i'm really starting to wonder if i'll ever have a full week of class here. we only had two days of class the first week because we didn't start until a thursday. and then we had time off for chuseok (mon, tues, wed during week two), so we only had two days of class that week also. i actually thought this would be my first full week, but we had today off. yonsei university was holding a writing contest for foreigners, and they needed all the kli teachers to help out with the organization. so, in total, i've had 6 days of class in the three weeks i've been here. no wonder i don't actually feel like i've learned anything yet (other than how to get around the city by subway)...

i love my class so far. maybe not the actual classes, but the people in it and the teachers. everyone is really laid back. there's a lot of korean americans, a couple of russians, a guy from new zealand, and a couple of people from other asian countries. it really helps that our teachers are so great too. somehow i lucked out and got the two sweet teachers, while some of my friends are stuck in classes with teachers who like to 'jokingly' smack them around, etc when they answer incorrectly. but compared to other classes, we get a lot of homework. it's not very hard; just a lot of tedious writing and a little bit of memorization. the spelling is what kills me. especially during our daily quizzes. whenever i don't know how to spell something, i just write it out phonetically and later realize that i missed a couple of characters in some words. i don't even know how to explain it further than that without delving into the whole korean alphabet.

i got a pedicure today. it was lovely. they did an excellent job massaging my feet.

i've started to become accustomed to the coffee in korea and it's bothering me a little. it's all instant coffee crystals and it's super weak. it's weak even when you go to a coffee shop and buy a cup of the (incredibly expensive) perked coffee. when you buy a cup of coffee and you can see through to the bottom of the mug, you can just assume that it's going to taste like coffee flavored water.

i've once again started the arduous task of quitting smoking. it's so difficult here because everyone in the dorms smokes. and cigarettes are only $2 a pack. i can't believe i actually thought i was going to come to korea and quit. i've decided to limit myself to 4 a day, so here's to hoping that i've got a lot of self control!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 at 10/06/2004 04:41:00 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.