to say for the first time since I've been here it felt like things had started to settle. There was no big adventure, or surprise. I was happy for a day to relax and catch my breath. I'm sure there will be plenty of other things that will happen this week. Thanks for reading!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 누나 (Noona) This is pretty simple, it means sister. Don't call your brother noona. Or do. That is always funny.
TL:DR I'm in Korea
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday Number Two and the Case of the Korean Chicago Style Pizza
I have a Korean name. 왕형준 입니다 (Wang Hyung Joon Im Ni Da) I am Wang Hyung Jun. Two couples at church named me this at lunch. <--Edit
Sunday was a pretty exciting day. It was my first adventure on public transportation 혼자 (Hon Ja) alone. My church buddy Heavy G decided he couldn't go at the last minute so I had to take the bus. Well that was gonna be a fun one. An hour and a half bus ride. One way. Just my idea of how to spend my Sunday. I actually didn't mind this all that much, I'm sure it will get old but right now the adventure is exciting.
I believe there are 61 stops between my boarding place (first stop) and the stop that I get off at (almost the last stop). The upside is that it only cost 1,250 원 (Won) to go that entire way. That's about $1.25. That's an excellent price for the distance I traveled. I got to church just after noon and that meant I was able to catch most of the noon service. This time I didn't have Heavy G with me so I didn't know what the sermon was on, but the service was filled with excitement nonetheless.
After the service a few of the youth members that remembered me from the previous week came up and asked if I wanted to have lunch. Well I was certainly hungry so I was very keen about this idea. They ended up having me go with two couples. This was a bit rough being the fifth wheel after the previous night, but I battled through.
We ended up going to a place called Riccopapa that seemed to want to be an American style restaurant with reasonable prices. The couples I was with spoke English pretty well so the conversation flowed at a good pace. They asked what I wanted but I honestly couldn't decide. The menu was like 15 pages long, and the women seemed to want to handle it. I was happy to let them.
What would you guess they ended up ordering? A Chicago style deep dish pizza. I'm sure this was on purpose, and I wasn't complaining. I missed me some home food. We also got a steak salad...but the steak ended up being pig's neck. As disgusting as this sounds, it was actually really good. They also ordered a rice dish, and some do it yourself tacos. It was like a North American tapas.
I know you're all dying to hear how the pizza was. It was actually very good. The pizza looked like a tomato pie. The cheese was all inside and the dough was folded over on itself, and in the middle were sliced cherry tomatoes. There was nowhere near as much sauce as is on a typical Chicago style pizza, and the presentation was completely different, but the cheese was very similar and the taste was good. I can't complain.
The tacos were excellent as well. The chicken was well seasoned, and the shrimp and bulgogi were excellent as well. The two couples treated me as a welcoming to the church, and I am very grateful. Meeting new people, especially good people is difficult. I am so happy with all the friends I've already made while being here. I am not one to normally go outside my comfort zone except when deemed necessary, and this trip is certainly pushing me out of it.
On to the youth service. This youth service is really more of a 20-somethings service. They play contemporary praise music with a praise band, and are very energetic. This week David was chosen to translate the sermon for me. David was part of one of the couples that took me to lunch. He and his fiance are getting married in a month and they are very excited.
David did a very good job translating for me, and the sermon hit home pretty hard. Especially after what I had been experiencing the night before. I am very excited to be a part of this church, because both times I've gone the sermon was exactly something that I needed to hear. This week was all about the treasures in your heart and what rules your life.
The beginning of the sermon was actually about the Korean ship that sank with 500 students on board a few years ago. This was a complete and utter tragedy that could have been avoided. The owner of the ship had bought an old Japanese ship for cheap and hollowed out part of the hull to fit more people on board. The captain had warned him multiple times that the boat was unstable but the owner didn't listen, all he cared about was money.
Apparently the owner was also a pastor, but his church was a cult. When push came to shove, none of his money, or followers could save him. Only God can save. This got me thinking about the whole girlfriend/wife situation I had been dealing with last night. Now this was something that had been going on for awhile in my life, but really only came to a head during The Beauty and the Beast.
