Cherry Blossoms!

Over the past week, I've made some Korean friends that are around my age. Their English is very good and one of them has offered to help me learn Korean. I need to finish teaching myself the alphabet and then I'll set up some time to practice with him. Two of them lived in Florida for a year while in a language exchange program. Another learned English in college and wants to travel but has never been on an airplane. I'm going to try to change this!

On Saturday, Alfred and Saemi took me to Kyung Hee University to see the cherry blossoms. Saemi is a student there. The university was founded in 1949 but it feels much older. The campus is beautiful and the cherry blossoms make it amazing! Check out a few of the pictures. There were many festivities going on. There were people performing Taekwondo and traditional dances among other things. The most amusing performance we found was "The Hip Hop Club" performances. Evidently, The Hip Hop Club is a group on campus who get together and sing hip hop. This was one of the better groups. There was one group where my Korean friends asked me if they were singing English and I told them, "No." They didn't think they were singing Korean either, so who knows what was being sung.

There was also a museum that we walked through that had many artifacts of the many years of Korean history. At one point, there was an entire hallway of paintings that were painted on silk from around 600 B.C. They were amazing. Sorry, I couldn't take pictures there.

I was even approached by a Jehovah's Witness while I was there. She approached Alfred first in Korean and I could tell they were talking about me. I asked him what she wanted and she asked me if she could talk to me. She asked me if I was a foreigner, (Duh!) and told me they were with a group on campus called "Friends for Foreigners." She then asked if I was interested in Bible Study that I could attend in over 160 countries around the world. She then tried to give me the infamous "Watchtower" brochure. I politely told her ,"No" but then I had to try to explain to Alfred what a Jehovah's witness is and what they believe in. Not an easy task!

We also visited Sushi 1000. At this restaurant the sushi was placed on a revolving belt that went by every table in the restaurant. If you saw something you wanted to eat, you just took it off they conveyor belt. The best part is each plate is only 1,000 won ($.70). There were other options besides sushi, like little deserts, Korean rice dishes, tempura, and fruit bowls. It was yummy!

They also took me to get my haircut. The lady did a great job and it only cost me 12,000 won (like $9.00). On a side note, tipping is not customary here. If you tip someone they take it as an insult. Their mindset is that they make good enough money doing whatever it is they do (cutting hair, waiting tables, etc.) that they don't need you to supplement their income. If you try to give them more money, they think you're insulting their chosen profession or taking pity on them for doing the job they have chosen.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with my Korean friends and learning Korean. I'll keep you updated! You can see many more photos of my day in my Picasa web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/christinestroup

Look here in the next few days about my visit to the "Boulder of Seoul."