to mention i witnessed someone actually using a pickup line. delivery was amazing enough to make up for the absolute lack of content and relevancy.
korean 아가씨 1: my name is 이 신혜.
me: oh hey. im 하늘, 만나서 반가워요.
bro 1: oh ahh, 신혜. sounds like 식혜.
korean 아가씨 1 who thinks that bro 1 has misheard: ah no, it's 신혜.
bro 1: oh i know. but it should be 식혜. 식혜 is sweet. sweet like you.
an extremely awkward two seconds pass before she laughs and blushes. amazing.
did i forget to mention this was during a small group meeting consisting of 7 people who didnt know each other at all? well played sir. he did get her phone number.
but so did everyone else with everyone else.
-hanul
Sunday, September 27, 2009
oh right. i have a blog.
time to play catchup. but ill just give yall the cliffnotes for now.
-the video above was taken at the yon-ko games. so im guessing this is the equivalent to dousing your coach in water/gatorade after a game. but this post-game celebration takes that to another level. watch as the yonsei basketball coach gets man-handled by his players. suicides soon to follow.
anyway, i was very surprised about the overall atmosphere at the yon-ko games. witnessing a sea of red and blue moving in unison with their respective cheerleading squads, i was shocked to see the crowds so enthusiastic about their school spirit. even more shocking, the korean natives were completely sober. the people in the stands watched and followed the co-ed cheerleading squad while totally disregarding the score of the games.
the yon-ko games eventually ended in a tie: two wins, two losses, and a tie for both schools. remember how i said that i didn't see any koreans drinking during the games? i should have known better, but no event in korea can be a completely sober one. supposedly, all the people at the games packed sinchon saturday night after the last game was played. they proceeded to march into all the restaurants, hofs, and bars in town and demanded that they supply the students with soju and beer. after extorting all the free alcohol they could get, the students lined up in trains and drank the night away on yonsei campus. the post-games' festivities are also part of this yearly tradition.
where was i at the time? i was at a bar for the debuts of various techno and new-age groups. an above average experience i would say. but too much standing around for my tastes.
classes are alright. but, what ive come to realize is that i cannot drink and go out like i used to. my time here in korea has been far more lax and low-key than two summers ago. this has been a fairly long post, so ill end it here. hopefully, ill blog more frequently from now on.
-hanul
-the video above was taken at the yon-ko games. so im guessing this is the equivalent to dousing your coach in water/gatorade after a game. but this post-game celebration takes that to another level. watch as the yonsei basketball coach gets man-handled by his players. suicides soon to follow.
anyway, i was very surprised about the overall atmosphere at the yon-ko games. witnessing a sea of red and blue moving in unison with their respective cheerleading squads, i was shocked to see the crowds so enthusiastic about their school spirit. even more shocking, the korean natives were completely sober. the people in the stands watched and followed the co-ed cheerleading squad while totally disregarding the score of the games.
the yon-ko games eventually ended in a tie: two wins, two losses, and a tie for both schools. remember how i said that i didn't see any koreans drinking during the games? i should have known better, but no event in korea can be a completely sober one. supposedly, all the people at the games packed sinchon saturday night after the last game was played. they proceeded to march into all the restaurants, hofs, and bars in town and demanded that they supply the students with soju and beer. after extorting all the free alcohol they could get, the students lined up in trains and drank the night away on yonsei campus. the post-games' festivities are also part of this yearly tradition.
where was i at the time? i was at a bar for the debuts of various techno and new-age groups. an above average experience i would say. but too much standing around for my tastes.
classes are alright. but, what ive come to realize is that i cannot drink and go out like i used to. my time here in korea has been far more lax and low-key than two summers ago. this has been a fairly long post, so ill end it here. hopefully, ill blog more frequently from now on.
-hanul
재사 [jae sa]
So this weekend I went home to my grandparents' place for jae sa. Jae sa is basically a ceremony to honor a deceased elder. It's held on the day they passed away, and this one was for my great grandparents. I hadn't participated in this in a while since I'm only in Korea during the summers so I had forgotten what it was all about. Recently I learned in one of my classes that traditional korean culture reinforces the belief of spiritual existence after death, and this was very apparent in this ceremony.
