Wow I've learned so much!!! I used to think ignorance is bliss now I just recognize how ignorant I am and I'm so ashamed. I can't believe how much I have learned about South Korea's history since I have gotten here and I feel like I really have no idea what the history of this place holds. What did I take away from my history class if I learned absolutely nothing about Korea's history? And have you ever heard of Korean Comfort Women? Essentially they were kidnapped and forced into North Korea to be women of comfort which is exactly what it sounds like. SO SAD!!! But North Korea to this day denies any of it and is trying to convince the world it never happened. Seeing as how some of these women are alive still today I think they are going to have a hard time convincing that. But I really can't write a ton about the matter because I'm ignorant and I haven't done research to help me understand all the details and be able to accurately portray the details so I should just stop there but encourage my readers to research it themselves.
Moving on to something fun. The last time I wrote was seriously dry and I promise to be much more entertaining from here on out. So much has happened but where to begin?!!! Well first let me start with my first fun taxi experience. We got into the cab and in my newly acquired vocab I told the driver "Juseao Diaso"- roughly translated that means "give me Diaso". The driver mumbled something to which I responded to with "Diaso". What is Diaso you ask, it is basically a dollar store- some things are a little more than a dollar but not much. Well the driver asked something else that I just couldn't understand and it was followed by "Jochiwon". Jochiwon just so happens to be the town we are in and so I repeated "Jochiwon" with a grunt (because cavemen used to grunt to get a point across and it worked for them so clearly it would work for me). Well he started going and I figured I had gotten my point across. About 5 minutes later we pulled up to a sidewalk and the driver turned a light on and waited for us. I looked around... no Diaso. Clearly I am not meant to speak Korean just yet when I only have a vocab of like 3 uncertain phrases. No, we were not at Diaso. So I'm like "uh... Diaso?" The driver just looked at me for a moment with an expression like "I have no idea what you want lady". I didn't know what to do so I repeated myself and then the driver -probably trying to get rid of us more than truly wanting to get us where we had asked said "Tie so" (Because D and T are kind of interchangeable...I mean it depends on the situation and who you talk to. But yeah D and T work together.) So I'm like *grunt* "Tiaso" with a head nod. The people I shared the taxi with were like- never again do we let Lyndee speak for us. I have learned that taxis here feel privileged to the entire road. So as we sped down VERY NARROW alleys I watched from the back middle seat as people ran for their lives to get out of this driver's way. I am seriously not exaggerating when I say that every time there was a pedestrian in the road the taxi would speed up. I thought I was about to become an accessory to murder. I am pretty sure that was the most intense ride I have been on yet because I didn't know what to expect. Now I just kind of expect it to be a scary trip and I just close my eyes. Mom, pretend like you didn't just read that and skip the next sentence. Hahaha- I seriously worry for safety at times in the taxis but they make for great stories afterwards. :) But no, I am safe I promise!!! Well we finally arrived safely to Diaso without harming any innocent bystanders and all in all I think it was a successful trip.
I have tons more great experiences but I probably won't share them all. We sit in lectures ALL DAY and then we have projects that we work on at night. So my time for blogging is short. Even now it is like 1 AM and I'm yawning wondering why I started writing so late when I have no energy. But I enjoy sharing my experiences so I don't care honestly. But I better get to bed. I hope all my loved ones are safe and healthy. Take care. :)
ps- I have tons of pics and videos I intend on sharing but give me time to get that done. TTYL Bye!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
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| Good bye USA |
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| Yep, that says there is 17 hours and 57 minutes of plane time remaining |
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| Headed UP towards Alaska. |
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| Toothbrush, toothpaste, socks with carry case- all free, and amazing menu! |
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| 17 hours later: We went so far!!! And we curved. Weird! |
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| Look at how far we traveled in one flight!! (but that isn't even the full amount of traveling for the day) |
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| We were in Korea!!! |
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| We landed in Incheon- then we drove almost 2 hours to Jochiwon. |
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
In the Beginning
Hello family and friends!! I am pretty proud of myself that I have taken the time to sit down and figure out how to have a blog like I said I would. Well, where to start? Korea is amazing! Period! There are now other words to describe this experience. Just amazing!! I am having a great time out here. Before you begin reading I will warn you- I am wordy and my grammar sucks. If you don't like it, don't read it. But you will be missing out BIG TIME!!
