Kindergarten and Haeundae Beach. Fun in the Sun at Haeun-dae. :)

Today we went to the kindergarden. It was so fun seeing all the little kids. There were 25 kids and we started off with the introduction. Some of them were saying “hello” in English and it was so adorable. We then split up into groups and started our stories. SuJin and I did Little Red Riding Hood and I think the kids really enjoyed it. We thought we only had an hour so each of us only read to 3 groups instead of 5 like we planned. We did a hide-and-go-seek story. There were 6 “animals” aka us with masks (me as a giraffe) and the “squirell” was trying to find us. The first time he said ready or not, here I come, all the kids got up and started going to us, and it was so adorable that I hated making them sit back down. They would point to the animals as the “squirrel” would find us. The very end, a hungry lion came, and we had to hide again so he wouldn’t eat us. The kids really liked that part.

Then we sang Old McDonald and it took awhile for the kids to catch on, but they liked making the animal noises. When we started wrapping up, our leader told us we had 30 more minutes, so we went back to the plan and did the stuff we thought we didn’t have time for. We played Simon says, or as they call it here Solomon says. Then we gave the kids paper and let them draw their favorite animal then we wrote the English word for them. We took pictures with all the kids and their pictures before we left.

In the kindergarden, all the kids took their shoes off before going in the building and it was so much better to have no shoes on. I like this tradition.

We then went to eat at Outback and it was Korean outback. I had a steak sandwich and 13 French fries. Yes,  I counted. And it had ketchup!!

Then we went to Haeundae Beach, the most famous beach in Korea. Since it was a school day, not a lot of people were there and the water was freezing but it felt so good since today was so hot. Korean women don’t really wear bathing suits, so we all stayed in our shorts and t-shirts. We then went to go eat supper then see a water fountain show. It was music playing with the fountain and there were different colored lights. It ws beautiful. We got back at around 9. I am currently washing some clothes and then going to bed. It’s nice to just sit in the dorm room and have nothing to do. We normally don’t have much time to do this, we’re so busy.

Almost Finished Planning!

Class for the first part. I learned how to count another way (there are two sets of numbers and this way is a lot easier than the first one we learned.) I learned how to ask how much something costs, and if they can give me a discount. This one is going to be very important.

Then the Lander girls got out of class 30 minutes early and we met the president of Dong-A University. He asked us what we thought of the program and what we were learning, and he gave us a watch as a gift. Here it’s very common to give gifts when meeting with someone and I felt bad because we did not realize we should have brought him a gift. It was very nice seeing him and the Vice President of International Affairs. They came to Lander the week we were leaving and it was to see them again and say thanks and that we are having a blast and learning so much!!

Then we practiced with our groups for the rest of the day because we are going to the kindergarten tomorrow for storytelling for the kids. Our group finished with plenty of time to spare, then we showed the other groups what we are doing. We have an animal theme, are telling stories with animals (like 3 Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.), singing Old McDonald Had a Farm, and then drawing their favorite animal. There are 5 foreigners and our buddies so it’s a large group so we can spread out and be with several kids each. I’m so excited!!

Homestay, Day 2

I woke up at noon!!! It was amazing. This was the first time since the first day that I’ve gotten to sleep in and now I can sleep because I am on the right time zone. SuJin woke up shortly after me and we ate lunch. We had sandwiches, croissants, salad, and other little pastries. SuJin later told me she never eats that. Her mom bought it because she didn’t think I liked Korean food. I felt so bad when she told me that.

She took me to the market near her house and we walked around for awhile. It is so weird to see dead fish and octopus just lying on ice in the middle of the street. I still can’t get used to it. It was more of a food market than clothes and jewelry and such.

Then we went to a little coffee shop and hung out and I drank a smoothie. It’s been fun to just hang out and not have anywhere to be at a certain time.

We made bulgogi for supper. We bought the ingredients the previous day. It’s meat, onion, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, carrots, and some other things maybe and that marinates for a little while then you cook it on the grill in front of you. Her brother helped us. Thank goodness!! He was curious about American culture and asked me a lot of questions. When Koreans learn English, they learn grammar and writing, but not speaking or listening so he can read and write almost perfectly but can’t understand or talk with me.