I wish I had brought my camera home this weekend, but my grandmother and aunts spent the last couple days preparing aka cooking a LOT of food. For the ceremony, a large table is set up with the pictures of my great grandparents and all the food that was prepared. Every jae sa needs to have certain food (such as fish, rice cakes, fruit, meet, stew, rice etc) and there's a specific arrangement in which all the dishes must be placed relative to where the ancestors would sit. Before the ceremony the front door is open so the spirits could enter, the lights in the house are turned off, and candles are lit. We welcome the ancestors by doing the traditional korean bow twice. Incense are lit and a small glass of alcohol is poured then is rotated around the incense three times counter clockwise. I don't really know why they do this, but I got to do it because I was the oldest in my generation to be there. There was lots more bowing and bowing and at the end, we each did individual prayers where we asked the ancestors for good health and luck. It was fun participating in the ceremony.
Then we got to eat all the food and i am stufffed. and I brought a lot of the food back with me to the dorms so i have plenty of food to snack on while i write an essay for tomorroww woooooo
Monday, September 21, 2009
Janggo-do
So this weekend Amy and I went on a trip with other international students to Janggo Island. It was an amazing experience. We went to a fishing village and learned to fish with dragnets, pan for sea salt, and dig for clams. We even got to eat the different kinds of fish, squid, and crabs that we caught!
It was really nice to get away from the city and do something more "authentically" Korean.
We saw ajummas making homemade 멸치 (dried anchovies) and waded in water up to our waists while using a huge dragnet to bring in a variety of fish and shellfish. The island itself was also very beautiful and the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming. In fact, one of the ajashis kept repeating over and over how glad they were that we were visiting. I guess they don't get many visitors and life on the island gets pretty monotonous.
Makes you really appreciate what you have. Life in Hanover gets pretty dull sometimes, but I can't imagine living on a little island like Janggo-do and doing the same things each day with the same people. That being said, I would definitely visit again. It was nice to get out of my comfort zone and experience some of the more base pleasures in life.
Pictures below!
700 year old restaurant!
pit stop at the west beach
bus buddies with one of the locals :)
It was really nice to get away from the city and do something more "authentically" Korean.
We saw ajummas making homemade 멸치 (dried anchovies) and waded in water up to our waists while using a huge dragnet to bring in a variety of fish and shellfish. The island itself was also very beautiful and the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming. In fact, one of the ajashis kept repeating over and over how glad they were that we were visiting. I guess they don't get many visitors and life on the island gets pretty monotonous.
Makes you really appreciate what you have. Life in Hanover gets pretty dull sometimes, but I can't imagine living on a little island like Janggo-do and doing the same things each day with the same people. That being said, I would definitely visit again. It was nice to get out of my comfort zone and experience some of the more base pleasures in life.
Pictures below!
700 year old restaurant!
pit stop at the west beach
cute girls on the ferry!
bus buddies with one of the locals :)
our lavish accomodations
salt field
sunset at Janggo-do!
We caught all of this in our dragnet:
...and then celebrated with the locals!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
korean stamina
last weekend was lots of fun - it was yon-ko-jung, which was ridiculous in itself. it's basically a huge event where yonsei (our school) plays against their rival school (korean university) in five sporting events (baseball, basketball, hockey, rugby, soccer). who knew koreans played rugby?
but what differentiated THESE particular sporting events from say a football game at dartmouth (besides the fact that we WON! GO YONSEI!) is that THOUSANDS of students show up - the stands were a sea of blue (yonsei) on one side and red (korean university) on the other side.
