April 27, 2011 Gyeonggi-Do 경기-도 - Samsung-Dong 삼성-도, Kangnam-Gu 강남-구, Seoul-Si 서울시

I can't express it in words correctly how I feel but I absolutely love my grandfather!!!!!  He is so sweet and I love him to death.  He always gives me hugs, makes sure that I have eaten lots, and always trys to feed me candy.  He gets so happy when I'm with him and smiles often.  I'm still having a little trouble understanding him but I can sense what he says and he is so sweet.  He was so funny Wednesday morning.  저는 아침을 먹으면서 할아버지가 혼자 화투를 쳐요/While I was eating breakfast, he was playing Go-Stop by himself (cho-neun ah-chim eur moh-geu-myun-soh ha-rah-boh-ji-ga hon-ja hwa-too-reur choh-yo).  Go-Stop is this popular card game in Korea and I believe Japan as well.  I couldn't help but laugh to myself.  Ji Hyun 지현 just got back from buying groceries and saw him playing by himself and couldn't help but laugh either.  I got to talk to my cousin 채연/Chae Yeon a little bit on the phone.  I've never seen or met her before.  She's 13 years old and seems darling.  But it was a little awkward talking because I can't say much yet and I'm not used to using 반말(ban-marl).  I'll try my best to explain it.  To make a long system and story short, 반말 is a lower form of talk that you use with people who are younger than you or that you're close to.   There was a lot of awkward pauses.......

우리 사랑하는 할아버지! My Beloved Grandfather! (oo-ri sarang-ha-neun ha-rah-boh-ji)  You might think that when you see this picture, "oh he seems stiff."  But not at all, quite the contrary!  One of the sweetest!  :-) 

지현 숙모/Aunt Ji Hyun (soong-moh)  She treated me so well and is so sweet to me!  I would have gotten a picture of 현수/Hyun Soo but he was asleep because he works nights and sleeps in the morning.  Perhaps later I'll get a picture of him.

Living Room

Kitchen

One last look at Gyeonggi-Do 경기-도.  This probably isn't the best picture but this place has lots of cool things to look at.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay with him long.  :-( I didn't even stay a whole day with him.  Because my back has been hurting, he and Ji Hyun 지현 thought it would be best to take me to my mom's cousin Sookhee 숙희 who lives in Seoul 서울 and also because he has to work.  I didn't know I was going but then I overheard in the other room.  My grandfather came to me and started crying.  Everytime I think about that, I start crying.Seeing older people cry, especially men, is really sad.    I hugged him and said, "울지 마세요/Don't cry." (oorl-ji-mah-seh-yo).  Seeing him cry made me really sad that I cried too.  I had to go to the bathroom so no one would see me cry.  Technically, I haven't seen my grandpa for 13 years but that time I don't remember meeting him that well.  So, this really was the first time meeting him.  I didn't want to go yet; I wanted to stay and spend more time with him.  Wow, writing this has been hard because it makes me cry each time.  As of right now, I know we will meet up during my stay here in Korea but I'm not sure when.  I hope that by the end of the study abroad, that I'll be better able to converse with him. 

After a few minutes, we arrived in 강남-구, 서울시 Kangnam-Gu, Seoul Si where 숙희 이모/Aunt Sookhee lives.  It was sad seeing grandpa and Ji Hyun 지현 go because they took care of me so well.  Sookhee 숙희 made me feel really comfortable here.  She looks very similar to my aunt back home but she acts similar to my mom.  She speaks English as well so it's been helpful conversing with her.  Seoul 서울, especially 강남 is so beautiful and it's one of the richest parts of Seoul 서울.  This is where all the celebrities live!  After I got settled in, we did some sightseeing.  First, we and her daughter (technically my 2nd cousin) Ji Eun 지은 went to Bong Eun Sa 봉은사.  Bong Eun Sa 봉은사 is one of Korea's most traditional Buddhist temples built under the name of Gyeonseongsa 견성사.   In a couple days, it'll be Buddha's birthday and so they prepared many special things for the event. 

Bupwangroo 법왕루.  This is where the king of the Dharma, Buddha is placed.

Jinyeomoon 진여문 (Jinyeo Gate 진여 게이트).  Entering the Jinyeo Gate 진여문 is an act of searching for the unchanging truth.    

Me and Ji Eun 지은

Lanterns.  People would write on the lanterns a wish they have.  The red color means that it's regarding someone who is living.

These candles were used to light incense.

Stone pagoda

Seounbuldang 선불당.  It refers to the place where Buddha is chosen. 

Jijangjeon 지장전.  Jijangjeon 지장전 is a tribute building for the Bodhisattva Jjang.  Jjang had sworn to succeed Buddha's wish to save all mankind, especially the ill, from pain and hardship by becoming medicinal herbs.  Also, Jjang is known for the vow to be with all mankind suffering in hell till there was nobody left in there.

