My K-Pop Playlist

I won't lie to you. I'm loving some of the K-pop (Korean Pop) songs that are out now. I haven't blogged in a while because I've been doing a lot of planning at school for the upcoming winter vacation camps. However, here are some of the K-pop songs I've been listening to while I've been getting down and dirty (with lesson planning!). As if it isn't already obvious, I'm loving the girl groups "2NE1" and "Miss A!"

Miss A- Breathe *this one's on CONSTANT replay!

Miss A- Love Again

2NE1- Fire

2NE1- It Hurts

2NE1- Can't Nobody

2NE1- Clap Your Hands

Miss A- Bad Girl, Good Girl

Dj DOC- I'm a Guy Like This

Shinee- Lucifer

Beast- Breathe

Wonder Girls- Nobody (heads up: the actual song doesn't start right away when you click on this link)

"Oh Happy Day!"

Best day EVER.

As I'm walking up the ramp to school today, I hear, "A-mar-u-ta teach-aaaaaaaaaaaaa!" I quickly turn around expecting to see a little Korean child with blood gushing from his forehead but instead, I'm greeted by the sight of one of my little 5th graders beaming and holding out a golden box. He giggles, "Teach-a this for you! Pepero!" and runs back to his posse.

Pepero is a popular Korean snack. Much like the Japanese Pocky sticks, Pepero are sticks dipped in chocolate (or another flavour). I love love looooooooooooooooove Pepero! If you were to take a random look in my kitchen cupboard you would see just how much I love Pepero; I have boxes and boxes of the stuff in there! So, you can imagine just how excited I am when my little student hands me over a big gold box of Pepero.

I continue walking up to the school and something seems to be up. I see Pepero everywhere! Pepero in students' hands. Empty Pepero packages lying on the ground. Pepero boxes peeking out of students' backpacks. PEPERO PEPERO PEPERO!!!!!! (by the way, you're badass if you can say that 10 times fast). Four more students approach me with a variety of Pepero. What the hell is going on?! Finally, somebody lets me in on the mystery. Get this. Today is...PEPERO DAY!!!!!!

Every year on Nov. 11, young Koreans exchange Pepero to show that they like or love someone. It's almost like a Korean Valentine's Day. Can you guess why Nov. 11 is such an appropriate day to celebrate Pepero? The date 11.11 resembles the Pepero sticks. I wonder if next year's P-Day will be even more off the hook (i.e. 11.11.11). I can see it now: "PEPERO FESTIVAL 11.11.11." There will be people dressed as Pepero, giant Pepero sticks, Pepero decorations and so on. Maybe President Lee will give a televised speech on the significance of Pepero in the lives of Korean citizens. LOL. Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Regardless of the humour I find in the existence of a P-Day, I'm sure not complaining about it! I'm so down with P-Day! Who knew chocolate-covered buscuit sticks would bring such joy to my life?

P.S. P-Day is so big that there's a video to promote it: http://www.pepero.co.kr/img/flash/ani/ani03.swf

"So This is Love"

As I approached my apartment building after school today, I had the sudden urge to keep walking past it. So, I gave into my urge. Initially, I had every intention of going straight home to seek the comfort and warmth of the ondol (underfloor heating system) as the onset of Autumn has brought on colder weather to Busan. However, as I walked the short distance from my school to my apartment, my intention changed.

On my way to the main road, I noticed a tiny cafe near my building that I never step foot in due to the entirely Korean menu and my lack of experience with reading Korean. Today, I felt confident enough to enter the cafe;   my knowledge of the Korean language has been slowly developing as a result of the Korean classes I attend twice a week so not only was this an opportunity to get something yummy to drink but it was also my chance to practice reading Hangul and to order in Korean. After standing in front of the menu board for a few minutes and trying to decipher my options, I finally decided on a cafe latte to go.