This is some of the things I learned:

1. In high school, students go to school from 7 am to 9 pm during the normal school year. During their summer and winter “vacations” they only go from 7am to 3pm.
2. This is the ranking of prestigious and most well paying job: doctor, lawyer, teacher. The first two I was expecting but they treat their teachers like royalty here.
3. Kids have to wear uniforms.
4. SuJin’s university for one year is less than one semester at Lander.
5. Most students go to university in their province, like most South Carolinians go to a SC university.

I’ll think of some more later, but that’s all I can think of for now. I arrived back at my dorm around 10pm and went to bed immediately.

Temple and Homestay, Part 1

The hotel room is wonderful. There were two beds, one double and one twin, and SuJin let me have the double and it was amazing! I swear, the pillows here are to die for. They are so fluffy and soft and you feel like you never want to move.

We left after a Western style breakfast, including hashbrowns and eggs, to go to another temple. This temple had many building and we saw the monks doing some traditional ceremonies, which our guide said was rare for them to be doing during the day during the tourist hours. We couldn’t take any pictures of them or the Buddhas, but it was everything I expected. The shaved head, the robe, bare feet, the chanting. They explained to us that anyone can become a Buddha, which is the opposite of Christianity in that there is only one God. I love hearing about Buddhism and it fascinated me the differences between Buddhism and Christianity.

The guide told me one story that I thought was cool that I want to share. There was a male student who was very bad and did nothing right. He died young and his fellow classmates held a funeral for him because they felt sorry for him. The teacher then was called to a meeting in another country and invited the class to go with him for a learning experience. On the way, they saw a tree moving upriver and they went to investigate. A tree had grown onto the back of a fish and the fish was in so much agony he couldn’t move fast and was in constant pain. The students and teachers left but the students asked the teacher to meditate to find out what the fish’s former life had been like for him to earn such a awful fate in the next life. He found out it was the student who died shortly before and they went back the next day to perform a forgiveness ceremony for the fish. The fish asked the teacher to make a bell to play every day to remind him to not go back to his former ways in the next life. So the teacher cut the tree off the fish and made a bell that had the body of a fish and the head of a dragon. Their belief is that a fish that reaches Nirvana becomes a dragon and flies out of the water.

There were several stories like this and I guess it’s our stories like Noah’s Ark or Jonah and the whale. It was raining the entire time and I got soaked even though I had a poncho and an umbrella.

We then went back on the bus back to Busan to start our homestay. We went to a restaurant to eat that had Bulgogi burgers, and I expected hamburgers. Nope. It was a hamburger patty with a sweet onion sauce on it. It was good but I had never eaten anything like this. Then I went with SuJin to her house. One of her friends came over and we talked about English and Korean and I explained a few things to them and they taught me a few new phrases. I explained how to say “I want to” to “I wanna” and others like it. It was so fun to hear them say it this way. They taught me slang words for hey, good bye, friend, etc.

SuJin’s mom then came home and we ate pig’s leg for supper. It was delicious. This is how you eat meat here. You get a piece a lettuce. Then you put rice, onion, a spicy sauce, and whatever else on it, and then the meat (using chopsticks of course). Then you wrap it up and shove it into your mouth. Very efficient way to eat. They put a ton of little dished on the table and you might have a small plate but everyone eats off the same plates. They normally don’t use napkins or drink water or another drink with their food.

SuJin, her friend, and I then went to a little restaurant near her house and met another friend and hung out for awhile. That’s what I told her I wanted to do: meet some of her friends. It was so much fun because there wasn’t a common language between the three of us. There were 4 languages between us, but not one we all spoke, so that was fun. I went  to sleep around 12 and SuJin let me have her bed and she slept on the extra bed in her brother’s room. Isn’t she the best?!

Kyoungjoo

Today, we didn’t have class, but left for a fieldtrip. We went to Kyoungjoo, which is a little city about 1.5 hours from Busan. We went to a museum, but this one has been my favorite museum yet, because we had a guide explain everything to us. It was so much better than just depending on myself to learn by reading the signs. You could tell this guy loves Korean history because he tells us about the things with a story. Then we went to a Buddhist temple. Koreans don’t like the Japanese because when Korea was a Japanese colony, they took a lot of artifacts to Japan, ruined a lot of historical objects, and if they returned anything they “stole” it came back broken. So about everything we saw went like this: “This used to be like this, but then Japan came and ruined it.” I feel bad because there were so many cool things that now are missing and Korea can’t do anything because a lot of these artifacts are in private collection now.