AND the fans spend the ENTIRE game not even watching the sporting event. They have a stage set up next to the field/court/whatever, on top of which are dancers who lead the crowd in cheers and dances.
i.e.
the fans cheered and danced and sang for HOURS. it was just CRAZZYYYY. i got tired after twenty minutes of cheering and screaming. but it was SO MUCH FUN. there's one song where you put your arms around the people on each side of you and you just sway in unison. so the entire crowd was swaying in one motion - i put my arm around someone i didn't even know but that was totally normal. i felt a certain connection to my school (yonsei), my people, and my country. it's cheesy and hard to describe but i just felt like a part of a bigger thing.
but what differentiated THESE particular sporting events from say a football game at dartmouth (besides the fact that we WON! GO YONSEI!) is that THOUSANDS of students show up - the stands were a sea of blue (yonsei) on one side and red (korean university) on the other side.
AND the fans spend the ENTIRE game not even watching the sporting event. They have a stage set up next to the field/court/whatever, on top of which are dancers who lead the crowd in cheers and dances.
i.e.
the fans cheered and danced and sang for HOURS. it was just CRAZZYYYY. i got tired after twenty minutes of cheering and screaming. but it was SO MUCH FUN. there's one song where you put your arms around the people on each side of you and you just sway in unison. so the entire crowd was swaying in one motion - i put my arm around someone i didn't even know but that was totally normal. i felt a certain connection to my school (yonsei), my people, and my country. it's cheesy and hard to describe but i just felt like a part of a bigger thing.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A mini photostory
Things there are no shortage of in Korea:
Man purses
CUTE BABIES!
Also, a little name-dropping. We had dinner the other night with some Dartmouth alums who are currently in Seoul. Pic below with Michael Kim '90, who is the Associate Dean of the Underwood International College at Yonsei.
COUPLES
I feel like everywhere I go I am surrounded by couples. Maybe I just notice it more because it is so different from Dartmouth, but really...pda everywhere.
also, manpris (capris for men)
I feel like everywhere I go I am surrounded by couples. Maybe I just notice it more because it is so different from Dartmouth, but really...pda everywhere.
also, manpris (capris for men)
Man purses
They are everywhere! There are a lot of messenger bags and backpacks, but also a noticeably large population of men with handbags. Maybe it is because of the difference in fashion? Men here often dress nicer than the women and wear tighter clothes. Still haven't gotten used to it...
CUTE BABIES!
self explanatory.
Palaces
A few pics from the Gyeongbokgung palace... (more to come)
Also, a little name-dropping. We had dinner the other night with some Dartmouth alums who are currently in Seoul. Pic below with Michael Kim '90, who is the Associate Dean of the Underwood International College at Yonsei.
Now off to do mountains of Korean Language homework...
korean department stores
are stressful/scary/hilarious/intimidating
I went with my family to go shopping today and they wanted to buy me a pair of nice shoes. so we go to the shoe floor which is in itself so intimidating because they legit have millions of shoes everywhere. but each little section for different brands have their own reps. so like 2 guys for each brand. and they just stand in front of their place YELLING at you as you walk down the aisle. this one guy was like "PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR SHOES! TAKE A CHANCE ON US! WE WON'T LET YOU DOWN!" it was like a whiny boyfriend or something. haha. and the first phrase these people learn when they start working with shoes must be "TRY THEM ON" okay i know i can try them on. they're shoes. if i like them, i will ask for my size. but as soon as they catch you even glancing toward the direction of their shoes, they will attack you and repeat that phrase over and over until you give in and finally try a pair on. but in the end, i did decide on a pair of shoes with the hilarious "take a chance on us" guys. and this is where it gets even more intense. they like measure my feet (not only the length but like the width and the circumference (?) and are like we can add padding here and there to make it really confortable. i was amazed. so i'm really excited to see how these shoes turn out and hopefully they will be the most comfortable heels ever to exist on the planet (not like the shoes that literally cut my feet all over the place. my feet our currently covered in bandaids. but they're these really cool bandaids that are supposed to help you grow new skin there and reduce scars?? so we'll see how that works..)
besides that it's been really great being home for the weekend. it's going to be hard adjusting to dorm life after this..
also we just got these super huge dumplings for dinner. like each one is the size of a softball. so that should be delicious.
also first question my grandmother asks me when i get home is "have you gotten a boyfriend?" oh korea.. hahahaa..
