I'm Done with Finals!

Today was my last two final exams. I am officially done with my first semester abroad! Today I had Korean Writing and Korean Drumming final exams. It is so weird to know that tomorrow I don't have to go to class or exchanges. I have over two months off for Winter Break, so it will be a transition. The next few days will be bittersweet as I say goodbye to my friends here at school, some that I will see next semester, and some that I don't know when I will see again. It will be a crazy couple days between goodbyes, laundry, packing...the list goes on. I have to finish packing all of my stuff because I can't keep anything at school. It will be interesting trying to haul all of my luggage up to Seoul via public transportation. I am sure there will be some funny stories to tell! I will try to upload my Drumming final here in a few days. Stay tuned!
(Oh, the picture was from the first day at school. All of the international students are in the picture...I'm somewhere in the back row)

Last Day of Class

Today was a bittersweet day because it was the last day of regular class. Next week I have four final exams. I am going to miss my classes and my teachers. For the most part, I have really enjoyed having the professors that I had for the semester. My language teachers were patient, my history teacher was insightful, my drumming teacher was funny, and my North and South Korea teacher, well I have said enough about him in previous posts. I have learned so much and I hope I continue to learn more in the coming semester.

This coming week will be filled with tears as I say goodbye to new friends that will leave school. It is hard for me to come to terms that I may not see these amazing friends for a long time. It is hard because we have become so close, but distance will now separate us as they go back to their home nations. We are going to make the most of the time we have.

It is exciting though because it is a new chapter in my adventure here in Korea. After my finals, I'm going to Seoul to spend Christmas with the Byeons and Derek's family. I am hoping to travel to Southeast Asia at the beginning of the new year. I have some paperwork that I have to complete before I can leave the country, and it won't be processed until the end of this year.

Last night was the goodbye dinner for the Global Village. It was bittersweet to look back at all of the memories of the last semester. I have grown so much as a person in this past semester. I have become more confident and independent. I am so excited to see what will come next in this journey!

Snow! And a Letter from the Frontlines

Today was the first snow of winter! I woke up and looked out my window to see big fluffy snowflakes. It snowed on and off today, but later it warmed up so most of it melted. It was still beautiful.

I had my final exam for my North and South Korea class today. It was an essay comparing and contrasting the two Korea's economy. It went very well, I like essay exams because it is not muscle memory, but analyzing information and organizing it into a paper. I am so glad that class is over because I did not enjoy the teachers methods of presenting the information for the class. I won't go into details, but it seemed that he was more interested in criticizing the Korean students english rather than teaching the subject. I will be more careful about the classes and teachers I choose next semester.

Oh, today I got a letter back from the Korean soldier I wrote to. I don't know if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but one of my exchange partners has a friend currently serving his required two year term in the army. His name is Sang Hoon and is a Marine serving near the border. In fact, he said that he is stationed not too far from where the attack occured two weeks ago. My exchange partner asked me if I would write him a letter because he wanted to write an English speaking person, I guess to keep his English up until he returns to school. I wrote him a letter about a month ago, and today she gave me his response letter. It was super cute, he sent the letter on this Marine stationary that has this funny saying on it: "Love is a game. Easy to start. Hard to finish." Really strange thing to have on army paper, but I got a kick out of it. It was really sweet, I had written that I really appreciated his service to his country and keeping it safe. He wrote back that I shouldn't worry about the growing tension between the two Koreas: "Don't be afraid. I should defend our country against the enemy." He finishes his service this Christmas and will be back at Soonchunhyang in the spring. I am excited to meet him and to hear more about life on an army base that can see into North Korea. I'm sure he has some very interesting stories, especially from the last few months.

Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War

You know, when you see a movie that is a masterpiece you just have to share it. Today in history class we watched Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War. Oh my gosh, this movie was so moving. It is a Korean movie about the Korean war. It is the highest grossing Korean movie in the history of Korean cinema. Over one third of all South Koreans went to see this movie when it was released. It is probably the best war movie I have ever seen.

It is about two brothers who are forcefully drafted into the frontlines of the South Korean army at the start of the Korean war. The older brother is a shoe shiner who sacrificed his opportunity to go to school so his younger brother would be able to go to college. The older brother is determined to find a way to get his brother out of the conflict as soon a possible. They fight in some of the most significant battles of the War. As the War continues, they see the bad and disturbing aspects of the war.

What I liked about this movie was that they showed both the South and the North in an unbiased light. The unhonest draft, the massacre of Northern troops that surrendered, and the excecution of Southern civilians suspected of joining the communists without a trial showed the horrors that the South committed. On the other side, the North's unflinching massacre of civilians and their cold manner in killing showed that they were not saintly either. It was a movie that showed the ugly side of war from both sides. That is one thing that bothers me of some war movies: they present one side as pure evil while the other side is good and noble. War isn't like that: it is ugly, disgusting, and terrible acts are comitted by both sides. I think every person should see this movie once in their lifetime so that they can see that war is not a game, it is a human tragedy.