I saw a large granite Buddha (Corbin was quite excited) but they wouldn’t let us take any pictures of them. The different ways Buddha holds his hands explains the lesson he wants to teach. His ears are huge to signify to listen more; his lips are closed to signify to talk less; and his eyes are slightly shut to signify to not judge. In the temple, there is a statue of another Buddha that is only in the light once a year. When the light comes through, it hits Buddha’s “third eye (the stone between his eyes” and reflects to another stone which shines it round the temple. I would love to see that, but it wasn’t that one day of the year. Koreans did this in the Silla dynasty, over 1000 years ago. If you think about that, it is amazing how much they did considering the technology at that time period. We saw a lot of national treasures, which basically means it is really important to Korean history and people.

Before we got to go in the temple, we had to “purify ourselves” but cleaning our hands in mountain water that flowed into a fountain, and they had cups and you could drink the water. It was so cold and wonderful!! They have lanterns hanging everywhere and the white lanterns are in memory of people who have died and the colored lanterns are in honor of people that are still living.

Dubbing

First three hours of the day: class. I feel like I am learning so much that my brain almost hurts. I am retaining some of it, and everyday I feel a little more confidant. I can read a little bit faster, but only a syllable at a time, and I never know what it means. I’m trying not to write the pronunciation in English because I don’t want to get dependent of it. So it takes me longer than most of the class but I hopefully will learn it faster this way.

The Dong-A University Tae-Kwon-Do team is doing a production of NonGilDong,  their version of Robin Hood. So the Americans and English dubbed it for the foreigners that are going to be listening. We went into a sound room and read over it until we sounded normal. It was hilarious!! The monotonic voices not realizing they sounded unenthusiastic, the quietest people (aka Allie) speaking with such authority, the hilarious laughs, the mistakes, etc. It took over 3 hours until we sounded good enough, but it was so much fun and didn’t seem like long at all.

Since we got done early, we went to Na-pil-Dong (if I spelled that anything like it’s supposed to be). It’s a large outside market. Think a flea market with food and clothes and anything else you can think of. All of us, the Americans and English and Koreans went and had a blast. I didn’t buy anything but it was cool to see everything. We got hungry after a while and went to a restaurant and had bulgogi, thin strips of steak you cook yourself in front of you. This is my favorite Korean food. I expected it to be around $10-15 but when they gave us the bill and divided it up, it was only $4 each! I ate steak, rice, salad, soju, and coke for only $4. That never happens in the US. The food was delicious and I was full. But of course we had to go for ice cream when we got back ;)  An excellent day to end any day.

Learning to get around Busan

We started off today with Korean language. 3 hours of confusion. At least with learning Spanish, I can read it better. This is difficult but I can now recognize a few words. We learned how to introduce ourselves and say hello and thank you and a few other simple expressions like that. I have to use my “cheat sheet” of letters in my notebook to read it but I can read it, which is kinda cool.

Then we went down the mountain (yes, our university is built on a mountain and everything else is down, which makes it fun going down but then we have to climb the 103 steps back up to campus, which is getting easier every day). We ate in a little restaurant and I ate something which was basically a fried steak with barbeque sauce, and of course with rice. It was delicious and it cost about $3. Every Korean thing is so cheap. It’s only when I get American things that it starts to get expensive (like Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, coke, etc.)
Then we had a lecture on Korean politics. I was interested from the get-go to listen to this but it was amazing. I have never been a history person but learning that Koreans have been invaded by their neighbors over 900 times but have never invaded another country is amazing. We learned about who is in government, the unstability of it, the political parties and some of their conflicting ideologies. The setup is basically the same except there are more than just 2 main parties and the parties keep getting switched every few years so one party will do one thing then when another party rules, it changes everything and starts back at ground zero. Kinda like us, I guess ;)
Then we got in our groups and worked on our storytelling. I made a giraffe, and I have to say it’s pretty awesome. SuJin and I also make finger puppets for our story on Little Red Riding Hood. (I’ll post pictures later)
We got in pretty late and went to bed. I feel like we are going to be doing so many amazing things, I won’t care if I don’t get a lot of sleep. I’m drinking coffee here, something I never do, and it’s cool how awake I get for class.

