Well that went by faster than I thought!

Oh, how time flies.  It's already been one month for me living in Korea.  It doesn't even feel like I've been here for 30 days.  You must live for today, because time doesn't wait for anyone!

So, what could have possibly happened within two weeks?  Well, I received my alien card.  That's official!  Classes at the academy are getting better for me.  The students are making process in my opinion.  All in all, I have a handle on things now.  I'm on cloud 9 with time management.  After talking with a friend back home, I realized that I no longer have a tourist mind-set.  I think and act knowing that I'm in my temporary, permanent location.  For example, "adulting" (a term us millennials use to describe behaviors and actions doing adult responsibilities) has gone well is all the aspects except shopping for food.  In the US, I bought junk foods here and there and certain foods that I would possibly cook.  I ate out majority of the time due to my work schedule, and parents always purchased the "essential" foods.  Anyways, I keep track of ALL purchases I make, and the biggest portions come for grocery shopping.  On my most recent grocery trip, I decided to observe prices to know for future reference.  I discovered that during my first week, I spend about $13.00 on 2 kg. of rice. (-_-)  INSANE, I know!  I found a cheaper brand and deal on 5 kg. of rice for about $9.00.  It's still insane, but it's my only option.  Worse than that, beef is highly expensive.  500 g of ground beef is about $14.00.  I'm not even going to say how much the steak cost.  So, if anyone has tried pork burgers, tell me how that turned out.  I plan on making burgers out of ground pork.  Everybody ain't able!  

On to other news.  One of my Korean co-teachers is leaving our academy and going to teach at a high school. :(  But it's something she's been working towards, so you already know I'm happy for her accomplishing goals! :)  I'm sad to see her go, but I'll catch her outside of our work time! ;)  We met up for brunch and it was lovely.  She gave us the cutest gift.   And look what she got me!  Seems like it was yesterday she taught me how to spell my name in Korean.  So, thoughtful!

Stickers with my name in Korean. 브리애나

 

Discussion à  Cultural Conflict.
I've approached my first off-day for a national holiday, 삼일절 (Independence Movement Day).  1 March is the day the Koreans observe the time Koreans "openly resisted occupation by the Japanese and fought for their independence."  How do they celebrate?  Ayoung told me that people hang the national flag and think about the great people that fought for the country's independence.  This isn't Independence Day, but it's a day that led towards the actual independence.    This is the second country I've lived in during the day(s) of independence.  I spoke briefly about it in one of my blog post how leading up to the days, how the city celebrates, but on the actual observance days, the city is quiet and observes, appreciating the significance of the day.  I don't know if this is just me, but I feel that in the United States, national holidays with "significant meaning(s)" are losing significance.  Certain "significant national holidays" aren't recognized by all; for some, the original significance is vanishing, turning into another insignificant meaning; and business are using holidays to make profits, e.g. Black Friday and that whole weekend after Thanksgiving.  Will the future generations understand the true meanings for national holidays, like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and have respect for them?   

Weekend Adventures

On the bright side, I managed to get myself into Seoul and travel around.  I can totally "get lost" in that city.  

The story behind this photo: I decided I wanted to do some solo exploring of a different area of Seoul.  The metro got me to Songpa-Gu District, where there are a lot of touristic sites.  After wandering past Lotte World Tower and through Lotte World Mall, I found myself outside in some type of sculpture garden.  I saw a "love post box" that led me near a tourist office.  Looking at the different brochures seeing what would be of my interest, one of the information assistants wanted to assist in helping me find good brochures that would give good travelers information.  Assisting with information turned into a 45-minute conversation about traveling and life.  She asked about my purpose in Korea, told me about her experience in Canada and wanting to better her English, leading to the million-dollar question, why and how am I traveling alone? I kept it really simple for her. "Do you miss out on life experiences waiting for people to be able to do things with you, or do you enjoy journeys and life experiences on your own?"  I had to let her know that I would not have been talking with her if I waited to travel with someone and on the flip side, it's not easy traveling along.  Every solo journey I take, I'd love for someone to travel with me.  It makes the adventures better and you have someone to always share stories with.  Between the two options, I'll choose solo adventures.  After that, she insisted that I take a photo at the photo booth.  During that weekend, I did find a distant relative in the city.  SMALL WORLD! 

Lotte World Tower

 

World Peace Gate

Made it to Olympic Park!

1988 Seoul Summer Olympics

  

Until next time.