It's been alittle over week since I arrived in South Korea. The time seems to have been a hybrid of short days and long nights...both in good and bad ways.
I found a wonderful running trail that runs along a stream that connects to a river which has exercise machines along the trail so thankfully I am able to work off some of the amazing food I have been partaking in.
Speaking of food, I have made it a point to try a different venue for lunch everyday which isn't bad considering lunch is typically 6,000 Won ($5.38), my spicy tolerance has risen significantly and although I am not totally sure what I am eating sometimes it does taste awfully good! Now I know what you're wondering...how am I ordering if I don't speak Korean? Easy! I point at pictures! That or I let the owner choose for me, since the restaurants are so close to the University they are used to foreigners.
And on the foreigners note, it's been eye opening meeting all the fellow exchange students. I've had the pleasure of meeting people from Portugal, New Zealand, Sweden, China, Japan, England, etc. the list goes on and on hearing their stories it's really incredible to see the differences and similarities in each others cultures. However, I do note that it's equally eye opening to see how egocentric americans are. For example, I ask someone where they are from they say "Portugal", they ask the same question I say "the States" and they always say "Oh what part" Because THEY KNOW. They know our geography they know our current events and we know nothing about them. We are concerned about ourselves we forget about the world around us. Everyone knows English, everyone, yet we only take 2 semesters of a foreign language in high school and may I add it's not even a good Spanish either. I met someone who knows 4 languages!
Anyways, something funny to note, I am a HUGE hit with the Germans. For obvious reasons, the conversation always goes the same way. I go "Hello nice to meet you, what's your name" they say "Hi! My name is...., I'm from germany, how about you" and I smirk because I know what's about to unfold. I reply "I'm from the U.S. my name is German." they look puzzled..."Okay but what is your name". "German" I reply. It goes on for a few minutes, I keep my i.d. at hand to show them "OHHH your name is German...why."
Classes do not start until September 1st so right now everything sort of feels like an extended vacation which means alot of leisure time and as my mother once said "free time is the devils play ground." It also means more chances to go out and spend money, which is good for GDP reasons but bad for my pockets.
To combat this I have settled in a somewhat strict routine. For breakfast I eat an egg and rice with soy sauce which is provided for free by the Goshiwon I stay at. For Lunch I allow myself to venture out and buy food. And for Dinner I eat ramen and rice, also provided for free by the Goshiwon. This allows for slack in my budget to be able to travel to places like Gyeongbokgung Palace or go out drinking/karaoke with friends.
Changing pace from that, I finally have the metro system worked out! Atlanta Marta does nothing to prepare you for the rest of the world's metro system, but luckily this city has an amazing subway app that even tells you the approximate fairs. One trip is typically 1250 Won ($1.12) so the world of Seoul just got alot bigger. My first venture was to Gyeongbokgung Palace an absolutely gorgeous (Pics on my facebook), and as nice as it is to be around friends I think what made this little field trip nice was that I did it alone. I walked at my own pace, had lunch when I was ready, wondered around to where I selected, no agendas no rush just myself, the city and a map. I'm going to try to do this more often I hear Gangnam has a pretty awesome mall and aquarium!
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