Today I woke up on time, but I didn't want to, so I stayed in bed until 7:10AM. I washed up and said good morning to my mother. I sat on the couch listening to Morejo while my mother prepared breakfast. I was still pretty tired, but all was well. I was so grateful to eat food that my mother had prepared once again and I ate so much of the food that I was given, almost clearing out the serving plate. I got ready for school and headed out.
It was such a hot day today, I rushed to the subway station and was glad to be out of the heat. Today, the subway station felt a bit more empty than it should have felt- I guess that most people are out on vacation during this time. I got to school struggling due to the heat. It was not humid at all, just really hot. As I was placing my things down next to the air conditioner in the lobby, Emma asked me if I wanted to go with her to the nearby 7/11 before school started. I agreed and we went there. I didn't get anything, but I wanted to go on the journey.
In class, I used my new colored pens to write down vocabulary. My plan is to use different colors for different days so that I can see what I learned for each day and find the words that I learned for certain days. These pens are strange. There is no tip, but a slit at the end through which ink exits, sort of like a calligraphy pen. However, my writing was super small and neat and in pretty colors, so I appreciated them.
In class, I felt my improvement. Although I had not been studying the Korean words that I was learning in class, I was still practicing and improving my Korean by speaking through Kakao and through the Hello talk app. I could see my progress and I could actually use what I had learned. In class, I did not feel the normal struggle to put words together and think about grammar because I had practiced it many times before when I had conversations with Koreans in Korean. Also, my listening skill seemed to improve as I understood 95% of the things said in the dialogs that we were given to listen to. Usually, I don't even understand 50% even after 3 repetitions, but this time, I just about understood everything right from the first playthrough.
After class ended, we had our weekly meeting - one of the two left in this year's NSLI-Y program. We spoke about how we changed in Korea and how that affected us. I don't feel as if I've changed all too much other than my mastery of the Korean language, but I am sure that my changes will become apparent when I return to the states. I know that I automatically think in Korean when I try to speak in other languages like Spanish or Russian because of how naturally it is coming to me, and that I naturally place my left arm somewhere on my right arm if I am giving or receiving something from another person. I had already done the bowing from even before I knew it was a cultural thing.
Something about Korean culture that had changed me from before I was even in this program is the culture of sharing. I saw the beauty of sharing everything and began to practice it on my own in America and found myself feeling a lot of satisfaction in taking care of others and thinking of them other than just myself.
After our meeting, I went with Tucker, Emma, and Sofia (i hope i spelt your name correctly this time xP) to eat lunch. As we were looking for a place to eat, our original location was closed for renovations. We looked for other restaurants, but so many of them were closed as well for vacation or renovations or some other reason. We ended up eating in a Kimbap restaurant. I got some 소고기 김밥 while everyone else got donkatsu. We talked about school and writing in Korean and even compared out Korean handwriting styles.
After this, we went to 설빙 and got two Bingsus: a coffee Bingsu and a Melon-cheesecake bingsu. These bingsus were so amazingly delicious and reminded me of what I will miss so dearly when I leave Korea. We then left to drop Tucker at the Gongcha nearby exit 8 and saw our RDs along the way. We surprised them and talked to them until it was time to part yet again. Tucker and Ariel went to study Korean in the school's library while me, Emma, and Sofia went to 안국.
There, we walked around, bought poop pancakes, and looked through all the street stores. It was kind of expensive there because it was a famous place and there were many foreignors, so stores could get away with raising the price. I didn't buy anything. We also met Nicole, Ava, and their Korean friend while we were there. Walking around, we met a very nice guy who made us dragon beard candy samples (it was soooooo so delicious) and a Turkish guy doing a performance of making ice cream. We walked around some more and stopped at radio m cafe to study and rest.
I got a tiramisu frap, Emma got an iced vanilla latte thing, and Sofia got a green drink. However, we sat in a corner that Emma did not want to sit at and Sophia ended up spilling some of Emma's drink all over the leather cushioned table. I also spilt some of my drink as well, but it was just a bit of flavored ice and the spillage stayed within the tray that we were given.
We talked about our experiences in Korea and about our experience through the Hello Talk app. Also, we discussed the question "If you could be fluent in any language other than English or Korean, which one would it be?" We also 'judged' people outside and had lots of fun talking about our experiences in Korea.
I believe that I headed home during rush hour because the subway station was so crowded and claustrophobic, but I felt some comfort in being close to others in the collectivist society. I got home quickly and saw my parents head out while I headed in. I was greeted by my brother and took a shower. Then, I wrote my reflection over the program and wrote this blog. Now, I will get my recording for my supporter homework and get that in as soon as I can.
-end
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