edwinamc

ok so the last few days have been much more chilled then the previous couple of weeks. everything is slowing down and everyone is pretty tired, but graduation is soon and hopefully we'll be going out to somewhere like hongdae or itaewon to celebrate :) last night i went to a dog cafe in hongdae (although we got off a stop before). apparently its on the seoul tourist website so it's pretty popular, more white people in there then in the cat cafe in hongdae i went to in the first few weeks. i'm so used to weird and wonderful things, and the dog cafe just felt completely normal. a cafe (3 floors up) that was full of dogs. big, small, fat, friendly, naughty. there were corgis and huskeys and labs, everything! it was free to ... read more

Ok so HARRY POTTER. The place that we went to see it was Megabox in Coex, a large shopping centre that has everything in. Didn't cry but was sad that it's all ended. We went to Mnet Countdown which for people who are not familiar with k-pop (or Korean pop) is a sort of Top of the Pops, variety show type thing. Each band or singer had one or two songs they performed which was quickly succeeded by the next band or singer. It was filmed in a reasonably small studio where it was aired live and then people at home would phone in. Whoever got the most votes would then sing their song again. It was a really good way to have a quick snap shot of the k-pop scene, who was current and who ... read more

Ok, so classes are going well, I'm learning a lot about Korean culture and how the education system works. In politics I'm learning so much about Chinese philosophical thought and how it relates to modern government. Today we discussed Laozi in comparison to Mencius and Xunxi. Pretty deep. The impression I'm getting, from the students in my class, is that if you're not smart and if you don't work hard, you're a nobody. We were discussing the grade B+ - I didn't say anything but they implied that if they got a B+ it would be a pretty poor grade. Maybe that's because I'm attending a pretty good school in Korea, but the stress that's put on these students... wow I don't envy them. Saying that though, they're all super cultured and into international politics. From ... read more

Things I want to do before I leave (please excuse the terrible spelling and note form- its lifted straight from my notebook) • Baseball 2-4, 9-11 (tues-thurs) Aug. 5-12,000W http://www.doosanbears.com/ • Seoul Fringe Festival 11- 27 Aug http://www.seoulfringefestival.net/Eng/ • Namdaemun market - subway line 4 to Hoehyeon Station • Bukchon Village - subway line 3 to Anguk Station and take Exit 3 • Seodaemun prison - Subway line 3, Dongnimmun Station, exits 4 & 5 http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/322 • Olympic Park • Gyeongbok Palace - Subway line 3, Gyeongbokgung Station, exit 5; Subway line 5, Gwanghwamun Station, exit 2 • Leeum Gallery Subway line #6 to Hangangjin Station, exit #1- go about 100 meters towards Iteawon, make a right turn at the first alley, then go about 5 minutes to the hill • Seoul museum of art - ... read more

Ok so my classes are 9-12 and 1-4 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This means a lot of food to be consumed so I don't pass out in the middle of a lecture. I'll start with the chocolate. There is loads of Asian chocolate that reminds me of Japan. One in particular is Crunky. Oh my gosh those Crunky bars are amazing. I feel like I haven't missed snacking between meals, maybe because there's little time to eat and by the time I finish lessons I'm so tired I just want to sleep, or drink. One thing that differs Western food from Korean is the amount you get for your money. 3000W (about £1.70) gets me a good meal from the canteen. It usually consists of a plate of meat, rice, soup and several small side ... read more