Posts Tagged ‘class’

My own hair salon . . . sort of o_O

On my way back to Seoul on Sunday, I realized I was down to the last dollar on my pre-paid phone. So after class on Monday, I went to the store outside the apartment to buy more minutes only to be told that my subscription had ended. However, I had talked to a representative on the phone a week before who had told me that the subscription was valid until September. Unfortunately, the man working there was not very friendly and told me I had to apply to extend my subscription in the Sinchon store since the Mapo store didn’t have that service. Extremely annoyed, I ended up drowning my frustrations in blue hair dye and nail polish. I don’t know why I thought that trying to streak my own hair navy blue by myself was a good idea, but I ended up doing so nonetheless. However, since my hair is extremely resilient, the dye didn’t seem to take so I decided to go ahead and use up the rest of the dye the next day . . . I suppose the upside is that my hair no longer looks brown because of the sun ^^;;

Need I say more?? ^_~

Tuesday, I was on my way out the door when my host sister decided to apply a temporary tattoo to my arm, probably because I had tried to look good since my host mom and I were FINALLY going to CoEx, the largest underground mall in the world. Even though there wasn’t an exhibition that day, it was still cool to be able to look around a mall that was somewhat similar to American malls . . . No claustrophobic “department” organization or employees following you around! After she was finished with classes, my host sister met us there and the three of us went to Sinchon to resolve the issue with my phone: yes, there were only two weeks left, but that’s why having a phone is that much more important! Fortunately, the people at that store were much more helpful and friendly, and I ended up just having to sign a paper and pay for more minutes . . . A happy ending I must say!

Burger King in Korea . . . just as inedible as in America

Wednesday, I had made plans to meet another former exchange student at Tech after class, but since she didn’t have a phone number I could call, I had to wait for her to contact me. Unfortunately, she never called, so I ended up attempting to occupy myself with some homework. Thanks to the stifling heat and humidity, however, my computer overheated way too quickly to accomplish anything (all of my homework involved the use of my computer) so any attempt to be productive was rendered useless. And so, I spent a pretty boring and uneventful Wednesday at home

My last day of classes was supposed to be a long one . . . Normally, my Thursday classes began at nine in the morning and I had to stay on campus until my second class in the afternoon concluded at three, but I was supposed to meet with my friend to work on our group paper until seven. Since I had a break between eleven and one, I took the opportunity to have lunch one last time with my Yonsei mentor. I’m glad that worked out, since he’s one of three good friends I had made at Yonsei and that may have been the last time I could see him . . . I don’t like saying goodbyes ^^;;

My Yonsei mentor

As for the rest of my plans, however, things weren’t as successful. My partner ended up having other things to do, so he canceled on me and we set up a time to meet the next day. Since my plans had fell through the day before, being canceled on didn’t put me in a very good mood. To make matters worse, I had woken up late that morning and had to lug my computer and text books to class in order to work on this project. (Note to self: disregard Korean standards and use a backpack if you’re carrying more than five pounds . . . your shoulders will thank you.) So, feeling a bit rejected and in an overall bad mood, I decided to take a walk along the Han-gang to take pictures and spend some time alone. However, this is Seoul, so it’s impossible to be alone. Therefore, although I had tried to find an isolated corner to jump rope to burn off some negative energy, I found myself being stared at by random bikers and senior citizens using the low-impact exercise equipment. Normally, I think Americans would either ignore me or say something to me if they thought what I was doing was interesting (I used to be on a competitive jump rope team in middle school), but these people just stopped and stared . . . and stared some more. It was extremely awkward, so instead of dispelling my bad mood, it was only aggravated under the uncomfortable scrutiny.

How older Koreans stay healthy

The next day, my partner ended up canceling on me again, so my day started to look like another failure. However, my oldest host sister needed some help translating a contract of some sort from English to Korean, so she asked me to come visit her in Jincheon. Since Jincheon is a city about an hour and a half from Seoul, I would just spend the night at her apartment and we’d return to Seoul together the next day. Since this weekend was the last time I’d be able to spend time with her, it was really nice to be able to hang out with her one-on-one . . . After I helped her sort through the extremely convoluted contents of the contract, we went out to eat pizza and visited some street shops before going to her apartment to catch the opening ceremonies for the World Cup . . . I ended up falling asleep during the South Africa/Mexico game. ^^;;

No host-dad, I can't eat it all!

