Reconnecting with old friends

So I had forgotten that the mattresses in the dormitories at Sogang were rock-hard. They also don't come with bedding which I was aware of, but due to my late arrival I didn't have time to buy any before turning in, so I bunched up some soft garments for a pillow and fell asleep. It didn't last long though since the air conditioner, which I had spent 20 minutes trying to turn on had slowly brought the room to Arctic temperatures. Neither the remote or wall dial seemed to make any difference and I couldn't even manage to turn it off again, so I pulled the plug, pulled on a pair of pants (I was wearing shorts before ;-P) and a jacket and went back to sleep.

In the morning I woke up pretty sore and hobbled down to the cafeteria in the basement to grab breakfast. The friendly workers assuming that, as a white person, I old want the "western" breakfast, loaded up my tray with cereal, apple slices, a bowl of yellowish goop, and hat appeared to be an individually packaged hotdog bun. The goop turned out to be some sort of corn porridge and the hotdog bun was just that, but filled with a copious amount of sweet whipped butter. I believe the menu referred to it as 버터빵 (butter bread) and it was actually kind of good. At one end of the cafeteria there is a large tv which was playing a show about a nail technician who does incredibly intricate designs on pedicures. I watched her paint perfect tiny characters from Kung fu Panda and fancy ballerina silhouettes onto toenails with tiny gems and bows glued on as well.

I then made my way down the block to the Grand Mart where I purchased a bedding set. Then onto the T-World, the cellphone store where I reactivated my old phone from last Summer. Finally I was able to get ahold of my old friends! My friend Sahnghee happens to live just down the street in an apartment and we made plans to meet at a nearby bakery called Tous les Jours. When I arrived she gave me an adorable little "cheesecake" (quite different from the American equivalent) and a carton of mint café latte o_O She had also invited her friend Bransen along and we sat down and talked while enjoying the cake. Bransen came to Seoul from Hawaii a year and a half ago with little Korean language skills and is now fully fluent. Seeing how well he communicates really confirmed for me how important long-term in-country experience really is to learning a language. If only there was some way to get that experience without leaving everyone behind *sigh*

Sahnghee with the cheesecake

Mint Lattes

After making plans to hang out the next day and saying goodbye, I called up my friend William to see what he was up to. It turned I had missed a text from him earlier inviting me bowling with him and some friends. I headed over to the front gate of the school where they were meeting and ran into my old teacher Professor Koo on the way. She had been my favorite teacher in the program last Summer and she will be giving me a week of private tutoring (courtesy of the FLAS fellowship) after the regular program ends in August. We talked a little bit before I headed to meet Will and the others.

There were nine of us bowling altogether, most from the US except for Will who is Korea, Veronika who in Hungarian, Joe from England, and Urikhan, who was born in Mongolia, but has lived in Korea since she was eight. We headed to the bowling alley, which wasn't far and found it absolutely packed. We sat for an hour and hot to know each other a little better. William insisted that we use only Korean, which I preferred, shince I've been wanting to get in as much practice as possible before my placement test on Monday. I talked mostly with Urikhan, who turned out to be really friendly and interesting.

Eventually a couple of lanes opened up and we played a few games. Afterward we headed to a Family Mart convenience store and enjoyed some beverages on the patio out front. All in all it was a very fun night. I'm so happy to be here and I can't wait to start classes and explore all that Korea has to offer.

Thanks for reading. Leave any questions or comments and I'll do my best to reply. I love you all! ^____^