Happy Halloween!

So I lost my little notebook in which I write everything I do, so this entry may be a little scatterbrained since my memory is not the best...

Last Monday I forgot to mention that I started to volunteer at Ewha Institute of Early Childhood Education and Care. I basically get to play with the cutest 3-year-olds! Since it was my first day I attempted to to introduce myself in my fail! Korea, and then the children showed me a little dance. :) After that we went to play at the gym where they basically ran around everywhere while have a grand time.

Tuesday evening I went with my language exchange partner and her friend from France to 청계천 (Cheonggyecheon) stream. It was very peaceful. And small. Very small. Here's a little bit of it.

Wednesday I studied for that KSW midterm, and luckily my friend called me at midnight to let me know that the professor posted the exact questions online! Is that even allowed? Regardless, I was able to study the right things and during the test I basically scribbled down everything I remembered. I also had the first part of my Korean midterm - the reading comprehension, where we read paragraphs and answered questions, and the listening, where all the beginning students (60 or so) gathered in an auditorium and answered questions that the teacher read.

Friday was the writing and speaking test. The writing portion involved a lot of little grammar points while the speaking basically required us to introduce ourselves, our family, and point out where objects were.

Friday night was a lot of fun. Since it was my friends birthday, we all went out to eat at an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ place and then of course went drinking. Yogurt soju is dangerously delicious. I left early in order to go to, what else, a 노래방 with slightly tipsy (if not drunk) people. Good times.

Saturday I went to the Kimchi Love Festival. Where else would have an entire weekend dedicated to 김치? I arrived a little later because I was distracted by 교보문고, or Kyobo Bookstore. They have an entire section dedicated to foreign books, as well as sections for K-pop and 만화 (manwha), the Korean equivalent of manga. I found a book that my resident director wrote!
The kimchi festival displayed many, many types of kimchi. I initially went to the wrong palace, which can only happen in Korea...the kimchi was delicious. Here's examples:


Sunday after some plans fell through I decided to visit the Catholic Martyr's Shrine, known as 절두산 (Jeoldusan). I saw the hill where Korean Catholics were persecuted for their beliefs, as well as a museum with various artifacts such as letters and pictures, and a church that can be seen in this picture.

Since I had some time before I had to go to mass I decided to explore the infamous foreigner's district, 이태원 (Itaewon), because of an English language used bookstore. 이태원 is pretty cool, actually, since you can see more foreigners than Koreans! I think Koreans go there if they want to feel like they're in the States or something. I bought some touristy postcards so send me your address if you want one!

Monday my volunteering was canceled because of, what else, H1N1. I hope the kids are alright! Some of my friends are currently down with swine flu - I hope they can recover soon! Tuesday night I first went to eat delicious if overpriced Mexican food. I then went to Hongdae to meet with the first of my interviewees for my Korea through Ethnography project, English teachers. They were all young adults making the most of their time in Korea. I interviewed them over tacos and ice cream.

Wednesday I met my LE partner and we had Chinese for lunch. I learned that she lives in area where SM and JYP Entertainment are located, and she has even shopped with Sunye from the Wonder Girls! One of her group members in her law class is the Miss Korea of 2008! Pretty cool, huh? in a slightly spur of the moment decision I went to 동대문 (Dongdaemun) to shop for clothes for my Halloween costume. Ever heard of Teen Girls Squad? I was "so and so" which required me to buy a plaid skirt. It was relatively cheap so I didn't mind, but me actually buying a skirt? Wow.

Thursday evening one significant thing that happened was me being able to order delivery on my own with my fail! Korean. I was proud of myself. :) Thursday night was the Mentor's Club Halloween party, so I dressed up in my costume (I looked like a preppy school girl) and went to the club. The only reason I was there was for Rivers crew, the first b-boy crew in Korea, and they definitely did not disappoint! The international students were dressed in the strangest yet most hilarious costumes. I attempted to dance but it was just me moving back and forth to techno music. Actually clubbing, I have discovered, is not my thing at all.

Friday night I went with I-House people to eat cheap yet tasty pizza and, of course, 노래방. It's a weekly thing. I sang a lot out of the 10 people who were there, but I think everyone had fun. Saturday (today) I went to Everland, where every day is a holiday! XD I rode on the highest inclination wooden coaster in the world, the T-Express, as well as other roller coasters before it started raining! Boo. I loved riding one of the roller coasters in the rain! We mostly did indoor activities after that, such as playing games at an arcade and bumper cars!


One of the best games ever:

Tomorrow I'm off to meet more English teachers, which should be good times. I can't believe it's already going to be November!