The first two days has passed by pretty quick in Seoul, and it was only this morning when I was sitting in the toilet (half-asleep, may I add) and think about what I've experienced so far. Two days might not seem like a lot of time, but I realised that I have actually lived a really sheltered and comfortable life. And while that life was really good back home because most of my friends from church had also lived a similar life, it didn't really prepare me for living by myself.
What I mean is that while doing my personal business this morning, I was thinking about how little I knew of social etiquette and how small I felt when I realised I was just a young, naive, inexperienced girl trying to learn about life. Does everybody feel like this at some stage? Hmmm...I'll answer my own question, and go out on a limb and say that I don't think so. For me, it happened only because I really wanted to go overseas and study - to leave my little group at home (I love you guys!) and try something new. Some people don't ever feel this way, which is fine, but I honestly think that the adventurous spirit goes hand in hand with personal growth of a person.
A Lazy Update is coming up soon, because there's been a lot going on and I haven't felt like writing about all of it in detail so, like how Koreans say: Please anticipate it greatly and I'll try to show a better side of myself. haha :)
February 28, 2011
February 26, 2011
HELLO SEOUL
I have arrived in Seoul - yay! I am also really tired and feel like a loner because I don't know anyone and I am still yet to see the face of my room mate. Her luggage is in the room, but nothing has been unpacked which is kind of weird. Anyway, this post is just a short update of what's been happening in Korea.
This morning I met my buddy, Jooyoung, at the airport. She and another CAU student were waiting for me and Michael, the other UniSA exchange student, so we ended up taking the subway and taxi back to CAU together. It must have looked kind of strange to other people, because our suitcases were actually really, really big. After we parted our ways to separate dormitories, Jooyoung and I went up to my room. I unpacked all the immediate stuff that I needed, and then we went to go eat brunch. We were both so hungry since neither of us had eaten breakfast this morning and it was already the middle of the day. We ate at this little shop called Momochi - no photos because I forgot my camera and my iPod (and my passport....) - where we had the Korean/Japanese fusion curry. The little restaurant had no one else in it and the shop owners came to talk to us for a little bit. I could understand a little bit of what they were saying but didn't really get the gist of the conversation, so I just sat there eating. The owners were so nice though. On a part of the wall near the door they had all these loyalty cards for different people - if you eat there, you get a stamp on the card. It's similar to what we have in Adelaide, except they keep the card for you.
When we finished eating lunch, Jooyoung took me around the area to buy all the things that I needed. I bought blankets, a pillow, a hair-dryer and shampoo/conditioner. The walk back up to the dormitory was intense. CAU is built upon a big hill so there are steps and steep roads everywhere. I guess I'm used to climbing stairs and hills (thanks to Cambodia and my mum), but Jooyoung was really puffed out by the time we arrived back at the dormitory. She had to leave for a meeting afterwards so I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking all my clothes and other stuff. I now have everything packed away in it's rightful position, and although my desk doesn't look clean, it's really not that messy either.
Tonight I went downstairs to eat my first ever canteen meal. It was SO GOOD. The main meal was fish, but I saw someone mixing the side dishes (kimchi and bean sprouts) into the bowl of rice so I copied them. There was 고추장 gochujang (hot pepper paste) in a big bowl as well as seaweed, so I mixed them all in together as well and ta da! I had 비빔밥 bibimbap minus the vegetables, beef and egg.
That's pretty much what happened during my first day in Seoul. There's still a lot of other stuff which needs to be done like renting my phone, opening my bank account, getting my alien registration and figuring out how to use their transport system. It's kind of overwhelming when I put it all together, but I have to keep reminding myself that today is only my first day, and there are still lots and lots more days to come!
This morning I met my buddy, Jooyoung, at the airport. She and another CAU student were waiting for me and Michael, the other UniSA exchange student, so we ended up taking the subway and taxi back to CAU together. It must have looked kind of strange to other people, because our suitcases were actually really, really big. After we parted our ways to separate dormitories, Jooyoung and I went up to my room. I unpacked all the immediate stuff that I needed, and then we went to go eat brunch. We were both so hungry since neither of us had eaten breakfast this morning and it was already the middle of the day. We ate at this little shop called Momochi - no photos because I forgot my camera and my iPod (and my passport....) - where we had the Korean/Japanese fusion curry. The little restaurant had no one else in it and the shop owners came to talk to us for a little bit. I could understand a little bit of what they were saying but didn't really get the gist of the conversation, so I just sat there eating. The owners were so nice though. On a part of the wall near the door they had all these loyalty cards for different people - if you eat there, you get a stamp on the card. It's similar to what we have in Adelaide, except they keep the card for you.
Tonight I went downstairs to eat my first ever canteen meal. It was SO GOOD. The main meal was fish, but I saw someone mixing the side dishes (kimchi and bean sprouts) into the bowl of rice so I copied them. There was 고추장 gochujang (hot pepper paste) in a big bowl as well as seaweed, so I mixed them all in together as well and ta da! I had 비빔밥 bibimbap minus the vegetables, beef and egg.
