역시 너밖에 없어*

* = there's no one but you (yoek-shi nuh-bakk-eh eobsuh)

Things I Learned Today:

1) Like subways, buses go in two different directions in Korea DUH JANGMI YOU IDIOT.  This surprisingly simple piece of information somehow eluded me when I got on a bus today to go to one of my tutoring jobs in Ilsan, a suburb of Seoul (Korea really gives new meaning to the word "suburb" - what it really means is Seoul 30 minutes outside of Seoul, as it looks exactly the same and seems just as crowded).  Fortunately, the bus that I was on was a circle line, and so my blunder only resulted in me sitting on the bus for an additional 30 minutes.  Maybe I'm not very smart.

2) Korean high school students put their American equivalents to shame.  The girl that I tutor, a very sweet cousin of Jung Min Unni's named Hyerim, will be entering her final year of high school in the fall, and her schedule is absolutely ridiculous - school every day, private lessons every night, weekend classes, extracurrics, etc.  Next week, she's moving to a goshiwon (the same kind of place I lived last summer) for a month because she'll be attending 학원, a private tutoring academy, every day in Gangnam (quite far from Ilsan, where her family lives).  What the hay-ell?  Seriously, if you told an American student to move out of their house for a month so they could prepare to apply to colleges, they'd be like, "wtf no."  American students bitch and moan about taking a 3 month SAT prep course, so I imagine that they'd either die or join a monastery if they were subject to the demands of a Korean student.  It's really unbelievable.  I mean, this is also the country that was accused of robbing children of their childhood, so I guess it has its pros and cons.

3) I was more than incredibly lucky to have met Jung Min Unni.  I mean, I already knew that for a thousand reasons, but going out to tutor Hyerim just added to it.  In the first place, I need the money (the Light Fellowship is very much like having your parents pay room and board - it keeps you fed and sheltered, but if you want to do other things, like eat out, take trips, shop, etc., you'll need to get a job), and so far Unni has hooked me up with two very well-paying tutoring gigs; more than that, though, I couldn't have asked for nicer people to work with.  Hyerim is a curious, motivated, and intelligent girl; her family (especially her mom, who is Unni's mom's younger sister) are the sweetest.  Not only did they increase my hourly wage because I made the trip out to Ilsan, her mom also fed me dinner at the restaurant that they own and bought me kimbap simply because she heard I liked it.  There must be something in their blood; they are nicer than almost any other people I've ever met.  Every time I am with anyone connected to Jung Min Unni, I feel so taken care of and even more grateful.  It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but the minute I saw Jung Min Unni, I had an instant gut feeling (was it fate?  God?  indigestion?)  that we would be friends (also, it was predicted by a Tarot reading; ask me if you're curious).  I know it's ridiculous and nonsensical to blather on about destiny and crossing paths and blah blah blah but some things were absolutely meant to be and I think something - someone? - out there knew that my life would be much less rich (and also a lot hungrier HAH) without her.  운이 좋지?

4) Maybe if I stop panicking and running around like Chicken Little with her head cut off, things become manageable.  Again, maybe I'm not very smart (or I am just not smart enough to not let my emotions get the better of me).  Life is a learning process (duh).  Korea is a learning process.  How very wise of me.

 This is about how seriously people should take me.

I think I make this face a lot, actually; should that be cause for concern?

Well, I decided blogging was a smarter idea than was doing homework, and as it's 12:30AM already, maybe I should shut up and start writing.