우리가 사랑하게됐어*

* = we fell in love.  For 혜미 :)

Saturday night blogging after a full day of wedding-watching, presentation-memorizing, sushi-eating, and endless conversation.  To address the first,  congratulations to my beautiful friend Hyemi Unni!  행복하게 살기를 바랍니다 ^^

Avid readers of my blog (assuming I have those) will notice a slight change to Dana in Soko v.2's layout - baddabing, I changed the header.  I was going to switch it to the album shot that SNSD did for their Japanese promotions of "Genie," but decided that (1) since most of readers don't know who SNSD is (shock!  horror!  inconceivable!), it might look a little creepy that I selected a banner of 9 smokin' hot Korean girls to essentially represent me in the blogosphere and (2) this is MY blog, not theirs.  They have a billion fan cafes - just cruise on over to soshified.com for more information (I may or may not be a registered member of this site).  Anyway, I decided that the header will henceforth be a picture that is in some capacity related to Korea or my time here and will change semi-frequently (especially now that I have figured out how to use my computer's pre-installed photo editing program).  Ironically, the first picture I have selected was NOT taken in Korea, but hey, what better example of the harmonious relationship between East and West? :)

But alas, harmony is not always the name of the game here - at least not for me.  I knew I'd be in for a bit of a hard time once Unni and all of my other friends left for their various international destinations, but I had a least a little bit of faith that I would be fine once I was busier.  I also had a fair bit of hope that I would find friends in my program.  I don't want this to sound discouraging to people considering the year-long Light at Sogang, but it has been really hard to find people who will relate to your age/experience in this program.  I know that this is a highly personal experience (I think Tyler and Bob, who were on year-long Lights last year, had plenty of friends in their classes), but nonetheless it is really striking to me that in my three semesters now (counting last summer), there has only been ONE AMERICAN FEMALE in any of my classes.  I'm serious.  All of the Americans I meet here are guys, and most of them (or the ones that I have met, at any rate) have followed a similar trajectory - graduate from college, go teach English in Japan, learn Japanese, come to Korea, learn Korean.  And don't get me wrong - most of them are great people, it's just that I am and always have been a girly girl who likes gabbing about feelings and gossiping and getting my nails did and shopping.  Just try and get a guy to go with you for a mani/pedi.  I DARE YOU.

p.s. guys are also not big fans of sappy things and whining, nor are they big on giving out hugs.

Anyway, the point is (in my own personal opinion) that the Sogang program, which requires an insane amount of proactivity to begin with (and that's just for dealing with classes), also requires one to be proactive if they wish to build connections with those around them and make solid friendships.  This might mean reaching beyond the confines of Sogang's KLEC and getting a little creative.  For example, I started browsing the language exchange message boards on both Sogang and Ewha's websites, sent out a couple of messages, and got a positive response from a senior girl at Ewha named Habin, whom I am now meeting on Monday at 2pm.  From our very limited text message conversations, she seems nice and friendly, and it's my hope that she'll be able to connect me to a wider circle of Korean friends.  That's essentially how I got so connected to the Seoul Philharmonic, of which many musicians have become irreplaceable friends of mine here - so let's hope that pattern repeats itself here.

It's worth noting in print (because as I once said, I blog because therapy's pricey, yo) that:

1) There are people in this country who care about me, love me, and will be there for me if I reach out to them.  The ladies from the Seoul Phil, Unni's parents, and assorted friends from here and there have made that very clear.  If only the tragedy (part sarcasm) of loneliness didn't obscure that very definite reality so often.

2) I am capable of enjoying my time here, even if it requires more effort than it did at Yale.

3) I am not a person who should live alone, and therefore have decided that roommates, like them or not, are an essential part of feeling connected to something tenuous.  I know this is a risky idea and that happiness should come from within and blah blah blah, but I don't see why the two are mutually exclusive to begin with.  This single-occupant studio apartment will be, I hope, the last one I call home.

4) I am not forgotten about by those who are on the other side of the world, even though the lack of regular or easy communication can sometimes make it feel that way.

I hope you didn't read that.  Anyway, we will muse now on happier topics, bulleted for your convenience.