Alright, this is a post for everyone who said they were going to live vicariously through me. Imagine you are me and leaving USA for the first time ever.... (pretty much I even documented with pictures the route the plane took because it was interesting. We flew over Alaska and Russia)
The journey began at about 5:30 am on Saturday Feb. 2nd. After about two hours of sleep I woke up, got ready as quickly as possible, loaded the car and we were off. When I arrived at the airport one bag was 3lbs overweight so we pulled a pair of pants out and somehow my amazing mother fit those pants into my already exploding Mary Poppins carry on and I was on my way. Through security- oh ps, I was so layered that they had to pat 1 arm down. That is right, I said one arm. I had on everything that wouldn't fit in my suitcase pretty much! After security I met up with my friend Colten and then the journey began. We got lucky enough to sit next to each other the entire 18 hours. I'm not sure when it happened but at one point we lost an entire day so basically as you read this back home I technically haven't even written this yet. Let me explain- I am an entire day ahead of you so basically this will be written tomorrow.
Our first ride was with Delta and they switched our seats to accommodate us and allow us to be near each other. We got lucky enough to have the emergency exit seats and the leg room was indescribably wonderful!! Our next flight was not as lucky with the leg room but let me tell you, it was quite the experience!!
Riding internationally. First off we were in San Francisco and we walked to the International part of the airport. -now I don't know if you have seen this but you know the scene in "Men In Black" the first movie when Will Smith just gets hired and he sees a room of aliens for the first time? Well I'm not saying I felt like the people around me were like aliens- but I am saying I felt like I was in a very different world than what I was used to. Strange thing was- I was in California.
We rode Singapore Airlines. I don't know how many of you have traveled internationally before but if you are ever planning on traveling internationally- GO SINGAPORE AIRLINES!!! They have been rated number one airlines for a reason!!! Oh man, it was the best flight EVER!!! To begin with my carry on weighed twice as much as the allowed weight and they actually- shhh don't tell because I don't want to get the man in trouble- they actually waved the fee for me and checked my bag for free. Then the flight attendants had on the most incredible and beautiful uniforms I have ever seen. I loved it. On top of looking very fancy- the customer service was off the charts fantastic!!! They loaded our HUGE plane in less than 10 minutes. They helped everyone get situated and they put people's luggage up for us to help us load faster and it was just a good experience. As the flight began they gave us a warm towel. I was in economy, not first class. I didn't know I was allowed to have such special treatment. THEN they gave us a pair of socks and a toothbrush with toothpaste in a convenient carry case. FREE!! THEN, they handed us this menu that was unbelievable with options and everything. The food was good- it was Korean food. I was pooped. I slept for about 15 minutes then I watched movies that were free and I think some of them are actually still in theaters in America. Also with the movies we had the option of playing video games or learning languages. I studied some Korean but basically walked away being able to say dog. That was it, just dog. But hey, I learned something! This is being honest, not stereotyping- Koreans drink... a lot!!! I don't drink- never have, don't have a desire to, never will. That's just me. I had begun to develop a migraine from lack of sleep and just everything that was going on around me. Smells really got to me and I thought for sure I would be sick. I tried to sleep but shortly after falling asleep the lady sitting next to Colten pushed her call light and one of the very friendly staff almost got their eardrums blown by my startled reaction to their face so close to mine as I woke up with them leaning in to hear her. Luckily I was able to control myself and held it in. But boy was I scared and my head hurt- but that was a tangent. What I was going to say was that I asked the flight attendant for juice and suddenly he was offering me alcohol. Free. He just was so sure it was what I would want. He was eager to offer it to me and I can only imagine that he was probably trying to calm my nerves after the reaction he got from me waking up the way I did. In America alcohol would never be suggested on a flight, only requested. And it would never be free. It was interesting to start to see little changes.
