The next thing I had to do was apply to a language program. One of the main reasons I came to Korea was to become fluent in Korean again, but hopefully not at the expense of forgetting English again. I didn't want to go my whole life communicating with my family speaking broken Korean. Can you imagine you talk to your family only speaking broken English? Anyway, So I applied to Seoul National University, which is the most prestigious university in Korea, but that doesn't necessarily mean their language institute is the best, but I hope it is! The semester is from March 3 to May 9. I think 9am -1 pm 5 days a week. Application is the 14th, and of course I apply last minute as usual.
Oh and before I go any further, a big shout out to people who are too lazy to put a password on their wireless network. If it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't be able to write these blogs :)
So one Wednesday night I went to eat with my uncle and one of my older cousin. We were off to eat some pork ribs and meet two of my uncle's longtime friends. The food was delicious, and between the 6 of us we went through 13 bottles of Soju. Soju is fairly cheap, approximately $3-$4 for about 7 shots. Even though it's only 40 proof, I swear to God that shit creeps up on you quick. And unlike America, there is drinking etiquette over here. For example you usually don't pour your own shots, someone else does it for you, and if they are older you have to receive it with two hands to show respect. This is supposed to promote a spirit of thoughtfulness and camaraderie. Another rule is if you turn your body away from older people when you are drinking so you are not directly facing them. For more info on the drinking etiquette here, check out this article.
I also want to mention that drinking with your male relatives is fairly common. Also usually when you start drinking, you usually hop from restaurant to restaurant where you eat more food and keep drinking. We then walked a few blocks to eat some chicken and drink some beer. At this point I'm a bit wasted, but since the beer was already ordered I didn't have a choice. Me and my cousins intentions that night were to meet up with two of my other cousins 진경이 and 진규 and go to a club. On way there, holy shit all the alcohol all the sudden kicked in and I could barely function. When we met up with my other cousins, we went to another restaurant so they could drink too. I instead, sat there with my head on the table unable to function. Eventually I get up to throw up all the good food I ate that night. My head felt like someone was squeezing at my temples and I felt like I was already hungover! My cousin thought it would be a bright idea to drink some more. Later that night on the taxi ride home, the taxi driver told us the cost as he dropped us off, and my cousin proceeded to ask him 'why?', then after that he hung on for deer life as he threw up in a bush.
It snowed for the first time while I was there on the 10th of January. I was at my aunt's house in Bucheon, a near by city right outside of Seoul. This is the pic I took. You know one thing that's been pissing me off? The Bathroom light switches aren't inside the bathroom, but instead on the outside! Every time I walk in, I have to walk back out. Oh well I'll get used to it.
While in Bucheon I got to see the Home plus, which is basically a Korean Walmart, except with nicer quality products and random other places stuffed in it like drycleaning, seperate clothing stores, various restaurants, travel agencies, appliance-rental firms, pharmacies and a multilevel parking garage. I wish there was one in Seoul near where I lived. The only annoying thing is there are people on every isle who try to get your attention about sales, but the good thing is some of those girls wear these short skirts and fluffy boots... now imagine if Walmart did that with all the ghetto hoes that work there.
I have the desire to get back in shape lately. My family also let me know I got fatter sincethe last
time I saw them, so all the more reason. The Han River, which splits the Seoul has exercise equipment over there. The problem is it's too damn cold lately, mainly from winds. I was never good at long distance running in my peak years, but I could at least run 3 miles without stopping. Now a days 1 mile is a struggle, and a "goal" .... *sigh*
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