I ended up walking down to Gwangalli beach just in time to see the sun giving way to the moon. As if the scene created by the emblazoned sky and the crashing waves wasn't awesome enough, at exactly 5:43pm the Gwangan bridge came to life with its twinkling lights.  I can't be sure of how long I sat on the steps at the beach while sipping on my cafe latte. What I can be sure of is the unbelievable feeling I had. This sounds so cliche but I felt blissfully at peace. It was like my body refused to acknowledge the wind whipping against me. My mind was released of all its pestering thoughts and worries. I was just focused on the beautiful image that lay before me.

Eventually, the harsh realities of time, temperature, and hunger came rushing back to me and I decided I should head home. When I got home, I cranked up the ondol, sat down on the warm floor, and ate my dinner while watching The Last of the Mohicans (great movie by the way!). What a day!

As if you can't already tell, Busan, South Korea has officially seduced me; I have fallen in love with my new home. I guess I'm in what everyone refers to as "the honeymoon stage" of living here. I'm definitely OK with that.

P.S. Not sure if anyone picked up on the allusion in this blog's title but if you did, excuse my lameness =D

The Busan Sky Was on Fire Last Night, and I LOVED Every Minute of It!!

Last night I went down to Gwangalli beach with a couple of friends for the Busan Fireworks Festival. Let me just say, the show was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I have never in my life seen the sky light up with so many colours! I could have done without the massive crowds and inconsiderate girl behind me who insisted on coughing on my neck every 5 seconds, but once the lights show started I didn't care about any of this. One of the coolest things about the event was that the fireworks were set off from boats on the water. It was the perfect setting: the Gwangan Bridge was illuminated in the background, the waves were calm, and the sky was on fire.

Although my pictures and videos cannot do justice to the fireworks show, I've uploaded a few just to give you an idea of what I experienced last night. Click on the following you tube link for a great clip of the fireworks finale last night (this is not my video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk7WhJwpCi0

 Aside from the actual show, making our way down to the beach was a nightmare! The crowds were insane!!!! The streets were packed! The subways were packed! The restaurants were packed! Everywhere I looked, it was packed!! The Busan Police were out in large numbers directing pedestrians; I personally think they weren't all that effective. At some intersections, they banded together to block people from going in certain directions but let's just say, it was REALLY easy to get past them. All I had to say was, "hotel" and point at one of the beach hotels and they let me through without any questions. Poor unsuspecting rent-a-cops! Seeing the police and huge crowds reminded me of footage of the Toronto G20 Summit on TV this past summer (minus the tear gas and police cruisers lit on fire). Check out my pictures and tell me if you agree!

Emo Week

As the title of this blog suggests, I've been feeling a little off my game this week. I spent last weekend in Daejeon with some girlfriends and we had a great time! I ate homemade pancakes, visited my first jimjilbang, (a Korean bathhouse which includes saunas, sleep rooms, hot tubs, karaoke rooms, and a whole lot more!), celebrated my friend's birthday, and attended a "rock festival." All in all it was a fantastic weekend but the trouble began on Sunday morning when I made a call back home. I called my bestie who was actually at my friend's ring ceremony (Sunday morning for me is Saturday night for Toronto). Most of my elementary school friends as well as high school friends were at the reception so the phone got passed around for a bit. I was able to speak with lots of old friends and while I was very happy, the reality of how far away I was from everyone started creeping back into my thoughts.

I honestly don't know what happened to me but after the 3rd or 4th person I spoke to, the tears started welling up in my eyes. At the time, I was sitting in my friend's apartment with my back to my friends because I felt so silly for getting that emotional. I guess just knowing that everyone was together celebrating while I was far far away, really got to me. It was especially upsetting because I've known my friend who was having the ring ceremony since elementary school; she is the first of our Wilclay Wildcat generation to be getting married and taking such a huge step in her life. By the time the phone got back to my bestie who I had originally called, the tears were already streaming down my face. No matter how many times I wiped my face, they just continued to fall. Eventually, I gave up even trying to dry my eyes. I said goodbye in as few words as possible and I ran to the bathroom to get a hold of myself.