I am not usually a crier when it comes to movies. Sure I can get teary eyed, but I usually don't completely break down. Watching this movie I was crying my eyes out at least three times. It was so painful to see not only the two brothers in the story experience so much pain as the war progressed, but to see that the two sides of the War were brothers filled with hate for each other. When looking at the Korean War, it was brother against brother. To see the hate that infiltrated this one people by two idealogies a mere five years after they were united (under occupation) was so distraghtful. Not only that, but to know that this hate continues today with the separated Koreas made me cry.

I pray for the day that this one people can be reunited together once again.

A Day in Suwon

Today, I went with my friend Katie to Suwon. Katie is in my North and South Korea class, and is a such a sweet person. She is from Oregon and is finishing her degree next semester. She is also getting married next summer, and her fiance was able to visit her a few months ago, so cute! We met up with Katie's friend from college, Maddie. Maddie came to Korea to teach English in Asan. We also met Maddie's friend Julie, she just came about two weeks ago to Korea to teach in Asan. It was fun to hear about their classes and students. They teach kids between the age of four and seven, and they said their English is pretty good. I am always shocked by the intensity that the Korean students have to study. School is a means to an end rather than a journey, it is quite sad how the priority is scores rather than progress. I feel so blessed to have been taught the joy of learning, rather than the pressure to maintain a certain score. I hope that Korean students find that joy in all of the stress.

Suwon is about an hour by train from school, so it is about halfway between Seoul and Sinchang (my school). When we got to Suwon, we went to Hwaseong Fortress. Hwaseong is a late Joseon Dynasty fortress that was built to protect the southern borders of Seoul. It is a perfect example of Korean/Asian defense architecture. It is built up a mountain, so that the lookout tower can see much farther. There are a lot of lookout posts and places in the wall where the defenders would be able to attack any offensive. It was absolutely stunning, but like a lot of Korea, it has had its heartbreak. During the Japanese occupation, it was neglected. The fortress fell apart and the Japanese converted parts of it into a hospital and a government center.

I can understand how many of the older Korean people have such animosity towards the Japanese. Almost every great piece of Korean cultural heritage was destroyed and turned into some kind of Japanese building. Not only that, but during the occupation, I have been told that Koreans weren't allowed to use the Korean language and couldn't speak of their history. It is one thing for a nation to take control of another nation in the fashion that the Japanese took Korea, but to try to erase the history of that country is absolutely disgusting. Don't get me wrong, I love Japan, it is a beautiful nation. I have several Japanese friends here at school and they are some of the sweetest people I have met. However, what the Japan of the past did to Korea is wrong on so many levels. I can still see some older Korean people carrying prejudice against the Japanese today. I think they still see the old hateful Japan that destroyed so much of their national identity. I think the feelings towards Japan have improved, but it is still a recent scar that shouldn't be opened.

But back to the story of Hwaseong: After the Japanese occupation ended in 1945, the remainder of Hwaseong was caught in the middle of the Korean War. By the end of the war, it was torn apart like the Korean people. It took another thirty years until the rebuilding process began. The South Korean government took the original building plans written in 1801 and rebuilt Hwaseong. They used the tools of the nineteenth century and built the fortress in its original location, tearing down the buildings built during the occupation. Today, it stands in its original state, presenting an inspiring symbol of perserverence. It was quite an experience, knowing the history behind this fortress, to walk beside its walls. I am always amazed by the strength of the Korean people. In spite of all they have gone through, they continue to rebuild and look to the future. Hwaseong represents that strength to me. It was originally built in the past for physical strength, and it has been rebuilt for the strength of the spirit of the Korean people.

Oh, kind of off subject, but still a cute fact. The city of Suwon has this adorable Christmas light display, and a lot of the stores in Suwon had Christmas decorations. I even heard some famous Christmas songs being played in some of the stores, something that I miss from home. I am hoping as Christmas gets closer, I will see more evidence of the season.

SCH Dance Concert

As promised, here are a few of the dance performances from the SCH Dance concert last week. The first dance is Bermet and another girl from Kyrgyzstan dancing a traditional dance. The second is a group of the Chinese students (including my friend Hong) doing Tai Chi. There is also a skit from the SCH Theater Department, which is in Korean but it's still funny!

Kpop music

Before I came to Korea, I knew about Kpop music, but I didn't realize how popular it is in Korea. Kpop is like the entire USA music industry concentrated in one genre of music. You hear it everywhere: stores, subways stations, buses. I haven't been to a Kpop concert yet(one of the things on my list to do) but I have heard they are different from USA concerts and are a lot of fun.

Most Kpop is in the style of 90's pop in the USA. Because of this, Amercan artists like Brittany Spears and Madonna are very popular in Korea. It feels like I am reliving the 90's in respect to music again as an adult. To make it even more 90's, women's style here in Korea right now is very 90's. Leggings are the "it" item with oversized sweatshirts. So funny! For those of you who would like to hear some of my favorite Kpop songs, I have links to them on the blog. Most of the singers have good voices. One of the funny things is that the Kpop groups aren't the usual four or five singers like in America: There are at least seven. Some groups have over ten members. It is almost like a choir rather than a singing group!

