I figure it's time for a new blog as I have been here a little over two weeks. I'm never really sure on where to start with these. Fare warning, this will become very disorganized, jumbled and super random as all of my memories are thrown together. I just realized I have taken almost no pictures over the last week and I apologize in advance for how daunting all of these words must seem. I probably wouldn't want to read it all either but I assure you that it might possibly be worth your time.
Time here has seems to go by fast as I find myself sitting in my room each night, ready for bed at 9:30. But then again, it feels like I have been here way longer than 2 weeks. Many of the other exchangers said the same as they hit the two week mark and now I fully understand what that means now. I have been very busy with starting school, going to university in the afternoon with the other 20+ exchangers in my district, eating food (some delicious and some that I can live with out) and meeting new friends.
Koreans are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I feel so welcomed here by everyone, including the girls in my high school class. They taken me under their wings and guided me through the basic steps to a successful day at Taekwang High. I started school last monday with six other exchangers, two from France, one from Japan, one from Mexico and one from Brazil. I have a feeling they will become family by the end of this year because I spend every day with them for multiple hours on end. School here is much different from back home in the U.S. and I must say, I kind of miss it. I find myself leaving my apartment around 6 to catch a bus to the train station and wait for a train to take me to school. All in all it takes about and hour and a half to get to school. Here in S.K. we stay in the same classroom while the teachers move around, accept for the occasional music class or worship hour. I get to wear a uniform, which I posted about last time I think. I previously thought that it would be nice to wear one because I wouldn't have to worry about what outfit to wear for the day but I have changed my mind. I think I like wearing my own, comfortable clothes to school instead of layers upon layers of skirt and shirts/sweater vests. Besides that little down fall, I really enjoy the girls that sit around me. The girl that sits to my left has started teaching me Korean each day. She gives me 10 vocab words to work on in exchange for me helping her with her english. A lot of kids will come up to me asking how to pronounce words like, "will", "cease" and "magnificent". I feel so helpful (: One thing that is also different as school is the amount of kids that sleep through class. Depending on the class, as many as half of the kids will have their heads on their desks practically snoring. It is not uncommon for the students to bring little blankets and pillows with them to class. The teachers don't seem to mind because all of the students stay up super late studying or at academy classes. Schools here are very focused on studying. Girls and boys are rarely intermixed. In class and the cafeteria, girls sit on one side while boys sit on the other. This is partly because the school makes it that way and partly because girls here seem to be stuck in the middle school stage of "boys have cooties". It is definitely part of a major culture shock with this happening because back home half of my closest friends are guys.
After 4 hours of class and lunch, the six of us head out for University or Tae Kwon Do, which I have talked about already. In the short week that we have been going, I have started to look forward to this part of the day most because I am around more students my age, hanging out with all of the exchange students and learning Korean/Korean culture. Tues.-Firday are U days. Tuesday we learn K-pop dancing. As of now we are learning the dance to "Gangnam Style" which is pronounced like "Kahngnahm Sty" for those of you non-Korean speakers. The dance is super fun to learn but a challenge because of the speed. If you haven't heard the song yet here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 or type in Gangnam Style on youtube. Seriously a hilarious song that is full of irony and takes Kpop to a new level because it is so different than the rest of the love songs and teenybopper songs that are common among other kpop groups. I am sure that many Americans have no idea what the song is about so here is a little explanation to let your imagination take a break. Gangnam is a VERY wealthy community in Seoul. The people of this community live a lifestyle unlike most of the population of South Korea. With this info, I think the song makes much more sense than just being hilarious. Here is another link to a website called eatyourkimchi.com that does reviews on kpop music and culture, I have come to love this website! within the website you can find their review of the song on one of the Music Mondays and this video is of them on a news show talking about the song and how Korean Gov't may be using Kpop as a way to gain soft power. (I feel so knowledgeable using that word but I got it from this video) Beware! this video is 34 minutes. http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/eatyourkimchi-al-jazeera-and-k-pop/ . Now back on topic. Our class is taught by a few students from the university and have been so gracious with their time and energy. Teaching 20+ kids who speak varying amounts of english and not knowing much english themselves must be so draining. Wednesdays and Fridays we take actual Korean classes ( all of these classes are just exchangers and no other students from the U). So far my group has learned the alphabet and how to do introductions. I was already familiar with the Alphabet before I started but it was super helpful actually sitting in a class learning instead of trying to teach myself. Thursday is movie day. We haven't finished the first movie yet but when we do, we will have group discussions to talk about that movie and (surely) speak in Korean.
Hopefully this isn't getting too long for you but I promise I will try to wrap things up soon!
Last friday four of us exchangers were asked to come a little early to take pictures with some of the university students for an advertisement. Little did we know that this photo shoot was actually a movie shoot for a TV ad. I am not sure when or where it will be shown but it was a fun two hours and worth the free coffee at the end. In all there were us four exchangers, a professor from Australia who had a wicked sweet accent and about 10 Korean Students. It was a lot of sitting around tables in a café having random conversations and pretending to study while cameras were rolling and moving around us. In the actual ad our voices will not be heard. Which I must say is a relief because I am probably one of the world's worst actors. The Australian prof was intrigued by our year abroad and invited the four of us to join in on his class one day to answer a few questions for him. I can't quite remember what he teaches but something about politics and english. It will be pretty easy for me to answer his questions because I am a native english speaker but I have a feeling it will be a tad harder for the French kids and Brazilian kid to understand what he is asking. I look forward to this opportunity to spend a little more time at the U and experiencing college classes. Maybe next semester I can switch to a university? we will see, I should probably talk to Rotary first...
As you can see I am very busy with not a lot of time spent at home. I get home around 7 each night, eat dinner, read or watch TV for a little while and then hit the hay around 9:30 because I am so tired from the full day and also from getting up at 5:30 to get ready for school. Weekends are pretty chill around here so far. Either filled with meeting up with a few family members or just watching tv with my Omma and host brother. My host brother leaves this Thursday for Manhattan, MT to finish high school, which is just out side of Bozeman. Being a pretty frequent visitor to that area over the years I took that chance to warn him that it is in the middle of NO WHERE. A few emotions crossed his face when I said this. First it was shock, then utter fear and then just blank... he is used to being in the city with lots of buildings, buses and people everywhere. I assured him that it is beautiful there and that he will have a good time as long as he enjoys skiing and bundling up during the winter. I will be sad to see him go because he has been such a big help over the last two weeks as a translator and someone just to talk to while I am at home. Hopefully he won't have too hard of a time being so far away from anything close to a large city but I think he will do fine. He has spent every year of high school either in the U.S. or France so he knows what its like to be away from home for long periods of time. I wish I could say they same thing, but that day will come soon enough!
Enough of my rambling for now...
I will try and keep all of my random thoughts and daily occurrences stowed away somewhere in my head for next time.
I have not been very busy this last month. I have spent a lot of time in my room reading and watching movies. School is wrapping up and the last two weeks have been filled with a lot of naps on my desk and watching korean movies with my classmates and teachers. I was able to go into Seoul a few times to do some exploring and had some korean friends show me to some really popular tourist spots. Seoul is a very beautiful city with traditional buildings mixed in with modern architecture, and a TON of people. With the population reaching almost twelve million, streets, buses and trains are always crowded. I have the next two months off of school, which will give me more time to explore and hang out with friends. 
