Feeling: A tad sick…
Listening to: SISTAR-Touch My Body
Lately I have been feeling a bit sick..like upset stomach type of sick. It was an off and on thing so I didn’t think much of it at first until I realized a reoccurring theme. So I did some investigating and found that I probably was suffering from symptoms of gastroenteritis, aka bacterial infection, aka I drank or ate something that my body doesn’t like. This actually isn’t really concerning, and I’m actually quite surprised this didn’t happen earlier. Before I left the States, I was warned by the immunization clinic that I could eat or drink something my body wasn’t familiar with and might cause me to get a bit sick. Such as by drinking the water here (to which I only drink bottled water..DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER HERE!!! Even be wary of the ice in your drinks!).
Probably one of the smartest things I did before coming here was getting a $10.ooUSD prescription for a medication that’s for bacterial infection. I actually had to do a bit of walking to get that said prescription in the hot sun, all the while cursing myself and saying “This better be worth it..”. And it totally was. I actually stopped by the clinic to make sure everything was OK. When I showed him the medicine I was using he laughed and said “This is exactly what I would prescribe you if you didn’t already have it.”
Yaaaaaaaay for being smart!
Ilsan
A classmate from my US-Korea relations class messaged me (Or as we say, KaKao-ed me) one day and asked if I was up for hanging out in his hometown, Ilsan/일산..
..Rooooooooad trip!
This was the first time since I landed in the city, that I actually left Seoul. Which boggles my mind that I have been in so many different areas and places these past few months…and its all been in ONE place!
This gentleman actually went to a private high school in the State of New York and lived with an American family. So he’s very fluent in English. When I arrived, his first words to me were: “If I say anything wrong, you NEED to correct me”. I normally don’t do this with my Korean friends because 1: I feel like it’s a bit rude, and 2: if I keep correcting them they will feel uncomfortable talking with me because they’ll be afraid they’ll make a mistake. But if someone asks me to do it, then by all means I’ll do it. Although with this guy I didn’t have to correct him. At all.
It’s actually pretty amazing how many people here know a large amount of English and have studied abroad. From my own experience in my home country rarely anyone studies abroad in high school nor do I know a lot of people that know a second language. So I didn’t think it would be any different in other countries, but it is widely encouraged in Korea it seems to have your child study abroad to get a head start on their English. Again, English is a VERY important skill to have in Korea. It not only aid you in school, but also in your future career. But on that note I’ve been told that although Seoul has a fair amount of people who know English, if you’re in the country side of Korea this is usually not the case at all. You might have a hard time even ordering a coffee if you don’t know how to say it in Korean.
But back to Ilsan: He showed me around and brought me to the park nearby the subway station that has a artificial lake. Where the water meet the platform we were standing on was a fence that was sort of a backwards “C” shaped. i.e. a perfect seat. Feeling the light bulb turn on, I climbed over the fence and sat down. He laughed and said he’s lived here for the majority of his life, and he NEVER thought of doing that: “It took an American mind!”
We just sat beside the lake side and talked. We talked about our experiences in our visits to each others country, talked about the different parts of each others culture that shocked/bugged us, what we planned on doing in the future, and the dating culture in each country. Which is actually quite different.
For starters, you know how when you date you celebrate when you’ve dated for 3 months or 1 year? Well here it is done by days (30 days, 90 days, 100 days, etc). Couple items are also a trend here, where couples get matching wearable accessories such as couple rings, couple shirts, couple shoes, or even a complete couple outfit. I’ve seen couples in the subways with the exact same outfit on, from the hat to their shoes and socks. There isn’t a specific store for couple clothes, and its more like they buy two of the same item (For example two matching shirts from Forever 21, or even matching sneakers from Nike). Marriages are also a bit different. Now note that I’m not an expert on the subject and need to do a little more research, but marriages take place in wedding halls that are SPECIFICALLY for marriages (though maybe some Christian couples have the ceremony in the church..I’m really not sure). The ceremony is different as well, because it’s almost like the reception and the wedding are combined. The ceremony is done on stage, and below are the people seated at tables with food. Like so:
(NOTE: Not mine. Source for the image)
I was also told that it’s actually the wife’s job to buy furniture and the husband’s job to buy the house (I made a comment about how I don’t think that would work very well in the west because the woman would want to be heavily involved in this process!). But it’s interesting to see how different, or even similar, dating relationships are between countries. It’s something I just assumed growing up that it was the same around the world.
Pepero Day
Now another holiday Korea doesn’t celebrate is Valentines Day. HOWEVER! They have their own special day that is extremely similar: 빼빼로/Pepero Day. Now Pepero isn’t a Korean word for “love” or anything. It’s actually the name of this delicious treat:
Every heard of pocky from Japan? It’s basically the same thing, except a little bit bigger. They come in a variety of flavors such a Chocolate, Almond, Peanut, or, my all time favorite, White Cookie Chocolate. You can get them all year round in the candy isle of any convient or grocery store. But oh my God when Pepero Day is around the corner they are displayed EVERYWHERE and right smack in the front of the store in heart shaped displays. Tis the season.
I’m sure flowers and gifts may ensure, but the main event of the day is to share a box of Pepero with your other half, of give a box to someone you care about. I was tickled with my American friend Lisa showed up to class one day and gave me a HUGE chocolate pepero. I love her <3.
I’ve also heard of people making their own, and apparently it’s not too hard. I’ve found easy recipes online that basically call for snack sticks, melt chocolate, and sprinkles. Easy peasy!
Music – SISTAR
So if someone were to ask me which girl group is one of the most in Korea, I would say SISTAR. Hands down. At LEAST in the top 3 next to Girls Generation and 2NE1.
SISTAR is a four member girl group signed to Star Ship Entertainment. The groups name is a combination of the words‘Sister‘ and ‘Star‘. Meaning they are sisters in the entertainment business while becoming big stars. And they certainly have, because their popularity in Korea is incredible. Member HyoRin (3rd from the left) made international headlines for her vocals, and is actually known as “the Beyonce of Korea.” To be honest, I prefer previous singles from them and am not a huge fan of this song because a) every time I read the title I think of Mariah Carey’s song, which makes me confused, and b) this song is played everywhere to the point I am EXTREMELY annoyed with it. But this song, no question and no debate, is one of the top songs right now in Korea.
Also fun fact: the guy at 2:08 in the toy car is No Hong Chul aka the elevator guy in Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video.
My Days as an Exchange Student in S.Korea 