8개월 (8 months)

Yesterday marked 8 months in Seoul. It really is crazy to think I've been here that long. It feels like three or four at the most. Level 3 midterms came and went. This time, listening was my worst area. I mentioned before how quickly everyone speaks (the teachers, the MP3s). It's a lot to process so quickly, not to mention remember until the questions are asked at the end of the passage. Regardless, I did pretty well on the midterm (second in the class, behind the girl who was second to me last semester).


The midterm column reads: Reading (of 20), Writing (30), Listening (20), Speaking (30).

For about two months in the summer, Korea has a rainy (monsoon) season. It starts in late June and goes til mid-August. During those two months, almost 30" of rain falls. There have been several heavy days (though, thankfully, mostly nights) of rainfall so far. Overall, it's been a little underwhelming, but I still wear sandals most of the time now to avoid soggy, wet tennis shoes.


Left: The back of the classroom on a rainy day. (Though I put mine in a bag,
because it's probably going to get wet again on the way home.) Right: Rain Woman.
My backpack conveniently came with loops (which I use as an umbrella holder),
which is good for me, because unless it's pouring, I don't bother opening mine.

The skies here have mostly been overcast and ugly grey/white, so on sunny(ish) days, I tend to take a lot of photos.



First: Looking up at the language buildings at SNU (I like the clouds' reflection in the
glass building). Others: The sun setting at the end of my journey home, and at the start.

On 7/12, Vicky, Joana and I went to a cat cafe near Bongcheon Station (one stop west of SNU Station). There were probably two dozen cats around. The admission fee is $8, but you get a free drink (probably $4-5 elsewhere). Minors (<19 I think?) can get in for $6. At first, there was no one there but us, but eventually two high schoolers showed up. Seeing these cats really made me miss Ony and Nef back in VA. :( They were cute, but not particularly playful. Vicky said the other cat cafes she went to (in Hongdae) provide string, etc for you to use to play with the cats. This place did not.






So many cats. The last 2 were my favorite.

On 7/13, my roomies and I went to a fancy party at the fancy Banyan Tree hotel in Seoul. We dressed up in formal dresses. It was fun, but less fun than I was expecting. Unfortunately, I don't have any solo shots of me or my dress.


There was a pretty water area (a pool with public lounge chairs and private cabanas)
with pretty lights... and it was dark so we mostly used that lighting to take photos.

In the US, I didn't really do much with my hair besides pull it back into a ponytail. But in Korea, I've been trying a few different styles, mostly involving Dutch braids (inside-out French braids, where you braid under instead of over, so the braided part sticks out above the rest of the hair). A few weeks ago, I discovered the waterfall braid as well (where you French/Dutch braid at an angle and leave 1/3 of the newly-added hair out each time). However, I've found the simplest way is just brushing it out and letting it dry with some waves/curls. This works pretty well for parties... and less-humid days.




The first is my "AMG, is the fan even working?" at-home style. The second is my "party" style.
The 3rd & 4th are twin plain Dutch braids, and the last are my attempts at Dutch waterfall braids.

French/Dutch braiding is surprisingly annoying to do to yourself. One trick I've found: lay down on the bed and do it! (The same goes for high ponytails. Though in the picture above, I bent forward.) My embarrassingly weak arms get less tired this way. :)

Finally, food!




Korean muskmelons, our fish dinner before and after, Indian food, ice cream waffle.

Korea has a yellow muskmelon called 참외 ("cham-way"). I'm not a fan of seeds, but the seedy pulp is the sweetest part, so I'm slowly getting used to eating them. There are also a lot of roasted/grilled fish (생선구이, "saeng-seon-gu-ee") restaurants here. The other day, a few classmates and I went to one of the more famous ones in Dongdaemun. We ordered one serving of each of four different kinds of fish. The same classmates and I (plus a few more) also went to an Indian restaurant near where I used to live. I actually really miss Thai food (here, it's mostly just noodles, not the big variety of dishes like in the US)... and I'm not a huge fan of Indian food, but this was pretty good. Alissa and I shared two dishes (and paid about $12 each, for the dish + bread), and I'd definitely get them again. Finally, there's a coffee shop under the student cafeteria that sells waffles for 90 cents each, plus 15 cents per topping. They also sell gelato, and you can get it as a topping, but it's another 90 cents. The green tea gelato is delicious, so I usually do that.

I've been writing another post on culture shock/cultural differences for a while now... I'm almost done, but.. speaking of food, it's dinner time.^^