This sermon really gave me closure to the subject, and re-centered me on what's truly important. My relationship with God. How am I supposed to be in a relationship when I'm going into it with the idea that the relationship is what will make me whole? What an impossible burden to put onto someone else. Thinking that finding that "perfect" girl will change my life has been eating away at my relationship with God. I kept putting God in a box, and not trusting in him. I thought that I would have some control over who I ended up with. I had fears like what I said last night that I may have already missed her, or that I needed to go out and somehow force it to happen.
This worldly view on things really permeated my relationship with God. While it wasn't on the forefront of my mind, it was always nagging at me. I realized that I need to seek Him in all things, and be fulfilled in him before I could make anyone else happy, and before anyone could make me happy. If God is your purpose and your focus, things will fall into place. Even the bad things will be used to His glory. I know that He will put the right person in my life at the right time, and He is a much better judge than I am regarding this.
I considered this a quick answer to my prayers. I had asked for the LORD to settle my soul, and my restlessness. I tend to get antsy and try to rush things, when really I should just be focusing on enjoying this year and the things I'm here for. Another funny little thing is all while I was thinking this, David, my translator, was called out by the pastor for his testimony.
David had been praying for a girlfriend the previous year, and he had finally given up. Then a few months later God answered his prayers with his fiance. I now have closure on this subject, and hopefully will not be hard headed. It's very easy to forget what God has done for us, and want things to happen now. I am one of the worst offenders of this. I am working on this though, and I pray for God to help me trust him every night.
Both times I've gone to church here in Korea I have left not only refreshed, but feeling like my soul is exploding with the Holy Spirit. I am only just over a week in and I have already grown so much. The bus ride back to Daegu University felt much quicker than the trip to church. As soon as I got off the bus, Heavy G came and picked me up, and we were off to the 노레방 (No Rae Bang) Korean karaoke.
Korean karaoke is much different than American karaoke. Korean karaoke's consist of private rooms for your group. You have couches and a TV with microphones and speakers. The song book is HUGE and consists of just about every charted song from both Korea and the world in the last 10 years or so.
The students were already there and going at it when I walked in. Man this was quite the scene.
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| BTOB has 3 of the top 100 NRB songs in Korea right now! |
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| A couple of students killin' it. |
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| Lights! |
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| The book to see what song you want to sing next. |
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| Sometimes you gotta hold your phone while you're singing too. |
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| Get it! |
I did have breakfast with the students again at the place just off campus. Cowbone soup was the specialty again. Having been used to a hearty American breakfast, having something so light was different. However, my hunger has changed since I've been here. I no longer get ravenous, I just kind of feel like I need to eat. This is a welcomed change.
After heading back to the dorms, we headed to bed. I stayed up rather late working on the blogs and didn't quite get a chance to finish studying my homework. With such a grueling and accelerated program I'm going to need to put in some extra time to work on my vocabulary and catch up. I'm excited to see what this next week brings! Thanks for adventuring with me!
Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 노래방에서 노래를 노래해요 (No Rae Bang Eh Seo No Rae Reul No Rae Hae Yo) this basically means "At the karaoke I sing a song". I like it cause it's rather silly with the repetitive nature of No Rae.
TL:DR I'm in Korea
Sunday, March 26, 2017
OMG Blackout!
I wake up in the morning expecting the worst. But what is that sound? Could that be? A GENERATOR! So....the campus wide blackout wasn't really a blackout afterall....and the water is running too. Cool, thanks for the scare friends.
Each meal this weekend was just off campus at a place that made 집밥 (Jip Bap) or homemade meals. Breakfast was 설렁탕(Seol Leong Tang) which is cowbone soup. I unfortunately did not get a chance to take pictures of this, however I have added lunch and dinner. Lunch was 김치 찌개 (Kimchi Jjigae) and as you can see it is delicious. We also had some seaweed to wrap our Bap in! Mmmm. Dinner was 떡만둣국 (Ddeok Man Du Guk) dumpling soup with rice cakes in it.
I have learned that Koreans don't enjoy rain. I have been offered an umbrella so many times I can't even count anymore. When I first got here I was wearing T-shirts around during midday, but I'm starting to adjust and it's a bit cold at times. Morning especially it can get chilly. However, I must keep my man card in tact so I just wear a hoodie.
