And another one bites the dust...

Well my roommate Joe moved out last week.  That's the second roommate I've had thus far.  Maybe it's me?  But in this case it was just a matter of polar opposite schedules.  Joe liked to stay up all night, and I mean all night, to about 4 or 5 in the morning if I was lucky!  She had been thinking about getting an apartment for awhile now so it made sense for her to go now.  Especially since it's midterms week and I need my sleep!

Sometimes I miss having a roommate, but it's nice to have two closets again and to have the room to myself.  And truthfully, I'm really not in my room much so it's not that big of a deal.

Yesterday marked the halfway point for my semester here in Seoul.  I can't believe it!  It seriously feels like last week that I got off the airplane, greeted by a sea of Asians in this big city, lost, confused, and blonde!  At this point I definitely feel more at home though.  I have my schedule memorized, I am finally able to pronounce all of my professors' names, and I can communicate with a cab driver to get back to SK Global House.  I even have the Seoul subway system down, now that's impressive!

The Seoul subway system.  Sinchon is located at stop 240 on the green line, #2.   That's in the middle, left hand side.

Myeongdong

This afternoon after I got out of class, I decided to venture out of Sinchon for a bit and explore Myeondong. Having a roommate again is great, but I was really craving some alone time. Myeondong is one of Seoul's biggest shopping centers. Namdaemun and Dongdaemun are Seoul's biggest open-air markets, but Myeondong makes up Seoul's biggest commercial area. It's many many street blocks filled with food and clothing vendors and the shops on these streets are mainly clothing and cosmetics. It is also the location of many popular Western stores. I saw a Gap, Forever 21, Ralph Lauren, and there was even a Lacoste and Louis Vuitton store.

Honestly, today was the first day I set out with the intentions to do a little bit of shopping for me. Up until this point I hadn't had a chance to do much clothing shopping and I've mostly been shopping for all my wonderful friends and relatives. But I wanted to see Myeongdong and also check out the Forever 21, which is one of my favorite stores at home. Everyone talked about how huge and wonderful it is, and I gotta say, when I went in I wasn't that impressed! It was a nice store, and it was by no means small, but the Forever 21 in good ole' Smallbany is probably 3 times as big! Who woulda thunk?

I did enjoy shopping there though, I felt like I was back home at Crossgates, except for the fact that I was maybe one of 4 white people in the whole store. That's okay though, I've gotten used to standing out. Now I just smile back at people when they stare, especially the small children. I did manage to find 2 things though and if you know me, you know that I probably didn't pay full price for them either! I found a skirt and a top, both on the sale rack! I was very pleased and I think Grandma Rhoda would've been quite proud.

I wanted to stay a little bit longer but I had made plans with my friend Kara to make fried rice together for dinner so I decided to head back to Sinchon. The Myeongdong subway station was extremely crowded so it took me a little while to reach the platform; I definitely plan on coming back to Myeongdong soon though. Also, this weekend I'm hoping to check out the other markets for a little gift shopping! And yes, I am taking gift requests/suggestions, so don't be shy and speak up!

Joe tries Mexican food!

Happy October 1st everyone! I can't believe it's October already, it's so weird to me that I've been here since August. Time sure does fly, and now that I think about it, it feels like camp time! At camp we would always joke about how a day feels like a week, but a week feels like a day. Today is Friday and normally I don't have classes on Fridays anyways, but today is a University holiday so everyone has the day off.

Last night Joe and I went out together because she wanted me to try "patbingsu" which is her favorite Korean dessert. I thought that for dinner I would have Joe try something that was my favorite. She's never had Mexican food before so I brought her to this yummy, little Mexican restaurant in Sinchon. We both ordered steak quesadillas and they were delicious! Below is a picture of Jo trying her first Mexican dish! She really enjoyed it, especially because it had MEAT in it!

We then walked a few blocks down to Red Mango, which is a cafe in Sinchon known for it's frozen yogurt and patbingsu. Patbingsu is a traditional Korean dessert which is made up of ice chips, topped with frozen yogurt or ice cream, and then different kinds of fruit, red bean, rice cake or cereal. We both ordered smalls, which were huge, and I had vanilla frozen yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, corn flakes, and peaches. Also, they give you a small cup of sweetened condensed milk to pour over the ice chips once you ate everything on top. It was delicious!

I have CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH and a new roommate!

This past week I flew to Jeju island for the Chuseok break and when I returned I had a new roommate! To be honest I was little bummed at first because giving up my second closet was very sad, but she's really awesome so it's worth the sacrifice. Her name is Joe (that's her English name, her name tag on the door says Pho Sze, needless to say I prefer Joe) and she's from Hong Kong. We really haven't had that much time to sit down and talk but she seems really cool. She's just at Yonsei to learn Korean, rather than to get a degree. She is not enrolled in any other classes, just the morning Korean class from 9-12, so she has plenty of free time. Valerie had such a huge course load that I barely got to see her, so it will be nice to have a roommate who's actually around.

Joe's English is good, but not nearly as great as Valerie's. It's okay though, we have good laughs over some of her cute mistakes and I enjoy helping her. I think the funniest thing Joe said to me was "Last time I was in Korea I couldn't find meat, I NEED MEAT!!" It was hysterical and then we laughed over the fact that we both hate vegetables. She said to me, "I hate vegetables; I just can't eat them. Does that make me weird?" Perhaps she's my long-lost twin from Hong Kong?