After we arrived in Seoul and had dinner, my host family had a goodbye party for me. They were so sweet- they bought a chocolate cake in the shape of a soccer jersey with PARK Ji Sung’s number and strategically placed candles that spelled “I love you” on top of it . . . They even ended up moving the captain’s band in front of the “7” to recreate my soccer number, 17! After singing “happy birthday” since they didn’t know what else to sing (I don’t blame them), we more or less decimated the cake while we watched South Korea cream Greece 2:0… Although I thought my host family was loud when PARK Ji Sung scored the second goal, I could hear horns honking and people screaming outside for a couple hours after the game ended!

Thanks to the World Cup, I think I can say my somewhat disappointing week turned out alright . . . There is definitely a reason why I love that sport! ^^

I wish we had cool fountains with sweet light shows . . .

After Mass last Sunday, I knew I couldn’t avoid my paper about the Catholic Persecutions in Korea any longer. However, since I was a little overwhelmed with only having three weeks left before I had to go home, I had an extremely hard time focusing. So, I decided to run. I had originally planned to go running by the Han-yang (Han River) which is only a two minute run from the apartment more often, but we all know how that goes ^^;; Anyways, this was my first time doing any “serious” running, and I was surprised that I was able to manage a mile or so without having the breathing problems I normally do when running for the first time in months! Maybe it’s just me, but I felt like a lot of people were staring at me- if you consider the fact I was the only person running and the only girl not in a cute, coordinated running suit, I guess it’s understandable . . . It was still kind of annoying though. >_<

Thankfully, I was able to finish writing my paper after that, so I had time to talk to one of my good friends after class the next day before worrying about my presentation. Maybe we talked too long (she, like me, didn’t have her presentation ready for the next day) but I think we both needed the stress break. (Note to self: procrastination ≠ fun) I’m excited, because I think we’re going to try to see a World Cup game on a huge screen downtown next week!

My friend's grandpa showing off his crop ^^

Tuesday, I presented my paper. I’m glad there’s no pressure associated with my GPA here, since it was a lot easier to make my presentation . . . Normally, I end up shaking a little before and end up stuttering if I’m nervous about getting a good grade, but since I only have to manage a “pass,” there was a lot less stress and I feel as if I did a lot better than I would have otherwise. ^^  As a reward to myself, I went out with my host mom to find shoes. Although they were lacking in the wedge sandals she wanted (most Koreans prefer stilettos), we found some really pretty off-white ones for me. Originally they were over 50,000 won, but after some negotiation, my host mom was able to convince the store keepers I looked good enough in them to sell them to us for about 40,000 . . . It was kind of funny ^^;;

Since Wednesday, June 2 was Election Day, classes were canceled (I wish it was the same for us in the States). So, after catching up on some sleep, I hopped on a train to see my old roommate in Daegu. No, I didn’t take a “bullet train” because it was too expensive, but considering it was my first time on a train since I was five years old was a new enough experience ^^;;

Haeinsa

After spending the night at her grandparents’ traditional-style home in the country, my friend’s aunt took us to the famous Haeinsa temple that houses a collection of about 80,000 Buddhist printing blocks created during the Choseon Dynasty. It was strange, even though the sign said they were reproductions, you still couldn’t take pictures of the blocks because they might catch fire.  After taking the long hike down the mountain again, we returned home and packed our stuff to go to another aunt’s place more in what you might consider the suburbs of Daegu. After eating dinner with her and her son (who would refuse to talk to me because he was too shy to use English), we went to Home Plus to try to buy our tickets for Busan the next day. However, the office was closed, so we bought ice cream and watched commercials of KIM Yuna running around with a soccer ball down the aisles.