WAITING
Right now I'm waiting in Changi Airport for my connecting flight to Seoul. The airport is so much nicer than Adelaide's - it even has TREES growing in the middle of its food court. It's kind of big though, but I haven't gotten lost yet. There are signs everywhere so it's kind of hard to get lost anyway.
Travelling by myself has been kind of strange. I've done it before, but I still get really nervous each time I do it. I get scared that I've somehow managed to put a potential bomb in my luggage and will be arrested, or that something happens on the plane and all the passengers will end up like the poor people on Lost, who don't get rescued until however many seasons later or end up dying because of the hidden creature or whatever is hiding on the island.
So far it's been an interesting ride. I've gone through a security breach at Adelaide airport, massive turbulence during the flight to Singapore, thinking that I had left my camera in Adelaide but then finding it again, getting rejected at the security screening at my gate for Seoul because I was three hours too early and walking all over the airport trying to find a place with an international adapter because all the other ones are for Singapore adapters only. But honestly, I realise now that God's been with me the whole time. I'm still healthy, still safe, still non-bombed and still waiting for my flight.
February 25, 2011
THURSDAY
I spent the whole day of Thursday with no one else but my family (and the people shopping in Woolworths, but they don't really count). In the morning, I did some last minute shopping with my mum. I had to buy a new pair of thongs and some more chocolate, as previously mentioned, and I also got a new student ID card from my university after losing my first one. The university website said that I would have to pay for a new card, which I was ready to do, but then the guy who printed out my card shook his head and said "Don't worry about it", so I didn't!
After the shopping was done, my family and I drove up to Hahndorf, which is a quaint little German village where most of the stores sell, surprise surprise, German produce and other things. There are also lots and lots of little cafes along the street and small entertainment attractions like a fairy garden and big, cardboard castle which we came across.
For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called The German Arms. We ordered three dishes to share since their dishes are huge and we didn't want to eat too much because my grandma was cooking dinner for us later on, and she always cooks more than enough. We ordered the pork hock, lamb shanks and a trio of German sausages - bratwurst, brockwurst and something-other-wurst. I liked the pork hock the best, mainly because it had crackling and I love fatty meat. Heeheehee...
After lunch we just walked around and I took some random photos. My dad kept saying "You have to take a photo of this? Why are you just taking random photos?" Because they're pretty. And also because I've developed a slight interest in photography after seeing some really nice photos posted on some photo blogs that I read. What's interesting about Hahndorf is that it's supposed to be the 'German' village, but we came across a Chinese restaurant, a cheese shop (are Germans famous for their cheese? I don't actually know) and an Australian souvenir shop among other non-German things. Sometimes I wish places would just stick to being one thing, but I know it's to keep the tourist business alive and to cater to everyone's needs. But overall, Hahndorf was lovely. I hadn't been there in a long, long time but I don't think it ever really changes.
At night time, we went to my Grandma's house for dinner. She had promised to cook quail and roast pork for the dinner, which is why we didn't eat too much at lunch. In the end she also made sang choy bao (lettuce buns....), fried rice and a cleansing soup. Like I said, she always cooks more than enough. We couldn't finish all the food that she cooked, as usual, and we ended up taking some home. Now that I think about it, Thursday was pretty much meat-day - lamb shanks, pork hock, sausages, roast pork, quail and the fried beef in the sang choy bao. They say meat is expensive in Korea, right? So I was only eating what I'll be missing out in the next few months. I just ate it all in one day.
At night time, we went to my Grandma's house for dinner. She had promised to cook quail and roast pork for the dinner, which is why we didn't eat too much at lunch. In the end she also made sang choy bao (lettuce buns....), fried rice and a cleansing soup. Like I said, she always cooks more than enough. We couldn't finish all the food that she cooked, as usual, and we ended up taking some home. Now that I think about it, Thursday was pretty much meat-day - lamb shanks, pork hock, sausages, roast pork, quail and the fried beef in the sang choy bao. They say meat is expensive in Korea, right? So I was only eating what I'll be missing out in the next few months. I just ate it all in one day.
February 24, 2011
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday and Thursday were my 'farewell Adelaide friends and family' days. I reserved today, the day before I left, for my family - just because we don't really do much together in general since we're all so busy with our own work, study, relationships and other random things.
Yesterday, two of my high school friends so nicely organised a farewell brunch for me at a restaurant called The Store. Unfortunately, it was closed so we decided (well, I decided because they told me to) to eat at the The Lion which was just across the street. It was really good seeing my little group again. These girls were my, I suppose, 'clique' during high school. Most of us did the IB (International Baccalaureate) program so we had three or four classes with each other every day, which meant we became really close. Three years later, we're still good friends.
I had a dinner with my church friends at night time so I went to my favourite bookshop in the city and sat there reading for five hours. The farewell dinner was at a little place called Pancake Kitchen, where it's pretty much pancakes for all meals. We stayed there eating and talking for a few hours, and then decided to walk to the Torrens River nearby to continue our gathering. It was so much fun. We took a lot of photos using my friend's 'pro' camera (which I really want to get!!) and I took a few of my own.