First Class of Korean Language :/

Today was the first day of class. It was hard but I felt like I learned so much. We basically went over the alphabet which is totally different. Each symbol makes a sound so sounds together makes up words but the symbols look like lines and boxes to me. I think I’ll get the hang of it eventually. Two of the vowels sound exactly the same to me and the teacher kept saying them and I was hearing one sound so she tried to help me but gave up after awhile. I still don’t understand it. J I know a few words now and we will learn more words and introduction phrases tomorrow I think. Once I get the alphabet down and can read, it will be a lot easier. They only have 24 letters but some letters combine to make other letters so it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. My mistake.

They told us we were having bread and milk for lunch, and I got worried for a little while. They were pastries and hotdogs (prepackaged) and were pretty decent. I ate a lot of them.

Then we went on an hour long bus ride to go make pottery. The ride was actually fun because I got to see the countryside, which is all mountains and SuJin and I played dots, hangman, Bingo, and other games we can play in the car. I made a plate of clay and wrote my name and Korea in Korean (with the help of SuJin) and drew a picture of the Korean flag. We’ll get them before we leave.

Then we went upstairs of the place and had tea and rice cakes. These rice cakes were a little different than the ones we had in Incheon. They were more like unsweet marshmallows and had red bean paste in them. The paste was actually pretty good.

We came back and immediately ate supper. It was some kind of meat in a spicy sauce and it was delicious, probably the best meal I’ve had or will have in the cafeteria. And we had more lemonade so I was quite happy.

We then met up with our groups that we are in for the kindergarten day. Our group just had to fine-tune what we talked about yesterday, but the other groups were just starting to get some good ideas. We are going to be doing an animal theme. Each foreigner and their buddy is going to have a few kids and tell them a story with an animal in it (Mine is little Red Riding Hood) and then we are making animal masks from paper plates and tambourines from paper plates. We are playing Simon says with an animal theme (Simon says jump like a frog, etc.) then singing “Old McDonald.” I hope it will be a blast and the kids like it. We then ate pizza for a snack. My table’s pizza had ham, sausage, pineapple and corn. Apparently corn is very popular on pizza here. Who would’ve thought? And Allie and I joked with the 3 English guys that are in our group. It was a fun night and day.

Up in the Clouds

Yesterday was so foggy, I could barely see the ground from the window of our dorm on the 5^th story. I couldn’t see the buildings or the ocean in the distance. It was like we were living in the clouds. It was a good day to be cloudy because we really didn’t do anything. I woke up without setting my alarm (still woke up at 9:30) and then took a shower and watched the latest episode of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” with Corbin before going down to eat lunch. And guess what we had? You got it, rice and kimchi, like always. This was mixed together so it kinda tasted like Mexican rice, but without the cheese sauce. And I never drink anything with meals because it’s always hot green tea, which I have never acquired the taste for. I ate until I was full, and then ate the yogurt for dessert.

Then we went back up to the rooms and I took a nap for awhile. Then we decided to order pizza. Sounds easy enough, right? Nope. Pizzahut.com for Korea is in Korean and it wouldn’t translate because my computer thought the words were pictures and not letters (I guess from how they set the website up). So after about an hour of trying this, we went downstairs to the computer lab to see if there was anyone who could help us. The two students in there were watching an online lecture so we didn’t want to bother them. Then a girl came in and we kinda pounced on her. She ordered us a large cheese pizza and told us (we played charades) on where to wait for it to get delivered. We had to walk down the 93 steps and we waited for the delivery man to bring us the pizza. I’m telling you, I’ve never had a better pizza.

So all in all, we basically did nothing worthwhile yesterday because we thought the buses weren’t running to go down the mountain, but we later found out (when we could see the bus through the fog) that it was running but it was too late to do anything by then. I had a nice, relaxing day, something I needed because from today on, it’s going to be jammed packed with activities. I’m so excited about the things I’m going to get to do.

Today we had orientation. Our buddies met us at the dorm at 10:30 and we rode the bus down the mountain to the building where we are going to be taking all of our classes. There are 8 girls and 7 guys (the Irish guy got sick and isn’t coming). The other American is a ethnically Korean guy from California. He already speaks Korean so that’s a good thing. The English people are cool. I could just listen to them speak for hours. One of the people said the same thing about listening to us speak southern so I feel kinda good about that J. Our teacher told us about the history of Dong-A University (which means Southeast Asia, btw) and we went over the rules. The basic no guys in the girls rooms, curfew, what’s allowed and permitted, etc. Then we ate lunch in the professors cafeteria. There was lemonade!!! It was brown but tasted wonderful. We ate green beans that had little baby shrimp in them, shells and all. I’m getting better at the whole chop-stick thing, luckily.