Friends!! <3

It turned out alright though, since there was still room on the train when we went to the station the next morning. After meeting another former Michigan Tech Korean exchange student, we grabbed lunch and hit the beach! I think since it was Friday and not a Saturday, the beach (Haeundae) wasn’t that crowded . . . There was a sand sculpture contest though! My favorite was one of a volcano that had a tray with a fish, a shot glass, chopsticks, a bottle of soju, and a real 10,000 won bill at the base!  We didn’t end up swimming much, since the water wasn’t all that clean (I saw cigarette butts in the sand just offshore) and we saw a couple jelly fish, but we did make a pretty sweet sand castle! (Who said grown girls can’t have fun??) After eating dinner together, we parted ways- our one friend staying in the Busan area and the other two of us going back to Daegu . . . Although I was sad to leave her, my friend said she’s hoping to make a visit to Tech in the fall, so it was okay.  :)

Saturday, my friend and I slept in until about 11:30 before heading downtown to meet her older sister. On the subway, I felt someone grab my hand. I turned, and an older lady was admiring my nails. Soon, she found out I was from America, which was soon followed by the discovery I was adopted. She was really interested about my family and if I was happy in the States and if I had tried to find my birth mother. My friend and I told her that I had tried, but no success, and the lady went on to talk about how that was so sad, but it looked like I had grown up well and she really hopes I come back to live here and find my birth mom . . . she actually started crying! I don’t know what it is, but most Koreans are convinced that we adoptees who come back to visit are looking to stay permanently. o_O

Our sweet sand castle!

Anyways, although we had never met before, her sister said my friend talked about me so much that she felt like she had already known me for a long time! ^^;;  After looking around the Lotte Department store and Kyobo bookstore of Daegu and having some ice coffees, we headed off to a popular park to meet the sister’s boyfriend for a picnic dinner of fried chicken. It was funny, at the park, my friend and I were talking in English, and these two kids about 5 years old were calling us idiots and pigs in Korean . . . The boy thought he was so cool and in control, I couldn’t help but laugh whenever he ran away. It’s not that we didn’t know what he was saying, but my friend is too passive to say anything and I didn’t know enough Korean to form an intelligent retort, but the way he was glaring at me made me want to see if I could scare him if I got in his face a little. Did  it bother me? No, not really, he was little, but his grandpa didn’t tell him and his sister to stop, which I thought was kind of odd . . . Oh well, they’re not my kids ^^;;

After the four of us failed to see a swarm of massive fish attack anything edible in the dark, we decided to get some ice cream and take a walk. Although their English isn’t great, I could tell that my friend’s sister and her boyfriend knew English pretty well, they just didn’t have enough practice to make it come out. It was fine though, since my friend’s English has become just about fluent . . . She got some good practice in being an interpreter!  :P

Saranghae! (I love you!)

Today, I had to get up early again to catch a train back to Seoul . . . My oldest host sister is planning on picking me up at the station, so I’m pretty excited- she’s coming next weekend too, so I have time to say goodbye. T_T  I have to go to Mass at 7 though, so I’m glad I don’t have any homework due early this week . . . My friend and I need to start thinking about our group final though . . . Hmmm~~ o_O

Korean Bugles!!!

After Mass last Sunday, I decided it was finally time to break down on this homework that’s piling up, especially since I had plans for Wednesday and half of next week. So, I ended up having a pretty boring first three days of the week, trying to avoid procrastination and making some progress. Although I did make some progress during class lectures since there was no internet access, it was pretty rough battle at home . . . internet radio is great background noise, but email accounts and Facebook aren’t conducive for productivity, even if there’s nothing “new” there ^^;;

In front of the Lotte Castle

As promised, my host sister met me after class on Wednesday and we took off to Lotte World. It’s not much more than a permanent themed fair, so I wasn’t too impressed with the rides since I’m definitely a Cedar Point girl! To be quite honest, I think it’s a cheap spin-off of Disney World, with toned-down rides similar to Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain, but it’s ok: I made my host sister go on more “adventurous” rides that the other girls (and some of the guys) were screaming in fright of . . . mwhahaha~ We also took photo-booth pictures together- the kind you see at movie theaters and such where you take a bunch of funny pictures and put frames and special effects around for way too much money . . . They’re really cute though, so it was worth it!

I conquered the carousel! So did she . . .