Oh, funny thing happened yesterday as I was walking to my South and North Korea class. To get to class I have to take these wooden stairs down a very steep hill. There are two staircases that join together halfway down the hill. As I was walking down one of these staircases, I noticed a lot of Korean students standing on the stairs looking at the other set of stairs. I saw Brian and Katie, two of my international friends also looking at the stairs. They told me that a Kpop singer was filming part of his newest music video on the staircase. Sure enough there was an entire film crew, and the famous singer that I had not heard of previously. I quickly pulled out my camera and caught a shot of the film crew and a short video of the singer before an intimidating security guard dressed in black covered my camera. If you look in the top left corner of the video, you can glimpse the singer for a second before my camera was covered. Too funny! Didn't think I would see a Kpop music video being filmed while I was in Korea!

A Weekend in Danyang

This weekend, I went with Kyunghye and her parents to Danyang to tour and to see Mom Byeon play in a Ping-pong tournament. I left after my Korean writing class to catch the subway to Seoul. I met them in Seoul on Friday and we left for Danyang the next day. Oh, that night I watched this awesome Bollywood movie with Hyesun called "3 Idiots" it was fabulous and I recommend it to those who like good Bollywood.

On Saturday, we went to see Omma (Korean for Mother) Byeon play Ping pong doubles with her partner. The ping pong tournament was held in a gym with about thrity ping pong tables spread across the room. There were at least twenty different matches being played at any given time. There was never a dull moment at the tournament because there were so many matches to keep track of. Omma Byeon and her partner finished the tournament in second place. Oh, I also met an Olympic gold medalist, one of my life goals! One of the hosts of the tournament won a gold medal for Korea in Ping pong. Omma Byeon introduced me and Kyunghye to her. She was very sweet and took a picture with us.

After the game, we went to our hotel and ate Samgyepseol with Omma Byeon's partner and his father. It was nice after a day jam packed with Ping pong to sit and eat together. After dinner, I played Blokus with Kyunghye, Omma Byeon's partner, and his father. We also played Go Stop, which is a game played with Korean cards. It is a ton of fun once you know the rules. We also watched part of the Asian games while playing Poker, an interesting combination!

Today, I went with Oppa (Korean for Father) Byeon and Kyung Hye for a day full of touring around Danyang. We first went to a cave, which is one of the things that Danyang is famous for. The cave was absolutely stunning! It was a lot different from caves in Missouri, the ceilings were much taller, which I think produced more gorgeous formations in the cave. It was much warmer in the cave than outside, where we witnessed the first snowfall of the year!

After we explored the cave, we went on a boat tour of the man made river in Danyang. Danyang has a lot of tall rocky mountains, which was beautiful to see from the river. In Asan where I go to school, it is flat with the exception of a few large hills. It was a nice change of sites to see the imposing mountains of Danyang.

The last part of our Danyang touring was a huge temple complex just outside of the city. There were about twelve different Buddhist temples in the complex. To get to the temples, you had to climb over half of the mountain, which was not an easy task! The temple was not the same as the majority of the temples in Korea. For starters, they were all built within the last ten years, which means they don't have the same feel as the old temples out in the countryside. In one of these temples we went to, there was an elevator and a computer room, a far cry from the centuries old temples in other parts of Korea.

I was so happy to join the Byeons to see Omma Byeon play the sport she loves and to see a new part of Korea. It was great to spend time with Kyunghye now that her exam is over. I have three weeks left in the semester, time has gone by so fast!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from South Korea! This is the first Thanksgiving I have celebrated away from home. This morning, I had exchanges with Korean students. I talked with my exchanges about American Thanksgiving, we even watched part of last years Macy's parade. In the evening, I had dinner with Dyra, Sarah, Michelle, and Xiao Chen. We had chicken (the closest thing to turkey) and watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." We also discussed Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas season. Talking about Thanksgiving helped remind me the reason for the holiday: giving thanks for the blessings of the past year.

As I looked back to last Thanksgiving, there are so many things that I am thankful for. My family is in good health. God has given me another year to learn and grow as His child. I completed my first year of college. I am now studying in a beautiful country. I have so many new friends that a year ago, I would never have imagined I would meet. I have learned so much about myself and the world around me since last Thanksgiving.

I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Conference and Border Tension

Today I went to a school sponsered conference in Seoul that discussed the development of regions to benefit the global economy. The official name of the conference was "International Forum of Regional Development." About twenty students from Soonchunhyang went to listen to speakers from around the world talking about ways that small communities can survive in the global economy.

We had to meet in front of school at 7:30. I overslept and woke up at 7:20! I scrambled to get my stuff together and I got on the bus a few minutes before we left. The conference was held in the auditorium that the G20 was held a few weeks before, pretty cool! In the morning, there were a few speakers summerizing several approaches local communities can stimulate their economy by utilizing local products to attract a larger consumer group.

