Week 4

 This past week has been very eventful! It started last Tuesday night, when I joined the Seoul Nature and Hiking Club on a hike to Gwanaksan mountains. We hiked/bouldered in the pitch dark (of course dimly lit by the city lights) with a guide and a bunch of other international students. There was a great view of Seoul at the top, and a cool night breeze.
 The International Club at my school also took a trip to N Seoul tower, a large tourist attraction that overlooks all of Seoul. It was neat because at the top, they label the direction you're looking in and how far away you are from major cities around the world. At one point I was looking at Chicago from 10,000 miles away.
  Friday was a very special night as I got to reunite with Praew, my Thai friend whom my brother/sis-in-law hosted as an exchange student almost 6 years ago now. We met in Gangnam and had an amazing (yet VERY spicy) meal with her fellow Thai friends and Lisa, our Korean friend who had also studied in Minnesota. The spice made me tear up and cough so the girls ordered an egg dish for me out of pity, haha! Praew's English had improved immensely, and it was wonderful to get to communicate with her well and see her around her friends. My roommate joined our group later on and we went to one of the top 5 clubs in the world called "The Octagon". They had amazing EDM music and we danced the night away!
 To top off the weekend, Mariem and I went on another hike with the Seoul Nature and Hiking Group to Suraksan. Though the Facebook event page described it as a "lazy hike," it was anything but that. The hike took about 6-7 hours in total and we had some very steep inclines with just a thick rope to help us ascend. The peak was worth all the hard work. I got to know one of my German classmates along the way, Franzy, who actually studied in Iowa for a year. We chatted about our growing concern for the Iowa floods and also about my travels to Germany.
 In other news, classes are continuing to go well. Korean class keeps getting harder, however, and we have our first test next week. That's probably the hardest class right now, as there are SO many letters in the alphabet that look/sound almost exactly the same. We are also moving at a crazy fast pace, though no one really knows what is going on! At least we are all in the same boat, haha! International Organziations continues to be the most interesting class, as there is such diversity in opinion and cultures over very controversial world issues.
 That's all for now! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!

View from N Seoul Tower.

Silhouettes of group members from the Gwanaksan night hike. 

Praew and I reunited at dinner!

Spicy dinner with Praew, Lisa (across from me), and Praew's friends!

The steepest part of our climb in Suraksan.

Franzy, Mariem, and I at the peak of Suraksan! 2,104 feet.

Vacation

Hello all! I had a very spontaneous and eventful vacation this weekend. Allow me to give you day-by-day highlights:
 Wednesday: I enjoyed a wonderful, home-made Moroccan meal with Mariem's family. They flew here with Mariem and have been exploring Korea for the past two weeks. It was so lovely to meet them all and enjoy good food and company. We had salad, a main course consisting of seasoned potatoes, meat, and olives (eaten by scooping it up on some bread), and a fruity dessert!
  Thursday: This was Chuseok-day proper. My friends and I explored some palaces around Seoul, which had free admission for the holiday. Later that night, Mariem and I went to Itaewon and went bowling! It was a good time.
  Friday: Mariem and I started the day by visiting a dog cafe, which is basically a coffee shop with about 50 adorable dogs running around sniffing for treats, posing for pics, and tolerating endless pets.  They have plenty of cafes around here of this sort, including raccoons (hoping to visit one in our time here). After this, we headed to Seoul Forest, a large park/garden/sculpture garden/nature area. We saw beautiful flowers, butterflies, and a great view of the Han River. It was nice to get some fresh air.
We ended the night by going out to a "Norebang," which is basically a private room for you and your friends to sing karaoke. It was a strange concept to me, but turned out to be a great time!
 Saturday: Some friends and I decided to travel about an hour and a half outside of Seoul to a West Coast beach called "Eurwangni Beach." Though the east coast beaches are much better, this was very refreshing to visit! We noticed that Koreans tend to not swim and do not wear swimsuits, but rather their normal clothes. We went swimming nonetheless, layed around on the sand, and took a walk along the shore (in which we had to wade in the water quite a bit--we felt adventurous).

Today was spent shopping around a bit, cooking, and just generally taking it easy. Ready to start school up again tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Sharing a meal with Mariem's family. 

Roomie selfie!

Having a lovely chat at the dog cafe. 

Karaoke at the norebang!

Wading around at the beach! Or rather, striking an odd pose.