Then we got on a bus and toured the three campuses from Dong-A. The first one we went to was the medical and the art and music school. The second place was social sciences, and law. And the main campus has everything else. We went on “hike” through a park. I was wearing jeans and flip flops so that was interesting. It was beautiful, though.

Then we went to the equivalent of Walmart, which is 5 stories and is like a mall in one store. It’s overwhelming. I brought bread and coke. And that’s it.

Then we went to a buffet restaurant that had Chinese and Korean food. It was delicious!! I liked that I had a lot of choices. We’re going to be going to a kindergarten (think preschool for 5-6 year olds) next week and reading them a story and doing a few activities with them. We got in three groups and decided what we wanted to do. I think my group is going to do a Pororo (Dora-ish penguin character here) and make masks and tambourines from paper plates. The kids aren’t going to speak English, so we are going to have to rely on our buddies for all that. I’m excited though.

I am now back in the dorm rooms and about to go to sleep. Let me tell you about the shower, just in case I haven’t, which I might have already. Our bathroom is a toilet, and a sink with a spray thing on it which you shower with. You stand at the sink and shower. It’s the most awkward thing ever and you get everything wet. We have to keep the toilet paper on the high shelf and it’s always damp.

As much as I might be complaining, I am having a blast. I’m just amazed at how different everything here is than what I am used to. The food, language, culture, and everything in between. This is a wonderful learning experience and I feel like I’m learning more than just Korean language and culture. I hope to become more self-reliant, more confidant in myself, more understanding of other people, and just a better person in general.

Last Days at the University of Incheon

The last 3 days have been amazing and a little sad because we had to leave. On Thursday, we went to Seoul to the Korean National Museum. The parts I saw reminded me of Native American history from the tools, jewelry, and pottery. We stayed about 2 hours and didn't see everything because there was so much to see and we decided to move to something else after awhile. We went to an Italian restaraunt for lunch. I ordered spaghetti with sausage expecting spagghetti with the ground up sausage in the sauce. Nope. I hvae spaghetti with a sausage like a hotdog on top. It was the most random way I've seen but it was so delicious and it was the first time I ate everything since I've been here.

Then we went to this park where we took pictures with a few statues and went to a little river that ran through it and stuck our feet in the water. It was in the middle of a city so we sat on concrete but it felt wonderful after walking around for so long. We went walking down several famous shopping streets and I bought a blue shoulder purse. I didn't bring one with me because I wanted to buy one when I got here. I was about as excited as Corbin or Rachel because I had been giving them my wallet to keep with them in their bag for the last few days. We went to Smoothie King for smoothies for awhile when it started to rain.

Then yestersday (Friday I think) we went to Lotte World, a amusement park that was like Carowinds.  A lot of it was inside so we rode a lot of roller coasters and other rides. On the roller coasters, we could take our purses and we kept our sunglasses on. On one of the amusement rides, my head was above the headrest so my neck hurt from banging back and forth on it. Another of the rides didn't have a headrest but it would have if we'd been in the US. The lines weren't as long. The most we waited was an hour. During that hour, I walked with TaeEun and JiHyun to get smoothies from Smoothie King. That might end up being my favorite place, two days in a row.

Today, we got up and rode on the KTX train from Incheon to Busan, in the southern part of Korea. We are going to be here for 4 weeks. We are in dorm rooms. I'm rooming with Corbin, and Rachel and Allie are rooming together. The rooms are small but we have the best view ever!! Busan is on a mountain and we are on the top and we can see the city and the ocean from our window. The flip side to that was that we are going to have to walk up 93 steps to get to our dorm room every day. We rode a bus into town to get some food: cokes, snacks, toilet paper, etc. Our Korean buddies are awesome. Mine is SuJin, and her English is excellent, and I think we are going to get along great. They met us at the bus station and rode the taxi with us to the dorm room.