Today I had my first group presentation! For my sports medicine class we've been working in groups on a research project on the ACL which is the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. It basically connects the tibia to the femur and is used to absorb shock during motion as well as to provide a stable range of motion for the leg. The presentation went really well, but boy am I tired! My group worked basically all night last night to put the finishing touches on it and I didn't get to bed until after 2 am. Then we met again at 8 am to rehearse the presentation until class which was at 11. I couldn't understand why we needed so much time to rehearse but then I realized that since English is my group members' second language, presenting a project like this in English is a very different experience for them. It was really inspiring watching them devote so much time to practicing the correct pronunciations. They asked me many, many questions about the English grammar on the power point and my job, aside from researching, developing and presenting a rehabilitation program, was to edit and put the finishing touches on the power point.

Like I said, my job was to come up with the rehabilitation program for our project, and so after researching the topic I developed an aqua aerobic therapy program for our "injured athlete", Jason. It was a bit scary at first getting up to present because I am the only Caucasian in the class. Also I was unfamiliar with the technology system in the classroom, which is very modern, but it was basically just a touch-screen monitor and my group members helped me navigate through the system. All in all, I believe my group did really well. Something that stood out to me was that a different group presented their project in which they included a video clip that was in Korean. The video had English subtitles though, and they told me they subtitled it themselves so that I'd be able to understand it. It was really nice of them and it meant a lot knowing that they had done that.

The best part about today was getting back from class and having a package waiting for me in the lobby of my dorm! Thanks to Aunt Amy and Aunt Linda, I got the best package ever with all my favorite American snacks! And hidden at the bottom... drum roll please... CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH, my favorite cereal!!!! I ran downstairs, and by ran I really mean I stood in front of the elevator and yelled at it to hurry up, then went to the convenient store (conveniently located in my dorm) to buy milk. So I had a wonderful appetizer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but don't worry, I didn't spoil my dinner because I only had a little bit. This box has to last me 2 and half more months!

I know you're all wondering about Jeju! My trip to Jeju was really incredible, I had such a wonderful time touring the island with Andrew. We didn't even want to leave! I'm definitely going to blog about it very soon when I have a bit more time (and perhaps a bit more sleep!) So stay tuned!

P.S. It seems Aunt Amy and Aunt Linda were pioneers in the international package-sending process, but don't be intimidated by their success and audacity! Don't be shy, if you'd like my address just ask!

Siloam Fomentation Spa

Last weekend we decided to have a "girl's day". Rosie, Samantha, Ariane, and I went to the Siloam Fomentation Spa, which is a traditional Korean spa. Although there are traditional spas all over Seoul, we chose this one because it was close to campus, only 3 subway stops away, and all the reviews said was "foreigner friendly". It was certainly an interesting experience, but I can't say I'd go again. Traditionally, when you enter the spa you're supposed to bathe yourself and soak in the baths. The baths are supplied with spring water from the Korean springs. That part wasn't really my thing, so we spent the majority of our time upstairs trying out the different saunas and fomentation rooms.

Korean spas are meant to offer a sense of hospitality and relaxation, and this one was also very family friendly. On the bottom floor is the separate locker rooms and baths and then upstairs were the saunas, ice room, salt and jade rooms, oxygen room, and a few others. There is also a restaurant, a few cafes, an arcade, business center, karaoke room and even sleeping quarters! All your everyday needs! We spent most of our time going back and forth from the "hot room" to the "ice room". The hot room was basically just a really hot sauna. There were all sorts of people in this room with us, some were even meditating. The ice room was exactly how it sounds, just a small room completely made of ice! We also spent a lot of time between the jade room and the salt room. The jade room was completely filled with jade pebbles so that you could lie down in them and the salt room was the same way with salt crystals. The picture below is of Ariane, Samantha, and me in the salt room.

What we concluded about these Korean spas is that they are kind of like the equivalent of an American YMCA or JCC. In the U.S., it is common for a family to spend time at the Y or the J, swimming, working out, or playing a basketball game, etc. The Korean baths represent a type of leisure/recreation that is characteristic of the Korean culture. So as it may seem strange to me that going to the Korean spas is a typical family activity, it is actually quite common!

Sad news, my awesome roommate Valerie moved out! She just couldn't put up with me anymore--just kidding! Valerie requested a single room back in the spring when she was registering for housing, except SK Global House filled up so quickly that they didn't think they had any more singles open. Well one opened up and since the University wasn't going to refund her money (singles are more expensive than doubles) she decided to take it. I thought I'd be lonely, but I realize that I spend such little time in my room anyways that it really doesn't matter. The good part is that I now have two closets!

Valerie

Curious to know more about my roommate? Me too! Here's a little bit about Valerie Wan.

J: Where are you originally from?
V: Singapore, Singapore

J: How old are you?
V: 25

J: What has your education consisted of thus far?
V: I attended secondary school and junior college in Singapore, then I attended college at the National University of Singapore. I attended University of California San Diego and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Molecular and Cell Biology.

J: Why did you choose to study at Yonsei University?
V: POSCO (Pohang Iron and Steel Company) offered me a scholarship at Yonsei to complete my master's degree in international studies.

J: What part of living in Korea are you most excited or nervous about?
V: Well I'm afraid that I'll turn into an ahjumma. (Ahjumma is a Korean word that refers to the grumpy, old Korean ladies who yell at people on the streets) But in all seriousness, I'm really looking forward to learning the Korean language.

J: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
V: Call me then, and I'll let you know!

J: If someone told you ahead of time that you'd be living with a 20 year old from the U.S., what would you think/what comes to mind?
V: Oh gosh! She's going to steal all my chocolate and stay out really late!