huh

Wow, I haven't updated in forever. I was debating whether or not I wanted to even keep this blog.

I have been in Korea almost 6 weeks now. There is so much to say about Korea, that I get overwhelmed- oh where to begin...

Last night was really fun. I celebrated my birthday with a bunch of friends from Incheon and Seoul. We started the evening at a microbrewery in Gangnam and then ended up in Itaewon, where we danced and drank and ate grilled cheese and egg sandwiches from the street vendors. We stayed up all night and took the subway home at 5:30 in the morning. I slept on the subway. At 7:00 in the morning when I got home, I went to bed and slept till 4:00pm.

Korea:

1.) My favorite food currently is Chamchi Kimbap. For less than a dollar U.S. you can get a whole roll. YUUMMMOOO...

2.) The subway system is amazing and very well developed. It is extremely easy to use.

3.) Korean women love high heels. They wear them all the time, they'll walk 5 miles in them, no problem.

4.) Koreans aren't very safety conscious. I constantly see babies being held by their mothers in the front seats of cars. Jared said he saw a mother riding her bike with her infant in the front basket without a helmet.

5.) Everything rice: rice cakes, rice tea, rice for breakfast. Everything kimchi. Kimchi with every meal. Everything from the sea. I love anything with seaweed in it.

6.) Koreans live with their parents until they get married. - you see tons of couples everywhere in Korea. The men carry their girlfriends purses, and you see couples dressed alike in matching t-shirts. They all really want to get married. Men and women don't really hang out together one on one if they are just friends.

7.) The air quality sucks ass because we are so close to China. Currently it is yellow dust season. For like 2-3 weeks I was constantly coughing and sneezing, so I bought a mask. Now, I think I have adjusted which kind of frightens me.

8.) Koreans go to school 6 days a week, often for 12 hours a day. They take a test that determines the rest of their lives. Critical thinking isn't important. The suicide rate for highschoolers is really high because of the stress.

yeah, lots more to come on Korea.

I've been doing a lot of shopping, but I look forward to hiking, and camping in the summer, trips to the south and mudfest...