A few observations on life in Seoul
1. While it is technically possible to drag one's bags through the streets to your hostel, you'll feel rather foolish doing so, as the sidewalk is frequently blocked by large utility posts, cars, and other miscellaneous obstacles
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I'm in Seoul to study Korean for the summer. Sadly, the Korean study has not yet begun, so I still feel like a stupid clumsy foreigner. Thank goodness I have some small measure of drawing skills. My notebook is going to be full of little drawings of things I don't know the words for, I think. But hey, whatever works. Yesterday I managed to communicate to a lady at an electronics store that I needed a transformer (everything here runs on 220-volt electricity, so I couldn't recharge my DS--tragic). I was quite proud of myself. I'll be prouder when I can actually speak the language.
I don't know that I'm tough as nails or smarter than the dickens (is that Charles Dickens? Which Dickens is that?), but I'm doing fine so far. I've also got some friends in the area who can help me out when I really need it. Good thing, because my university is surprisingly unhelpful--I wonder how the other students are getting by.
Anyway. So you need to contact Sara, huh? How come you guys are having your reunion this year? My class's reunion is this year, so I think you're a year behind, if I'm not mistaken...but whatever. Sara doesn't have an email address because she can't afford internet access, but I can send you her phone number. Perhaps I'll do that through email so it's less public, although I doubt she'd care. (And no, I hadn't gotten your email till I saw this--I don't check hotmail very often anymore, so you might want to email me at my gmail address instead. It's exactly the same address, only it ends in @gmail.com.)
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I think the Dickens are just smart in general. Kinda like keeping up with the Jones'. the Jones' are very good at social advancement, the Dickens are a very intelligent clan. Duh.
Anyway...the reunion thing. Sore spot because I was the class prez and it's my bad that we didn't do it on time. I wanted nothing to do with it initially, and one of the other officers contacted me two years ago and asked for permission to work on it, I said go right ahead, I didn't want anything to do with it, then never heard anything. So then I get invited by Corey to join this website that Deanna Sutton made on some social network I never heard of. And there they were..forming a planning committee, posting old photos, trying to link everyone back together. I have to say that it's one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the internet...the forums and whatnot. It has even led to one overseas dalliance already...next time you see me I'll tell you the crazy story. It involves Ben Karrow and one of the foreign exchange students...crazyness.
Anyhow...take care of yourself keep updating this thing so we know you haven't been abducted into some crazy Far East sex factory or something. Email me at jbroihier@gmail.com with Sara's info if you would....
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At least Korean uses a standard phonetic alphabet. Once I learn to read it, I should be able to sound out anything. The pronunciation is a bit tricky, though. That's what's tripping me up at the moment.
Duh, indeed. I thought the Jones' were just very good at buying the latest, most expensive stuff. I don't know if that equates to social advancement. Possibly. Also, I think the dickens is actually the devil. It'd be nice to think I'm smarter than the devil, but he might take issue with that, so I won't brag too loudly.
Sorry the reunion thing is a sore spot for you. Maybe you could combine with my class reunion--I have a feeling not many of us are going to show up, since we were a pretty apathetic class to begin with. I was actually planning on going, but unfortunately, I can't make it because, well, I'm in Korea. Much as I'd like to see everyone, I don't think a class reunion is worth a $1700 plane ticket, not to mention missing my last week of classes.
Ben Karrow and one of the foreign exchange students, eh? How odd. Isn't he married and settled by now? I would have expected him to be.
I already sent Sara's phone number as a response to your previous email, but I'll send it again through gmail as well.
I'll do my best to keep up with the LiveJournal updates, although they're bound to get more sparse after classes begin. I don't think you have to worry about Far East sex factories or anything, though--by Asian standards I'm practically a senior citizen.
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We're lonely in Florida and there's two of us :)
Yeah, you're probably right about the Dickens thing. I think it is the devil. I don't know that the devil is too smart, however, more like clever. And cynical.
Take care kiddo.
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I tend to equate clever and smart, which is why I often feel not very smart at all. Cynical is perhaps its own creature. One that is dark, and grey, and gnarly, and intelligent.
Okay, clearly I have been spending too much time online. :) Going to shower now. I think I'm going to the national museum today, although who knows where I will finally end up. Probably back at Pretty Honey, curled up with my computer and books and DS. I have recently discovered Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney. (See, my life isn't that different here. The only big difference is the lack of cute furry animals, all of whom I miss, especially the dog. I think she's having more fun in Florida than she would here, though. If you end up at Walt Disney World this summer, by the way, you should stop by Disney's Wide World of Sports--Joe's working there for the summer, since his girlfriend Erin just got a really competitive internship with Disney. Good on her. Okay, ending the extremely long parenthetical remark. Shower. Now.)
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I doubt we will end up at Disney World. We generally hate amusement parks...Busch Gardens being the exception because we are animal nuts and it is close to the house.
That's funny you like Phoenix Wright...I do not own a DS, nor do I like Anime flavored games, but I remember seeing reviews of that series in my Game Informer and thought "this seems like something Amy would get a kick out of'. And so you do.
Right now my gaming flavors of the month are : Rock Band, (never gets old...new music keeps coming out every Tuesday, keeping me spending and playing..nasty cycle) and Grand Theft Auto 4 (most creative, detailed, and expansive game I have ever played, and this includes Oblivion. You have to spend a little time with this game if you get the chance just to appreciate the craftsmanship).
Well, enjoy your day lost in the hordes of the Foreign. We will be memorializing Stateside today.
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