The conference provided lunch. The conference was held in one of the nicest hotels in Seoul, and we ate at the hotel restaurant. It was a buffet with lots of different cuisines: sushi, ribs, lamb chops, crab legs, and Korean food. There was this great fruit bar as well with lots of fresh fruit (which is quite expensive in Korea compared to the US). It was an awesome lunch and made the day a whole lot better.

After lunch was more speakers in the conference room. When the speakers spoke other languages, we were provided earpieces with a translator. It was pretty cool, I felt like I was at the UN or something! I learned a lot about the importance of small regions to maintain their identity by selling local products rather than producing foreign products. I think as the world shrinks, we are losing the individuality of different regions. I really liked the premise of this conference because it promoted this return to individuality.

On our way back to school, I saw on the TV (every bus has a huge flat screen TV at the front for the passengers to watch) that North Korea attacked two of South Korea's western islands. It was a retaliation towards the military drills that South Korea has been practicing for the last week. One Korean marine was killed and there is a lot of tension at the border. I could tell that it was serious because the usually happy-go-lucky newsreporters didn't have their typical smile but instead a solemn look. The director from the international program that went with us to the conference reassured us that this happens almost every year, and if it escalated to a more serious problem, he would let us know.

Personally, I am not worried. I know, here I am in one of the most dangerous countries (The South and the North technically are still at war since the South refused to sign a peace agreement back in the 1950's), but the way I see it: I am more likely to die or get seriously hurt back in the States. More people die of car accidents or violence in the US than from North Korean bombs. I don't want to live in fear of what may happen and pass chances of a lifetime (like coming to study in Korea). If it is my time to leave this earth, it will happen regardless of what I do. I will not deny opportunities that will enrich my life just because of the possible risks. I don't think this makes me brave or crazy, it's just the way I see it.

Suite Field Trip

This weekend, I went with Jin Ju, Belle, Carrie, and Jin Ju's friend to Icheon. We stayed in a traditional Joseon Dynasty house, went to a temple, and made pottery. When we arrived yesterday afternoon, we walked to the temple, which is similar to all of the other temples in Korea. I like to go to temples and find what makes it different from other temples.

After we explored the temple, we went back to the traditional house that we were staying in, which was connected to the pottery building. The house was definately rustic! The room didn't look like it had been cleaned and the sheets were dirty! Oh well, it was an experiance that we will remember. We had a great dinner: Beef BBQ, Korean style. Belle cooked the meat outside. After it was cooked, we wrapped the meat in a leaf with kimchi, garlic, and other spices. It was really delicious, especially since beef is not a common meat in Korea.

After dinner, we went to the pottery building where the host gave us a brief history of pottery in Korea. He spoke in Korean so I have no clue what he said, oh well. He helped us mold our pottery pieces, I chose a serving dish, which is a large plate with a small edge. After making our pieces of pottery, we went back to our "rustic" room where we turned on the floors (all of the heat in Korean homes comes from the floor) and played cards. Carrie and I taught the girls seven different card games. They loved playing all of the games, we played for about three hours.

Today, we woke up and etched designs on our pieces of pottery. I was not feeling to artistically inspired, but it turned out ok. Carrie made this really cool Bamboo design on her jar. We left in the late morning and began to make our way back to school. It is about a two hour bus ride from Icheon to Cheonan, which is another twenty minutes by subway to school. When we got to Cheonan, we had lunch and went shopping in one of the markets. We went to two of the famous cosmetic stores here in Korea: The Face Shop and Skin Food. They are like Bath and Body Works except they have a lot of facial skin care products. Women in Korea are obsessed with the appearence of their face. I like to go to these stores and pick a cheap facial product to try for fun. It is a huge part of Korean culture: the desire for the perfect face. The Korean girls in our group were buying all kinds of products, it always surprises me how they are so focused on their appearence. I have been taught to value inner beauty, and it breaks my heart to see women who do not feel confident in themselves unless they work on their appearence for over two hours each morning (there really is a girl in my suite who does this). Don't get me wrong, I like to glam up from time to time, but it is not a defining factor of who I am to the point that I would feel incomplete without appearing a certain way. I don't think this obsession for so called beauty is only a Korean thing, you can see it in every culture. I just wish that we could look past our outer appearence and value people for the person inside, argh!

On Tuesday, I am going to a conference in Seoul. It is a seminar for college students about the growing trend of buying local and how it is benefitting the global economy. It sounds interesting and will be a good reason to leave campus to learn something different.

Bali Bali Bali!

Today, I had exchanges in the morning. After my exchanges, Dyra invited me to go see "Social Network" with her in Cheonan. We decided to plan to go to the early evening showing, which meant that we would have to leave about an hour before the show. I took a nap before we were supposed to meet, bad idea! I slept too long and we missed the early evening show.

We decided to go to one of the nearby markets while we waited for the later show. We ate some street food, which included boiled fish, fried shrimp, and fried Korean dumplings. A lot of the street vendors in the markets have small enclosed spaces with a table and chairs for people to eat their food. The vendor we went to also had a TV with the Asian games on the channel. The Asian games are like the Olympics only on a smaller scale. There is a Korean swimmer who is doing very well, a few days ago he beat his Chinese rival in the event that he lost in the Beijing Olympics. There is a lot of excitement about this swimmer in Korea because he is doing very well. After eating our food and cheering for Korea with the store vendor, we went to a few of the small boutiques in the market.