We were going to go ice skating with the little speed skaters on the indoor ice rink as well, but then we decided not to go after we found out we’d be paying $10 for a half hour since they’d be cleaning the ice . . . It’s okay though, since the ice didn’t look to good and rental skates aren’t ever really that good ^^;; So, we ended up going to Hongdae to walk around and have dinner instead. I wish we could’ve done things like that more often since we had a great time with just us girls and I like spending time with my host sister. <3

The next day, I had made plans to hang out with one of my friends from school . . . the one I embarrassed in Jeju. I don’t know, maybe that jinxed us, since everything seemed to turn out to define the phrase “ultimate fail!” After eating dinner, we had planned to go to the top of the 63 Building, but my host mom gave us the wrong bus number, so we ended up getting lost and just missing the subway for an hour… my host sister came to meet us to bail us out! We ended up just going to Shinchon (by Yonsei) to hang out with other students from Yonsei. It’s funny, since I had tried to look cute for a night out in Seoul, guys on my soccer team didn’t recognize me at all! A couple of them didn’t make the connection even after I told them who I was! I guess I can clean up pretty well, but I don’t think looking better than when I play soccer is a hard stretch . . . I could be wrong though . . . lol~

Maybe I belong in Seodaemun . . . . I look like I killed someone . . . o_O

Friday, after struggling with these papers some more, I decided to meet up with friends again . . . Three weeks isn’t a long time, you know?? Especially when you know you’re not going to see most of them again ^^;; I ended up staying at a girl friend’s place, since the last bus leaves at midnight and I didn’t call it quits on my homework until 8 or 9 . . . not worth the $1.50 I have to spend on roundtrip bus fares!

Saturday, I was boring and actually made progress on homework and did laundry . . . Yes, not much happened this week as I would have liked, but hey, there’s two weeks of class left, so of course there’s work to be done! Next week though, there’ll be more interesting stories and pictures, since I’m going to see my old roommate and another former Techie later this week! I’m so excited! They live down South, so it will be warm AND we’re going to the beach! (I love beaches!) I don’t care what the ideal skin tone in Korea is, I’m getting a tan! ^_~

Myeongdong Cathedral

This week, I had the “correct Romanization system” of the Korean language shoved down my throat, so if there’s a difference in spelling than in previous entries, that’s why ^^;

Anyways, as I had mentioned last time, Sunday we went to Myeongdong Cathedral for Palm Sunday Mass. I believe the priest was European, seeing as he didn’t have an American accent and didn’t seem comfortable speaking English (his homily was probably at most fifteen minutes long), but hey, it was my first English Mass in Korea in the oldest and most famous cathedral, so it was okay. I also found it interesting that they used hemlock boughs instead of palm leaves- maybe it’s too difficult to import them??

In any case, after Mass, my host family and I visited my host mom’s parents’ remains at a Memorial Building. It’s kind of hard to describe, but it was basically a multistory building in which there are many rooms lined with display cases containing the cremated remains of people’s loved ones. In addition, there are also what you might consider to be mini headstones (about 5” x 1.5”) and other trinkets such as fake flowers, photographs, and personal belongings of the deceased. It wasn’t necessarily awkward for me to be there since they really wanted me to come, but I didn’t really know how to react when my host parents started tearing up. I mean, I didn’t know what was appropriate in Korean culture and my host mom looked like she was trying to hide it, so I resulted in giving her a tissue and linking arms when we left (Koreans walk arm in arm all the time). My host dad just looked like he wanted to get on to eating lunch as quickly as possible. ^^;

Giant Mandu at the South Gate Market= Huge Bundles of Joyeous Deliciousness!

Since the Memorial Building was in Ilsadong, a province about an hour away, we drove in my host dad’s new Mercedes S350 (o_O) . . . it was nice! My host brother was in love with it: he didn’t stay still- or quiet- the whole way there since he was playing with all the buttons! On the way back, he discovered the passenger seat could recline “just like bed” and tried to sleep… that didn’t last long though, about 15 minutes later he was up and chattering again! ^^;

This week, my Modern Korean History professor was in America for an East Asian history conference of some sort. I guess Koreans are really stingy about class time since he only cancelled our one-hour class on Wednesday, but were required to show up on Monday. So, since he wasn’t there, he had us watch a movie about the introduction of baseball in Korea called YMCA Yagudan. My professor said that although it didn’t win many awards, it is the only movie that covers this event as well as the beginning of Japanese occupation. Sounds sad and boring, right? Wrong! It’s actually very upbeat (the main character is a lovable country bumpkin) and was able to include many serious events without making them seem too depressing , yet not taking them too lightly. In short, I definitely recommend you see it! (Sorry, there’s not enough space to give you more of a review ^^;)