This emo episode set the tone for my whole week. I felt unbelievably sad when I got home from Daejeon on Sunday evening. Seeing my parents on skype REALLY helped but the lonely factor really took it's toll on me. Everday since then, it's gotten a little bit better so now I barely feel homesick anymore; I'm thankful that the emo episode was relatively shortlived. I just have to push myself to stay positive when I feel that emo-ness making it's way back.

*Think happy thoughts Amarta!*

Just Another Day in Busan (link to photographs)

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=239776&id=501179278

Feeling Thankful on Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day for Canadians so right now I'm feeling a little homesick. Watching the Korean-dubbed "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" alone in my apartment today didn't help much. I'm used to spending Thanksgiving with my family and stuffing my face with way too much food. This year, I'll be missing this.

Fortunately, my new friend has decided to organize a Thanksgiving dinner for all us Canadians in Busan! Being invited to this dinner got me thinking about the countless things I am thankful for. So, I decided to put together a list of just a few things in my life that I give thanks to God for:

(not necessarily in order of importance)
1. Loving and supportive family, including the newest addition, Tiger
2. Irreplacable friends back home
3. New friends in Korea
4. New home in Korea
5. Bobo the Bear
6. Health and safety
7. Opportunity to travel internationally
8. Being employed
9. Freedom of speech
10. Having food to eat
11. Electricity
12. Running water
13. Democracy (or something close to it)
14. Cheap shopping in Korea
15. Skype
16. Chocolate
17. Mascara (lol)

Ok clearly, the list starts getting silly towards the end but the point is, I have more than enough to be thankful for. I have been blessed with everything on this list and more and I will never fail to give thanks.

Today, I watched a movie at the Pusan International Film Festival called "A Portrait in a Sea of Lies" (about the widespread violence in Columbia and the displacement of its citizens) and it reminded me of just how lucky I really am to be living life the way I am right now.    

Drinking on the job

It's 4:22pm on Thurs., Oct. 7. I'm at school. Two minutes ago, my principal was pouring me shots....

Yup, you read correctly. I was drinking with my principal haha! You see, today the Office of Education sent some supervisors to evaluate our school and to sit in on a few classes, one of which was mine. Everyone at school has been frantically preparing for this day all week! I could tell that the teachers were feeling the pressure in the days leading up to the "open class" (that's what they call a class where others come to observe, whether it's parents, supervisors, etc.). The open class that my co-teacher and I taught went really well! The supervisors looked impressed and the principal specifically praised us for a job well done. All in all, I was having a good day. Then, my day got even better.

After the supervisors left the school today, the staff and teachers were visibly more relaxed! At about 4:00pm, my co-teacher informed me that we were to go down to the teacher's room for celebratory snacks with the rest of the teachers. I stepped into the room and was immediately greeted by a group of smiling Korean faces!!! Everyone was chatting excitedly and eating an assortment of snacks, including slices of roasted duck with honey mustard, which I had for the first time! Pretty good! It was so nice to see everyone in such great moods; I could feel the happiness floating around the room. At first glance, someone would probably think the room was full of old friends, instead of coworkers. The principal saw me and said "Amarta, ah come!" and he handed me a paper cup. Before I knew it, he was filling my cup with a white liquid. I assumed it was some sort of juice but I was hella wrong! We said cheers and drank. That's when I realized I was consuming alcohol!

I found out afterwards that my prinicipal had served me makgeolli. My co-teacher educated me about makgeolli, the Korean rice wine. It's made from boiled rice which is what gives it the cloudy white appearance. It tasted mildly sweet and it was not too strong; apparently, makgeolli is only made with 6.5-7% alcohol.

Drinking at school is definitely a new experience for me. In Canada, if teachers were to drink on school property, they'd most likely be fired or face severe consequences. Alcohol consumption is a huge no-no back home, for students and staff alike, so for a split second I almost felt anxious when I drank the makgeolli today.

