Well, my friends, it has been a while since I have written, and for that I am truly sorry, but let me just say that when you don't bring an international outlet adapter it is hard to charge your many fold appliances. Thankfully, my room mates are kind enough to let me borrow theirs! Wow. I know right. So, I did order one online and it will arrive here soon, at which point I will be able to blog more. Yes! (Asa!) Thats what the Koreans say. hmmmm...okay. I feel like I should fill you in on a big one about my housing situation, but I am a little nervous to start this one without much time before I have to leave for Church. So, I will just fill you in on yesterday and a little bit of my hopes for today.

Yesterday morning, I was happily surprised that I didn't wake up until 9:30. That is a record score for me here! Usually, I wake up at five or six am on the dot! However, it was also a day where I had an appointment to meet with my friend Yesenia and her buddy Jung Min....at 10:00 am. Yeah. So, I quickly shoved some decent clothes on and ran out the door. I am sure the Ajussi at the front desk thinks I am a lunatic now because I am pretty sure that I said

Me:     Gamsamnida Thank You  감삼니다

... instead of

What I should have said:    Annyonghigeysayo. Good bye. 안뇽이게세요.

Which basically means I said thank you instead of good bye.

Wow! Okay.

Ajussi: 'Weird American chick.'  "Bye Bye."


So, I ran (okay, jogged....)

no...I just walked really really quickly...

to the subway station and met with Jung Min and Yesenia. We have formed a group where three times a week we get together and help each other with our language problems. Yesi and I help Jung Min with English and Jung Min helps us with Korean. It is a great system and we have a lot of fun doing it.

Specifically, Jung Min took us to the Seoul Art Center where we could use tables and chairs for free. There was a variety of beautiful Classical, Romantic, Baroque, and 20th century music playing in the back round as we each wrote our dialogues and corrected our pronunciations. After spending a relaxing and fulfilling hour at the Art Center Jung Min suggested that we practice our Korean in real life context. So, we went into shops and repeated prompted phrases to the shop keepers. We learned phrases such as:

1. Do you have size 250?
2. Do you have this in another color?
3. Do you have this in another size?
4. Can I try this on?
5. How much is this?
6. Where can I find.....store?
7. Where should I put my trash? (relavent for restaurants that are styled like Panera)
8. Can I have one Kimchi Bokkeumdi and two Bulgogi Bokkeumdi please?
9. I am lost.
10. How can I get to Sungshin University?


It was really funny. At one store called ABC I asked the shopkeeper if she had a grey men's T-Shirt in another size and she looked at me like I was nuts and said, "That is a mans shirt." I simply, smiled and replied, "I know, but I want one in a small." Oh my goodness. I was certainly not going to wear it or buy it, but I needed to practice my language skills, you know?


One of our stops along the way was an absolutely divine cafe called Paris Croissant. It was definitely my favoriite stop during the morning and I didn't hesitate to take millions of pictures and even snatch a Cranberry muffin for myself. One Americano, and two danishes later we were stuffed with nourishment and laughter. For it was during this time that Yesenia and I filled Jung Min with stories of our school back in America. We went on for ever about Apple Day, Kwanza, the Fashion Show, and Junior Dads- smiling the entire time. It is so strange that you can meet a person and only know them for a week, but feel as if you have known them for a life time. I have not had this occasion occur often, but with Jung Min and Yesi, we are like old friends.