After a while we were bored so we played the 'magnet' game. It's one of our youth group's specialty games and I loved it. Even though it was kind of hot that night, I don't think anyone really noticed because they were having too much fun. During the night, a few of the boys kept telling me that I had to had to had to play Starcraft in Korea, otherwise no one would be my friend and I'd end up a loner. These same boys told me that I had better come back knowing how to make kimchi and other Korean dishes otherwise they were going to kick me back to Korea and make me stay there until I learn how to do it - myself paying the airfare, of course.
That was what happened yesterday. If I get time, I'll write about what happened today (Thursday) tomorrow when I'm waiting at the airport. 14 more hours from now and I'll be on route to Singapore!
Yesterday, two of my high school friends so nicely organised a farewell brunch for me at a restaurant called The Store. Unfortunately, it was closed so we decided (well, I decided because they told me to) to eat at the The Lion which was just across the street. It was really good seeing my little group again. These girls were my, I suppose, 'clique' during high school. Most of us did the IB (International Baccalaureate) program so we had three or four classes with each other every day, which meant we became really close. Three years later, we're still good friends.
I had a dinner with my church friends at night time so I went to my favourite bookshop in the city and sat there reading for five hours. The farewell dinner was at a little place called Pancake Kitchen, where it's pretty much pancakes for all meals. We stayed there eating and talking for a few hours, and then decided to walk to the Torrens River nearby to continue our gathering. It was so much fun. We took a lot of photos using my friend's 'pro' camera (which I really want to get!!) and I took a few of my own.
After a while we were bored so we played the 'magnet' game. It's one of our youth group's specialty games and I loved it. Even though it was kind of hot that night, I don't think anyone really noticed because they were having too much fun. During the night, a few of the boys kept telling me that I had to had to had to play Starcraft in Korea, otherwise no one would be my friend and I'd end up a loner. These same boys told me that I had better come back knowing how to make kimchi and other Korean dishes otherwise they were going to kick me back to Korea and make me stay there until I learn how to do it - myself paying the airfare, of course.
That was what happened yesterday. If I get time, I'll write about what happened today (Thursday) tomorrow when I'm waiting at the airport. 14 more hours from now and I'll be on route to Singapore!
February 22, 2011
ANY DAY NOW
It's kind of crazy to think that I'm going to be leaving in three days. People have been saying things like "good luck with everything!" and "Have a great time!" and everything, but why has it still not sunk in that I am going to Korea?! My mum has been telling me to clean up my room because she'll be using it once I leave, but I haven't even started. I actually think it's gotten messier ever since I started packing.
I received an email today from CAU which contained both good news and bad news. The bad news was that the Korean government has changed it's policies on foreigners purchasing health insurance in Korea, which means I have to buy travel insurance here. I freaked out a bit. I'm leaving in THREE DAYS (yes, now it's starting to sink in) and they only tell me today that I need to buy health insurance here. I was planning to buy it over there because it's cheaper, but luckily my parents and I found a good deal with an insurance company we've used before so it's all okay. I have to admit, I know Koreans are quite known for their abrupt changes and general tardiness but I've never experienced first hand so this was pretty shocking.
Good news is that I now know who my room mate is!!! Well, I know what her Hangul-ised name is. I'm guessing she's French by the sounds of her romanized name, but I can't be too sure. Either way, I know she's definitely not Korean. To be honest I had hoped that I could be housed with a Korean room mate, just so I could practise Korean with them. But having someone from another country is just as cool. It's definitely going to be strange living with a total stranger, but that's why they're called strangers right? Yes, exactly so.
I received an email today from CAU which contained both good news and bad news. The bad news was that the Korean government has changed it's policies on foreigners purchasing health insurance in Korea, which means I have to buy travel insurance here. I freaked out a bit. I'm leaving in THREE DAYS (yes, now it's starting to sink in) and they only tell me today that I need to buy health insurance here. I was planning to buy it over there because it's cheaper, but luckily my parents and I found a good deal with an insurance company we've used before so it's all okay. I have to admit, I know Koreans are quite known for their abrupt changes and general tardiness but I've never experienced first hand so this was pretty shocking.
Good news is that I now know who my room mate is!!! Well, I know what her Hangul-ised name is. I'm guessing she's French by the sounds of her romanized name, but I can't be too sure. Either way, I know she's definitely not Korean. To be honest I had hoped that I could be housed with a Korean room mate, just so I could practise Korean with them. But having someone from another country is just as cool. It's definitely going to be strange living with a total stranger, but that's why they're called strangers right? Yes, exactly so.
February 21, 2011
LAZY UPDATE #2
Ready for another congested update of what's happened in my second-to-last week in Adelaide? Well, if you're not...I don't really know what to say to you. I'll just keep doing my thing and you can do yours, okay?
1. So I know who my buddy is now (I even have her facebook! How exciting!), but since last Thursday I haven't really contacted afterwards. I honestly can't wait to meet her. I like meeting new people. Sometimes I find them easier to talk to than the people I've known for a long, long time. Is that strange? I know it's much more comfortable with old-time friends but it's easier to keep a conversation going with people I don't know so well.
2. The past weekend has been pretty busy for me. On Saturday I attended the wedding of one of my family friend's son, who I've known for my whole life but never really talked to much because he was 11 years older than me. It was a very pretty wedding, of which I unfortunately did not take any photos. I took a photo of my outfit, just because I thought it reflected my personality and style pretty well at this current stage.