I'm slowly learning about the many cultural differences that exist between Korea and the West as I know it. After reading this blog, some might come to the hasty conclusion that Koreans just love to drink anywhere and anytime. However, that's not the picture that I'm trying to paint. I think the Korean people enjoy drinking because it brings everyone together; they bond over drinks and food. Obviously, I'm no expert on Korean culture but the communal drinking and eating is surprisingly growing on me. I actually enjoy sharing food and drinks, which is very common here, because it almost makes me feel closer to my co-workers. Yes, this is coming from a self-proclaimed germaphobe. Maybe being in Korea will help me overcome my constant fear of germs haha!

First Class Jitters

Up until today, my Wednesday teaching schedule has been super light; I've only been teaching one class (International Cultures) on Wednesdays. However, I was recently informed that I would be teaching...are you ready for this.....PARENTS! I was under the impression, as I'm sure many of you were, that I would be coming to Korea to teach children but according to my contract, the school can have me teach anything English related.

When I found out that I'd be teaching parents, a little part of me started to freak out! After all, I don't even consider myself to be a mature adult so I cringed at the thought of having to stand in front of a classroom and teaching a group of mothers and fathers. I mean, I still watch Disney movies and get excited when I find prizes in the cereal box! Doesn't that say something about my unconscious resistance to grow up????

The information I was given about the group of parents did little to calm my nerves. All I was told was that there were 14 registered parents and that I would be the only teacher. I was clueless as to whether they knew any English at all. Did they even like English? Would they feel insulted that a little 24-year-old was going to teach them? What were their expectations? What if they didn't understand a single word I said? Would they like me? What if they were too shy and quiet? Even worse, what if they were too loud and talked over me? How would I discipline grown adults? My mind was overflowing with questions and worries. The anxiety I felt made my head spin!

When I woke up today, I immediately remembered what day it was. Today was my first parents English class. With my heart squirming in my chest, I trudged up 6 floors to the school library. I walked through the library entrance feeling nervous and jittery. Eighty minutes later, I emerged from the library feeling amazing! The class went so well; the group of parents were beyond friendly, which made the experience all that much better. Only 10 parents attended the first class but I was ok with this. I liked our little intimate group because I got to know the parents on a more personal level.

Obviously, the difference between teaching adults and teenagers is like that of night and day. My teaching experiences have reminded me that just because teenagers come to school, does not necessarily mean that all of them want to be there or that their main priority is to get an education. Whereas, meeting and teaching the Korean adults today was, in a sense, refreshing because they were all eager to learn. I asked each of them to explain why they were attending English classes and the most common response was, "to help my child(ren) learn English too." Other responses included, "I want to travel around Europe," "I want to understand and speak with foreigners," etc. Regardless of their reasons, I respected these parents for voluntarily stepping into the unknown and attempting to learn a foreign and intimidating language. I could tell that many of them were nervous when I spoke to them but I hope to change this by creating a caring and safe environment for them to learn and take risks in.

I'm definitely excited for the rest of our semester together. I've already surveyed the parents in terms of what they'd like to learn. I sincerely hope that I can help them improve their English but I also hope that I can learn more about Korea and its people through my classes with these parents.

Even if the parents don't leave my classes with huge English vocabularies or extensive conversation skills, I would much rather they leave with confidence and willingness to take risks in speaking English. Therefore, at the top of the course outline that I developed, I included the following quote made by businessman and philanthropist, David Packard:  

"Take risks. Ask big questions. Don't be afraid to make mistakes; if you don't make mistakes, you're not reaching far enough."

Hopefully, reading this quote will not only push the parents to accomplish more with their English-speaking skills, but it will also serve as a reminder to me that I can achieve greater teaching and life goals if I step beyond my comfort zone. 

Night Time Shenanegans

I'm sure you're wondering whether this will be a PG blog considering my title, "Night Time Shenanigans." Please let me assure you that this blog is suitable for readers of all ages!

The night I arrived in Busan, my co-teacher explained the garbage system in my apartment. I was informed that I would have to separate my garbage into food waste, recycling, and general trash. She told me that each type of garbage was picked up on certain days throughout the week and that my food waste would have to be placed in my assigned red bin outside the building. I wasn't too intimidated by her instructions; they seemed simple enough. Boy was I wrong!