I am a very unobservant person, so I am trying to notice things so I can answer questions when I get back to the US. Here are some:
1. Liscense plates are three colors: white, green and yellow. White liscense plates are two numbers, a Korean letter then 3 more numbers. The green and yellow plates are a Korean letter then 3 numbers and these are normally trucks and taxis and other commercial vehicles.
2. It is really hot in Busan. And humid!
3. When I tried to get on the computer in the computer lab, it took me a while to get it turned on and then more time to get on facebook because everything is written in Korean. (stopsigns are written in English and Korean, though)
4. Like Spanglish is Spanish and English, Korenglish is Korean and English. :)
5. People here aren't as assertive or demanding as Americans.
6. This is the meaning behind the Korean flag: The blue and red is the yin/yan and the blue is for the south, the red is for the north, and the white background is for purity. The 4 corners made of black lines are for heaven, earth, air, and fire.
7. Gas is $7 a gallon.
8. Men are required to be in the military service for 2 years. Wanseo was in the navy and most join after graduating high school.
9. You are 1 years old when you are born. I am 21 in the US but 22 here.
10. You start school at 8. Government provides childcare and healthcare and a lot of stuff. Kindergarten is optional for kids 5-7. All kids wear school uniforms.

I think that's enough for now. I like asking questions and there are questions that I want to ask but they might be considered rude, so I am going to ask those when I get to know someone well enough so they will know that it is not me being rude, just curious. My sociology major makes me look at certain things in a very different way and I want to learn how Korea and the US are similar and different.

The other people in the program are coming late tonight. There are 5 Americans, 10 English, and 1 Irish. It's 8 male and 8 female and we each have a buddy. It's going to be a huge group!! I'm excited about meeting so many people from so many different places and backgrounds. Hope I'm not boring you by writing all this. You're welcome to stop reading at any time :)

Well I think that's enough for one day, so I'll write again soon.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Incheon

Yesterday, we left to go to an island to spend the night. We went to the Yellow Sea, and it was so much fun! It was sunny and I actually got to wear my sunglasses, something I didn't think I would get to do. Even though it was sunny and there weren't many clouds in the sky, it was still foggy looking, so I couldn't see that far in the distance. I wish I could have because there were a few mountains in the distance and I bet it would have been beautiful to see all of them.

We went to two different beaches on the Yeoungjong Island, I think. The first one had rocky sand and the water was a pretty decent temperature and the second one was soft sand but the water was freezing. I didn't know this, but in the Korean culture, bathing suits can be seen as a little embarrassing for women, so I kept my clothes I was wearing over my bathing suits on at the beach. I taught the Korean students that were with us, EunJi, Wanseo, and JiHuan how to play slaps and thumb war, and they taught me a game where you stand about 1 foot away from your partner and you try to make them fall by pushing on their hands. It was really fun to play.

Then we went to the pool and played volleyball (or attempted). The Korean students didn't know how to swim very well but the pool was at 4 feet the whole way so it was fine. Then we went back to the house (it reminded me of a mountain lodge) and ate supper. We had steak cooked on the grill that we would put on lettuce and eat it with our hands. We also had soup that reminded me of a spicy vegetable soup. I am finally getting used to chopsticks. I feel like they keep feeding us, and feeding us, and then feeding us some more. I am never hungry and they always offer more food to us. The hospitality here is great and I hope a lot of Lander students come here to study abroad.

This morning for breakfast we had pineapple, kiwi, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, bacon (not cruncy), the Korean form of hashbrowns (sliced potatos with onions), yogurt, cream cheese danishes, sausage, and more things that I cannot remember now. We ate so much that we skipped lunch because we were still full then. I am not going to know what to do when I get back to the US. The American girls did wash the dishes after breakfast so I feel like I contributed something. I feel like they do everything for us and I don't want them to think we expect it.

When we were leaving the island, we went over a bridge and it was low tide so we could see the marsh, I guess you would call it. It looked like it was snowing, it was that white, and a river was flowing through it and it looked like a snake because of the path it was flowing was curvy. It made me laugh a little. I also saw a small island that was connected to the larger land by a small land bridge. It was like a "i" looking if that makes sense at all.

This morning we had planned to go the DMZ (De-militarized zone that is between North and South Korea) but it was raining so hard that we decided to go to the movies instead. I saw Transformers 3 in 3D. The ticket was about $12 and we got snacks 1 popcorn and 2 drinks for about $6. The only thing I have paid for since getting of the airplane was starbucks the day we went to the mall. The University of Incheon is paying for everything else and I am getting so spoiled. I feel like I should pay for some of the things we do and the food.