Jijangjeon 지장전.  The white lanterns represent a wish that is regarding someone who has passed away.

Advertisement for Buddha's birthday.  I'm not Buddhist but Happy Birthday Buddha!

After checking out the temples, we headed to the Coex Building 코엑스 빌딩.  One, no, THE coolest mall EVER!!!  If Utah or even the United States had anything close to this, I would be thrilled!  They even have an aquarium inside.  You can try to compare but it really falls short.  It has 9 floors.  One of the floors was just food.  They set the food up to appear like you were shopping in Nordstroms if that makes sense.  It was so nice that you forgot they were selling food almost.  I couldn't take a lot of pictures inside the mall because Korea is huge on not taking pictures of their merchandise.  I tried to do what I could.  This building/mall has every brand name clothes in the world and brands that are exclusive as well.  Everything is expensive; talk about $600 for a jacket/shirt.  Anthropologie seems dirt cheap compared to the brands here.  So many of the clothes looked like Anthropologie; I thought I was going to die.........  Even the baby and children's clothes were high end like Burberry and Ralph Lauren (they really like Ralph Lauren) and so much more.  The clothes literally look like they shrunk adult clothes to mini me size. 

Seoul 서울 Kangnam 강남

Coex Building 코엑스 빌딩.  Seriously, if you ever get a chance to come to Korea, visit this place for sure.  It especially appeals to young people but it's incredible to anyone really!

I thought I was looking at department store cosmetics until I realized I was looking at food.  The store on the left makes it look obvious but pretty much all the stores look like the one on the right.  Didn't know it was food at first.  I think they took a food court and made it high end. 

Ddeokbokki 떡볶이(duck-boh-ki).  So good!

Inside Coex Building 코엑스 빌딩.  This isn't even the best part of the building but everything is so cool here.

Today was so much fun!  People were not kidding when they said Korea has everything and that it's super fun.  Amen to that statement a hundred times.  Each day keeps getting more fun and interesting!

San Francisco - Seoul/Incheon Airport 인천국제선- Gyeonggi-Do 경기-도

You'll be seeing quite a lot of Korean words throughout the blog because I need to practice.  Also, you will feel so much smarter because now you now a few words in Korean!  I provided how to pronounce it and the English will be by it. 

So, I can't get connected to the internet on my laptop but my (to make a long story short), cousin Hyun Soo (현수) is letting me use his computer now.  My back is still hurting :-(  turning over in bed is extremely painful but it hurts to do anything pretty much.  I don't know why it's not going away. 

So the flight from San Francisco to Seoul/Incheon (서울/인천) was so fun! But holy cow, if Rob wasn't there then I would have faced problems I think.  I followed him and so we were going places I didn't know we had to go to or that I forgot that we had to go to.  I love international flights except that they're long.  What was really weird was that it was never dark outside, always sunny.  It's probably because the time differences and when I would be arriving, it would start to get dark. 

I did Singapore Airlines which I thought were cool.  저는 자 뭇 했어요.  (cho-neun ja mot-ae-soh-yo)  I didn't sleep at all. Crazy?  Not really. I tried to act like I was living Korea's schedule and so that I would go to bed on time.  I guess pulling all-nighters in college have benefits.  :-)  But that was a good idea to do.  They had better movies on this flight.  The movies that were on the flight to Europe was lame because they didn't have a wide selection and played The Holiday and Music and Lyrics like 4 times each!  I got to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part I (finally), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Tangled, and The Black Swan but I believe that parts were edited from it.  I also watched a documentary on the St. Petersburg ballet (don't ask why, it seemed appealing on the plane).  The food was good too but I got full just from the first meal and they served so much more than that. 

Watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.  Haha it looks like my camera is making the smoke on the screen.

Pasta salad with turky, Korean style fish fillet with hot spicy sauce, mixed vegetables and steamed rice, cheese and crackers, chocolate fudge cake, roll and butter. 

각종 야채, 한국 식 고추장 소소를 곁들인 생선살과 쌀밥.

잘 먹었습닞다/I ate well (charl-moh-goh-seum-ni-da)! All gone!

Is that a.....??????? 솔마?????

이게 뭐야?????? Seriously, what the heck is that?????????  Is that a green bean???????

Finished!

벌꿀고추장(bohrl-gur-go-chu-jang)  I seriously loved this stuff.  It's not too hot but has great flavor.