While I had no issues with the general trash and recycling, the food waste turned into a putrid nightmare! Like a good little girl, I placed my banana peels, bread crusts, egg shells, and so on, in my little red bin outside my building during my first week there. However, after many food waste collection days passed, my bin was still not emptied. I informed my co-teacher and she tried to figure out the problem by calling my landlord and asking the admin office at school. Day after day, as I would arrive at my building after school, I would see my pathetic little red bin covered in flies. I noticed that someone else also threw their food crap in my bin too! Finally, 2 weeks later, my co-teacher advised me that in order for my food waste to be collected I would have to purchase bin stickers from the convenience store and place a sticker on the bin whenever I want it to be emptied. Fair enough. I bought the damn stickers and I thought that was the end of that problem.

Again, boy was I wrong! The day after I put a sticker on my bin, the garbage person left a note on it in Korean. Can you guess whether the bin was emptied or not? OF COURSE NOT!!!!!! The English translation of the note was, "Dear stupid foreign girl, (Ok, maybe they didn't say that, but still!) We will not take your food waste unless you remove the plastic bag in it AND the worms." As I was told what the note said, I was so confused! Why the heck were there worms in my bin?! Then I realized what was meant by "worms." THERE WERE MAGGOTS IN THE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost barfed in my mouth at this thought. And then it occurred to me that these people wanted ME to physically remove the maggots. HELL NO!

I immediately began brainstorming ways to get around this problem. First, I thought about using tongs. So, I went out and bought tongs. I definitely didn't follow through with that. Then, I considered pouring my food waste into someone else's bin. But that was just mean. I had to think long and hard about the best solution...

My solution involved a partner in crime. My friend, Jenn, and I spent the other night walking along Gwangalli beach. She was going to sleep at my place so I let her in on my garbage dilemma and she generously agreed to help me out. We got home from the beach around 11:00pm so it was nice and dark outside. Perfect for some night time shenanigans =D I rolled up my sleeves and my jeans, tied my hair up and I put plastic bags on my hands. Jenn insisted that we had to visually document our excursion, so she was in charge of the camera.

I carefully placed my little red bin in a plastic bag while trying to avoid spilling the smelly food crap. Jenn and I walked around my neighborhood looking for the perfect spot to dump the food crap. Even though the red bin wasn't visible from within the plastic bag, I felt like a criminal; I was so scared someone would question what we were doing! Everytime someone walked by us, I stopped and pretended to have a casual conversation with Jenn. The conversation went something like this: "Hey Jenn. Gamsamnida. Annyeong-haseo." LOL so sad. 

After 50 minutes of walking with that heavy bin, we finally found a dimly lit inner street. I crept into a dark area between two parked cars and I poured my food crap quickly, all the while trying not to splash myself! My heart was beating super fast!! The mission had been completed! I was officially ride of my food crap! I felt as though a giant stinky weight had been lifted off my shoulders!

Jenn and I journeyed back to my apartment. We were exhausted! Who knew getting rid of garbage could be so stress inducing and tiresome? That night I slept so soundly; I was no longer plagued with nightmares about food waste. I can only hope that I won't be going on anymore late night garbage missions. They are not something I want to make a habit of! 

"bad food" vs. "good food"

I just finished eating my homemade dinner. I'd like to say that I enjoyed my food...but I didn't. On Saturday, I bought some vegetables from the grocery store in the hopes that I would make some sort of vegetable/noodle stir fry. So, today after work I came home and started experimenting. I started off by sauteing some garlic in olive oil (I'm pretty sure I put too much oil, by the way). This is when I experienced my first failure of the cooking experiment (don't laugh at me!). I don't have much experience cooking with a gas stove (except for when I would make tea every morning in India last year) so I tend to forget that it heats up rather quickly. As a result, I burned the garlic. Within 30 seconds, the finely chopped garlic was brown. FAIL. However, I was still feeling positive so I continued with my experiment. Next, I chopped up green peppers, carrots and onions and added them to the garlic and oil. I also added some soy sauce. I let those ingredients sit on top of the heat for a few minutes and it actually started to smell like real food in my apartment. I was excited because the smell reminded me of when my mom makes a Filipino noodle dish called punsit. I began thinking to myself, "Marf, you got this!" Oh how wrong I was.