At night we went to the movie theater. This was really cool because it was my first encounter with public transportation here in Korea. I have heard it is phenomenal. Well, I can't quite comment yet because we really only went a few stops, but everything seemed good. However, the movie theater was pretty cool.
This is a quick video of the "Megabox" lobby. It is very modern, and the inside of the theater is like one of the newer theaters in America. Nice personal style seating, with semi-reclining options. The movie we saw was Beauty and the Beast. Man I was not looking forward to this. I had seen the cartoon as a young child, but didn't remember the story very well. I have to admit they did a wonderful job. I did not expect to like it, but I really enjoyed the experience. I even cried a little. I realize that's silly as I talked about keeping my man card in tact earlier in this post, but I'm starting to learn how to open my heart and experience emotions that I repressed long ago. I truly believe that God is healing me with this trip. It's only been a week and already I am physically and emotionally better than I was back home. I'm experiencing things I had long since forgotten and I'm only now realized how emotionally stunted I was.
I don't know the thoughts of most single guys, but I imagine that they think about having a partner a good amount. I found myself in this mood during the beginning of the movie. Of course seeing Emma Watson on screen makes most men long for someone who looks like her. I'll be honest she isn't my cup of tea, but she certainly isn't ugly by any means.
I'm just gonna lay it all out there, I've been pretty lonely. Which is funny because how can you be lonely while being super busy with work all the time and fitting in friends only when you have time? Now add in traveling to Korea to the mix and meeting so many new people, and it should be impossible to be lonely. Well I think everyone understands the yearning for a partner in life, and boy was it hitting me hard last night.
I wouldn't normally post about this, but I think it came up for a reason, and took a very interesting path. Anyways, so I'm watching this fairy tale movie with a beautiful leading actress just singing the "why me" blues. It was funny because Belle was starting to remind me of a girl I used to be in love with. I had probably a good 10-15 min spell watching this movie where I was super emotional and nostalgic for the time I spent with her. I started thinking about how I had made such a huge mistake by not taking the chance with her when I had it. I wondered if I would ever get another chance like I had with "the one that got away".
That type of thinking started to give way to thoughts about how life isn't a fairy tale and some princess isn't going to come waltzing into my life that fulfills my requirements in a mate. At that point I started to get sad and anxious. I'VE BEEN HERE A WEEK AND I'M NOT DATING SOMEONE YET?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Lol, the brain is illogical many times. I need a girlfriend! Is what my brain was screaming. I was overcome with longing. I remembered what one of my most adored mentors told me about love. He told me that if you want something you need to go and take it. The same thing goes for love, go make it.
I gotta be honest I think this notion screwed me up more than I'm willing to admit. This is the world's view of things. Does your heart desire money? Go take it. Fame? Go make it. You're in control of your life, and your fortune. While it is true your decisions are your own, what you have been given is allowed by God.
I realized that I needed to pray. While I've been praying for God to provide me with what I need as far as someone to be with, this time I prayed for him to settle my spirit, I prayed for comfort. God answered my prayer. By the end of the movie my spirit had calmed and I realized that he would provide me with exactly what I needed and that I shouldn't worry. Chances are I need to be healed before I'm able to be in a stable relationship anyway, and he knows the timing for that much better than I do.
I was also worried that I might miss someone that he sent to me. That for some reason I would screw things up. Maybe he already sent the right girl and I was too busy worrying about worldly things to see it. I know that even if his plan is for me to be a bachelor my entire life I am prepared for that as well. I am in complete submission to him.
Korean Word of the Day: 쉬다 (Shwe Da) To rest, usually pronounced without the W sound. Can be conjugated to present tense as 쉬어요 (She Uh Yo) meaning I rest. Also with 쉬세요 (She Se Yo) which is "Please take a rest".
TL:DR I'm in Korea
Each meal this weekend was just off campus at a place that made 집밥 (Jip Bap) or homemade meals. Breakfast was 설렁탕(Seol Leong Tang) which is cowbone soup. I unfortunately did not get a chance to take pictures of this, however I have added lunch and dinner. Lunch was 김치 찌개 (Kimchi Jjigae) and as you can see it is delicious. We also had some seaweed to wrap our Bap in! Mmmm. Dinner was 떡만둣국 (Ddeok Man Du Guk) dumpling soup with rice cakes in it.