3. I also went to a house-warming on Saturday night. The people who attended were mostly high school friends who I haven't seen ever since high school finished (three years ago), which may not seem like a long time but it was certainly good to catch up with them. I actually have quite interesting story about Saturday night. You see, one of my friends lives in the city, and I was driving her and another friend back to town. My sister was also in town that night attending a 21st, so after I took my friend home, I picked my sister up to take her and the other friend home. We were driving along the road and came up to a traffic crossing, but the light was green so I didn't slow down at all. There were cars parked on the left side of the road so I couldn't see anybody on the street waiting to cross. When my car was about two seconds away from the pedestrian crossing, a whole group of people appear and start running across the road. I had to literally slam on the brakes in order to avoid crashing into them. This has never happened to me before so I was in total shock. Luckily there was a police car nearby and they beeped their horn to call over the group of criminals (well, they are). I have never been so nervous and scared while driving before, and even after passing them I was still kind of trembling. Moral of the story: never speed, boys and girls, never speed.
4. On Sunday I had a farewell lunch with my uni group from church. After the lunch, we stayed in Rundle Mall and looked around. I bought chocolates from Haighs as gifts for my buddy and room mate, although my mum told me that I bought too little, so I think I'll have to buy more. When we were walking around, we saw this huge wine bottle made out of cork. I initially thought it was actually completely made of wine corks, but then I saw the wire behind it and was very disappointed.
5. Sunday night was the wedding reception dinner no. 2. It was mainly for the couple's grandfather's friends, also the groom's acquaintances. It was at a Chinese restaurant with lots of Chinese and Malaysian people, so it was pretty loud and Chinese-y. Again, no photos because there wasn't much to take photos of. There will be professional photos later on, but I have no idea when they come out.
6. Tonight I watched The King's Speech with my friend. It was excellent. I've never found a movie with Colin Firth in it which I didn't enjoy, mainly due to my love of British comedy and Colin Firth's impeccable timing and humour. My Australian pride was also satisfied with Geoffrey Rush's great performance as well. I'm really happy that I've liked the two movies which have been dominating in all the award ceremonies because sometimes the voters really have obscure choices in choosing their favourite movie. But I'm glad that The King's Speech is up there, because I wouldn't mind watching it again. It was incredibly funny at times (there was this scene where I could not stop laughing) but also really poignant and touching at other times.
February 20, 2011
NEVER GIVING UP
20th February, 2011
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." - Galatians 6:7-10
Sometimes I find it strange that people can use cliché sayings like "you reap what you sow" without ever wondering where the term came from. What I find even more strange is that more people will use the term but refuse to believe in the Bible. If you can use the instructions given from God, then why do you deny that He is there?
Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say in this post. The verse which stuck out to me this morning was "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It corresponds with one of the fruits of the Spirit - patience. I have to admit that I'm not a patient person. I will give up easily if I don't see things working out quickly, which means I lose the opportunity to see what could have been if I had persevered. I will also lose focus or confidence if I find something difficult.
As Christians, we are supposed to live a life where we can reflect Jesus's love for everybody else and also tell other people about God. But being a Christian is difficult. People will make fun of you, others will openly state their dislike and opinions of Christianity - all of whom are friends and family, which makes it worse. I guess it isn't so much patience which is a problem when it comes to Christianity, but it's my proneness to giving up and becoming 'weary' all too quickly. When so many people are against my faith, I start to cower and become afraid to speak out because I don't think I can win them over.
I was reading a book last week where a character in a story said: "Well if you look at it from the perspective of the Bible, then there's a devil - Satan - who's fighting God. Naturally, if the devil wants to destroy the truth, he has to discredit anyone who speaks it. So if Jesus spoke the truth to people, then the first thing the devil has to do is make Jesus look ridiculous and deceiving. And that's precisely what we see in the world." When I read that, I realised just how true it was. But strangely enough, it didn't make me scared. In fact it made me want to go out there and not give up in doing good to other people, to show them God's love. Because I realised it wasn't just me against them anymore. It's me and God against Satan. Who will win? God, of course.
As Christians, we are supposed to live a life where we can reflect Jesus's love for everybody else and also tell other people about God. But being a Christian is difficult. People will make fun of you, others will openly state their dislike and opinions of Christianity - all of whom are friends and family, which makes it worse. I guess it isn't so much patience which is a problem when it comes to Christianity, but it's my proneness to giving up and becoming 'weary' all too quickly. When so many people are against my faith, I start to cower and become afraid to speak out because I don't think I can win them over.
I was reading a book last week where a character in a story said: "Well if you look at it from the perspective of the Bible, then there's a devil - Satan - who's fighting God. Naturally, if the devil wants to destroy the truth, he has to discredit anyone who speaks it. So if Jesus spoke the truth to people, then the first thing the devil has to do is make Jesus look ridiculous and deceiving. And that's precisely what we see in the world." When I read that, I realised just how true it was. But strangely enough, it didn't make me scared. In fact it made me want to go out there and not give up in doing good to other people, to show them God's love. Because I realised it wasn't just me against them anymore. It's me and God against Satan. Who will win? God, of course.
