So.. I should be studying for midterms, but instead I'm blogging. And of course it has nothing to do with not wanting to put my nose in the books.. but more because I care about everyone who's interested in "all things, me and korea." So here goes.

First, I had a chance to go to 용산 (Yong-san) a few weeks ago. It's a huge 8 story mall (of sorts) that specializes in everything electronic. I picked up an HP printer for $48 while my housemate - Hiro picked up a new cell phone. You'll also see that there was a car display in the court of the mall. YES that's a DAEWOO sign.. and YES, the red car is a DAEWOO... (hmmm, never seen that in the states)







Here are some pictures of my Korean Language Institute class... There are 14 of us, when everyone shows up... It's always a good time.





I mom and grandma are in town this week... so we visited a bunch of family in 강릉 (Gang-neung) which is my mom's hometown. My grandmother's oldest brother's widow was there (86) with her son (who's youngest son is getting married in two weeks), my grandmother's youngest brother (65ish?) and his wife, her youngest sister (74ish?) her next younger brother (78ish), his wife (68ish?) and then my grandmother (81) my mother and I were all there... We ate a lot, drank a lot, and I sat around clapping while all the older folk sang traditional songs from their childhood.. All in all it was a good time.



On a side note... my grandmother was pretty upset about my attempt to grow some facial hair.. and barely spoke to me on the 2 hour drive from Suwon to Gang-neung. (except to tell me I looked like a homeless old man). When we got to her younger brother's house (where we stayed) first thing she told her brother was to grab me a razor... So much for attempting facial hair for the next 3 weeks... Oh well... I'll just look like I'm 12...


Until next time...

Another good night’s sleep! This time however, I had some help. So I was finally able to convince my grandmother that I really only need about half the amount of food that she’s been giving me. So last night I got a half bowl of rice. A bit after I finished eating my grandmother broke out two two-liter bottles of wine, one grape and one blackberry. She told me that I must have only had a half bowl of rice because I was saving room for wine! About three liters later, I knew I was in for a good night’s sleep. Fast forward to today. We did a bit more sight seeing today, we went to the home of a great ancient korean “guy” He is credited as being one of the wisest men to have ever lived in korea, he’s also on the 5,000 won. Then we went to the beach. Korea’s second largest beach has hundreds of thousands of visitors during the spring and summer months.
If you’ve noticed, my digital camera ran out of juice yesterday and so I’ve been trying to keep up using the ol iPhone camera. As I’m typing this I haven’t had a chance to see the pictures but I’m hoping they’ll come out okay. To give you an idea of how many people travel during Chuseok, my uncle drove from Gangnun to Seoul yesterday and the normally two and a half hour trip, took just over seven hours! My older aunt, who lives in Suwon, was on the road for almost 8 hours! (a trip that normally take just under three). We’re hoping that when we leave here in about an hour or so, it’ll only take us 5 hours or so because the traffic should be quite a bit lighter. By the way, the average speed on the freeway yesterday, 20kph! (14MPH!!!!).

On a side note, it’s been a full two and half days since I’ve been on the internet and had sort of contact with the “foreigners.” I am starting to confirm my original thoughts on homesickness. When talking to my friends and relatives, I’ve expressed very little homesickness and basically explained that oddly enough I haven’t really missed much. As I mentioned before, of course I miss things and people, but the type of depression that normally sets in when people suddenly change environments hasn’t even started to creep up on me. This week has helped to confirm that although much of the lack of culture shock may be from the extensive moving I did while growing up, much of it must still be attributed to technology. Being able to chat on the phone, IM, and video chat/skype with people makes the world seem like a much smaller place.

Well, if all goes well, tonight I’ll be able to start uploading this enormous 5 part blog and get the pictures up for you dedicated readers. Until then, I’m going to take a quick nap, drive for five hours, take the subway for about an hour, take a shower and get online!