11월 (November)

So it appears I managed to avoid blogging for the entire length of level 5. With weekly vocab and grammar tests, near-daily writing homework, daily lesson review and preview requirements, I didn't have much time for anything else. Seriously, it was pretty amazing. I heard in level 6 that there are daily vocab (and grammar) quizzes, and lots of newspaper reading (harder Chinese-based vocab), so... that should be fun. But now it's the second week of vacation, and I have a bit of free time to catch up on this thing...

In November (it's only February, ha) for school break, I went back to the US for 17 days. But before getting into that, I also went to Kim Jae Joong's solo show at COEX with H. In January 2013, I went to one of his fan meetings, and I must say, I preferred that to this mini concert, but it was still a good time. As always, no photos allowed during the show (and the staff is very vigilant), but uh... there were some pretty flowers outside, though they were completely unrelated to the show. :)




I also redyed my hair (amazing how much it faded in 3 months), and ate some tasty Korean snacks.... 11/11 was Peppero Day, so chosen because Peppero sticks (crackers dipped in flavored chocolate) look like the number 1... Usually, there are a few flavors... plain (no dip), chocolate, chocolate + almonds. For Peppero Day, there are tons of other flavors... strawberry, Korean melon, cookies and cream. Melon is delicious. I wish I would've bought more. :(





Melon- and sweet potato-flavored ice cream bars. Melon was delicious. Sweet potato was...edible. :)



US I spent the time at my parents' house in PA, minus an overnight trip to VA to visit coworkers/friends. I ate a lot of good food, and saw a lot of family, and just generally relaxed.








Crepes, blue waffles, barbeque, chili, gnocchi, lasagna, sloppy
joes, tomato soup & Ritz crackers, Jioio's pizza, my favorite
beer (Blue Moon) & Korean soju, sushi, our Thanksgiving meal.

Mom and I also made Grandma's chocolate pie for Thanksgiving. The crust was premade, but look how nicely I placed it in the pan for baking! :)





I also used my mom's sewing machine to convert a roommate's broken umbrella into a waterproof shoulder bag. Simplified directions:

Step 1: Remove cloth from frame.
Step 2: Fold cloth in half and cut a square. Extra side pieces can be used for the handles/straps.
Step 3: Pin 3 sides for sewing. Though one side is still connected (from the fold), pin anyway. Leave the side across from the fold open (though I did pin down the pointy edge to make it flat across the top).
Step 4: Sew. I sewed each side twice because it'll probably be used for groceries.
Step 5: Make the handles. I cut the extra cloth into 2 long strips, folded in half and sewed along the length.
Step 6: Attach the handles to the inside of the bag. I sewed a box with an X in the middle for extra support. Make sure the nice side of the handle will be out when you turn the bag right-side out.
Step 7: Turn the bag right-side out.
Step 8: Iron nicely.
Done. :)






Finally, some scenery photos... before and after the snow at my parents' house, the fields nearby, and of the sunset during my takeoff back to Korea.







I was tempted to backpost this in November, but I'll just leave it in February...

Onward to December! heh.

edit: Oops, apparently I never posted my level 4 final grades (not that it really matters, but for the sake of completeness). The final exam was a lot easier than the midterm.


Final level 4 (average) grades. 85% average, 100% attendance.
Rows say writing (of 30), speaking (30), listening (20), reading (20).

드디어 가을이 됐다. (Finally, it's fall.)

I keep thinking of things I want to write about on this blog, but by the time I am able to... the moment has passed. I hear there's a mobile app (or some way to post via your phone, anyway)... I may look into that, cos maybe then I'd write smaller less time-consuming posts (for all involved).

It's definitely autumn here in Seoul. The leaves are changing, the weather is getting cold. It's still, on average, about 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit (14-20 Celsius). I actually thought I was doing pretty well with metric units (we use our own units in the US...) until the teacher, yesterday in class, asked me how much gas cost per liter in the US. I had absolutely no idea how to convert gallons to liters (turns out it's about 4 liters to a gallon... 3.78 to be more exact). I'm getting pretty good at feet to/from meters, degrees F to/from degrees Celsius, pounds to/from kilos. Still, what the heck, US? Get with the metric game. It's base 10!! So much easier. Except degrees C/F. For temperature, I still like F more. It's a lot more precise (as everyone pretty much drops the decimal in C), though I do appreciate 0=water freezing and 100=water boiling, instead of seemingly arbitrary 32 and 212, respectively.

Aaaanyway... the trees are really pretty. I finally took some pictures on the way to class today... I think J was embarrassed by my constant shutter sounds, but.. y'know.