I went with my family to go shopping today and they wanted to buy me a pair of nice shoes. so we go to the shoe floor which is in itself so intimidating because they legit have millions of shoes everywhere. but each little section for different brands have their own reps. so like 2 guys for each brand. and they just stand in front of their place YELLING at you as you walk down the aisle. this one guy was like "PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR SHOES! TAKE A CHANCE ON US! WE WON'T LET YOU DOWN!" it was like a whiny boyfriend or something. haha. and the first phrase these people learn when they start working with shoes must be "TRY THEM ON" okay i know i can try them on. they're shoes. if i like them, i will ask for my size. but as soon as they catch you even glancing toward the direction of their shoes, they will attack you and repeat that phrase over and over until you give in and finally try a pair on. but in the end, i did decide on a pair of shoes with the hilarious "take a chance on us" guys. and this is where it gets even more intense. they like measure my feet (not only the length but like the width and the circumference (?) and are like we can add padding here and there to make it really confortable. i was amazed. so i'm really excited to see how these shoes turn out and hopefully they will be the most comfortable heels ever to exist on the planet (not like the shoes that literally cut my feet all over the place. my feet our currently covered in bandaids. but they're these really cool bandaids that are supposed to help you grow new skin there and reduce scars?? so we'll see how that works..)
besides that it's been really great being home for the weekend. it's going to be hard adjusting to dorm life after this..
also we just got these super huge dumplings for dinner. like each one is the size of a softball. so that should be delicious.
also first question my grandmother asks me when i get home is "have you gotten a boyfriend?" oh korea.. hahahaa..
going out in seoul.
lesson #1: despite what people say, korean people are still much more conservative than we think. we discovered this when my roommate and i went out in normal american going out clothes (dress, top/shorts). we got lots of surprised/dirty looks from the entire seoul population as soon as we left our dorm till we got to the bars. sooo embarrassingggg
lesson #2: korean guys are very easily intimidated by english. we went to this bar in hongdae called the ho bar (a very popular bar apparently in korea). but whenever we talked to guys, as soon as they found out we spoke english more than korean, would freeze. one guy kept saying whatsuppppp over and over again. only one guy was brave enough to actually have a conversation with us.
lesson #3: despite my lesson #1 about korea being conservative, the nightlife is amazing. the main partying areas are filled with bars and clubs, lights everywhere. a huge change from the hanover partying scene. and for some reason, the bars have very sexual sounding drinks. like the orgasm shot? or at this one bar they had a series of "pussy shots." they thought they were really clever. we were slightly disgusted. lol.
lesson #4: korea drinks. a lot. all the cafes serve cocktails (even this place that sells waffles and pancakes). and people drink at all times of the day. i'll go out to lunch and see korean men downing shots of soju. haha. i guess it is true that koreans are the biggest drinkers in the world!
lesson #2: korean guys are very easily intimidated by english. we went to this bar in hongdae called the ho bar (a very popular bar apparently in korea). but whenever we talked to guys, as soon as they found out we spoke english more than korean, would freeze. one guy kept saying whatsuppppp over and over again. only one guy was brave enough to actually have a conversation with us.
lesson #3: despite my lesson #1 about korea being conservative, the nightlife is amazing. the main partying areas are filled with bars and clubs, lights everywhere. a huge change from the hanover partying scene. and for some reason, the bars have very sexual sounding drinks. like the orgasm shot? or at this one bar they had a series of "pussy shots." they thought they were really clever. we were slightly disgusted. lol.
lesson #4: korea drinks. a lot. all the cafes serve cocktails (even this place that sells waffles and pancakes). and people drink at all times of the day. i'll go out to lunch and see korean men downing shots of soju. haha. i guess it is true that koreans are the biggest drinkers in the world!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
i have arrived
some things i found amusing about my hasookjip.
the kitchens always have:
rice, water, kimchee, eggs, ramen, coffee powder, pots/pans
so basically, im going to eat ramen with a cup of instant coffee every day for breakfast.
the only thing separating my bed from my toilet and shower is a glass door.
the first floor of my hasookjip complex has a bar called Beer O'Clock. wait, what time was it again? oh right, drinking time!
