setting sail

I had plans (well, rough plans) for a beautiful goodbye Seoul post. Since I have to leave in about 5 minutes, that's not gonna happen, but maybe it'll happen later. In the meantime, email me!

a part of the suwon fortress on a cloudy day 

my reading spot on wednesday, my day of reading and rest after class finished. 

view of suwon through an arrow hole in the fortress wall 

countdown: 3 days

well, three days in which i can see people and get packed, then i leave on the fourth day. when school ended last tuesday, i went straight to get an extension on my visa, and it went off without a hitch. that was something to rejoice about. somehow last week seems like a month ago, but i haven't really done that much since then. wednesday, i reveled in getting almost nine hours of sleep and took the day to read and relax. i went to the suwon fortress, read a book, and got rained on. thursday, i got to go to a modern art exhibit with my friend and ate at an italian place called "my x wife's secret recipe." friday, i had a wonderful traditional korean lunch and tea afterwards in insadong, then worked one last afternoon, made a bunch of stuff for a the baby shower, and went to life group. saturday, had a baby shower for my friend, then a going away party for me. sunday was church and a movie afterwards. today i got to accompany the visiting texas ladies to namdaemoon market and myeongdong, then passed out some flyers for the school in downtown suji.
tonight was when it hit me. i was having dinner with a friend (she took me to bennigan's! yum!) and three different friends called me right after one another to say goodbye or to try to schedule a time to meet. i'm so glad that i have friends i want to see again before i go, but it got a little overwhelming tonight when i was trying to have a conversation with one and three others call. well, i think we got it worked out when we'll meet. i have all my lunches and dinners except for two planned to meet people between now and the time i go. whew! i think it'll be a relief to get on that plane.
tonight when i got home, the girls wanted to play games. i played "snakes and ladders" then kongi. kongi is a korean game the kids play with 5 pieces that you toss into the air and try to catch one (or more, depending on the level you're at) while the other is in the air. at first, i was REALLY bad at it, but now i can actually play. i'm not competitive by any means, but i can play. it's a fun game. when the mom got home, she challenged us to play her left handed and she was just as good left handed as right handed. i'm jealous, but she's been playing for quite a lot longer than the month i since i started. when the dad got home (just before 11) he rounded everybody up for some exercise. i declined for some quiet (and some internet time). now it's almost 12 and they're still out!

a lady who smiled when i asked if i could take her picture:) usually, people get a little grouchy and shoo you away if you ask that 

hanboks (korean traditional dress) at a market near dongdaemoon last week 

i have a shiny face and a friend who brought two fans with the landscape of Kangnam on them to my going away party.  

last thursday was a pretty hot day. i met a friend at city hall in downtown seoul and afterwards i watched people play in this fountain. i saw one little boy, two foreign girls, and only one korean girl who played in the water. this girl was actually trying not to get wet, though. it was so hot that i wanted to get wet, but i had a long bus ride home, so i decided against it.  

on the same day, in the exact same place as that girl was playing in the fountain, this guy is walking across the street in a winter coat. weird. 

trials and errors

A few Sundays ago, we decided to go to the school to order some pizza and play some games after church. We usually have a few Korean speakers among our group when we hang out, but this time it was just a bunch of Americans. So, I was nominated to order some pizza over the phone. Normally, ordering pizza isn't a big deal because it doesn't take a very high level of vocabulary to do it and a lot of the words you use in English you can sub in and the Korean speakers still understand. Well, I had never ordered to the school address before, and since addresses don't really mean that much in Korea anyhow, you sometimes have to explain the area that you're in, too. So, I did this and finally got across where we were. To make the ordering harder, though, I had to read off a string of numbers from Jason's discount card to the lady over the phone and then I had to ask what pizzas they had since we didn't have a menu. All of this over the phone was beginning to wear me out, but I guess it was just as hard on the lady I was talking to, because she finally asked "Isn't there a person there who speaks Korean well?" I just laughed and said there wasn't, but what I really wanted to say (if I were this fluent) was "Do you think I would put myself through all this if there was a better Korean speaker here?" Anyhow, we did get the pizzas and the discount, so all was well.

I have a Happy Point card that I give the cashier at Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, and Paris Baguette. I've been saving up my points over the past year and now I have enough to get a small ice cream cake or about five ice cream cones for free. So, I thought I would start using it a few weeks ago since I won't be in the country much longer. Well, I didn't know that you could save points on your card without it being registered. So, I tried to use it and the lady told me that first I need to call the number on the back of the card and register it. I finally got around to doing that this morning, and it was a success! I had to listen to the menu in Korean and then choose the right number twice, then I got a real person. When I got a person, I asked her if, by chance, she spoke English. She said, she didn't, so I told her I wanted to register my card. She asked for my card number, then my alien registration number, then my address, then she told me it was ready to use! Success! This time, I wasn't asked if there was someone around who could speak Korean well, so I'll chalk it up as a mark of improvement.

Japanese

This is a really interesting post on how Japanese are all bilingual. Wow. I guess I could have picked a harder language to learn.

the traditional korean wedding setup, performed at the folk village 

the bride coming out with her face covered 

this is the traditional korean tightrope walking...this guy was pretty old, but so amazing! 

traditional korean seesaw sport at the folk village today 

today at the folk village was my first time to see the traditional korean version of seesaw. this girls take turns bouncing high up in the air. this time was with fans. 

every time i watch this kind of traditional drum and dancing performance, i'm amazed 

at the korean folk village this afternoon 

some people i used to work with at a mountain overlooking seoul this morning 

a thinking game

I found this link on jenni's blog. It's in Japanese, but the directions are something like this:
1. All the people need to get across the river.
2. Only two people on the raft at a time.
3. The dad can't be alone with the daughters.
4. The mom can't be alone with the sons.
5. The robber can't be alone with anyone but the policeman.
6. Only the adults can operate the raft.
Try it out!

procrastinating

I have three days left of school. Two of those are class and one is our final test. I should be studying, but I'm procrastinating. I thought I was going to go to a performance that showcased North Korean culture tonight, but I found out it was in Suwon instead of Seoul. I go to school in Suwon and would have stayed there if I'd known, but instead I went to Seoul and then found out. So, I came back to Suji and now don't have the motivation to study. I just finished an egg sandwich for dinner and now am listening to a sermon online. After the sermon, I'll make myself study.

I met a girl who lives in Seoul that I'm planning on travelling with and teaching with in China this summer. It was good to meet her and chat for a bit. Neither one of us knows much about what we're getting into, but together we know a little bit and it was good to share stories. I'm leaving in two weeks!