Hey, what's up?
Life is cool...
I'm getting used to the way of life here: using chopsticks mainly, seeing only Korean faces, learning how to travel via public transportation (alone), words and phrases here and there (mo hai?)..I love it. One huge plus is that the cost of living is fairly inexpensive. I shop at grocery stores and get enough food for two weeks for around 80,000 won (80 USD). Given, my dormitory doesn't allow microwaves or fridges sooooooo...canned items such as tuna, fruits, drinks, and a college students meal of choice- NOODLES!
Here lately, I've traveled around Korea EVERY weekend. In recent weeks, I've been to Itaewon, Busan, Sangju, and Andong. Let me tell you a crazy story...
I decide to travel to Seoul alone for the very first time to watch my friend perform at a show. I take my time and translate the Korean on the website to buy a train ticket. After the strenuous effort, I arrive at the train station the next day ready to board the train ONLY to realize that I had a standing ticket. This means, I would have to stand the entire way to Seoul (which is about 3 hours by train). I passed on that offer and decided to take a later train (2 hours) and have a seat. It turns out, I boarded the wrong train, and it ended up taking around 5 hours to get to Seoul! This did not kill my vibe though, I was determined to have a great time despite a few setbacks. Arriving in Seoul, I realize my destination is in a place called Itaewon. I didn't imagine it being too far away, so I decided to walk there instead of taking my chances via public transportation. Using the GPS on my cell phone, I navigated to my destination by foot. I had no clue it would take 2 hours to get there BUT I had a great tour of the city :)
As I arrive to my destination, I bump into a guy and glance at him to say "Excuse me". Coincidently, I recognized him as my distant cousin who is also a teacher in Korea. What are the chances? I hung out with him the rest of the day and me, him and his GF went to my friend's show together. What a great night!
University classes are going well as predicted. As I've said, they are mainly discussion and given that I love to think about issues and debate them, it's right up my alley.
Teaching is going ok too. I'm getting better with each day. I absolutely love the kids and they are teaching me just as much as I am teaching them. I think it's so cool how kids are so blunt. If you ever want the truth about anything, hang around a kid.
Love you all, thanks for reading..