-hanul
the kitchens always have:
rice, water, kimchee, eggs, ramen, coffee powder, pots/pans
so basically, im going to eat ramen with a cup of instant coffee every day for breakfast.
the only thing separating my bed from my toilet and shower is a glass door.
the first floor of my hasookjip complex has a bar called Beer O'Clock. wait, what time was it again? oh right, drinking time!
-hanul
classes!
we started classes yesterday!
I was actually really excited for classes to start because i felt like i've been lazying around too much. haha. it's been really fun going to classes and meeting new students... but now i am realizing i'm going to have to do homework.. like LOTS of homework.. haha i think all of my classes are going to be interesting. Joyce and i are trying to get into this international organizations class... and using our dartmouth connections to do so! Michael Kim, the dean of underwood international college, is a '90 from dartmouth. and we asked him if he could get us into the class. so hopefully that will happen :)
Today i met my language exchange partner. basically they pair up an english speaker and a korean speaker and we're supposed to like learn more of each others' languages/cultures. so when we were making plans for lunch via text message, i was expecting a guy my age. (i was also guessing he was a boy because with korean names its kinda hard to determine what sex the person is.. haha) but turns out he's 25 and slightly fatherly. haha i wanted to meet more yonsei students through him but at least he's really sweet. he's taking us to han river this weekend to go on the boat! i'm excited. also in korea every male has to do 2 years of army service, and he was telling us about his experience and turns out he served in afghanistan for 6 months! i didn't know they had korean soldiers there. but the funny thing was apparently he hung out with a lot of black and mexican soldiers there and learned a very.. "colorful" language. unfortunately he couldnt remember much of it.
We also had our first korean language class today. Joyce and I are in the same class... it was quite boring. we took another test for the first hour and corrected it for the second half. it was funny cuz before class started we were all talking or what not but as soon as the class started no one would talk. and the prof would be like what's the correct answer for this? pause.. no answer.. then answer it herself. this went on for the whole class... it was awkward.
anyways. i'm getting ready to start my first homework assignment at yonsei... listening to some milkman jamzz... fahey 3 shirt on... stomach full of korean fried chicken (mmm)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I write on this too much.
On the bus on the way home from Sinchon, I came to a realization.
I really love Korea.
I love how pretty it is.
I love how easy it is to get around and how cheap the public transportation is.
I love how family-oriented everyone is and how even the cab drivers tell you to be safe when dropping you off at night.
I love how the subway tracks have permanent openings that you would never find in the U.S. because people might fall in and/or sue.
I love the weather right now.
I love the massive amounts of food carts on the sides of the roads.
I love how shopping in the subway is normal.
I love the way it's perfectly normal for a college-age male to hold his grandpa's hand while walking in the street.
I love how when you buy things here a lot of places give you free stuff.
I love how Koreans understand the word "suh-tuh-rah-bae-ri" but not "strawberry."
I really think I want to come live here for a few years after I graduate and become fluent in Korean.
I know this was a random post. Killing some time between classes. Chillin with the cleaning lady, who has finally come to service our apartment! Yay for hotel-like living conditions :)
I really love Korea.
I love how pretty it is.
I love how easy it is to get around and how cheap the public transportation is.
I love how family-oriented everyone is and how even the cab drivers tell you to be safe when dropping you off at night.
I love how the subway tracks have permanent openings that you would never find in the U.S. because people might fall in and/or sue.
I love the weather right now.
I love the massive amounts of food carts on the sides of the roads.
I love how shopping in the subway is normal.
I love the way it's perfectly normal for a college-age male to hold his grandpa's hand while walking in the street.
I love how when you buy things here a lot of places give you free stuff.
I love how Koreans understand the word "suh-tuh-rah-bae-ri" but not "strawberry."
I really think I want to come live here for a few years after I graduate and become fluent in Korean.
I know this was a random post. Killing some time between classes. Chillin with the cleaning lady, who has finally come to service our apartment! Yay for hotel-like living conditions :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)