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.