We then took a taxi back to the hotel and ate in the lobby. I had a club sandwich. This is what comes on the club: grilled chicken, uncrunchy bacon, lettuce, tomato, and eggs. I have never eaten eggs with something that wasn't breakfast, so that was another first for me.

I am having so much fun on this trip. I'm not really homesick, which surprises me. I email, facebook, and skype my family and friends, and I'm only going to be gone for about 5 weeks. I guess compared to the 3 1/2 months I was in Spain, this is a short trip.

Random observation: There is a bridge in Incheon that reminds me of a dream catcher. On each side of the bridge, there is a huge circle and the supporting wires cross and it makes a cool design.

At supper tonight, they gave me a Korean name. From now on, you may call me JiYeon. :)

First days in Incheon

Yesterday was awesome!! I didn't write on this blog because it wasn't working in the airport so I was going to try and mess with the settings to get it to work, and then I logged on today and it worked!! The director of international affairs, Dr. Joon Choi, introduced himself as Joon, which comes between May and July and I thought that was hilarious. He let us sleep in and came and got us from the hotel at about 11:30. I don't think I've ever had a better shower or bed before (but that was after 48 hours of hardly any sleep and feeling gross). We went to a seafood market where I saw every type of fish, squid, clams, oysters, etc. for sell. The setup reminded me of a flea market or the market in Charleston. Everyone was trying to get our attention but I couldn't understand what they were saying. A girl that is coming to Lander for a year, EunJi, came with us. We then went and ate at a little restaurant near the market. It was a table that had a grill in the middle of it. They would put oysters, clams, conchs, and other "sea shells" on the grill and let it cook then we ate it. I have never eaten any of this stuff and I liked the flavor of it, but not the texture. But I was impressed with myself that I ate everything and never gagged once. :)

Then EunJi took us to a underground shopping mall. It was huge!!! It had stores for clothes, makeup, cell phones, shoes, bags, jewelry, and everything else imaginable in these little stores!!! I tried to go to a ATM to get money but they didn't take foreign cards, so I'm going to have to wait and get some from a bank later. Then for supper last night, we went to a restaurant and ate more traditional Korean food. There is a food called kimchi, which is fermented cabbage, and Koreans eat this in one form for every meal. It can be a sauce, a soup, or to eat with lettuce (like a sandwhich between lettuce leaves). I don't particularly care for this but it is something I can eat with a straight face. They also served us shots of soju, the Korean vodka. He ordered one bottle but kept giving it to us until we finished 4 bottles!!!

We then went to a karaoke bar. It was the four Americans, Dr. Choi, EunJi, and another student names Wanseo. This is a lot different than I imagined it. We went into a room that had a tv, two microphones, and two tamborines, and we took turns choosing and singing songs. There was no one else in the room except for us, so we could sing and not be embarrassed by how bad we sounded.

Today, we went on a tour of Incheon University. This university has only been in its current location for about two years so everything is modern looking and very clean. The campus is a rectangle shape and the buildings are on the edges and the middle is sidewalks and a few trees. It is raining season in Korea right now so it's always either raining or cloudy, so we went up in the sky deck to see all the buildings. Each of us has a Korean buddy, and they explained all the buildings and about the Korean culture. We learned about Korean universities and other Korean things and we would then explain how it is different of similar in the US. They were either international trade or business majors that have either studied abroad in the US or are about to.

We then met the president of UI, Dr. Ahn, and he was very excited about being a sister university with Lander and hopes a lot of students come there to study. If I wasn't about to graduate, I would go in a heartbeat. Everyone is so nice and welcoming and it is a wonderful campus and city. Incheon is the third largest city in South Korea (after Seoul and Busan). The tallest building in Korea is right outside our hotel room window and we crossed the 6th longest bridge going from the airport to the hotel (it was 24 kilometers!!). I'm still getting used to the food and the language seems impossible to learn but I love everything else about here.

We then went for a Korean cultural event. We made rice cakes and decorated them with a sweetish icing-type stuff. It was about the size of a cupcake and we decorated it by flattening the "icing" (but it wasn't really sweet). We then cut three circles out and rolled it up and then cut it in half with chopsticks and it became a rose. We then learned the traditional Korean tea ceremony. I don't like green tea but it was fun learning how to make and serve it. Then we dressed up in traditional Korean outfits. Mine was a light pink dress with a dark pink jacket. Wanseo wore light blue pants, a pink shirt, and then a light blue robe. The hats for the men were hilarious. One of the hats had wings and the other was a hat with a rim made out of wire. I also got to play the large gong (I'm thinking of Mulan as I write this.). Then I guess Dr. Choi felt bad for us because we ate hamburgers for supper.

