midterms are finally over for me and i couldn't be happier. i had four exams total, reading on tuesday, oral and reading comp on wednesday, and listening and writing today. i was stressing about them a lot this week, but they ended up being not too terrible.

all of the korean i've been learning in class is really formal in structure. it's not really used in normal, everyday conversations, so i don't get to practice it often, which made my interview exam a little more difficult. it also didn't help that every once in a while, a spanish word would pop into my head instead of the korean one. i'm truely starting to believe that only 1/4 of my brain is fully functional.

one of my teacher's is getting married on saturday! she's so sweet. she gave all of us invitations to her wedding reception. apparently, wedding receptions in korea aren't really big, fancy events. guests usually dress very informally, eat some food, give the bride and groom a fat envelope filled with money, and then leave. there isn't really any sort of celebration or party. is that odd?

here's another odd thing: korea doesn't acknowledge daylight savings time. i had no idea that countries were allowed to choose whether they wanted to partake in this event... i just always assumed that it was recognized universally. because korea refuses to participate in this affair, it's been getting dark here at around 5:30pm. and the sun doesn't really start to rise until 7am. i'm not such a big fan of the 14 hour stretch of darkness we have daily...

in completely other news, i ended up voting on tuesday! i found out from a friend that i could go to the us embassy in seoul and vote. it made my week a little more hectic, but it was well worth it (at least it better be!). the embassy itself was not as interesting as i thought is was going to be. i'm not sure what i expected, but i didn't think the waiting room was going to be small, stuffy, and so fragrant of poo. it made me a little sad.

and, just so i get all of my official business done this week, tomorrow i'm skipping out on class and going to the immigration office to file for a visa extension, my alien registration card, and a multiple re-entry permit. i hear that going to immigration is a total pain in the ass, but hopefully i'll get there before a huge line forms... i just hope it doesn't smell like poop.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 10/28/2004 02:50:00 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.