After I got the vegetables on the stove, I realized I had to boil the noodles. Now, I bought these Korean noodles from the local grocery store. The only English words on the package are "Korean Noodles" so I figured they would be fine. For some reason though, when I boiled the noodles and drained them I noticed they were really mushy. I was assuming they'd be similar to spaghetti noodles because they looked the same. Sigh. My gas stove has two rings BUT they are not large enough to have a frying pan AND a pot on at the same time. Pretty useless. I had to take the vegetables off the stove so I would have room to boil the noodles. Finally, it was time to mix the noodles with the vegetables. When I was finished, I looked at my creation and realized that it didn't look that bad. I decided to throw on some sweet chili sauce as a final touch. Let's just say I ate my homemade dinner but I didn't enjoy it. I'm nowhere near being satisfied right now; if anything, I actually feel a little nauseous! GIANT FAIL. The worst part is I have left overs! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

(My noodles)

As I reflect on my cooking experiment today, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's worth it to even cook at home while I'm here. Don't get me wrong, I know I can't eat out for a year but I'm thinking maybe I should just get basic stuff to make at home (i.e. microwave noodles, frozen dumplings, frozen food, etc.). Afterall, I spent almost an hour in the kitchen. I ended up with a sink full of crap to wash and no space on the counter to let the crap dry (I barely have counter space). I had to use more gas because I couldn't cook the vegetables and noodles at the same time on the stove. And, to top it all off, I didn't even like the food I made!!!!!! Blah! Let's see if I ever experience that ambitious feeling about cooking again.

On a brighter culinary note, yesterday I ate some great food with my co-teachers! One of my co-teachers, said she wanted to take me out for Indian food in case I was missing it (for the record, I was DEFINITELY missing Indian food!). After school, both my co-teachers and I took a taxi to the Haeundae beach area, which is not far from my apartment and school. We went to a restaurant named Ganga.

The restaurant was beautiful! I already made a mental note that if my mameha and/or daddio come to visit me, I'll take them to Ganga. We ordered garlic naan (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm), malai kofta (mmmmmmmmmmmmmm), tandoori chicken (mmmmmmmmmmmm) and some random masala beef thing (I forget the name, not so mmmmmmmmm). My co-teachers ordered mango laasi and let's just say they weren't impressed haha. I'm not a fan of laasi either so I didn't hold it against them.

I really enjoyed my experience at Ganga not only because of the great food, but also because of the great company and conversations. I got the opportunity to tell my co-teachers more about me, my culture, my religion, my family and so much more! They were eager to learn more about me, which felt really nice.

After dinner, we walked along Haeundae beach; the sun had almost completely vanished by this time so it was nice and breezy on the shore. We came across this little area where I saw many people sitting with their feet in small pools of water. One of my co-teachers informed me that the water was actually from hot springs so rolled up our dress pants, took of our shoes and slipped our feet into the steaming water. All I can say is "instant relaxation." I mentally pushed away my thoughts of how many people's feet had been in the same water and it felt great! What a relaxing conclusion to a satisfying night.

So, on a scale from 1 to 10, my Indian dinner was an 8.5 whereas my homemade noodle dinner was a 4. I guess there's a balance in there somewhere. Hopefully, in the future I'll be consuming more good food than bad food! Cross your fingers for me!

Destination Unknown

After school finished for the day, I had the urge to go home and read in my pjs. The sky was dark and the clouds looked menacing. However, while I was walking to my buildling, I decided that I wasn't going to just sit around at home. When I got to my apartment, I changed into more comfortable clothing, ate some yoghurt and then set out with my umbrella and rainboots (yes, I bought rainboots!).  