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| Kimchi Jjigae! |
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| Side Dishes! |
 |
| The students all at a community table. |
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| More students crushing it. |
 |
| The myriad of umbrella colors. |
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| Dinner! |
At night we went to the movie theater. This was really cool because it was my first encounter with public transportation here in Korea. I have heard it is phenomenal. Well, I can't quite comment yet because we really only went a few stops, but everything seemed good. However, the movie theater was pretty cool.
 |
| Selfie with An Hyo Sang! |
This is a quick video of the "Megabox" lobby. It is very modern, and the inside of the theater is like one of the newer theaters in America. Nice personal style seating, with semi-reclining options. The movie we saw was Beauty and the Beast. Man I was not looking forward to this. I had seen the cartoon as a young child, but didn't remember the story very well. I have to admit they did a wonderful job. I did not expect to like it, but I really enjoyed the experience. I even cried a little. I realize that's silly as I talked about keeping my man card in tact earlier in this post, but I'm starting to learn how to open my heart and experience emotions that I repressed long ago. I truly believe that God is healing me with this trip. It's only been a week and already I am physically and emotionally better than I was back home. I'm experiencing things I had long since forgotten and I'm only now realized how emotionally stunted I was.
I don't know the thoughts of most single guys, but I imagine that they think about having a partner a good amount. I found myself in this mood during the beginning of the movie. Of course seeing Emma Watson on screen makes most men long for someone who looks like her. I'll be honest she isn't my cup of tea, but she certainly isn't ugly by any means.
I'm just gonna lay it all out there, I've been pretty lonely. Which is funny because how can you be lonely while being super busy with work all the time and fitting in friends only when you have time? Now add in traveling to Korea to the mix and meeting so many new people, and it should be impossible to be lonely. Well I think everyone understands the yearning for a partner in life, and boy was it hitting me hard last night.
I wouldn't normally post about this, but I think it came up for a reason, and took a very interesting path. Anyways, so I'm watching this fairy tale movie with a beautiful leading actress just singing the "why me" blues. It was funny because Belle was starting to remind me of a girl I used to be in love with. I had probably a good 10-15 min spell watching this movie where I was super emotional and nostalgic for the time I spent with her. I started thinking about how I had made such a huge mistake by not taking the chance with her when I had it. I wondered if I would ever get another chance like I had with "the one that got away".
That type of thinking started to give way to thoughts about how life isn't a fairy tale and some princess isn't going to come waltzing into my life that fulfills my requirements in a mate. At that point I started to get sad and anxious. I'VE BEEN HERE A WEEK AND I'M NOT DATING SOMEONE YET?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Lol, the brain is illogical many times. I need a girlfriend! Is what my brain was screaming. I was overcome with longing. I remembered what one of my most adored mentors told me about love. He told me that if you want something you need to go and take it. The same thing goes for love, go make it.
I gotta be honest I think this notion screwed me up more than I'm willing to admit. This is the world's view of things. Does your heart desire money? Go take it. Fame? Go make it. You're in control of your life, and your fortune. While it is true your decisions are your own, what you have been given is allowed by God.
I realized that I needed to pray. While I've been praying for God to provide me with what I need as far as someone to be with, this time I prayed for him to settle my spirit, I prayed for comfort. God answered my prayer. By the end of the movie my spirit had calmed and I realized that he would provide me with exactly what I needed and that I shouldn't worry. Chances are I need to be healed before I'm able to be in a stable relationship anyway, and he knows the timing for that much better than I do.
I was also worried that I might miss someone that he sent to me. That for some reason I would screw things up. Maybe he already sent the right girl and I was too busy worrying about worldly things to see it. I know that even if his plan is for me to be a bachelor my entire life I am prepared for that as well. I am in complete submission to him.
Korean Word of the Day: 쉬다 (Shwe Da) To rest, usually pronounced without the W sound. Can be conjugated to present tense as 쉬어요 (She Uh Yo) meaning I rest. Also with 쉬세요 (She Se Yo) which is "Please take a rest".
TL:DR I'm in Korea
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