I sat by a guy whose name was Woong Hee 웅희 from Daegu (대구) who just graduated from UCLA. I found out he's a Christian from a church that I haven't heard of but they also do missionary work.  Haha, two religious (what do you call them? Plane buddy?) plane buddies.  Super random but I absolutely love Asian babies and children!  Oh my goodness!  The ones on the plane were cute as ever!  I thought about asking to hold their baby but they wouldn't see their kid because I would have packed their child in a suitcase and took them back to America because they're so cute!!! :-)

This is a shot of Singapore Airlines.  Here's a stewardess serving us our "light meal."  The stewards and  stewardesses were so cute and so sweet to us. 

Here's Woong Hee 웅희 but you can't see him very well.

I'm so silly!  So it's been a while since we had lunch on the plane and so I thought I would brush my teeth because I checked the time in Utah and it was around the time that I would brush my teeth.  Well, the bathrooms kept gettin occupied so I couldn't do it for a while.  Finally when I could and brushed my teeth (like 10 minutes and gargled), they were serving dinner!  Haha yeah just my luck.  Dinner was really good but I had a hard time finishing it because I was so full.  I had to force myself to finish it.  I kept drinking water and fruit juice the whole time so that probably added to it as well. 

This was called Light Meal for the flight.  Mixed seasonal salad with dressing, penne pasta with chicken, sliced olive and spinach in chunky tomato sauce, chocolate delight (aka Hershey's chocolate haha), roll and butter.

Yeah light meal??  That looks huge!!

Finally, off the plane after 12 hours!  It was kind of funny when I got off.  There were many, I'm assuming business people because they were dressed sharp, waiting outside the terminal.  I felt like we were someone important haha.  I followed Rob and others to the train/subway where we would have to pick up our luggage.  Mine got here safe!  Everyone's parents or those picking them up were there except mine.  Rob called my grandfather who was I guess you could say 2 terminals/rows away!!  I haven't seen my grandfather for 13 years!!!!!!  The day has finally come.  He's so darling and cute!  (Note:  I'm not one of the people who think old people are cute and funny so this is a big deal lol.)  He gave me a big hug.  Awww. 

I got to meet Rob's dad Robert Holley and more like saw his younger brother Bradley because I didn't talk to his brother.  That was pretty cool and his father was nice.  I'm seriously so grateful for Rob; he helped me out in so many ways.  I asked him if I could take a picture of his family.  I was only expecting to just take a picture of them but then somehow I got in the picture too haha lol.  There's nothing wrong with that at all in fact it's cool but I wasn't expecting it haha. 

Robert Holley, Bradley Holley, me, Rob Holley

My aunt Ji Hyun (지현) and grandpa drove me to Ji Hyun's house.  They live in Gyeonggi-Do (경기-도) which is north of Seoul (서울) and I'm guessing a couple hours away from Incheon (인천) since we were in the car for a while.  I'm slept in the car; I was so dead.  Her house seems like an apartmnent because there are floors and many people live here but it's spacious enough to be considered a house in my opinion.  너무 귀여워요! (neo-mu gwi-yuh-wo-yo)   It's so cute!  So Korean.  I thought I was full from the plane ride but they fed me when I got settled in.  I thought I was going to die.  저 어떡해????????? (cho oh-doh-kae)  What to do????????????  How could I refuse their offer?  그렇지만 저 먹었어요.  (keu-roh-ji-man cho moh-go-soh-yo).  However, I still ate.  Now then, I thought I was going to die.  너무 너무 너무 피곤했어요! (noh-moo noh-moo noh-moo pi-gohn-hae-yo)  I was so tired!  On top of that, full to the rackles and didn't know where any of the food was supposed to go.  어떡해!  어떡해!  어떡해! (oh-doh-kae! oh-doh-kae! oh-doh-kae!)  What to do!  What to do!  What to do!  I'm freaking out here!  Luckily, Ji Hyun helped me out.  After dinner, I went to bed.  Holy cow, such a long day.  I went to sleep in seconds. 

Bedroom

Vanity.  Can I just say Korean cosmetics are so cute!

Bathroom.  What's interesting about this bathroom and many in Korea that I've been to, they don't have tubs just floors and let the water flow to a drain by the sink.  It's actually useful.

Living room

Kitchen

I'm loving Korea!  It's so beautiful, unique, and fun!  SO much is happening.  I'll keep you posted.

Salt Lake Airport - San Francisco Airport

I made it!  Well, at least to San Francisco.  Dude, I love the airport here!  Name brand stores and Asians!!!!  Haha I'm just kidding but I have seen a lot of both of those fun things.  When I saw Gucci, I had to double check to see if what I saw was true lol.  I had some time to kill so I thought I would update on the latest even thought it's been a couple hours since my last entry.  If you wanna call or text me before 2:10, you can still catch me.  Otherwise, your best bet is facebook.  I should be getting a cell phone but just count on facebook being the best option as of now. 