February 16, 2011
ANOTHER STEP TAKEN
My exchange university sent me my buddy information today (finally...!) and now I'm super super excited!! I kind of fretted over the buddy thing because I thought the information would be sent earlier, but then I saw the list of how many exchange students there would be and realised it's a huge job and it was pretty selfish of me to want things to happen faster. I hate it when people rush me, so yeah. No hard feelings to the exchange team at CAU! :)
What's kind of unsettling me now is that I think about the fact that I will actually, really, literally, irreversibly leaving next Friday afternoon and it makes me a little bit scared. It doesn't actually feel like I'm leaving. I don't even have theluggage bag suitcase in my room yet so it doesn't feel real. Maybe once I start putting things into the suitcase I will have a feeling of "wow...I'm not going to be here for five months."
Speaking about packing....so packing in itself is not hard - in fact I've always had a very positive attitude towards packing. I love packing for holidays. I don't know why but I think it's exciting when I need to decide which pieces of clothing will be my wardrobe for the next few days or weeks, however long the holiday is. It's even more exciting when the place I'm going to has no shopping facilities which means whatever I bring is what I'm stuck with - so I have to make a good choice. That's the thrill of packing for me.
To be honest, I'm kind of not in the mood to pack at the moment. I've written a list of what to bring, but my wardrobe is kind of messy at the moment so I don't particularly want to sift through it all. Since I'm going at the end of winter until their mid-summer, I have a feeling I'm going to need to pack for all four seasons. My mum advised me to just pack a few things for each season and continuously wear the same clothes over five months. Umm...if I was a guy, yeah...maybe. Too bad I'm not, which means I will want to wear something different almost everyday. Or at least have enough options for different combinations to last me a few months. I envy people who can wear the same pieces of clothing and make it look new because they're creative enough to make it work but the truth is, I'm not one of them.
There's also going to be a wedding, house-warming party, farewell lunch and wedding dinner to go to as well this weekend and I'm still trying to figure out my head around those. Packing, although it should be, is not really high on the list. And I don't know....maybe I've been using the word 'pack' too much, but now it sounds really weird to me. Pack...pack...packing....quack quack quacking...
P.S. sorry about lack of pictures. I'm not a huge fan of just text posts either, but I fully intend to take lots of pictures in Seoul so do not fear!
What's kind of unsettling me now is that I think about the fact that I will actually, really, literally, irreversibly leaving next Friday afternoon and it makes me a little bit scared. It doesn't actually feel like I'm leaving. I don't even have the
Speaking about packing....so packing in itself is not hard - in fact I've always had a very positive attitude towards packing. I love packing for holidays. I don't know why but I think it's exciting when I need to decide which pieces of clothing will be my wardrobe for the next few days or weeks, however long the holiday is. It's even more exciting when the place I'm going to has no shopping facilities which means whatever I bring is what I'm stuck with - so I have to make a good choice. That's the thrill of packing for me.
To be honest, I'm kind of not in the mood to pack at the moment. I've written a list of what to bring, but my wardrobe is kind of messy at the moment so I don't particularly want to sift through it all. Since I'm going at the end of winter until their mid-summer, I have a feeling I'm going to need to pack for all four seasons. My mum advised me to just pack a few things for each season and continuously wear the same clothes over five months. Umm...if I was a guy, yeah...maybe. Too bad I'm not, which means I will want to wear something different almost everyday. Or at least have enough options for different combinations to last me a few months. I envy people who can wear the same pieces of clothing and make it look new because they're creative enough to make it work but the truth is, I'm not one of them.
There's also going to be a wedding, house-warming party, farewell lunch and wedding dinner to go to as well this weekend and I'm still trying to figure out my head around those. Packing, although it should be, is not really high on the list. And I don't know....maybe I've been using the word 'pack' too much, but now it sounds really weird to me. Pack...pack...packing....quack quack quacking...
P.S. sorry about lack of pictures. I'm not a huge fan of just text posts either, but I fully intend to take lots of pictures in Seoul so do not fear!
February 13, 2011
PREPARING TO GO
I bought my first app from the iTunes store last night and it is ....a Korean-English dictionary! I've been trying to find a Korean-English dictionary for ages, even before I found out that I would be going on exchange to Korea. I took an eight-week Korean course at the WEA centre a few years ago when I first started becoming interested in k-dramas and kpop but it didn't really help me with too much since I had already learnt the Hangul alphabet by myself online beforehand. So now I have a dictionary on my iPod to take with me wherever I go instead of carrying a book around. It's good because I am guaranteed to take my iPod around everywhere I go since it's my source of entertainment, whereas it is pretty likely that I will forget a book.
This is what the app looks like:
When I was playing around with it this morning, I realised that I had previously installed the Korean language writing ....thing (....) on my iPod and could actually type using Hangul letters. Initially I was kind of worried about what I'd do if I encountered words in Korean and I didn't have a way of finding out what they meant, but problemo solvedo :)
I still haven't started packing yet, but I promised my friend that I would start this Wednesday and he told me was going to check up on me so I have to do it. To be honest I don't really know how much and what I'm going to take. My dad left for Hong Kong this evening and he had almost nothing to take with him despite going away for a week. Five months and one week is a big difference, I know, but there isn't anything here that they don't have over there....I think. 아....몰라!
