Back!

After one cold, two stops in the Narita airport, umpteenth miles of walking, being a spectator after Korea University's graduation and then their new student orientation a few days later, and eating more Korean food than I can shake a stick at, I'm back!

I've been back for a few days, but rather under the weather. I got on the plane with a cold, and the cabin pressure just about killed me. I've been recovering slowly, jet lag's been brutal, and it's currently raining (!) here in not-so-sunny LA.

But I'm back, armed with about a thousand photos, which I am trying (unsuccessfully) to edit down to a manageable handful.

More blogging soon!

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Korea Likes, Dislikes

I dislike:

- Milk. It tastes gross here. I drink 2% in the States, so it shouldn't be that different, but it is.
- Clothes dryers. Or the lack thereof. Why no clothes dryers?? No toasty warm clothes or tight-fitting jeans. Sigh. I suppose I should be happy that we're being "green" or whatever.
- COLD. Oh, so cold. Brrr. Jeonju, my hometown, is thankfully less cold than Seoul. Still cold, though.
- The cat, when he hisses at me. For no reason. The cat's a little psycho- he had a very rough kittenhood, and it's made him a crochety cat.
- Buses in Jeonju. What the heck?? Buses in Seoul are nominally better, but still hard for me- I don't understand where we're going and where to get off- where are the maps, people??
- AT&T. International roaming in Korea is $2.29/minute. That is ridiculously stupid. Thank goodness for free wireless everywhere, because at least I have internet access!
- All the seafood people try to stuff down my throat. Blargh.


I like:

- No housekeys! Number pad, 4-digit passcode, voila! No locking yourself out of the house, no worrying about where the keys are.
- Heated floors (ondol). So. Awesome. I had forgotten how great warm footsies are.
- My grandfather. I missed him a lot. He makes funny noises, calls me "아가" (which means "baby" or "child"), gives me an allowance, kicks the cat (not brutally, don't call animal services- it's a sign of affection!), wears awesome hats (fedoras and newsboy caps), and eats everything I prepare, and even tells me that it's good! I love him.
- The cat, when he meows like a kooky toy. He loves my aunt to bits, and meows so sorrowfully when she's in the bathroom that it's simultaneously hilarious and sad.
- Subways in Seoul. So clean! So user friendly!
- Free wifi everywhere. Wheee!
- Yummy Korean food, to be had on the cheap everywhere I go.


My sister has decided to make a surprise appearance in Korea! We are now busy catching up and confusing our family here by speaking in rapid-fire English.

More later!

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Korea!

Landed in Korea at 10:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, February 13.

I rather dislike the fact that I lost an entire day in transit- I had left the house at 8:00 a.m. on February 12!

I got to my cousin's house around midnight. My mom's younger sister and her husband had picked me up from the airport in their spiffy little Peugeot. And I saw snow for the first time this year, hooray!

It is super cold here (I'm in Seoul, in the Anamdong neighborhood, just near Korea University, where my cousin goes to school).

And also, it's past 3:00 a.m. and I can't sleep because I slept for a whopping fifteen hours when I got here. Went to bed around two, woke up around five in the afternoon. Another day, gone!

Happily, I did manage to go eat dinner with the cousin, then we had coffee at the biggest Coffee Bean I've ever seen in my life. And then, my cousin being who he is, we conducted a fast-paced walking tour of his school. A small portion of the campus, but still- to have an LA girl traipsing about at nighttime in a Korean winter is a bit nutty.

It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, though it's well below freezing. And windy. And I had a 돼지바, possibly a bad idea but really delicious.

So concluded my first full day in Korea- one meal, one coffee, one dessert, and countless hours of conversation about Korean history, the philosophy of history, moviemaking, and plans for my next two days in Seoul.

Off to 강남 (Gangnam, Kangnam?) tomorrow to see my great-aunt!

William, Diana, I am hoping to go to Daegu next week to see you. Will you be around??

I think this is the first post I've ever written on my iPhone- not as bad as I thought it would be, though correcting spelling is a pain.

Last thing- The Konglish here is awesome. I'm going to try to take as many photos as I can!

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Dear Korea...

I'm returning to the motherland!

At the end of this month, I'll get on an airplane for the 13+ hours required to get me clear across the Pacific Ocean.

I'm so excited!

Then I checked the weather. And my good humor dropped a bit. What does a California girl, raised on sunshine and mildly breezy winters, wear in Korea during the winter?

William, Diana, Amanda, other people that have recently experienced Korean weather, any advice for me?? Particularly anyone who knows how temperate the weather in LA is- help! How many layers am I supposed to wear?

Keep in mind that, uh, I haven't been in weather below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in about, um, three years. So my thin-skinned temperament has probably gotten worse.

The weirdest thing, to me, is that I can't figure out what kind of shoes I'm supposed to take with me. Boots? Uggs? Galoshes? Say "whatever" and just wear what I normally wear?

I really am thrilled to be going back to Korea for the first time since 1995 (1996?), when I was just a wee student, in Korea for (of all things) a math competition (in which America was beaten soundly by Korea and China).

I'll share (read: freak out) about my preparations for the trip in the coming weeks.


Hooray! 만세!!

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