Day 42

I went to school feeling a bit tired. I had not had a good sleep because sleeping in a car while it drives home is never a good way to get rest. I left about 10 minutes earlier than I usually do because I wanted to write in my blog a bit before I went to class, but I used that time to get a bubble tea. I also needed to break my 50 so that I would have exact change for when I would give my money to my RDs for the next level in the Korean book later in the day.

With my bubble tea in hand, I started to walk to the university when I spotted Joy and Margo walking together. I walked right next to Margo without saying a word and when she noticed me, she freaked out a bit. Classic. We walked together and met up with some other NSLI-Yians and we all headed up the school together. I was walking up with Mckenzie and Maris and we talked about our adventures and experiences with our host families and Korea. It was p cool.

When we got to the school, I went straight to the spot right in front of the air conditioner that I usually go to. It was so refreshing to feel cool air hit my back and arms. I watched Youtube videos and tried to write some more in my blog for yesterday, but I was too distracted watching the videos and couldn't focus on what I was writing. Nicole arrived at the school and greeted me and I eventually went up.

In our classroom, the words "마지막 월요일" (last Monday) I felt a bit sad from seeing this, but it was only the start of the day, so I thought nothing of it. I went to the air conditioner and watched some Youtube videos until school started. Then, we learned a lot. During the first period, I was struggling to stay awake, so I stayed near the air conditioner and let the refreshing breeze open my eyes as it hit my arms. It was such a relief to get to the first break, so I went down Ariel and Jesse to the nearby (crappier) 7/11. Ariel went to get a working charger for her phone because her phone ran out of battery and the charger that she had just bought that morning before class was broken before even being used.

I got three small coffee things because there was a 2+1 special and I got a whole box of the green tea chocolate chip wafer things. I headed back up with Jesse while Ariel was still sorting out her phone business and we got to class. During the second break, we took class selfies and some of the photographer supporters came in to take class pictures of us. We then did our third period. Near the end of our fourth period, our teacher saw that we were all so tired (I was awake from drinking two of the coffee things) and so we played a game called 삼 육 구 where you count up chromatically and clap when you get to a multiple of 3 or a number that has 3 in it. For example, a game would go as followed:

1, 2, *clap*, 4, 5, *clap*, 7, 8, *clap*, 10, 11, *clap*, *clap*, 14, *clap*, 16, 17, *clap*, 19, 20, *clap*, 22, *clap*, ... so on and so forth.

It was already hard to count in Korean as it, so it was even more challenging for the class to play this game. However, it was still super fun. We then ended class and went over to attend our last weekly meeting.

This time, we spoke about our experiences review Korea- how it had changed us, how we had gotten a deeper understanding of the culture and people, and things that we appreciated. Then, we spoke about reverse culture shock and about how it may be difficult to adjust back into our lives before Korea happened to us. At the end of the meeting, I paid for my book - 22.5k 원.

After this, I ate lunch at an all you can eat 삼겹살 for 10k 원 restaurant with Abbey, Sphophofia, and Emma nearby exit 8. Here, we ate a lot and talked about our experiences in Korea. It was pretty cool, especially since I had not spent that much time talking to Abbey. Me and Sphophiphphihphhhpa (hope I spelt your name correctly this time) cooked the meat while Abbey and Emma cooked the vegetables. It was really delicious and good for the price, considering that most places only give you a limited amount of food and the food is usually pretty bland.

After this, I headed home because my mother recommended that I go home around 4:00PM and it was already about 4:00PM. I listened to my mother's advice and also because I thought that we were going to go out to see the view and spend some quality time together later at night. After I got home, I took a shower and put on active clothing to get ready to go out when it got dark. However, 8:30PM passed by and I knew that my expectations were not to be met. It was so hot in the living room and very boring, considering that I was about to leave Korea in less than a week, so I decided that I would pack my stuff up and go to the cafe Pascucci down the road that I had vowed to visit, but never actually visited.

So, I went into my room and started to pack my little tote bag from Better World when my mother walks into my room and starts packing my stuff for me. I start to feel sad because I realize that my time is getting shorter, and I'm already having to pack without feeling close enough to my family. My mother packs my souvenirs and speaks to me in slow Korean, thinking that I don't understand. I feel very bad because it feels like I went back in progress in Korean even though I didn't and also I'm leaving my family soon.

So, I pack a little bit up and then I finish packing up my tote bag and tell my mother than I'm going to go to a cafe to study. She asks why and I tell her that 저녁이 있어서 카페에 공부하면 기분이 좋아해요. So she asks me 헌자 가? And so I ask her 같이 가고 싶어요? but she is busy doing something, so she asks my brother if he wants to go and he says no. 저는 언니는 안 가고 싶는 것을 벌써 알아서 카페에 헌자 갔어요. A few days prior, the cafe was closed to what I assume was summer vacation, so I was very pleased to find out that it was open tonight.

I entered the cafe pascucci and ordered a mocha 콘파나 그라니타 and went right to doing my homework. I did most of my homework and, with the help of the caffeine and the creative atmosphere, I was able to focus on my homework and felt refreshed by the air conditioner. In addition, I had a nice view of the city from right outside the window to my left. I would have really liked it if my family came with me, but at least by going alone, I was able to focus. If I had people with me, they might become bored because I would be doing my homework and not really being able to talk to them much.

This cafe Pascucci is very crowded yet people are in their own little atmospheres. I love this aspect of a cafe; you can feel alone yet you can also feel like you are with people at the same time. In addition, you get an amazing view and a perfect atmosphere for studying or doing work. It's perfect and keeps from breathing stagnant air in a stagnant room.

Well, I'm caught up to my current events and so I'm about to go back home and leave this wonderful environment. This is a very busy week and while I am working through it, I am enjoying every bit of time that passes by. I really enjoyed my trip even though some of my expectations were let down. Either way, it is what I made of it and I can look back and forward with satisfaction for the effort that I put into it. I hope everyone at home is having a good time and is ready to get back into school ^~^

For now, I will say farewell! Goodnight everyone :)



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