After some shopping, we headed over to the theater for the movie. In Korea, the seats in the theater are assigned. We had to find the seat that matched our ticket. In Korea, most English movies are played in English with Korean subtitles. It is hard to find dubbed movies while they are in theaters. The movie was in English, which was great. It was hard for Dyra at times to understand some of the actors mumbling, but she liked the movie.

When the movie was over, we looked at our phones, and it was 11! We had an hour to make it back to campus. We hurried out of the theater, yelling to each other "Bali" which means "Hurry" in Korean. We got to the subway station, but we missed our train by five minutes! We had to wait until 11:40 to catch the subway, which is a twenty minute trip. We would be cutting it very close! At midnight, my dorm is locked, so you can't get in until morning. If locked out, you have two options: Tough it out by spending the night somewhere, or climbing into the second story window of the guys dorm tower that is left unlocked so people can get in. We didn't want to have to face either of these options. We met Bermet at the station, she was on her way back from Seoul. As we got closer to the station, we were reving up to dash out of the station. We grabbed a taxi and told the driver "Global Village, Bali Bali Bali!" He drove like he was in the Amazing Race, I think if I ever run the Amazing Race, he would be my ideal driver. He got us to the dorm just in time to run through the front door. It was quite an adventure rushing back to campus before curfew.

The King and the Clown

Today in Korean History, our teacher gave us a break from lectures and presentations by showing a Korean movie called "The King and the Clown." I have seen this movie once with Hyesun, but it was hard for me to understand what was going on because of the cultural and historical details. Watching it a second time allowed me to enjoy the movie rather than trying to figure out what was going on. It is about the most notorious King of the Joseon dynasty and probably all of Korean history. He murdered his brother to become king and was the only king to be removed from his post by the Korean people. Records of his rule show that he was paranoid and would kill anyone who threatened his position as king. The movie follows two fictional clowns who become the kings entertainers. As the king becomes more insane, the clowns begin to fear for their lives. It is a great movie and accurately shows life in the Joseon dynasty. It was also nice to watch history come to life in a sense that would have been impossible to grasp from a textbook. One of my Korean friends from my class is trying to find the movie with English subtitles for me to take home, so you guys can get a taste of Korea.

I have to admit, now that we are getting closer to Thanksgiving/Christmas season and my birthday, I am feeling a little homesick for the first time. I am having the time of my life here in Korea and wouldn't trade it for anything, but this will be my first holiday season without my family. Korea doesn't celebrate American Thanksgiving and Christmas is a smaller holiday that isn't celebrated with family. It will be very strange for me not to celebrate these two very important family holidays with my family at home. I am so thankful that I have the Byeon's and Derek's family here in Korea, I think I would be a complete mess at times if I didn't have their love and support so close to where I am. They are family to me, and it will be great to celebrate Christmas and my birthday with them. Derek is coming back to Korea for Christmas, which is great! As of right now, I am planning to celebrate my birthday with both of my Korean families together. For Christmas, I am hoping to spend time with both families individually, but we are still figuring out the details.

My mom and sisters are coming in January, which I am very excited about! I have over two months off in the winter, so I am still deciding on travel plans. I am hoping that after Christmas, I will not be in Korea for too long, I want to see as much of Asia as possible. I will keep all of you updated about my winter break plans as I get them worked out.

A Quiet Weekend

So, I think this week of classes was the first "normal" week, by saying that I mean that: none of my classes were canceled and I had homework and/or quizes in all of my classes. I don't know if there is a definition of a normal week because this week was very strange to me. I think we create this image of what we think normal would look like, yet when we see that image in reality, it does not provide the comfort that we were hoping for. This idea has resonated for me in a larger scale than a weekly schedule. I have come to realize that I enjoy life with flexibility. I know a year ago I couldn't have imagined that I would be in South Korea having the time of my life learning and traveling in such a culturally rich country. I think it's important to have goals and dreams, but also be able to be open to different ways to carry out those ambitions. That is one of the most important lessons I have learned in the past year: Be flexible!

Today, I went to Osan to explore the markets and streets of the town. I had invited a few friends to come, but almost all of them went to Seoul for the weekend. The people that didn't go wanted to stay around campus for the day, so I ventured on my own. I had read that Osan has one of the oldest markets in Korea, so I wanted to see this 400 year old market. Unfortunately, I didn't find it, but I did find another market that had a lot of character. It was fun to see a new town and get off campus for a while.

On Tuesday, I have a Korean writing test. Along with that, my CID group has a presentation due next week. My group has a terrible case of procrastination and we haven't started our presentaion! The rest of this weekend will be pretty quiet, I will be studying for my test and trying to get my CID group together so we can get this project done! Along with studying tomorrow, I am going to have a movie/game night with Xiao Chen and a few other friends. The next few weekends will be pretty crazy. I have my suite fieldtrip next weekend. In two weeks I'm going to see Eomeoni (Mother) Byeon play in a ping pong tournament with Kyunghye. Of course, plans are subject to change!