• REAL sushi.  Despite being a regular at Miya's, Sushi-on-Chapel, and Gourmet Heaven (fushi ftw!), I've never had real sushi - I mean the kind that is not a maki roll, the kind that's basically just a sliver of raw fish on a lump of wasabi-coated rice.  Having had it today (meal generously provided by Unni's parents, who may be the nicest people in all of Seoul - see below for reasons, beyond the whole letting-me-crash-at-their-place-for-3-weeks deal), I am not sure that I am totally cut out for it.  I don't care it this makes me unclassy or uncultured - pass that maki roll stuffed with avocado and fried crab meat.  As a side note, if I hear one more Japanese person bitch about how spicy Korean food is, I'm going to cram a fistful of wasabi up their nose.  How can they complain when wasabi is nothing but flavorless death to one's taste buds by being too mother effing spicy??  Seriously, I think wasabi is one of the most disgusting food products ever created and I think it in no way enhances the taste of anything, especially not raw fish.  All it tastes like is an inhalation of fire.  I would rather eat a tablespoon of 고추장, spicy red pepper paste, then have anything flavored with even a hint of wasabi.
• Korean pears.  Next week is one of Korea's biggest holidays, 추석 (Chuseok), which is essentially Korean Thanksgiving.  Celebrated around the time of the harvest, it is typically a time for families to gather and pay respects to one's ancestors.  As I understand it, this requires (much like American Thanksgiving) a hefty amount of food - and food is getting a bit more expensive here, as a typhoon recently wiped out a whole bunch of fruit crops (example: apples are now 2 for about $10.  wtfno).  Anyway, after dinner with Unni's parents today, they gave me three Korean pears, and since these are typical of foods for Chuseok (I think?), I don't even want to think about how much this would have cost.  They also gave me a huge-ass box of what appears to be extremely high-quality seaweed.  I attracted a bit of attention on the subway ride home with all of this food.  I do not understand how these people are so nice.  What are they getting out of it in return??  Am I that striking of a conversationalist?  Do they think I will stop being nice to Jung Min Unni if they don't buy me things?  Obviously not, so they must just be the nicest people on the planet.  Also, I don't know if you have ever seen a Korean pear, but they are (no exaggeration) the size of my face.  The bag containing the 3 of them easily weighs 7-8 pounds.  Don't believe me?  Well, you'll just have to take it at face-value, because Blogger is being atrocious and not letting me upload the image of my face obstructed by a pear that I purposefully took FOR THIS BLOG.
• Glasses in 20.  You know, it really is ridiculous that glasses in America are so expensive - the last pair that I purchased was over $150, and it was from the insurance bin at Lenscrafters.  They were so poorly made the in under 2 years, the lenses were irrevocably scratched and the ear grips had come unscrewed twice.  Well, I will never (okay probably not never) buy another pair of glasses in the States because glasses here are mega-cheap and ready in about as much time as it takes for your food to come out at a Greek diner.  I got a brand new pair of really nice glasses, ready in 20 minutes - price breakdown: frames, 20,000 KRW (~$17), lenses 30,000 KRW (~$27).  Total = $44.  What.  And it was only that expensive because I did not opt for the cheapest frames and lenses.  Had I done that, the glasses would have been $14.  Please pinch me.  The only problem is that they don't correct for my rather severe astigmatism (sorry, I do not know that word in Korean), but since I really only use my glasses as a backup to my contacts/around the house, this is not a problem at all.  KOREA. FOR. THE. WIN. 
• I am starting to think a bit more seriously about my future in this country, and am wondering (just wondering!  don't start panicking!) what it might be like to do a graduate program in this country.  I've already pitched the idea to the all-knowing Korea expert conveniently located in the Light Fellowship office and picked up some application information from Ewha Womans University regarding their grad school of international studies, but have some serious consideration to do.  More on this story as it develops (and don't start panicking!).

I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting (there always is, inevitably), but I am too tired to recall much now, and I also have 3 days off this week for the aforementioned holiday, so I'm sure I'll have more to say in the near future.  I have some potential plans, all of which are unconfirmed, but I'll keep the masses posted.  In the meantime, I have my first Level 5 presentation on Monday, so wish me luck!


To my Korean readers (in case I don't manage to post before Tuesday), 추석 즐겁게 보내기를 바랍니다!