sorry I haven't been updating...
This past week has been super crazy for me. I started Yonsei summer school. I placed in Level 4, out of 5. Not bad not bad :) Well, probably a good 80% of the kids here don't know Korean at all or a teeny bit. When we go out to restaurants and I'm doing all the ordering, they all hate on me for being there, saying "Why are you doing Yonsei!?" Hey now, there is more to Korean then just learning how to order food.
My class is actually decently hard. I understand most of what my teacher says (she is actually really good teacher, not like 한글학교 teachers) but the reading can be kind of hard. And all those vocabulary words! But its okay because its nice knowing that the homework is kind of optional.... so no stress.
The class is 9 am - 1pm. ie really really long. We get three absences or a fail. I like my class a lot because most of us really want to learn and ask a bunch questions. Today, I convinced our teacher to let us have a debate instead of continuing on to the next chapter. So for the 4th period, we had a pretty heated argument about plastic surgery in Korea. All in Korean :) balla`
Having class from 9am-1pm with little homework also means that the majority of kids here go out EVERY night. Not necessarily clubbing, but jst out drinking and running/taxiing it quickly back to the dorms before curfew (midnight). Yes, so that also means on weekends, people coordinate their nights to stay out till 530 am. I did it last weekend and it screwed up my sleeping cycle... but oh well. Tomorrow, in celebration of July 4th, I'll be doing it tomorrow! Hopefully, we don't get rained out though.
Korea did lose a lot of its glitz and glamour though. the glamour has been replaced now with pollution, throngs of people, and time consuming commutes. I pretty much can find my way around Seoul pretty well now too. It's a little exhausting that no one else here knows how to get anywhere at all. But, we were all beginners once. I'm starting to think that people in Korea smoke b/c it is honestly just healthier than not smoking. First of all, everyone AROUND you is smoking so you're inhaling a ton of second-hand smoke, which is a lot worse for you. Plus, the pollution here is so bad that literally buildings across the street, are in a haze by the end of the day. My dorm is on a mountain so I can see a bit of a skyline, and it's always sooo hazy from the pollution. It makes me sick. And I get frequent headaches because of it.
Everyone is out tonight, but I actually started getting a raspy cough so I decided to stay in tonight. getting sick now in Korea is a lot worse because everyone is suspicious that you might have swine. I swear, we've been checked for swine flu so many times. When you land in Korea, they stick this thing in your ear to check your temp. Plus we got checked again before we left for the field trip and when we got back.
now here's a bit of a conversation with a friend here...
Bryan
i heard they are shooting off fireworks at the han river or something tomorrow night
for july 4th right?
10:16pmJenni
hahaha
really?
it sounds cool
but ... it doesn't make sense
10:17pmBryan
says harold but yes i agree lol
its korea
10:17pmJenni
they shouldn't give a hoot ab american indp day
10:18pmBryan
yeah i was told that koreans don't really like americans.
10:19pmJenni
lol
probably not
i wouldn't like us either
we're loud ... reallly realy loud