The busy streets of South Gate Market

On Tuesday, I saw flowers for the first time on campus!! It was also sunny, so it made me extra happy, but I think the other students who saw me taking pictures of the blossoms with my obviously “not a photography student” camera thought I was really strange . . . Oh well, it made me smile! After class, my host mom took me to explore the centuries-old South Gate Market. This market has existed at this location since around the Joseon Dynesty (1392-1897). Located outside the Southern Gate (which was destroyed by an arson last year and is currently under reconstruction), it used to be outside of the city limits. Over time, however, Seoul ended up expanding well beyond the market. In any case, it’s pretty much a giant street market, though some things can be a bit pricy ^^;

Hello~Beautiful!! the crown jewel (hehe, crown) of the Silla Kingdom . . . Unfortunately, my camera and glass don't agree with each other, so this is the clearest picture I have :/

Wednesday, since my class was canceled, my host sister and I were going to attend Seoul’s Fashion week (which ended April 1), but since she got sick, we didn’t go. By the time my host decided to take me, however, it was too late (it took an hour to get there), so we went to the National History Museum instead. Over about 2 hours, we only made it through the first exhibit on pre-modern Korea and the Three Kingdoms. It was really amazing, though, to see artifacts that were millions of years old and to see Korea’s National Treasures that I grew up admiring in books! I was able to see the famed “reindeer crown” and belt from a Silla king and queen’s tomb that I had absolutely adored when I was little . . . These gold items were excavated from the Hwangnam-Daeschong Tomb and were made in the 5^th or 6^th centuries! They’re absolutely gorgeous! Since my host mom had to go home to make dinner and such, we left without seeing the other two floors (5 exhibits), so we’ll have to go again sometime.

Yesterday, I visited the Catholic Martyrs’ Shrine. Seeing as it was Good Friday, I thought it was an appropriate place to go fulfill my sightseeing bug for the day Unfortunately, it wasn’t the easiest place to find- you’d think the people working on the grounds would know where things were o_O- and it wasn’t very interesting . . . I had hoped they would have some good information on the Catholic persecution of the late 1800s, but the only “information” they had were pictures of the various ways Catholics were tortured next to their corresponding wooden replicas in a small room no bigger than 20’x15’ . . . The other building displayed belongings of a former Cardinal (to be honest, I don’t care how he spent his salary when he studied in Germany ^^;). That was it. Apparently we’d be able to see the relics of 26 Korean saints after the 3 o’clock Mass, but by 4:15, they were still praying and bowing at the alter- why they were bowing, I don’t know . . . I didn’t know enough Korean to ask the sisters facilitating things what was going on and since my host mom is Buddhist, she was even more clueless than I was! Needless to say, I felt kind of bad my host mom decided to come with me-I had no idea where it was and she wanted to get out of the house. In any case, I was rather disappointed

A form of execution: bashing one's skull against this stone... it might be just me, but i think there's a blood stain on it o_O

Today was my host mom’s birthday, and my host dad took us out to dinner at a seafood buffet . . . I had crab legs for the first time and they were delicious! I think I accidentally ate part of a shrimp tail when devouring sushi since my stomach wasn’t too happy with me . . . Afterwards, we had some cake- well, cut it and had my host mom blow out candles . . . we were too full to actually eat it ^^; I also got to solo the Happy Birthday song in English- I’m sure it was lovely :/

Tomorrow is Easter! Happy Easter!!! My celebration will consist of Mass and then soccer practice -_- I might skimp on the soccer though . . . Running around and not getting passed to because I’m a girl- most of the guys aren’t used to girls playing- isn’t much fun. There’s still a couple more weeks until our first game ^^;

One of my school friends found this . . . Can you spot the error?

Well, I got my wish! Since March 1 is a national holiday, I started classes on Tuesday. Even though I only had three days of classes this week (I didn’t schedule any Friday classes), I am already reminded of why I’m an engineer: humanities are SO dull! One of my professors seems like he’d rather be teaching another class and gladly answers irrelevant questions (such as how the DMZ was formed in 1945 even though this class only covers up to 1876) so his two hour lecture on Tuesday was absolute torture . . . Thankfully, my other classes weren’t as tiresome, but I would gladly replace the 60 pages of assigned reading for calculators and formula sheets!

