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!
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