Salt Lake airport

Well, airport was a success.  Or at least the problems that I had so far were not bad.  My suitcase was over 8 pounds and so I had to remove a few things.  Man, honestly, you can't fit a lot of things under 50 pounds.  Not when your suitcase is already big.  So not cool, but I was able to move some things to carry on.  I swear, when I went to Spain, France, and Morocco a couple years ago, I took more and it was fine.  I think guidelines are changing and my suitcase is just big.  I thought it was a coffin haha lol.  Getting checked at security is not fun when you have so much on you.  Taking shoes off to get checked still grosses me out.  But hey, if it catches criminals, then by all means.  I saw lots of people at the airport like Rob Holley (my Korean ta) and So Young Kim (a student who a taught a lesson for my Korean class).  It's seriously helpful to know some people when flying alone.  I didn't realize how many things I didn't know needed to take place without those two. 

Hanging out at the San Francisco airport

On the way to San Francisco from Salt Lake, I sat by a very nice man.  His name was Bruce Robertson from Montana.  He's a financial advisor and on his way to a business conference.  I found out he's Catholic and had a son die years ago.  I asked him about a lot of things actually like financial advice and parenting.  We had a intellectual conversation haha.  He was nice to help me put my bags in the cabin/whatever that's called for carry on (my brain isn't exactly working right now).  I hurt my back a couple days ago so it's been pretty miserable and annoying trying to do anything. 

I almost forgot to pick up my boarding pass to Korea if Rob wasn't there.  At SLC, they give you a receipt looking ticket and scan that but at international flights you need a boarding pass.  How could I forget?  I went to Spain, France, and Morocco 4 years ago.  My brain must be really fried.  Just my luck (not really), when I went to pick up my boarding pass, I couldn't understand the man asking for my baggage number and weighing my carry on.  His Indian accent was really strong; I can understand when people speak English with their accent even when it's strong and they don't use correct grammar but I had difficulty with the man.  I think what could have been maybe 1-2 minutes was 3-5 minutes. 

As of now, I'm just waiting.  We're boarding in 7 minutes!  Ah!!!!  Super long flight (12 hours), but it'll be April 26 in the evening when I get there.  Korea is 15 hours ahead of Utah.  I'm going to sleep everywhere and at any time.  I found that out in Spain.  But I'm looking forward to seeing my relatives and eating lots of good Korean food!  Every single time I eat Korean food, the thought comes into my head, "Get me out of here and send me to Korea."  Right now, I'm just hoping my suitcases get there in one piece and everything is there.  There are so many Asians!!!!  It's AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, I'm packing up and heading on the plane now!  ^^ 안녕/Bye(ahn-nyong)!!

Last Day in America

It's already here.  I can't even believe it.  It wasn't that long ago when I was contemplating on whether I should be doing the study abroad or not.  I must be getting old because time has never gone by this fast.   It's been about 13 years since my last visit to South Korea.  All I remember from that time was that is was pure fun.  That's probably because I was a kid and didn't have to worry about ANYTHING

Right now, my feelings switch from feeling anxious 불안해요 (bu-ran-hae-yo) to feeling happy and excited 행복하고 신나요/(haeng-bo-ka-go shin-nah-yo).

Looking forward to so far:

• Seeing my dear old grandfather and relatives!!  I haven't seen him since my last vist (13 years ago) and I don't remember meeting him that well.  I know I did but I can't recall anything from it. :-(  One day I got a call from my mom saying that he was so excited for me to come.  He said he felt like a kid going to Disneyworld, counting down the days, and losing sleep over it.  Awww :-)  It's been the same for me as well.  Also, I haven't seen some of my relatives.  Ever.  Sadly, I don't know what they look like or what they're like. 
• Getting better at Korean.  As I've studied for the past year, my love for the Korean language has grown bigger and bigger each day.  It's such a beautiful language.  I've been frontloading like crazy before I leave so we'll see how it goes.  However, I have a feeling I'm going to experience the same things as missionaries who go out to foreign countries.  As sincere as I try to be, it'll make someone laugh and confused. 

Nervous about so far:

• The Airport/Flight.  I love the airport but at the same time no.  It is seriously one of the coolest places ever but extremely stressful.  Will I make it there on time?  Will my luggage meet the requirements for weight?  Will my baggage get there in one piece or at all to wherever I'm going?  Is security going to find something that I should have paid attention to?  Will the people picking me up be there?  Flying out alone never hit me as scary until things like Taken and Red Eye came out.  Another thing, I hurt my back a couple days ago.  It's not super serious but it hurts like a beast.
• Language and Cultural Barriers.  Depending on what I say or don't say could confuse or offend someone and I won't even mean it.  Also, Korea and America  are different (duh), different that what might be ok here won't be ok over there. 

In a few hours now, I have to get up and head to the airport.  I'm off to the motherland!  It's Asia for crying out loud!  Ahhh!