New Digs, New Responsibilities, Tourist Time

I have moved into my homestay for the next five weeks and feel like order has been established in my life. The last twelve days at my uncle's house were a great vacation. I slept in, ate at random hours and watched a lot of soccer and Korean TV. After just two days with my host parents I have already re-established my sleeping pattern, eating pattern and have even tried to brush up on some basics of the Korean language via my phrase book (thanks, Dani!), my KOR/ENG dictionary and the internet.


Unlike most families in Seoul that live in apartments, my host parents own their house. It is sealed off by a stone wall, complete with a front yard, full bathroom, kitchen, living room and three bedrooms. The houses in this neighborhood are right next to one another and are all less than three stories. I think it would be a great place for a roof top chase scene for the next Jackie Chan, Matt Damon or Harold and Khumar action film.

Picture of House


Living with host parents in very new to me. While in Ghana, I moved from hostel to hostel every few weeks and was left to cook and clean on my own. This time around I do not have those responsibilities as much but have picked up some others. Besides being quiet when coming home and joining my host parents for 7:15am breakfast, I have two other duties around the house: play with their dog and water one of their plants. Their dog is a feisty pup who likes to cuddle in bed and play tug of war with an old slipper. My host parents named him "Mung Mung" which is the noise a dog makes in Korean. It's like naming a dog "bark bark" or "ruff ruff" in English. Rather than calling the dog by the sound he makes, I call him M&M. He has yet to respond to the name but I think he'll get it soon. The funniest part is that he listens to Korean commands. I never imagined my Korean would come in handy to tell a dog to get off my bed or stop licking me. The plant seems like a piece of cake. It's a water plant so all I have to make sure is that it's bowl is full of water. Only downside is that the stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Fortunately, mosquitoes in Korea are not malarious but they are big and bite hard. I have been bit a few times already but the assurance that no flu like symptoms will result from these bites makes them bearable.

M&M


Non-Malarious Water Plant


I spent all of today on subway and on foot doing some sight seeing and market shopping in two of the most famous areas of Seoul. Dongdaemun and Namdaemun (the Eastern and Northern gate, respectively) were main guardtowers that protected Seoul from the 1300's. Last winter, Namdaemun completely burned due to arson so they are in the process of re-building it. Around both these sites are some of the largest open air markets to be found in Korea. Like any open market, stall workers are shouting about their products and new sales and buyers are haggling to get the same price. One of my goals for this trip is to learn enough Korean to effectively haggle with these workers to get cheap soccer jerseys and tshirts.

Dongdaemun and Namdaemun



Almost getting hit by a Hyundai


I plan to spend this weekend brushing up on some more Korean in preparation for my placement tests this Monday. The last 18 days have been fun but I am ready to begin the purpose of my trip. I will write again soon.


PS- I have had the hardest time finding postcards but think I will get some by next week. I promise they will be in the mail soon.