Busy Week/Weekend

I did so much this week that I'm actually really surprised I accomplished it all. The phrase, "Time flies when you're having fun" is definitely true, but it also flies when you aren't having fun. It just flies, and when you're busy, it soars. This week was midterms for my school. I did OK, but I definitely could've done better had I "screwed on my thinking cap" before some of the exams. I did really good for a Westerner, but when I compare my scores to my Chinese friend, I realize how far I have to go. When I look at my score, "Booyah! I got a 90% in speaking!" When my Chinese friend looks, "Arrrrgh! Why did I get a 96%?" (Two different cultures)

This weekend was really cool though. On Saturday, I went to a baseball game. Not only is this the first time I've done it in Korea, but it's also the first time in a very very very long time since I've gone to one. Unlike America though, Korean baseball games are really exciting. There are cheer leaders that lead the crowds in cheers. It's very much like how BJ societies do it. Every player has their own song that the crowd chants when that player goes up to bat. The entire crowd gets into it, which makes it a whole lot of fun. 

My Chinese friend told me about a food festival that was going on today in Seoul. She went on Saturday and told me in no uncertain terms, (translating from Korean) "It's really good. Hurry up and go with your friends. The Vietnamese food is really good, so you had better eat it or else..." My initial thought to this was "of course communists are gonna stick together." I was right. The Vietnamese wasn't that great compared to the selection before me. Of the 50 or so countries represented, I probably tried stuff from about 20 of them. At this point, I'm so stuffed, that if this blog is cut off in the middle, it probably means that I exploded and hit "publish" with my last dying breath. 

I'm gonna try and recall all of the different countries I bought something from, but I'm probably leaving a few out: Vietnam, Thailand, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, England, Bangladesh, and a few others I can't remember. It was AWESOME!!!! I've never seen/heard so many languages and cultures in one place. It really opened my eyes as to how big and small the world is. Seeing all of these different cultures and looking at their similarities and differences was just really cool. It's probably the coolest thing I've done here to date. 

Now, I have to gear up for the week to come. I've been seeing my Korean improve a lot recently, and it's giving me more and more motivation to study. I am now able to talk to people on a very basic level if they keep the conversation simple enough, talk clearly enough, and speak slowly enough. It's a lot of ifs though... It reminds me of someone who thinks because he learns one self-defense move, he can fight anyone. "OK. Punch me. No, not like that; you're doing it wrong. You have to punch me with your right hand. There you... No no no. Aim for my face. Yeah, like that. Now watch this!" 

 FYI, the last picture is the baseball stadium BEFORE everyone got there. The game was really packed.