I am still jet lagged. It is about 7pm at night and I have been ready to go to sleep for a few hours. I am waking up at about 5 every morning then sleeping lightly until we have to get up. It isn't helping that it is so dark outside because it's always cloudy. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I'm glad because we are going to an island to play on the beach.

Tokyo

I slept in an airport, hopefully the only time I'll have to do that. Since we got in so late last night, the metro had stopped so we had to wait to change airports for this morning. We flew into Haneda in the south part of Tokyo and our next flight leaves from Narida, in the north part of Tokyo. We took the metro up here and left at 6am, which wasn't bad because we had already been up for hours. (I only slept about 2 hours that was my "nap time" back in SC.)

On the metro ride here, we were above ground for the first and last parts so I got to see a lot of Tokyo from a distance. The buildings are tall and its about one on top of the other. They aren't what you would consider pretty because some are old, and some are newer and its a really random combination. Some of the houses have roofs that remind me of half of a clay pot. I saw, i don't know what the correct term would be, but gardens of rice everywhere that were in water. I also saw two cemeteries that were small and the tombstones were tall and skinny and the are that they were in was really small also.

Everything here is written in four languages: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English and about every person we need to ask for help or directions (which has happened quite often so far) speaks enough English to help us. I'm worried about them understanding us because of our southern accent but they seem to be able to fine.

Of course we had to eat McDonalds for lunch for one last meal before flying to Korea. I know, not very original but the choices were that and sushi so you know which one won ;)

I'm having a fun time so far, not as boring as it might sound. I'm getting to know the other girls I am with, which is a good thing because we are spending the next 5 weeks together 24/7 so I need to know them before the total immersion. Next time I write, I'll be in Incheon, South Korea :) and I'm so excited to finally get there so I can shower and go to sleep for a few hours.

In the airport

Currently, I am in Tokyo, Japan for a 18 hour layover before flying out to Incheon, South Korea. Right now it is 1am but my body thinks it is noon so the next few days should be interesting with the time change and jet lag. On the long flight over the pond, I watched several movies, listened to movies, played a few games, talked, ate two meals, and slept as much as I could (which wasn't enough at all). We have to change airports and take a 2 hour metro to the other airport in Tokyo where we will hang out until we fly out. The three others girls I am with are awesome and we will either become best friends or drive each other insane before we leave in 5 weeks. I hope its the fist choice :)

Leaving for Korea

I just finished packing for my trip to South Korea. I am going with 3 other girls from Lander University as a beginning to Lander's Asia Initiative. We are going to be traveling in Incheon and Busan, South Korea and will be there for a total of 5 weeks. I am so excited to be going because I never dreamed I would get to do study aboad, much less 2 opportunities in 2 different continents!!! I hope to do better with my blogging than I did when I was in Spain.

The things I am worried about most are the food and the language. Dr. Park, the Asian study abroad director at Lander, and his wife cooked for the students and a few others from Lander a couple of weeks ago. It was delicious but not the type of food I eat every day. I am not a picky eater, and I will try all types of foods, but eating different types of food is going to be something that will definitely be something to get used to. Most of the people I will be in contact with in Korea will speak English, but I am still going to learn as much of the language as I can in the weeks I am there. Hopefully, I will pick it up easily, but if not, I can always learn more when I get back to SC.

Three people from the second university we are staying at came to Lander on Monday to visit and sign formal contracts as sister univerisities. Jane Na will be in charge of all the international students, so this was a great opportunity to meet her and go through orientation. I learned that there will be 5 American students (4 from Lander and one from another university), 1 Irish, and 10 English students in the program n Busan. One of my favorite parts of Spain was taking classes with people from other countries, and this is the thing I am looking forward to the most. Each of us will have a Korean "buddy" that will help us when we get there. We will help them with their English and they will definitely be helping us with our Korean. We also get to do a home-stay in our buddy's home one weekend. Most of the time we will be in a dorm room.

I'm flying out of GSP tomorrow and between flights, layovers, time change, and crossing the international date line, I am going to be so confused when I finally get to South Korea, so wish me luck ;)