MONDAY, OCT 30

I’m so tired.

Finished my class essay, for better or worse. Had tutoring. Went to class. Went to the market. Rested at Starbucks with a new favorite drink (only here, not in the US), Grapefuit-Honey Iced Tea. I’d pick that over McDonald’s sweet tea any day. And if you’ve been following for awhile you know that’s really saying something! Lugged three large bags of groceries home.

TUESDAY, OCT 31 aka Halloween

Not so Halloweeny here…but one of my sweet classmates brought in candy for everyone. I didn’t see any costumes or anything. And there are no children on campus so I wouldn’t know if trick-or-treating is going on out there in the world. I suspect not.

STUDY STUDY STUDY STUDY STUDY.

WEDNESDAY, Nov 1 – WHOA.

NOVEMBER?? Sheesh.

I feel like every waking moment this week is spent on studying for Friday’s test and preparing a presentation – 300+ words (Korean ones) on “my favorite place to travel (that is not my hometown and is not Korea),” along with a powerpoint presentation AND we need to memorize it to present in front of the class on Friday…ON THE SAME DAY AS A TEST.

THURSDAY, Nov 2

Le Sigh

Dribbled oily red stuff down the front of my shirt Had dinner by myself at the mini-emart next to my building (the one with the “veranda” ha ha). Not exactly sure what I had…but it was very yummy. Went home. Spent 2,964 hours trying to memorize tomorrow’s presentation. I was an idiot and made it way too complicated, used too many words I’m not familiar with ugh what is wrong with me.

The Veranda

Some kind of seafood jiggae (stew) which was spicy and nice.

FRIDAY, Nov 3

Classmate took a picture during my presentation

After the stress of (failing) today’s test and bumbling my way through the presentation, my friend and I went to a tutoring session together. I’d asked Jun if we could have just like a “conversation” session…as opposed to learning and practicing new grammar points. So the three of us met at Starbucks and had fake conversation, ha ha…but it’s good practice for me to have to a) understand what someone is saying (the worst for me) and b) think relatively quickly on how to respond (the worst for me) in actual sentences that make actual sense.

Pork over rice (EVERYTHING is over rice)

After tutoring we walked (walk walk walk) over to Kondae (the super busy restaurant/bar area) to a place my friend had tried and wanted to go back. She wanted nengmyoen, which is an icy cold noodle soup they eat a lot here when it’s hot out. I wanted meat. I always want meat. We were rushed through dinner as the place was closing (ridiculously early for that area on a Friday night but WHATEVER) so that was sort of an odd experience.

Beer ahead

SATURDAY, Nov 4

An unintentionally quiet day at home…trying to make plans…the internet was against us…so it was like 6pm before we finally met up and headed out on our evening’s adventure…which was Chyeongsam Stream, which used to be a highway and has been converted into a streamside walkway like a park…and then to Myeongdong Night Market where all the street food lives.

I could LIVE on street food.

I had a Korean hot dog, which is essentially a corn dog on a stick, but they do a lot of other fancy things with potatoes and cheese and sugar, etc. This was a relatively simple one, just dog and mozarella cheese. Then a little a later I had some pork on a stick (put anything on a stick and it will be 10x more appealing). I wanted watermelon in a cup but that’s a hard walking item…I also wanted a cronut, coconut grilled shrimp, and a giant toasted marshmallow and foot high ice cream cone…but those will have to wait til next time.

I have not tried these but they extremely popular here.

Of course our phones were failing us so once again we walked a quarter mile in one direction then turned around and walked a quarter mile in the direction we just came from, lather rinse repeat. I really don’t get what the problem is. I need to get a Korean cell phone plan within the next two weeks (my travel SIM card time is about up), I haven’t pulled the trigger yet cuz I’m still deciding if it’s time for a new phone and if it is if I want a Korean or a US phone. A Korean phone on a Korean phone plan might be The Ticket to functional internet here. But..there are some “Korean phone things” I’d rather not have if I’m going to be here as long as planned. So, phone decision unmade, phone plan undecided on.

I can’t NOT take a picture of hanging lanterns

SUNDAY, Nov 5

The Old Room (aka Room #2)

Guess what I did today? MOVED! AGAIN! Ha Ha.

The New Room (aka Room #3) – please forgive the soft image, it’s a screenshot from a video

I just changed rooms in the same building…I can’t remember if I talked about this in the last post but I did NOT take the “lease” room with kitchenette and washing machine. It was very small, unfurnished, and dark. I might do small unfurnished dark if it was $400/month. But this was $750/month + utilities + $4000 deposit and one-year lease. So I opted for the slightly larger, bigger window room for $90 more a month than I’d been paying. And I really like it. A WINDOW! With a VIEW! And WESTERN EXPOSURE! This all makes me very happy. Also, double the storage, a cell phone holder in the bathroom (haha), heated floors, a fridge that’s considerably colder than my previous one AND internet that doesn’t go out at least once an hour.

Daytime view

Nighttime view

Unless something unforseen happens, I’ll be here for the next three months, through the end of the second term, and then I’ll re-assess. I’ll have a better idea by then of whether I’m continuing on here with school/student visa, or whether the plan needs to change. But so at least for the winter I’m close to school in a comfortable place. WITH A VIEW.

The End.