After my first day of school . . . okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but I had fun taking this picture ^_~

Anyways, I believe it’s time for a Korean history lesson . . . In 1919, there was a huge demonstration during which Koreans carried Korean flags and shouted in Korean against oppressive Japanese occupation on March 1^st. Though not much came of it and thousands of Koreans were killed, it really brought the nation together and became a symbol of unification (kind of like the Alamo) against the Japanese. You see, the Japanese occupation was the Asian equivalent of the Nazis in Europe. Koreans were forced to take on Japanese names, speak Japanese, and basically rewrite their history according to Japanese interpretation: they weren’t allowed to read or speak Korean, carry a Korean flag, or read Korean history books—if they had survived the mass burnings of Korean literature. As far as the Japanese were concerned, Korean civilization didn’t start until they took over in 1910 and everything not “borrowed” from the Chinese was backwards. Needless to say, this demonstration was a huge deal . . . Even after their liberation at the end of World War II (and Korea’s division) in 1945, Koreans still don’t look favorably on Japan and feel that they must strive to outdo their former overlords. For example, any sports’ event that involves Korea and Japan head-to-head, to lose is a national failure. It’s strange to us Americans, but I guess it’s kind of like die-hard football colleges (the whole school and its alumni feel the loss against their rival), but amplified to the extreme. So, since KIM Yuna beat the Japanese figure skater in the Olympics the day before, this March 1^st was extra special! (Apparently many older Koreans cried when they watched her performance since they lived through Japanese occupation.)

Aww~ Family Reunion!

On Sunday, I met up with my cousin who is teaching English on the other side of Seoul until October. Even though I wouldn’t say we were close in any way, it was so nice to see a familiar face! He introduced me to his roommate and his roommate’s girlfriend, both Canadians, and we went out to eat bulgogi, barbecued pieces of meat that you wrap up in lettuce along with rice and anything else you’d like (i.e. kimchi) and shove into your mouth all at once . . . It’s delicious! ^^ Afterwards, he taught me to play darts, so we had a Canada vs. USA showdown! Unfortunately, Canada won—a sad foreshadowing of what was to become of the US/Canada hockey game five hours later . . . T_T

That night, I also randomly met another Korean adoptee from Michigan. He was also here for teaching English, and had some useful tips on finding my birth family. He did suggest asking for my original records in Korean from the agency, since there are so many things that can be literally lost in translation. Even though I haven’t had any luck with that so far, I’m actually going to meet my foster mother on Tuesday! (After I was born, I was taken care of by a foster family until I came to the States.) My adoption agency claims she’s excited to meet me, so hopefully she likes me! ^^

I guess the buses run faster on Saturday, since I got to school really early and got bored while waiting for the rest of the team

Today, I had my first soccer club practice. If I’m not the only girl on the team, then I’m the only one who showed up. ^^; Since there are only a few grass fields in Seoul and all their time slots were taken, we played on a dirt field. It was quite interesting to say the least… I had never played on a dirt field before and everyone was so worried about me and was always asking if I was okay since girls in most other countries don’t typically play sports . . . Now, if you know me, then you know that I’m anything but a princess; I can take a beating! I guess I was a bit over aggressive for being as small as I am—I like to keep up with the “big boys” and not take “no, you can’t” for an answer—because my host family was a bit concerned when I came home with a nice skinned knee . . . I didn’t tell them about the other three scraps on various limbs and the massive bruise on my shin ^^;

Being the only girl on the team does have its perks though. In Korea, age is very important. For instance, if I meet a guy who is a year or so older, I must call him oppa of “older brother”. If I meet a girl who’s older, then I have to call her uhnni or “older sister”. For guys, the correct terms are hyeong and noona respectively. In any case, I was told by my orientation oppa that Korean guys LOVE being called oppa . . . Don’t ask me why because he even he didn’t know the reason, but because of that, the team captain oppa bought me dinner tonight rather than miss out on team bonding since I was going to pass in order to save some money. (I’ve already spent $70 on this team in the last two days for uniforms and other activity fees!) Even though he made me accept his offer, I still don’t like people spending money on me . . . Is that considered culture shock?