Moving on... There was the cutest baby on our flight that looked like a mini sumo wrestler that had a head of fluffy Tweety bird hair and her parents decided that it was cute to put Shrek ears on her. Poor kid!!! But she was cute and fun to watch...entertaining might be the better word. Anyway, she made the flight more enjoyable even if my head hurt. Oh and there was a little boy who was trying to get past the flight attendant to go to the bathroom and I told him to just tap the attendant and he would move. MAN, I wish I could have taken a picture of the face that kid gave me. He looked like I had just spoke gibberish. Well I soon put two and two together and realized that to him I did speak gibberish- he doesn't speak English. Oops- I bet I'll get a lot of that. I just want to say once more I highly HIGHLY recommend traveling with Singapore Airlines if you ever get the opportunity!!
Finally got to the airport in Incheon South Korea, met up with people from the TaLK program, and headed to our busses. We stopped and got our currency exchanged then went for a bottled water. I got so excited about the coin I was given in change that I flat out left my water at the counter after paying. The only reason I had it later was because they cashier just yelled "OOOHH!!" at me until I realized what had happened. Hey, I was tired and I was entertained by my shiny new coin.
Finally after almost another two hours we arrived at the Korean University in Jochiwon South Korea where I will be for the next three weeks. I haven't slept in a while... don't know how long at this point but a while. At 10 pm on Sunday evening here in Korea I finally headed to bed. I woke up Saturday at 5:30 am after to 2 hours of sleep and it is 10pm Sunday and I have maybe had an hour of sleep between then and now. I lost a day. I'm exhausted. Need sleep!! Goodnight all.
PS, After this post my others I promise will be more exciting. This one just was a little less exciting because I didn't move for like 18 hours and I was awake like the whole time too- I feel I adequately portrayed the long day I experienced. Thank heavens for Colten, I might have died without his company. Longest day ever but it was worth it to be here!!
Alright, this is a post for everyone who said they were going to live vicariously through me. Imagine you are me and leaving USA for the first time ever.... (pretty much I even documented with pictures the route the plane took because it was interesting. We flew over Alaska and Russia)
The journey began at about 5:30 am on Saturday Feb. 2nd. After about two hours of sleep I woke up, got ready as quickly as possible, loaded the car and we were off. When I arrived at the airport one bag was 3lbs overweight so we pulled a pair of pants out and somehow my amazing mother fit those pants into my already exploding Mary Poppins carry on and I was on my way. Through security- oh ps, I was so layered that they had to pat 1 arm down. That is right, I said one arm. I had on everything that wouldn't fit in my suitcase pretty much! After security I met up with my friend Colten and then the journey began. We got lucky enough to sit next to each other the entire 18 hours. I'm not sure when it happened but at one point we lost an entire day so basically as you read this back home I technically haven't even written this yet. Let me explain- I am an entire day ahead of you so basically this will be written tomorrow.
Our first ride was with Delta and they switched our seats to accommodate us and allow us to be near each other. We got lucky enough to have the emergency exit seats and the leg room was indescribably wonderful!! Our next flight was not as lucky with the leg room but let me tell you, it was quite the experience!!
Riding internationally. First off we were in San Francisco and we walked to the International part of the airport. -now I don't know if you have seen this but you know the scene in "Men In Black" the first movie when Will Smith just gets hired and he sees a room of aliens for the first time? Well I'm not saying I felt like the people around me were like aliens- but I am saying I felt like I was in a very different world than what I was used to. Strange thing was- I was in California.