Week 3

Greetings! I am currently on my 5-day vacation known as "chuseok," a traditional Korean holiday. A lot has happened up until now. On Friday night, the international club went to a free movie at the theater called "Train to Busan." It was actually pretty good! Comparable to World War Z, it's about a Korean father and his child who take a train to Busan and as they do, a zombie outbreak occurs. After I got out of the movie, I learned that North Korea had tested a nuclear warhead in their state while we were in the movie. I wouldn't have known this had my mom not texted me!
 Saturday was quite lovely. The international club went to a beautiful public park on the Hahn River to enjoy a chicken picnic! We enjoyed one another's company while also soaking in the culture of the park. A large orchestra was playing at a bandshell nearby, many people had picnics or tents and were listening, and near the river were tons of people dancing around on longboards! To top the night off, there were two firework displays that were the best fireworks I've ever seen. So intricate and grandiose!
 Yesterday as I was sitting on the toilet I was SURE that my building was shaking back and forth. I didn't think anything of it at the time but it turns out, Korea had an earthquake yesterday! Only a few tremors could be felt in Seoul--the epicenter of the quake was south of here. Quite the exciting weekend!
I'm not sure what my vacation has in store yet, but it's sure to be interesting per usual! In the meantime, I've been having wonderful meals with wonderful company (pictured below). I've also been playing my new guitar and riding around on a longboard I purchased this past weekend in my free time. It's cool to do the things you love in a new place!

Hahn River picnic. 

Roomie Mariem at Hahn River picnic. 

Chicken every day!

A wonderful dinner. Chicken, potatoes, and curry noodles!

Week 2

Wow! It is amazing to see all that can happen in just a few days. These past few days have been filled with new friends, classes, and adventures. I will include a few highlights for you:
 1) I made my way over to the Nagwon Music Mall in search of a guitar. I came out with a new guitar, case, strings, picks, a tuner, and a capo all for about $130. Not a bad deal at all! I love the way the guitar sounds and I met an Englishman while I was there who told me that the people selling me the instrument could be trusted. It turns out this man is actually an English professor at my Univeristy in Seoul-- small world!
2) I have been getting to know my roommate, Mariem, and I love her. We went to Hongdae together, a college area with lots of places to shop (and it apparently has a nice night life scene). While I didn't buy anything, we enjoyed a big basket of chicken at this "Chicken and Beer" place in the area. Since then, we have had great conversations about our family, culture, and religion back home. I am learning a lot from her and I am very thankful!
3) I have had to make a few adjustments to my classes-- I dropped Modern Korean History, as I couldn't understand the teacher's English that well (a problem for a 3-hour class) and replaced it with "Education for Development", which I really enjoy. Through my classes (which have really gone full-force this week) I have made many new friends from Spain, Germany, Brunei, and Malaysia! I have found it so easy to make friends simply by asking other's questions, and in turn you get to know not only a lovely person, but the culture they were raised in. It's truly fascinating.

In other news, I got a chest x-Ray this week, which was required for our "alien registration card" we need to get here. It was the speediest check-in and x-Ray of my life. Crazy efficient. This weekend I will be going to a movie with the international club at SMU (Korean w/English subtitles), and also have a chicken and beer BBQ near the Hahn river with the international club as well. Should be a great week! Stay tuned!

My new guitar! I believe it's a Korean brand called "Wildwood."

A beautiful view of Seoul from the Hahn river. 

Starting School

 These past few days have been very interesting! First, I had to overcome a miserable cold that brought itself upon me. I got somewhat discouraged as I basically quarantined myself in my room for 2 days, staring at the healthy passerbys going about their healthy day outside my window. I invested in an over-priced chocolate ice cream snack to cheer myself up-- it worked. I am starting to feel much better (even though I don't necessarily sound like it in the mornings).
 I also am excited to announce that I (finally) got a new roommate! Her name is Mariem and she is from Morrocco. From the little that I've talked to her so far, she is very sweet and kind. I'm glad she didn't arrive when I was really under the weather.
 Classes started this week and are going very well so far. My favorite class has been "International Organizations and Development." The class consists of maybe 20 students from multiple countries around the globe. I am one of four Americans in the class. It's been neat and eye-opening to learn about global issues with perspectives that are very different than yours. I've been learning that there are certain privileges that come with being a native English speaker and being a citizen of the US. It seems as if everyone is aware of what's going on America because it is such a hegemon in world politics. I will share one of my favorite slides from a lecture below.
 In other news, I've made two  friends from France who have kindly let me travel about with them. They both are experts in Korean culture and speak/read Korean pretty good. They were very patient with me at lunch, when i twiddled my food about due to my poor motor skills involved with chopsticks. It's a work in progress. Below is a wonderful dessert we shared (shaved ice--cheesecake flavor).

That's all for now! Have a great weekend.