Snowing in Seoul

I've finally broken a life long curse. Apparently, from stories of "classier" times, there used to be huge snow storms that caused 9 foot snow drifts blah blah blah. Well, everywhere I've been for the past forever years, it doesn't snow much. It's finally been broken! It's been snowing all day here. I think there are about 3 inches on the ground right now, and it's still coming. After church, my friend and I were just walking the streets of Seoul enjoying it. Occasionally laughing at the random Korean kid wipe-out of course.

As my friend an I were walking, we came across a skating rink. I caught this gem skating in traditional Korean wear. He's to the left of the guy wearing the bright red coat. It may look like a p-coat, but in reality it's not. It's kind of like a big foot shot though. He was moving just a bit too fast for me to catch him. However, UNLIKE the big foot photos, this one is just a guy in a costume.

I of course took this opportunity to do something special. Not only did I do a perfect imitation of the moon walk, but I also bought some hot chocolate because, as we all know, hot chocolate on a snowy cold night is like nectar of the gods. The Korean writing phonetically says, "Hot choco." (The Koreans say choco with the ch sound.) And the subscript says,  "Original." Somehow, I kind of doubt that the Koreans came up with hot chocolate. Call me crazy, I know. But it seems more like an American/Western thing. Luckily, it doesn't taste much different from the real thing though, so everyone walks away happy.

Classes have been going great so far. I think midterms are coming up in 2 weeks or so. I'm not too worried about it though. I've been doing really well, and I *feel* like I've retained what we've learned so far. On Friday, I realized however, that I am getting to a point in the class where I'll start forgetting things if I'm not using them. So now, I'll be meeting with one of my classmates after class a few days a week to practice speaking. Our first session went great, if you consider a conversation made up of:

Me: How is your coffee?
Russian: My coffee tastes good, and it is hot.
Me: Where is the coffee?
Russian: The coffee is on the table.
Me: Where is the table?
Russian: The table is in the coffee shop.
etc.

I guess it comes with learning a foreign language though. I know I would have loved to be one of the Koreans there listening to the "conversation." Nothing like listening to 2 idiots bumbling at a coffee shop. It seems, however, that I never really learn something until I fall on my face in public over it. For example, on Friday, we learned the vocabulary for saying something is hot, cold, warm, cool, etc. So, when I order my coffee, the lady asks me if I want it hot or iced (cold). Me, not wanting to show weakness to my classmates responded with, "We are going to drink our coffee here." The lady then asked me in English, "Hot or cold?" After that, I instantly played back in my head what she had said in Korean. So, like a true man, I responded courteously in English, "Hot" and quickly left to go stick my head in a trash can. But now, I REALLY know the word for hot. Unfortunately, that's not the most embarrassing story. I took my classmates to lunch once. The chef asked me how spicy I wanted the food, and I responded with, "Oh. Hello. We are from Yonsei University."

I've been finding that it just takes situations like that to ingrain things in to my head. It's one thing to have an academic knowledge, but when it gets shot at you a million miles an hour, it's different. Next time, I'll just respond with, "I'm a dumb American." That way, I can at least laugh with everybody else. I'm sure the more Korean I learn, the bigger mistakes I'll make. At least someone will be laughing at my jokes, intentional or not.

I'll be getting a phone this week on Friday Lord willing. I don't know which one I'll get yet, but I've narrowed it down to the Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Note 2, or the Samsung Nexus. I've totally ruled out the I-phone. When in Rome.... For those of you who have smart phones, you can download Kakao talk if you want to be able to message me. It's an app that lets you text using the internet. For those of you who may be too "classy" to know what smart phones are... don't worry. I still love you.