I decided to walk down Suyeong-ro, which is the closest major road to me. As I walked against the strong wind that was blowing, I noticed an alleyway that was lit up with lamps. I turned into the alley and discovered that I had entered an outdoor fresh food market. The market was bustling with little Korean ladies selling fresh fish, seafood, chillies, garlic, and even shoes! I couldn't believe that this busy market existed in an alley way that I had passed so many times and had not even paid attention to! I would have taken pictures but raindrops were falling in between the tarps so I didn't want to get my camera wet. Next time!

After leaving the market, I continued down Suyeong-ro for a while. I walked way further than I had previously. I was curious about what I would find. After about an hour of walking and checking out little stores along the way, I noticed the sky was becoming even darker than before. It was then that I decided I should end my wandering session. Instead of walking down the same road on the way back, I descended underground to the Suyeong subway stop. The subway stops have multiple exits so if even you're not actually taking the subway, you can walk underground up until a certain point. Much to my surprise, I found an underground shopping centre! Although the stores weren't all that exciting, I thought it was cool that there was yet another place I had walked by multiple times but not actually discovered until now. When I came back up to the street level (after a gazillion stairs!) I ended up going into Home Plus Express, which is a store that sells groceries, clothes, appliances, etc. I picked up some bananas and brown bread (YAAAY FINALLY). I should have got more cookies because now I'm craving sweet stuff.

Just when I was nearing the corner where I would have to turn to get to my apartment, I saw a tiny plant store and I suddenly had the urge to go in. I think I had subconsciously decided that I wanted a plant for my apartment. I greeted the owner with "annyeong-haseo" but the older looking man responded with, "hello, how are you?" I had unknowingly found an English-speaking Korean! Yaaaay! His name was Jeong and he was super friendly! He automatically started conversing with me in almost fluent English; he explained that before he retired, he was a mechanical engineer and he had lived in many places around world such as Mexico, Phillipines, South Africa, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. Jeong insisted that if I needed anything, I could drop by the plant shop and he and his wife would help me out! Such a nice couple! They even suggested a small plant, called kompact plant, that would be easy for me to take care of. Here's my new living partner, my plant:

As I walked up the hill to my apartment with a new plant in one hand and a bag of bananas and bread in the other, I came to a realization: my apartment door is the only thing that stands in the way of me experiencing all the amazing things that Korea has to offer, whether those things include discovering new places, meeting amazing people, or just absorbing the Korean culture. All I have to do is make the decision to turn that door knob and see where life takes me.

Girls' Weekend:

I hear soft raindrops falling on my window. The sky has been robbed of its light by now. I'm sipping on my steaming masala chai (thanks to my Ma who made me pack a box). The sounds of Norah Jones' soothing voice are filling the space in my small apartment. I should be lesson planning for the parents' English class I will soon be responsible for teaching but clearly, I don't want to. I'm in the mood to blog.

This past weekend, three of my girlfriends stayed at my place. On Saturday, we decided to do a little shopping. We took the subway to Shinsegae Department Store in Centum City. This department store is the world's largest department store! Jealous yet?! When we walked through the doors, I was astonished at how many luxury stores I saw around me. Shinsegae not only has 14 floors, 60 international luxury brand stores (e.g. Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Coach, Bvlgari, Fendi, Ferragamo, omg the list goes on forever)and more than 40 famous cosmetic brand stores, but also a "Spa Land," a variety of restaurants, a fresh market, a golf range, an art gallery, a cinema, an ice rink, and a park. Can you say amazing?! When I saw all the luxurious brands I thought of one person: AMITA KAPUR! I decided I had to take pictures of the brands to show her. Mind you, my friends and I didn't actually visit every single floor of the department store because I honestly think that would take more than one day. Therefore, my pictures are not reflective of all the wonders that exist in this one department store.

(cough cough Amita)

Of course, I bought absolutely nothing from Shinsegae because I couldn't afford anything! Oops, I did buy something... a blow dryer =D Yay! I plan on going back another time to thoroughly explore the many levels of this shopper's paradise. Oh and wait! I was also able to pick up a shiny, brand-new Korean boyfriend =D