1. toilet paper and detergent bought (more about this later)
2. got my Korean phone number and a data plan too!
Ok let's talk about Sunday.
So I went to the morning worship service at Yonsei on Sunday. The campus was pretty deserted, so I took the opportunity to walk around a little since I had time (didn't get lost at all!). I didn't take many pictures in the end because I stayed at a single spot for way too long ... make a guess what kind of place that is.
Anyway, let's begin from my place. This is how the street just outside my apartment looks like:
This is to the left. And to the right, which is where I always walk to in order to get to my bus stop:
At night it can get a little scary so I make it a point to never go home after 8pm.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the main gate to one of the most prestigious universities in the whole of South Korea:
Unfortunately I can't claim that I was from "one of the most prestigious universities in the whole of South Korea" because I'm only doing a language course here. :X
But I digress. I walked in the same main gate and soon to my right something caught my eye:
A TRADITIONAL GATE????
AND WHAT'S THAT BEHIND?!
TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS! Ladies and gentlemen, this was where I tarried for a long, long, long, long time. Looks like a visit to my favourite place in Seoul (that's the Gyeongbok palace by the way) is much needed.
Random shot of pretty daisies.
The service itself was ok, very Presbyterian though I'm pretty sure the church's non-denominational. No one bothered me and I felt very comfortable there. Singing along to the songs were not a problem coz most of them were hymns and I already know the tunes and of course, reading in hangul. Scripture reading was fine too coz I could follow the verses by listening for key words, but when it came to praying the Lord's prayer in Korean I totally couldn't do it. Maybe I could memorise it ...
After the service, I went home, bought some food from the supermarket and had a quick lunch. Rested a while, and then I headed for my host family's home for dinner.
It was so good to see them again! I can't express how incredibly thankful and humbled I am, to have people who love and care for me like family. It's like this in Myanmar, it's like this in South Korea. Host dad held my hand tightly all the way from the station to the home, and host mum made my favourite Korean dish for me:
SAMGYETANG.
Very, very, very touched. I finished every morsel of it.
***
Today's Monday. Today's also the first day of school.
I won't go into much detail. Basically it was okay and to my relief, following the teacher (who spoke only in Korean) wasn't as difficult as I'd expected. It might have helped that whatever I learnt today I had already learnt in Singapore, so it was more like revision for me. I personally think that my writing and reading skills are much better than my speaking and listening skills, and today proved this very hypothesis. From now on I shall grab every opportunity to speak in Korean!!!! It would be a terrible waste if I did nothing to improve my skills while I'm here.
And oh, I'm the only Asian in my class. My classmates are all angmohs ... D:
Anyway, after class I had coffee with my Korean friend, and then I got a Korean phone number with a data plan. Yay to GPS and Google maps from now on! And uh, Facebook and Kakao and WeChat on the go!
On my way home, I decided to pick up some groceries. I was already carrying 2 bags, one of which was filled with my books, but I thought, heck it, I'm too lazy to come out again. So the Lotte MySuper ajumma and ajeossi looked at me trying valiantly to balance 2 bags, a HUGE bag of toilet rolls (there goes whatever Korean street cred I had) and my groceries. And when I say HUGE, I mean 30-rolls huge:
Looks like someone won't ever find herself in an emergency in the middle of the night.
Came back, unpacked, did some of my homework, made dinner (chicken porridge) and am now taking a break now. I should get back to work ... :D
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