Annyeonghaseyo (Hello)! Week 3 and I am already starting to feel like a local. Sure my Korean speaking skills are still nonexistent and I blatantly stand out of the crowd, but I have made some excellent friends here. The lady at the convenience store I frequently visit has now started to say hello to me.
The workload has increased for my major specific courses so I now find myself going to school and then hanging out for three hours after and then doing homework into the night. My friends and I have been going out to many dinner places around Anam. One of my favorite places is this authentic Korean restaurant where there is no English menu. It is right next to the Hana Square campus and their Kimchee is delicious and comes in big servings. Thus far, my favorite foods here have been octopus on a stick, pickled kimchee radishes, and family style Korean BBQ. Every meal you eat here is essentially family style. The dishes are big and you can get two dishes for a table of 6 people. The price for these dishes is cheap too and comes out to 10,000 won ($9) a person and at minimum 3,000 won ($2.50) a person.
This past weekend I joined my roommate Alissa at Korean church. Never having gone to a church this would have been an interesting experience for me even if I wasn’t in Korea. The church is located in the shopping district of Myeongdong and holds mass in English. The priest there was from Ireland. When we walked in there were maybe 50 rows of pews and beautiful stain glass windows going down the sides. We sat near the front left, next to Korean women who attended mass in lacey white head covers. The service went on fully in English and it was very interesting to see the native Korean speakers get into the English versions of the Bible. The only noticeably Korean part of the church, other than the people, was one painting on the wall of Korean religious scholars. It was very interesting to see this type of depiction.
On the topic of religion, this past Saturday I went to the Seoul Buddhism Expo with my KUBA group. The metro ride took 40 minutes and we had to stand the whole way but when we arrived it was worth it. The first area my KUBA buddy and I went to was the traditional Buddhist food section. There we were taught how to make traditional dressing and then how to grind up soy beans for tofu. There were also many Buddhist monks there. Men and women had their heads shaved and wore long gray robes. Everyone was friendly and it was interesting to see them. After this, we went on to make lotus flowers out of long straws and crinkly paper. It was quiet the ordeal and a Korean woman who ran the craft stand would constantly watch over us international students. After the Buddhism Expo the KUBA group went out to Korean BBQ. It was delicious as always, cooking right in front of you. The KUBA buddies at our table decided that this outing calls for Soju shots and so we started up at dinner. I am still baffled at the “work hard, play hard” attitude of the Koreans, but I must say, that I have really gotten into it.
To sum up my Korean experience so far: I am having the time of my life and I cannot wait to experience the weeks ahead! Annyeoungkyeseyo (Goodbye)!