March 1: Don't ever eat at Pizza Hut in Korea . . . It's SUPER expensive!!

Anyway, tomorrow my oldest host sister and my host mom are going to take me to a traditional Korean village in Seoul. I don’t know why, but I’m in love with all the more historical places in Seoul . . . I’d so much rather go to a palace than to, say, a famous shopping place such as Rodeo Road in Apujung. ^^; I wish I could be that enthusiastic about learning about the history behind the tradition in class! Why can’t learning history be interactive??

Well, the initial excitement of being an England newbie is unfortunately wearing off and giving way to the normal worries and responsibilities of everyday life. I feel as though I am no longer at tourist status and I am now just another person living life. I have been so busy this week with work and class that for the first time I have not been able to do any sightseeing or exploring. I have gotten into the full swing of things with class and work and along with that I have also been spending time in the library figuring out which books I will need for my courses.

Work has been going surprisingly well. I get along smashingly with all the other bartenders and we have tons of fun while we are working. Saturday I am going to be working with all my favorite bar staff; Patricia, Hana, Neil, and Ryan, and I am sure we will have a great time. I will try to get a picture of all of us in action to put on the blog next week. The only bad thing about work is getting home after. Last night for example while walking to the bus stop I had to cross the street twice to avoid fights that were breaking out in the street. After avoiding that I waited at the bus stop for about 30 minutes, and then had to make the 15 minute walk home after I finally arrived at my stop. The walk isn’t too bad during the day but after a long night of bar-tending it is quite miserable. To make matters worse the other night I left my keys at work (people who know me will know that losing my keys is a common occurrence ) and I had to scale the 7 foot stone wall in the back and climb through the kitchen window. In the morning my British Mum Torrie almost called the police because she thought someone had tried to break in!

I also feel like I have been spending tons of time waiting at bus stops! Some days I like the facts that I don’t have to drive anywhere and it’s nice to get outside and walk, but other days it is such a pain to have to wait on the buses. They never come when they are supposed to, and it makes getting to your destination so much longer. I also believe I have come up with a stable mathematical law which states that if you leave a bus stop and start walking the probability of that bus showing up is greatly increased. I have also learned that bus drivers won’t stop in-between stops for me, no matter how much I have previously buttered them up . . . I think I am going to start bringing them presents . . . just in case.

On the brighter side of things my first polo lesson was amazing! I had tons of fun playing and I am going back for my second lesson tomorrow. After the first lesson I was surprised at how sore I was. Polo is a lot harder than I initially thought it was going to be and I give the players credit for what a tough sport it is.

Nothing else noteworthy happened this week, like I said been pretty busy with work and school and trying to sort my schedule out. Tonight I am booking a trip to Amsterdam with some friends so there will be more excitement in the near future!!

Best

Lauren

The past week has been a very hectic and exciting week for me. I have started all of my classes and I have also starting working at Barcadia, a late night cocktail bar in Kingston.

The courses here are pretty different from the courses I am used to taking at Michigan Tech. Because the semester is shorter, the lecture periods are much longer. For example my molecular genetics course has a three hour lecture on Tuesday and then another two hour lecture on Friday.

There is also anywhere from two to four professors for each course. The courses seem to be split into different subtopics with a different professor teaching each one. In my advanced physiology course there is one professor who does lectures covering cardiovascular physiology, one that lectures on sensory physiology, and then another who does all the practicals. There is also a module leader who is the head of the course and writes and grades all of the exams. So far I am not sure which teaching method I will prefer. It seems harder to get a feel for the type of exams your professor will give if you don’t have them in lecture everyday; however, it may be beneficial to have someone specialized lecturing on each different topic.

The courses so far have definitely made me appreciate Michigan Tech and some of the professors at MTU. I miss Dr. Murthy’s biochemistry lectures and the fact that professors at Tech are so approachable and willing to help. It seems like most of the professors here have very limited office hours and are not as welcoming to students coming to their office.