Fall foliage on our way to SNU. Pictures aren't in chronological order.^^
And the poor, pretty flowers are a little confused as to the season, I think...

Speaking of trips to school, we live near the district office. A few weeks ago, they put up a display with lots of umbrellas, and a stage for afternoon singers/etc to perform. The umbrellas each had a long fishing line hanging down, and every time I walked past, it took everything I had not to pull on the strings...^^



Gwanak District Office.

Level 4 midterms came and went. I had a pretty terrible time w/ the listening section... though, most people didn't do too well, either. The last three levels, I got over 90% average each time (and level 2, I had the highest grade of everyone in the level).. but this time, well, I got 80.5% at midterm. I basically need 100% to get an average of 90% (for the certificate) this level, which will never happen. :( Ah well.


The "Mid-term test" column says Reading (of 20), Writing (of 30), Listening (of 20), Speaking (of 30).

J and I were partners again in class this week, and we had to make a travel ad. We chose a town in Portugal, where you can swim with dolphins, eat cheap and tasty food, and the beach is really nice (as is the weather!). Obviously, we should have both become artists.... Look at that realistic dolphin!



Finally: food! We made steaks, salad, sauteed mushrooms, and mashed potatoes for our friend's birthday. So much food, so many people. It was fun. :) They also have a street food in Korea that's basically deep-fried red-bean stuffed dough, in a fish shape. So delicious... and only 3 for ~90 cents! :)




Seriously, going to try writing shorter, more frequent blog posts from now on but... it probably won't happen.^^

4급 중간 (Level 4 midterm)

I finally made it to the Banpo Bridge before sunset....




Sunset over the water. :D

I also wandered around the park near the bridge (there are also looong walking and bike riding paths, an area to skateboard, kids' playground, etcetc).


The park area nearest the bridge (complete w/ tarp-covered seats)...
and Cherry Coke always tastes better along the water.^^

Weather here has been weird lately... It's really cold one day, really hot the next, pouring rain one day, blue skies the next...



Blue skies, and waiting for the bus in the pouring rain...

On 9/14, we moved to the other side of the subway station (nearer to school... maybe a 20 minute walk), to a bigger place with 4 usable bedrooms. It's actually the 3rd and 4th floor (and rooftop patio) of a house. It's more expensive per month, but we invited a 4th person to live with us (J), so it ended up being about the same price per month per person. Once things are cleaned up (namely in my room), I'll post some pictures. Meanwhile, here's a pic of how much the mosquitoes here love me....


In one night, I managed to get 3 bites on the back of my hand... Bugs here are vicious.

Sept 18-20 was Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. The actual Chuseok Day was Sept 19, but everyone travels home for the holiday, so the days before and after are both public holidays as well. We didn't have school. The night before, J and I went over to H's room and she made us some traditional food from her country, made mainly of chicken and tomatoes. It was really good. :) I really want to make some 'Murican foods here, but most of what I can think of require spices (or recipes) I don't have, or an oven (which only the really expensive apartments here have). I guess when I go back to the US for Thanksgiving, I'll buy some spices like Cayenne Pepper and Cumin... Foods here are often very spicy, but it's a different kind of spicy... hard to explain if you haven't had it, but generally, it's not really an enjoyable spicy. It burns without the added benefit of taste.^^ (Not to say that I don't like it, it's just not the same as, say, spicy chili...)


The microwave-made brownies actually turned out pretty well...

Also, as I mentioned almost 2 years ago when I was first here on vacation (also over Chuseok), I like that the news shows here have sign language interpreters rather than subtitles...


Sign language interpreter in the bottom right hand corner during a random news program..

On 9/29, I saw my favorite kpop band (FT Island) live... I bought the tickets myself online (though I thought sales started at 9 when they actually started at 8, so my seats were not very good), paid for them myself, had them delivered to my house... It was a nice feeling, to finally be able to do all that alone. (As the website was all in Korean... and usually they only accept Korea-issued credit cards.) Unfortunately, like most kpop concerts/fan meetings, pictures weren't allowed at all... so I didn't really take any... but... here's one of my ticket... and the signs outside... and, uh... a few of MANY "congrats!" banners purchased by the official fan club. Beneath the banners are a bunch of eggs, for donation to charity (they also donate literally tons of rice, in the band's name).




FT Island :D

Finally, more Korean food!



Mixed veggie and rice (bibimbap, a supposed favorite among foreigners),
large dumplings (wang mandu), and steamed chicken w/veggies (dakjjim or jjimdak).

Hard to believe level 4 midterms are this Friday (10/4) and Monday (10/7). Off to study (or maybe sleep...).