Never a Dull Moment

Hi everyone!

First of all, Korea is totally fine (earthquake wise). We didn't feel or see anything fortunately.

Life continues to be great. This past week I have caught up with two friends, Max and Cheol. Believe it or not Max and I met on a roof in Jordan. When we started talking it just naturally came up that I was going to Korean next semester and he was too! Max is studying at Seoul National University, which is number one in the country (Yonsei is number two). Max came to Sinchon and we had Galmaegisal (갈매기살), which translates to seagull meat. It's not actually seagull meat, despite my friend Yuri's insistance, but rather just a specific cut of pork. You cook it over a fire right in front you and have all the fixins (lettuce, different sauces, bean sprouts, onions, etc.). Afterwards we got waffles with ice cream (nothing unusual for me and Emily). It was great to hang out with Max! We mixed it up with a little arabic, he got to meet two of my CIEE friends, Emily and Tina, and he is just such a funny guy, we had a good time : )

Cheol is a friend from the Hubo Lab last summer in Daejeon. However, he graduated with his masters in January so he isn't in the lab anymore but in Seoul! You would think I would see him more than Jungwoo who is in Daejeon but Cheol is super busy working on starting his business so I saw him for the first time last Wednesday. He brought a friend from high school and a girl he had met through sean and alex (the guys from drexel working in hubo). None of us knew each other except for Cheol so we had a great night of getting to know each other. We had one of my favorite dishes; its chicken and hot sauce and rice cakes and noodles and cabbage all cooked together in a dish infront of you. We then went to a different place where we had pomegranate makkoli!! Makkoli is a rice wine but I didnt know that fruit could be added to it. Actually our server brought the pomegranate to our table, squeezed it right there, and then poured it in. I learned a lot of Korean getting to know you/drinking games. The girl Cheol brought, Queree, and I really hit it off! We spent the whole night laughing together. I needed a cultural exchange partner for a seminar and she said she would be mine! I am really looking forward to hanging out with her more : )

Jonathan is a CIEE guy from Austin, Texas. It is a little spooky but him and I appear to be exactly the same person except for the fact he is a boy and from TX (I hope my dad is jumping off a bridge considering he wouldn't even let me apply for college in TX). Anyway, Jonathan and I went on an intense hookah bar search, since I knew they existed in Korea because I had been in Daejeon (and if it's in Daejeon it MUST be in Seoul). Love that wireless internet. We went to a place in Hongdae (the clubbing district right next to Sinchon). It was so exciting!! It cost 10,000 won ($8.80) which is about three times the cost in Jordan but hey, still cheaper than the US. We got cherry and mango (aka cherrango), which was super tasty. Oh i just thought of another difference between me and Jonathan: he can blow smoke rings : (

Classes are beginning to get into full swing. We had out first time in the pool and I have never felt greater! Didn't realize how much I missed it! It is a swimming 1 class so a lot of it was getting comfortable in the water, like playing rock paper scissors under water and who ever wins gets to take a breath! that was fun. We also did a lot of swimming back and forth but since it is a large class and there is only five lanes we have to swim across the five lanes, so not a very long distance. Regardless it was great. The professor came up to me and said I could swim and that I didn't need to take this class but I just said I loved swimming and wanted to anyway : ) And now that I think about it the last time i remember being in a swimming class my parents abandoned me and i sat on the side of the pool crying the whole time. So i am sure there is more that I can learn.

Oh man...we had the first body building class, which was assessments. We went out to the soccer field and did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, sprints, squats, stretches, you name it. At the end of the class he told us we were all really out of shape and it is a huge problem because we are sports majors (well for the majors) and as a result instituted minimum requirements to pass the class. 50 push ups, 50 sit ups in a minute, benching 80% of our body weight (i think there will be a different percentage for girls), and certain running times. It is nice to have a challenge to push towards. I think the whole class was sore the next day, despite it was supposed to be an "easy" class.

Directly after assessments I have to get to the exact opposite side of campus in ten minutes, and it is a BIG campus. I was running, had already mapped out the fastest route, and was still five minutes late to class. I came in sweating, completely red and chugging my water bottle, great impression for my teacher. I actually have to make the same run to get to body building but that professor has been letting us out a few minutes early so I can make it in time. Never a dull moment...

I also signed up for the boxing club. I had no intention of joining the boxing club, I was just perusing club day with my friend Jonathan. When we walked up to the tent I couldn't say no to the look on the guy's faces, they were soooooo excited at the thought of me boxing. It will be fun for sure. We had our orientation, which was a 20 minute presentation in Korean but me, Jonathan, and another CIEE student Reed got english version afterward. This is going to be my strangest, but probably most fun, semester ever.

Right now I am about to go get some food with CIEE people, Emily, Tina, Reed, and Jonathan and then go to the COEX aquarium. I have already been there but it is just so awesome I am excited to go again. Of course this involves getting dressed so I need to get on that! Hope everyone is well, whereever you are!