I Voted Today

On Friday, after requesting an absentee ballot for the midterm election almost two months ago, I received my ballot. Granted, it came three days after the election, and it says that if it isn't received by November 2nd, it won't be counted. Regardless, I wanted to vote by completing the ballot, even if it won't be counted. For all of you who remember, I was a month shy of being able to vote last election, so this was my first time voting!

Today, I set some time aside to vote. Tomorrow I will mail it back to Missouri, it will then be up to them whether to count it or not. My voice was heard six thousand miles away about my convictions concerning the future of my country!

Friendly Korea

Today, I decided to take a trip to Cheonan just to wander around. I haven't traveled too much on my own since coming here, so it was nice to explore markets, several streets, and different shops on my own. For those of you who may be worried about my safety traveling alone when I know very little of the language, there is no reason to worry. Korea has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I think this is because Korean culture is the production of almost two thousand years of Confucian influence. Korea applied Confucious teaching to every aspect of society. As a result, commiting a crime is the greatest dishonor not only to you, but to your family. Causing your family pain is the greatest disgrace in Korean society. That is one thing that I really appreciate about Korean culture: people are very concious about how their decisions will affect their family and community. Granted, there are times where individuality takes precedence, but I really respect the sensitivity Korean people have about the ramifications of their decisions.

I took the subway to Cheonan, where I walked a few of the main streets, browsing a few of the shops. I also went to Yawoori, which is the mall in Cheonan. Malls in Korea are a bit different from the USA. They are usually at least five or six stories, one in Seoul is over ten stories tall! They are not as wide as American malls, but they make up for that in height. In the mall, there are only small stores. Each floor is open with no walls to divide each store. It feels like a fancy open air market. I don't really like Yawoori because the stores are really expensive and mostly sell Western brands.

After visiting Yawoori, I bought some lunch at a restaurant down the street. While I was eating, this adorable four year old Korean boy walked over with his mom. He bowed (another Confucian influence!) and introduced himself in pretty good English. I was very impressed. His mom told me that he has been learning English and wanted to meet me when he saw me eating a few tables away. I was also able to talk with them in the little Korean I have learned.

I also went to an open air market, which has a lot more personality than Yawoori. The first time I went to one of these markets, I was hit with some culture shock! There are shops that sell chicken feet, small beetles, and an assortment of live seafood for you to choose from. The yells of the vendors, the smell of the piles of fish, and the taste of Korean street food was one of the first times I knew I wasn't in Missouri anymore! Now walking through these markets is a kind of comfort for me. They have so much character and really represent everyday life for Koreans. I met this lovely lady who owned the store I was browsing. She asked me a few questions about where I was from. Though we couldn't understand each other very well because of the language barrier, we were able to laugh and try the best we could! I really think Korea should make "Friendly Korea" their motto. At different points today, there were countless people who came up to talk to me. Even though I went around Cheonan alone, I felt like all of the people from Cheonan were my travel buddies.

Tomorrow, I'm going to watch a movie with Hong, Yun Yue, and a few other friends. We haven't had a lot of time to hang out, so it will be great to catch up. I also have to study for a Korean speaking test on Monday.

Karaoke

For those who don't know, Koreans love Karaoke, big time. It is one of the most popular pastimes of Koreans young and old. In Korea, there are "Karaoke rooms" which are buildings with several rooms equipped with huge screens, speakers, and crazy lights. When you go to a Noraebang (karaoke), you pay to use a room to sing per hour. It is always loud and tons of fun singing with a large group songs you recognize and songs you can't even understand the language. You could completely butcher a song and it wouldn't matter, Noraebang is about spending time with friends. Coming from America, where you can only find Karaoke in bars, I was excited to see how much Koreans get into Karaoke.

Today was my friend Savonne's 21st birthday. She is from Cambodia and speaks Korean really well. She is such a sweetheart and always has a huge infectous smile on her face. Dyra planned a surprise party for her, and boy was she surprised! We bought her a cake and some kimchi chicken (fried chicken sauted in kimchi, a popular takeout dish). After celebrating in her suite, we went to a Noraebang to sing Karaoke. The Karaoke group included Savonne, Dyra, Sinath (from Cambodia), Sovannarith (from Cambodia), Elena (from Uzbekistan), and two Korean students from one of Savonne's classes. We went to a Noraebang near campus and belted out Korean and English songs. When you sing Karaoke in Korea, you can't help but conjure your inner pop star. It is so much fun, especially singing with a large group that is belting out songs even when you don't know all the words. Dyra has a great voice, her voice reminds me of Maraih Carey. I told her I am expecting to hear an album from her in five years. After about an hour and a half of singing and dancing, we left the Noraebang, laughing all the way back to campus about our Karaoke party.