The university is supposed to set me up with a buddy who will pick me up from the airport and show me how to take care of things, but they haven't emailed me anything. I sent them an email last night so I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to see if they reply.
February 11, 2011
TWO WEEKS LEFT
I had a dream last night. I was in the university dormitories at Chung Ang, but the design of the dorms were similar to that of a glass cruise ship without the water. In fact, it wasn't even like a dormitory. It was really big inside but kind of dark with heaps and heaps of people walking around. There were cafes and bookshops inside the building, as well as two heated swimming pools where people were sitting and talking.
I was walking around this huge building by myself, trying to find out what I was supposed to do when there was an announcement somewhere to collect textbooks from the bookshop. I started worrying because I didn't actually know the names of my textbooks. When I found the store, it turned out that I had accidentally gone to the front of the line instead of the back where people were waiting in a long spiral line upstairs. I was allowed to cut in front, but I still had no idea what books I was supposed to collect. Thankfully I saw a friend (who in real life does law like me, but isn't going to Korea) and picked up the same books as she did.
On my way to find my room, there was a 'cabin call' (similar to the ones on cruise ships) and everyone gathered upon the different levels of the building and listened to ...someone. I think he was an administration person, because he started telling us what we were allowed to and not allowed to do. After the talk finished, I started talking to these two random boys who were either side of me. I didn't know them and I only talked to them for a little bit before leaving.
Throughout the whole dream, I felt lost and lonely. I didn't know anybody and I was scared to talk to people. Even when I saw my friend at the book store, we only had a brief conversation before we turned our separate ways. I saw huge crowds of people around me but I didn't reach out to speak to anyone. It felt like I was in a bad dream, but then I remember thinking that this is what I've been dreaming about for so long in real life. I know dreams have connections to your sub-conscious beings, and I know that the dream I had was probably real-lifing my inner concerns but it just felt so real. I actually woke up this morning and felt my heart pounding really fast because I felt scared in my dream.
I've never felt nervous about going on exchange until now. In fact for the past year I've been really excited and impatient to go - just to get away from Adelaide and the familiar surroundings. It's something I've been waiting for for a long, long time. But now that it's just two weeks away, I finally start being apprehensive and scared of what's to come. Don't get me wrong, I am still just as excited and happy to go. It's just that I now realise what a huge change it's going to be. No family and no friends in a new environment - I'm a little bit scared. I know it's completely normal to have this feeling, but it's feels a little bit weird because I normally don't get nervous about these things.
I was walking around this huge building by myself, trying to find out what I was supposed to do when there was an announcement somewhere to collect textbooks from the bookshop. I started worrying because I didn't actually know the names of my textbooks. When I found the store, it turned out that I had accidentally gone to the front of the line instead of the back where people were waiting in a long spiral line upstairs. I was allowed to cut in front, but I still had no idea what books I was supposed to collect. Thankfully I saw a friend (who in real life does law like me, but isn't going to Korea) and picked up the same books as she did.
On my way to find my room, there was a 'cabin call' (similar to the ones on cruise ships) and everyone gathered upon the different levels of the building and listened to ...someone. I think he was an administration person, because he started telling us what we were allowed to and not allowed to do. After the talk finished, I started talking to these two random boys who were either side of me. I didn't know them and I only talked to them for a little bit before leaving.
Throughout the whole dream, I felt lost and lonely. I didn't know anybody and I was scared to talk to people. Even when I saw my friend at the book store, we only had a brief conversation before we turned our separate ways. I saw huge crowds of people around me but I didn't reach out to speak to anyone. It felt like I was in a bad dream, but then I remember thinking that this is what I've been dreaming about for so long in real life. I know dreams have connections to your sub-conscious beings, and I know that the dream I had was probably real-lifing my inner concerns but it just felt so real. I actually woke up this morning and felt my heart pounding really fast because I felt scared in my dream.
I've never felt nervous about going on exchange until now. In fact for the past year I've been really excited and impatient to go - just to get away from Adelaide and the familiar surroundings. It's something I've been waiting for for a long, long time. But now that it's just two weeks away, I finally start being apprehensive and scared of what's to come. Don't get me wrong, I am still just as excited and happy to go. It's just that I now realise what a huge change it's going to be. No family and no friends in a new environment - I'm a little bit scared. I know it's completely normal to have this feeling, but it's feels a little bit weird because I normally don't get nervous about these things.
February 10, 2011
LAZY UPDATE #1
I admit. I am a pretty lazy person. So when I've been too busy or too lazy to update a whole weeks worth of stuff, you will get a Lazy Update.
1. Last Thursday (and Monday&Tuesday) - started my volunteer work at the Cancer Council! I'm doing some data entry for them because it seems like they've really fallen behind on their data updating. The work itself isn't terribly exciting, but I've come across some pretty interesting last names (read: interesting = funny and one which I would not want to have). It's also interesting to see what real office work is like. It's exactly like the movies - gossip, work, lunch, work and gossip.
