TGIF

Friday has come around the corner...finally. Last week, we went to see the show, NANTA, here in Seoul. It was really funny and felt a bit like Broadway, but there was definitely way more interaction between the audience and the cast. Before that, we went to McDonalds for a quick meal and they have bulgogi burgers here! For those who don't know what bulgogi is, it's Korean marinated barbecued beef. Realllly good stuff! I spent my birthday here in Seoul and we went to a bar and karaoke where Jesse belted out Eminem non-stop through the night, haha.

As Korean language class is progressing, I'm learning more and more words by the day and attempting to read street signs while I'm out. We've learned how to order in a restaurant and numbers. We've also learned countries. In my Korean culture and society class, we've been discussing education in Korea, gender inequality and religion.

Sometimes I feel homesick. I guess it's the independence that I miss and obviously friends and family back home. I've talked to my mom once since I've been here and I haven't spoke to my father since we saw each other last at JFK. Writing this almost makes me want to tear up. I know the time I have left here in Seoul isn't too much because 3 weeks is going to go by in a blink of an eye so I'm trying my best to just take in everything that I can and leave with many stories to tell when I get back home.

We've gone to Insadong, Itaewon, Myeongdong and Cheongyecheon in the past two weeks. Insadong is a tourist-y area where one can get many souvenirs for friends and family. In Insadong, there's Changdeok Palace. While there, we learned the proper manners for serving tea and we also tried on Hanbok, which is traditional Korean dress. Itaewon is the part of Seoul where there is a US Army base stationed there. While we were there, we heard them firing guns - super loud. We also tried to find an Italian restaurant there but that ended up failing because the streets were just too confusing to navigate and our buddies didn't know the area too well. While in Itaewon, we saw many foreigners, like us. However, we didn't feel at home at all since most of the signs were still in Korean and none of us knew where we were going. Cheongyecheon is absolutely beautiful at night with all its lights and the river just flowing by you. It's a man-made river and at night, there are lights all around and when we were there, there was a light show going on. It's known as being a couples place and indeed, we saw many, many couples there. By far, Myeongdong is my favorite place to go here. I could spend hours upon hours just window shopping. While there, I got rainboots (since it rains so much here), a pair of sandals, a jumpsuit and a green sweater. We haven't gone to Dongdaemun yet but I have high hopes since it's going to be like Myeongdong but bigger. Anyway, I should post some pictures for you guys from these two weeks. Enjoy!

Bulgogi burger in McDonald's here

Dinner at one of the restaurants located in the back gate of UoS

(I got a beef rib stew and I don't remember what everyone else had but judging from the redness of their plates, it was spicy!)

Jesse and I on my birthday at a bar near UoS

Karaoke!

Traditional Korean painting

Trying on the Hanbok

(Each piece of Hanbok is worn for a different occasion. The blue is for the nobles and it's what they wear to work in the palace. The gold one is used for wearing at home. In the third picture, the brown one on the left side is the King's Hanbok.)

In front of Changdeok Palace

Cheongyecheon

Need to end this post since I have to catch a bus to watch a BBOY performance. Till next time!