SCH Fall Field Trip

I just got back from an awesome 36 hour trip with both the International and Korean students in the Global program. Every semester, SCH (Soonchunhyang) plans an overnight field trip somewhere in Korea for the students in the Global program. This semester, we went to the east coast of Korea.

The meeting time in front of the dorm was 6:00 am, so everyone was pretty tired. I managed to stay awake to see the sunrise while we were leaving before I fell asleep. We had lunch on the beach after a four hour bus ride from our school on the west coast to the east coast. I love the ocean so having a picnic lunch on the beach was awesome.

After lunch, we went to Seoraksan National Park. If you have ever seen any ancient paintings of the mountains of Korea, you would know what this park looks like. It is the most beautiful painting of mountains you have ever seen in real life. The pictures don't do this park justice because it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I went hiking with two of my suitemates and a few other Korean students up a small mountain to the Moving Rock. From what they told me, the Moving Rock is a holy place in Korean Buddhism. Near the rock were a few Buddhist temples. One of them was built into the mountain. It was so beautiful to see the mesh of nature and architecture. It was the most beautiful Buddhist temple I have seen because it was simple and allowed the beauty of nature to shine around it. From what my suitemates told me, the Moving Rock is a giant rock near these temples where people try to move it. They were not sure what the significance was of this rock, but it was fun to try to move it. I couldn't make it budge, but three of the international guys were able to make it slightly rock. There was also a Buddhist temple down the mountain. Down the path from the temple was a giant bronze Buddha. It was the first big Buddha I have seen here in Korea, however there are many all over the country. I'm sure it will not be the last giant Buddha I will get to see during my time in Korea.

After hiking in Seoraksan, we went to a resort a few miles from the park for the night. Each suite from the dorms got a suite room in the resort. In my suite was Jin Ju and her friend Anna, Jin Young, Carrie and her roomate Belle. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains from our room. We had a seafood soup for dinner, followed by preparing for the Halloween party. All of the girls started getting ready two hours before the party: doing their hair, putting on the right makeup, and perfecting their costumes for their first Halloween. It was so fun to see all of the creative costumes that the Koreans prepared. It was very difficult to find a Halloween store near school since Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween. I don't know where they got their costumes and accessories, but I felt like I was in America for a moment when I walked into the "haunted" ballroom. Maiday was the DJ, and even our Global program leaders dressed in costume for the party. After three hours of dancing and pictures, we went back to our suite. The girls in my room unwinded with some "Korean Idol" on TV. Korean Idol contestants are much more talented than their American counterparts because they are required to practice not only singing, but dancing, songwriting, and arranging other artist's songs. It was so fun to get to know some of my suitemates better along with many of the other Korean students in our program. During the week, they are always so busy, so it was nice to see them relax and have some fun after midterms.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to watch a scary movie with some of the international and Korean students for Halloween. The rest of the week is a typical school week, along with an exam in my North and South Korea class. I am leading a study session with some of the international and Korean students on Monday. In a few weeks, I am planning to go to the DMZ with a few of my friends. It looks like November will be pretty busy with lots of small trips. I'm so excited to see and learn more about Korea.

Global Day and a Cold

On Tuesday, Soonchunhyang celebrated all of the countries represented in our program with the Global Day. It is a festival where every country can share their culture and the Sister Universities (SEMO included) could advertise their study abroad program. I am the only student from SEMO, so I worked at the SEMO table, inviting Korean students to consider studying at SEMO. My friends from Thailand wore their traditional dress, which is a sleeveless silk dress. It was about 40 degrees outside, so they were freezing! It was nice though to see their traditional dress, so beautiful! Global Day reinforced the feelings I had about the program here at Soonchunhyang: It is beautiful that so many people from different countries can come together in this awesome country to study and grow as individuals together. I feel so blessed and honored to have this learning experience. I have learned that we have so much more in common in this world than our differences. A friendly smile, a comforting hug, and an infectous laugh are universal.

Oh, I have learned about another thing that is universal: A Cold. No matter where you are in the world, a virus can always find you. I realized that when I woke up Sunday morning completely congested. I am feeling better now and I hope this will be my only cold for the winter.

Tomorrow is the field trip with the entire international program, including the Korean students in our dorm. We are going to the east coast of Korea and we will be hiking in one of the National Parks. We are also celebrating Halloween with a party. All of my suitemates have been preparing their Halloween costumes since this is their first Halloween. Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween, so they have been asking me about the holiday and what "Trick or Treat" means. I'm really excited because I haven't been to the eastern part of Korea.

A Weekend in Busan

I just got back from an awesome three days in Busan. Sarah joined me for an adventure to the coastal city of Busan. We left on Thursday morning and took a five hour train ride from Cheonan to Busan. It was great to see so much of the countryside on our way. When we got off the train we had to find our way through the Busan subway to our hostel.