We rode Singapore Airlines. I don't know how many of you have traveled internationally before but if you are ever planning on traveling internationally- GO SINGAPORE AIRLINES!!! They have been rated number one airlines for a reason!!! Oh man, it was the best flight EVER!!! To begin with my carry on weighed twice as much as the allowed weight and they actually- shhh don't tell because I don't want to get the man in trouble- they actually waved the fee for me and checked my bag for free. Then the flight attendants had on the most incredible and beautiful uniforms I have ever seen. I loved it. On top of looking very fancy- the customer service was off the charts fantastic!!! They loaded our HUGE plane in less than 10 minutes. They helped everyone get situated and they put people's luggage up for us to help us load faster and it was just a good experience. As the flight began they gave us a warm towel. I was in economy, not first class. I didn't know I was allowed to have such special treatment. THEN they gave us a pair of socks and a toothbrush with toothpaste in a convenient carry case. FREE!! THEN, they handed us this menu that was unbelievable with options and everything. The food was good- it was Korean food. I was pooped. I slept for about 15 minutes then I watched movies that were free and I think some of them are actually still in theaters in America. Also with the movies we had the option of playing video games or learning languages. I studied some Korean but basically walked away being able to say dog. That was it, just dog. But hey, I learned something! This is being honest, not stereotyping- Koreans drink... a lot!!! I don't drink- never have, don't have a desire to, never will. That's just me. I had begun to develop a migraine from lack of sleep and just everything that was going on around me. Smells really got to me and I thought for sure I would be sick. I tried to sleep but shortly after falling asleep the lady sitting next to Colten pushed her call light and one of the very friendly staff almost got their eardrums blown by my startled reaction to their face so close to mine as I woke up with them leaning in to hear her. Luckily I was able to control myself and held it in. But boy was I scared and my head hurt- but that was a tangent. What I was going to say was that I asked the flight attendant for juice and suddenly he was offering me alcohol. Free. He just was so sure it was what I would want. He was eager to offer it to me and I can only imagine that he was probably trying to calm my nerves after the reaction he got from me waking up the way I did. In America alcohol would never be suggested on a flight, only requested. And it would never be free. It was interesting to start to see little changes.
Moving on... There was the cutest baby on our flight that looked like a mini sumo wrestler that had a head of fluffy Tweety bird hair and her parents decided that it was cute to put Shrek ears on her. Poor kid!!! But she was cute and fun to watch...entertaining might be the better word. Anyway, she made the flight more enjoyable even if my head hurt. Oh and there was a little boy who was trying to get past the flight attendant to go to the bathroom and I told him to just tap the attendant and he would move. MAN, I wish I could have taken a picture of the face that kid gave me. He looked like I had just spoke gibberish. Well I soon put two and two together and realized that to him I did speak gibberish- he doesn't speak English. Oops- I bet I'll get a lot of that. I just want to say once more I highly HIGHLY recommend traveling with Singapore Airlines if you ever get the opportunity!!
Finally got to the airport in Incheon South Korea, met up with people from the TaLK program, and headed to our busses. We stopped and got our currency exchanged then went for a bottled water. I got so excited about the coin I was given in change that I flat out left my water at the counter after paying. The only reason I had it later was because they cashier just yelled "OOOHH!!" at me until I realized what had happened. Hey, I was tired and I was entertained by my shiny new coin.
Finally after almost another two hours we arrived at the Korean University in Jochiwon South Korea where I will be for the next three weeks. I haven't slept in a while... don't know how long at this point but a while. At 10 pm on Sunday evening here in Korea I finally headed to bed. I woke up Saturday at 5:30 am after to 2 hours of sleep and it is 10pm Sunday and I have maybe had an hour of sleep between then and now. I lost a day. I'm exhausted. Need sleep!! Goodnight all.
PS, After this post my others I promise will be more exciting. This one just was a little less exciting because I didn't move for like 18 hours and I was awake like the whole time too- I feel I adequately portrayed the long day I experienced. Thank heavens for Colten, I might have died without his company. Longest day ever but it was worth it to be here!!
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