2. Last Friday - my youth group celebrated Chinese New Year by having an Amazing Race activity where groups had to 'travel' around China. It was so much fun. We had seven different tasks - memorize a 10 second tai-chi sequence (it was originally 1 minute, but they took so long), use calligraphy to write out a four-word Chinese phrase, make dumplings, construct the Birds Nest out of straws, drink three cups of a mystery black liquid, do a lion dance and put the Chinese zodiac animals into order. For the mystery black liquid activity, they had five bottles of similar coloured liquid in front of them. They didn't know what was in each bottle and had to choose one bottle to drink from. We had soy sauce, black vinegar, Coke, bitter tea and Lipton ice tea. Some were diluted - soy sauce and vinegar - because it would have been reeeally awful to drink it straight.
4. This week so far - I've been tired from data entry. Is that even possible? Well, it seems so. Staring at a computer screen all day drains my energy so when I come home all I want to do is sleep. If this is what office life is going to be like, then I so do not want an office job. I've gained weight from eating so much over the past week and not exercising. I haven't been to the gym in weeks. I really want to go but just can't find enough motivation to go.
P.S. I was going to save Lazy Updates for when I'm in Seoul (TWO WEEKS...*cough*) but yes...didn't really work out.
February 05, 2011
AUTONOMY
" 'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible for me' - but I will not be mastered by anything...Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:12, 19-20
My family recently returned to doing a weekly family devotion after taking a break for a long time. Last week's devotion topic was about 'Letting Go' in terms of the parents letting go of their children. My sister and I started to voice out our opinions on how our parents haven't really 'let us go' when we came upon the subject of autonomy. Seeing as I'm almost twenty - I know, very scary thought - and my sister is almost twenty-three, it's only natural that we want some autonomy in our decision making. I think every person going through this stage of life would feel this way. Actually, any person at some point in time regardless of age will favour making their own decision rather than being told what to do. As we were talking, my dad kept repeating this one phrase: "There are some things you can be wrong about, but there are some things which you can never be wrong about." It's a bit more stronger in Chinese, but basically it means that some mistakes are harmless, but other mistakes can ruin your entire life.
When I read this passage this morning, I immediately thought of our discussion from last week. " 'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial." We want to be able to make our own decisions when we grow up. We want to know that we are capable of looking after ourselves by ourselves, and that the decisions we make are the rights ones. But how do we know what is right and what is wrong? In this world, everything is available - good or bad. How do we know what the right decision is?
A lot of the time, people think that Christians are kept so tightly by rules in the Bible. We can't do this, we can't do that, we're basically party poopers because the Bible won't allow us to have fun. To be honest, I've felt that way too. But what is fun? Everyone's definition is bound to be different so why restrict people to your own definition of fun. We have our own mind to determine if the 'fun' that other people present to us is beneficial to ourselves or not. It's not God telling us what is right and wrong, it's the brain and mind which God gave us which determines what we do.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that autonomy is good, but only after a certain point. We need to have enough experiences in life, where someone has cushioned our fall from mistakes, before we're ready to make the harder decisions. We're never by ourselves because He is always watching over us, but in real life, we need to make the cushion ourselves when we mistakes.
My family recently returned to doing a weekly family devotion after taking a break for a long time. Last week's devotion topic was about 'Letting Go' in terms of the parents letting go of their children. My sister and I started to voice out our opinions on how our parents haven't really 'let us go' when we came upon the subject of autonomy. Seeing as I'm almost twenty - I know, very scary thought - and my sister is almost twenty-three, it's only natural that we want some autonomy in our decision making. I think every person going through this stage of life would feel this way. Actually, any person at some point in time regardless of age will favour making their own decision rather than being told what to do. As we were talking, my dad kept repeating this one phrase: "There are some things you can be wrong about, but there are some things which you can never be wrong about." It's a bit more stronger in Chinese, but basically it means that some mistakes are harmless, but other mistakes can ruin your entire life.
When I read this passage this morning, I immediately thought of our discussion from last week. " 'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial." We want to be able to make our own decisions when we grow up. We want to know that we are capable of looking after ourselves by ourselves, and that the decisions we make are the rights ones. But how do we know what is right and what is wrong? In this world, everything is available - good or bad. How do we know what the right decision is?
A lot of the time, people think that Christians are kept so tightly by rules in the Bible. We can't do this, we can't do that, we're basically party poopers because the Bible won't allow us to have fun. To be honest, I've felt that way too. But what is fun? Everyone's definition is bound to be different so why restrict people to your own definition of fun. We have our own mind to determine if the 'fun' that other people present to us is beneficial to ourselves or not. It's not God telling us what is right and wrong, it's the brain and mind which God gave us which determines what we do.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that autonomy is good, but only after a certain point. We need to have enough experiences in life, where someone has cushioned our fall from mistakes, before we're ready to make the harder decisions. We're never by ourselves because He is always watching over us, but in real life, we need to make the cushion ourselves when we mistakes.
February 03, 2011
YAY RED PACKETS!
HAPPY CHINESE RABBIT NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!
恭禧發財 & 새해복 많이 받으세요 !