Besides being busy with school I have also been busy working some long hours at my new job. Barcadia is a late night bar with DJs every night, student specials, and some pretty awesome drinks. The bar is open until 3 am every night and after cleaning I don’t get home until around 4 am so it makes waking up for that 9 am class a little difficult but it is a fun job and I work with some really nice people. There is a dress code to get in, nothing too fancy but no shorts or tennis shoes. I had a little laugh about this because I know there would never be a dress code at any bar back in Houghton. I was actually talking to a friend from home about how people in Houghton don’t care as much about dressing up and wearing expensive clothes. I have to admit it is slightly intimidating being around people who dress up for everything when I feel like my clothes are a little plain. On the other hand I love how in London as far as clothes, hair ect. anything goes. There is such a diversity of people which is a great difference from Houghton where I feel like anyone different stands out a lot.

Along with school and work there always has to be a little play right? I’ve been hanging out with the same group of American girls that I had met from my study abroad orientation seminar. We all had a dinner party one night in clapham junction and have been exploring central London together. On Sunday our British friend Tom took Megan, Cate, and I to Camden town, an area in central London known for its alternative, punk, and goth culture. One of my favorite bands, the Clash, recorded demos for their album London Calling in Camden town. We also went to primrose hill which overlooks all of central London.

For the upcoming week I have my second week of classes, more working at Barcadia, and most importantly my first polo lesson! Thursday morning I will be taking a lesson and hopefully I will be on my way to Polo superstardom shortly thereafter.

I’ll let you all know how that works out for me

Best

Lauren

A class here at Christ University is a bit different than a class at Tech. First of all, getting through the gate (yes, it’s gated) is a much harder task. The dress code here is very specific and every day students have their entry barred. They are told to go home and change. The security guards are quite serious about upholding the dress code. Women must wear the traditional Salwar Kameez or Sarees and men must wear dress shirts and dress pants (ties are optional). No T-shirts, jeans, bare shoulders, or skirts.

Once you enter, there are additional rules: no listening to iPods (having headphones in) on campus, no sitting on any steps, no smoking (if you are a smoker), and a few other regulations to keep everything neat and orderly. In spite of all of these rules that I’m not use to, I find campus to be quite a nice place. It’s a little haven in a big city. Something quite important for a small-town girl like myself.

The roads and paths on campus are all tree-lined, so upon entering the gate you immediately notice a temperature drop. The shade can be such a relief on a hot day (most days)! Everything is kept very clean as well. There are garbage cans everywhere, and they’re in the shape of animals! It’s definitely a sight to see, but the message is clearly a good one: “We value our campus and wish to keep it beautiful.”

The students are all well-educated and from middle to upper-class families. This may not seem like an important detail at first, but it truly is; the more educated the Indian, the less they tend to stare at foreigners! This apparent lack of interest in my skin tone and/or origins can be so refreshing after walking the streets all day, haggling with shop keepers that are under the impression your pockets are bottomless. All of the students also have a perfect understanding of the English language, so communicating becomes a less arduous task. Now, any one of these benefits probably wouldn’t make the campus seem too terribly wonderful to me, but when you put them all together, I practically sigh with contentment.

So, back to classes. I am in separate classes as part of the USAC study abroad group, so I do not have any regular classes with Indian students. The classrooms used though are certainly different than those at Tech. First of all they are very small. The university itself is much smaller, so I’m sure that is a contributing factor. Also, the desks are not like our table-chair method at home, but more of a ‘prairie’ style. Benches that are connected to wooden desktops. They are surprisingly comfortable! A distinguishing factor for any Tech student would be the technology used. Some classrooms have projectors, so PowerPoint can be used, but many do not. Additionally, the chalkboards are all still literally chalk, and not the marker boards that we are accustomed to.

The most significant difference in classes, I feel, is the teaching style. Here at Christ University (and India as a whole I believe), professors simply lecture. There is no group work or class discussion. The teacher may ask a question concerning the homework or a past lecture, but he/she will call on someone to answer it. Everyone is expected to be able to answer every question, so forgetting to do the reading is not really an option. For the most part, it seems that both instructors and students take their classes much more seriously here. Education is highly valued and you do not go to college simply because that’s what everyone does.

So, I will try to keep the Indian spirit in mind while studying and doing my homework. I will try harder to appreciate my education, instead of daydreaming about the places I could be traveling in India. I will also try to keep in mind how much I appreciate the quiet, clean, calm of campus.