When we were planning our weekend trip, Sarah found this hostel on the hostel website called Indy House. It was cheap and centrally located so we decided to make a reservation. The hostel was Indiana Jones themed (which was pretty sweet!) and was owned by these two knowledgable Koreans. They were very kind and made us feel at home. They also helped us find the places we wanted to see and gave us maps to our destinations. The hostel had two private rooms and one mass coed room that had about six bunk beds. Me and Sarah were the only girls in the coed room, which was definately a new experience. We met the guys in our room, and learned of their adventures. Mom, you were right, there are some really interesting people that you can meet at hostels. There were no Americans in the hostel besides me and Sarah, so it was great to meet so many people from around the world. In our room, there were four guys from Australia, one guy from Norway, and a guy from Italy. One of the Australians, Andrew, is here in Korea for five weeks to visit his Korean girlfriend. The guy from Norway, Allen, is on his way around the world. He started in Norway and is making his way based on what he wants to see next. He plans his next flight a few days before the flight. The guy from Italy, Matteo, is also on his way on a trip around the world. He took a trip from Alaska to Mexico a few years ago and after getting the approval of his girlfriend, he is on his way around the world. There were also two girls from Thailand on a break from school who were very funny. It was great to meet so many interesting people and to hear thier stories about their travels. It's nice to see that there are so many people that have the travel bug!

I have to admit, I'm hooked on hostels. They are very cheap and you meet so many people who share their travel experiences with you. They have so much more personality than a typical, closed in hotel. I love hotels, but hostels have so much character and they are so reasonable, it's hard to pass. Hopefully, this winter while I'm traveling around Asia, I will get the opportunity to stay in a few hostels to save some money and meet more people.

On Thursday afternoon, we went to the UN sculpture park. It is connected to the UN Korean War cemetery and memorial, but they were closed by the time we got there. The sculpture park has many different sculptures representing different emotions about the Korean War. What was really interesting was that there was one sculpture created by an artist from every country that fought for the UN in the Korean War. It was very fascinating to see so many different perspectives of feelings towards the war. After the sculpture park, we went to the beach for a pop concert. There was a free concert with up and coming Korean pop stars performing. The fact that it was on Haeundae beach in the middle of downtown Busan only made it more awesome!

On Friday, we got up in the morning to go hiking at Yigdae park. It is a protected area right next to the city. It is a penninsula that overlooks downtown Busan. We hiked to one of the peaks in the park and then walked along the coastline, overlooking the skyscrapers of Busan. It was absolutely beautiful. It was so much fun to explore the beaches and rocky coastline with the city as a backdrop. I was very surprised that there was such a beautiful untouched park so close to the downtown part of Busan. It really illustrates the importance that Koreans place on maintaining the old while progressing to become more modern. I think Korea really values its history and natural sites because they have been destroyed and taken away so many times by others. On our walk along the coastline, we met a group of Korean ladies who invited us to join them for their picnic. We visited and ate lots of homemade Korean food with them. Although they spoke very little English and we knew hardly any Korean, we were able to laugh and eat with them. I will never know why they were so welcoming and invited us to eat with them. My only solution is that they are like everyone else in Korea: warm and welcoming to anyone and everyone. I have never seen an entire country that is as kind and friendly as the people of Korea. They have shown me that even with such a tragic history, you can move on and refuse to allow that as an excuse to be bitter and angry.

On Friday night, we went to the International Fireworks Festival show. Every year, Busan hosts the International Fireworks Festival. It just so happened that this festival was this weekend. The show featured fireworks from all around the world. We went to Haeundae beach in downtown Busan to join over 1 million of our closest friends for the show. I think they have the Florissant fireworks show beat (but I still love the show at home). The fireworks were coordinated to music, creating an hour long music and light spectacular. The precision and coordination of the fireworks to the music was amazing. With the Busan bridge as a backdrop, I can't imagine a more perfect setting for such an awesome show.

This morning, we went to the UN cemetery and memorial. After the Korean War, the troops that were killed in the war, but did not have a grave in their homeland were buried here. There are about 2,000 men that are buried at this memorial cemetery. Most of them were from the UK or Turkey. I was surprised that there were not as many American troops buried here because of the large number of US casualties. One of the Korean men at the memorial said that the reason for this is that the US government made sure that the families received their loved one's body after the war. It was an emotional experience walking through that cemetery and seeing all of the men from around the world who fought to keep South Korea free.

One of the memorials at the cemetery was a Wall of Rememberence. It was two marble walls with the names of every man killed in the Korean war apart from the troops from South Korea. In the Korean War, over 40,000 men from over 40 different countries were killed. This does not include the South Korean casualties, which is higher than that number. Of the 40,000 international troops killed in the war, over 36,000 of them were from the USA. It was overwhelming seeing all those names. When you see a number, it does not have the same meaning as reading every single name. What was even more crushing was the point when it hit me that behind each of these names was a man who had hopes, dreams, families, frustrations, memories, and lives that were destroyed in this war. Many people call the Korean War the "Forgotten War," we must never forget this war that cost so much to maintain the freedom of South Korea. Without the sacrifice of these men, Asia would look very different, and I'm sure the rest of the world would not be the same as well.

I absolutely loved Busan. It was so beautiful with urban and natural splendor. I would love to go back because there is still so much to see.