To be honest, our family doesn't really do the whole Chinese festivity thing and going to visit our relatives business in Australia. We normally just eat a big meal on either New Years Eve or New Years day and that will be it for our Chinese New Year. I think it's because my parents have been in Australia for so long, and the lack of hype about it (whereas Asian countries start going on about it two months beforehand) doesn't really do much for it either. We had our monthly prayer meeting last night, so we ate our big meal tonight instead. My dear mum spent the whole day preparing the food - prawns, oysters, fresh salmon, chicken, vegetables, mushrooms and other (delicious) fungi plus a big pot of soup. It was so yummy. I tried to help out with cooking the vegetables, but it ended up being way, way, wayy too salty. I swear I'm a better cook than that.
Oh. And during Chinese New Year, flowers are a big thing in Asia so mum normally buys red flowers to keep for a few days. I remember when we were in Hong Kong one year during Chinese New Year, and we went to a flower market. It was so packed with people. Flowers from the flower markets are supposed to be a bit cheaper than the ones you buy in florists, but when we were talking to our grandma in Hong Kong tonight, she told us that the flowers from the markets cost exactly the same as the ones downstairs from her apartment, so she didn't bother buying them from the markets because she and my grandpa couldn't be bothered carrying them. Just a little bit of trivia for you.
p.s. still figuring out how my blog layout is going to work. I keep changing my miiiind.
February 01, 2011
MY HEART BELONGS TO YOU
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD...Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools. - Jeremiah 17:5,11
I started this blog as a way to encourage myself to keep up with my personal devotions. I have, yet again, failed. I guess you could say it wasn't as bad as last time when I stopped doing them for almost three months, but it is still a failure. The reason for why I failed this time was because I a) lazy and b) didn't feel like I needed Him at the moment. I just finished Big Week Out, which was a step in the right direction, and then I slide back down again.
When I read this verse this evening, the sentence "who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord" really stood out to me. I know that I can rely on God for everything, but I'm scared that it's just head knowledge for me. Is my heart really with God? Do I truly believe that He will take care of me? I ask these questions in my mind, but straight away I know that the answer is yes. It's just that doubt gnaws away at me sometimes.
I started this blog as a way to encourage myself to keep up with my personal devotions. I have, yet again, failed. I guess you could say it wasn't as bad as last time when I stopped doing them for almost three months, but it is still a failure. The reason for why I failed this time was because I a) lazy and b) didn't feel like I needed Him at the moment. I just finished Big Week Out, which was a step in the right direction, and then I slide back down again.
When I read this verse this evening, the sentence "who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord" really stood out to me. I know that I can rely on God for everything, but I'm scared that it's just head knowledge for me. Is my heart really with God? Do I truly believe that He will take care of me? I ask these questions in my mind, but straight away I know that the answer is yes. It's just that doubt gnaws away at me sometimes.
I AM COOL LIKE THIS
So the number hasn't changed, but I FEEL like I've put on weight ever since I came back from Hong Kong. It's such an inevitable thing when you live in Australia. I remember most of my friends from high school saying they would always put on weight when they came back for school (they were international students), and I also remember envying them because they could go home and lose the weight. Whereas I live here so I just keep gaining and never losing. Maybe my metabolism is still working really fast because of all that exercise I did last year, and later on it will slow down. Nooo.... Hopefully the heat will have some effect.
Which brings me to another complaint I have. I know we haven't had a heatwave like previous years, so that's something to be really thankful for, but I dislike hot weather so much. Yesterday the temperature reached almost 43 degrees Celsius and during that time I was running around the city trying to find my bus stop. It was such a horrible experience, but one I am sure will repeat itself many, many times in the future. Especially near future. I get lost in Adelaide, the smallest city ever - how am I going to survive in Seoul!!??
Okay, enough complaining. I got a phone call from the Cancer Council today and they told me they had openings for volunteer work! For three days a week! This is extremely good news because now I have something to do for the next few weeks before I leave. Three days a week plus Saturday and Sunday means only having two days free for miscellaneous catching ups and gatherings, which is fine by me. I know people complain about having work all the time but I am quite the opposite. Having something to do is actually exciting for me, isn't that sad? I make myself sound like such an introvert (I am..) but it's mainly because I don't take the initiative to do anything, so I stay at home. I am cool like that.
Which brings me to another complaint I have. I know we haven't had a heatwave like previous years, so that's something to be really thankful for, but I dislike hot weather so much. Yesterday the temperature reached almost 43 degrees Celsius and during that time I was running around the city trying to find my bus stop. It was such a horrible experience, but one I am sure will repeat itself many, many times in the future. Especially near future. I get lost in Adelaide, the smallest city ever - how am I going to survive in Seoul!!??
Okay, enough complaining. I got a phone call from the Cancer Council today and they told me they had openings for volunteer work! For three days a week! This is extremely good news because now I have something to do for the next few weeks before I leave. Three days a week plus Saturday and Sunday means only having two days free for miscellaneous catching ups and gatherings, which is fine by me. I know people complain about having work all the time but I am quite the opposite. Having something to do is actually exciting for me, isn't that sad? I make myself sound like such an introvert (I am..) but it's mainly because I don't take the initiative to do anything, so I stay at home. I am cool like that.
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