ParentNet

The first view I had of my birth country...

After making the nine hour trek to Michigan Tech from my home in Canton, Michigan, I thought that the plane ride to Korea would be a cinch. Who knew that being confined to your seat for four more hours would make all the difference? Though Korean Air is the top airline in all Asia, I was still fidgety and longed for fresh air (I don’t think that the talkative man sitting next to me or how the airline was operating according to Korean time while still in the States helped). In any case, by the time I had reached Incheon International Airport at 4:30 p.m. on Monday Korean time, 2:30 a.m. Michigan time, the last thing I wanted to do was to hear how excited my friend back home was for me. (A piece of advice: even though your friends and family really want to know if you made it safely, emails or Facebook isn’t a bad idea after finishing a 20 hour travel day; you can call them first thing in the morning.)

A spicy noodle soup with octopus... Did I try the octopus? No, I thought about it, but concern for my mental well-being won out ^^.

Fortunately, I had no problems finding my ride from the airport and we became fast friends . . . She even made me an itinerary to explore Seoul! Since I listened to my mom’s and various study abroad alumni advice, I didn’t bring some essentials with me, like hair conditioner and cotton swabs, since I had planned to buy it here. Even though my friend (who speaks English pretty well) took me to the Walmart of Korea, called E Mart, we struggled over the differing English translations. Also, since the American brands were more expensive than I was expecting, I opted for the Korean brands I knew nothing about . . . In short, I suggest that if you’ll use it up, bring it.

Surprisingly, I didn’t experience much jetlag (I think the serious lack of sleep helped) and was eager to start exploring the motherland on Tuesday. The first place my friend took me to was Apujung, the Hollywood of Korea. In this district lies the Rodeo Drive of Korea and is where, if you’re lucky, you can see famous celebrities roaming the streets. (We ate at a café in which a scene for a popular drama was filmed.) Though it was too cold for many people to be out and about, maybe if I go back when it’s warmer, I’ll see one of my favorite Korean stars! ^_~

Gate to the Palace

On Wednesday, we went to a district called Insa-dong. This district is home of many street shops and a famous outdoor mall that carry miscellaneous traditional Korean goods. At a street stall, a man was making a traditional Korean desert. The treat is made much like Japanese noodles, stretching and doubling a hard disk of honey like taffy to make thousands of strings, then using them to wrap a sweet filling. I wish I had brought my video camera, since the man was very animated and eager to show off his English to an American girl (he thought he was so cool for using “OMG”). If I go again, I’ll make sure to have my video camera ready. ㅋㅋ (It’s the same as “haha” ^^)

Insa-dong is also home to three Korean palaces. That day, we went to Gyeongbokgung palace, one of the many national treasures of Korea. Without knowing it, we made it just in time to see a traditional gate guard changing ceremony! I was so excited to see a traditional ceremony and to hear traditional music in person for the first time! In fact, the entire complex completely geeked me out… Until I had actually entered the gate, I hadn’t realized this palace was featured in one of the many books on Korea I had admired when I was young and it was surreal seeing the real thing! The biggest surprise of all, however, was being able to duplicate a photo of a pagoda that I had made a watercolor copy of. Even though the picture I had copied was taken in the summer, the photo I took was pretty much identical . . . the trees hadn’t changed in 20 years!

Me showing off my watercolor masterpiece... Just kidding, this is the real thing ^^

Thursday, we explored my host university . . . Did you know they have a football team?? Although I decided against the intensive Korean language class, I’ll be taking 9 credits of cultural and lingual related topics concerning pre-modern and modern Korean history. Today, we were finally able to secure a cell phone for me. I’m not sure how it works in the States, but in Korea, you can load prepaid minutes unto an old cell phone, so my friend’s friend is letting me use her old phone. Even though I only have the most basic coverage, I have access to a subway map and a Korean/English dictionary! I think that’s so cool! ^^

Though I’ve only been here for about a week, I feel like I’m getting the hang of things . . . My friend and her family are extremely hospitable and are trying very hard to make my transition into Korean culture as smooth as possible, though I’m much more prepared than they expected. (I’m still trying to convince them that I don’t need to use a fork to eat rice! ^^) I wasn’t prepared, however, for serious lack of Korean music… One of the things I had looked forward to was to be able to listen to Korean pop-music, but, sadly enough, I’ve heard more from Miley Cyrus and Maroon 5 than I have heard from the big names of the Korean music scene . . . Maybe that’ll change once the semester starts. ^^