Hunt for a one room

Alright everyone! So here's my story on how I found my oneroom.

There are multiple reasons I want to leave the dorm. The main reason is that it's a 7-10 minute walk from campus. I know that doesn't sound bad. But KU is on a friggin' mountain and I'm ready to pass out by the time I get to class. Plus, the walk back to the dorm is worse. It feels a million miles away PLUS there's a big hill AND 111 stairs to hike up. EXERCISE! YAY!

Also, the dorms are really strict about visitors these days. And even coming and leaving the dorm. I'm not even talking segregation. Because Korea is very segregated. Our "uni-sex" dorm is one building with two different entrances for each sex and two different study rooms/laundry rooms. Everything. That isn't really a problem though. I don't mind that too much. 

Also, I have been spending so much money on food. And there isn't a fridge or a microwave in the dorm so I could never cook food. I also REALLY miss vegetables. So I mostly wanted a oneroom so I could get some broccoli and start eating salads again. (I don't want to be part of the freshman 15 ><)

Don't get me wrong, the dorms are VERY nice. I'm in Frontier Building. I have a bathroom that I share with one roommate. The bathroom gets cleaned once a week and I don't have a curfew (since I'm international) the Korean students have to be back by 12:30 for some reason.

My parents didn't really want me leaving the dorms because they said I won't meet anyone once I leave the dorm. 

The thing is, I only have 2 friends that I actually MET in the dorm. Emily and Estelle,who, if you remember, were kidnapped by Keith's mom. Other then them, all of my other friends I met in class, on facebook or on the street. 80% of the international students I know live off campus anyway.

SO! I pretty much started off by talking to all of my Korean friends about how they found their oneroom... but they all told me that they dropped a good 2,000-5,000$ deposit >__< 
That wasn't happening. I found cheaper onerooms that were a few subway stops from campus, but my parents said they wouldn't pay for the apt if it was expensive or not near campus. 

I found one place that had the perfect pricing. $500 deposit and 480$ a month. But the only problem was it was kind of like a dorm. The landlord kept calling it a "public place." I didn't want to leave the dorms for another dorm-like atmosphere. Plus this place didn't allow visitors. There's 2 problems with that: 


1) all of my exchange student friends are leaving right after I move in and I promised them that we would have a sleep over. Yumi (my roommate) especially because I'm going to be in pieces when she's gone. So she's going to come and we're going to party hard in my apt. 

2) I have a boyfriend. 'Nough said.
Anyway, Chad and I dedicated one day to finding a oneroom for me. What we thought would take a whole day literally took like an hour. I wanted to be near the school just in case I ended up having to pay a 2,000$ deposit and I could sell my parents with how close it is to the school. So we called the first number we saw. It was full. But there were a million other "For Rent" signs. We basically stood in one spot and spun in a circle going from number to number. 

Most of them were full. The rest wanted a $5,000 deposit. I was about to loose hope when we called the last number on the street.

There was space at the end of the semester. We could come look at the room now. The deposit is $500 and the monthly bill if $400. 

PERFECT! We walked up the hill. I looked at the room. Talked the to current (foreign) tenants and gave half the deposit and signed the contract.  I HAVE A ONE ROOM!!!

I move in June 22. (18 more days!) I'm so excited. Yumi is going to come over and cook and we're going to have a blast. 

I cannot waiiiittt!!!!!!!!! I get to buy carrots and I Can stay in my room and eat and not have to leave if I don't wnat to.

and the best part is no more stairs because it is literally RIGHT ACROSS the street from the main gates of the campus. A 2 minute walk to my classes compared to 10. I'm so happy.

That's a long post. Hope you guys are actually reading this  O.o

If you have any questions feel free to ask~~~

xx

Classes~~~

So, I'm not sure if I have posted about all of my classes or not.

Since most of my posts were about a certain Korean boy that is no longer in my life. I feel guilty to all of my followers who only followed me because they want to hear about my wonderful Korea University.

So! Here's a post dedicated only to my KU life. 

------Mondays-------

On Mondays I only have class at 3:30 which means I can sleep in as late as I want (which usually isn't past 10 o'clock no matter how late I went to sleep that night).

I generally lie in bed and watch Korean videos or study some Korean before actually preparing for school. I bought a few children's books in Korean and during my free time I take out my big expensive dictionary (40,000W) and translate a page or two. It normally takes me 30 min to an hour to translate one page. The book I bought is maybe a 10 year old level and I'm pretty sure I'm at a 5 year old level... but I might as well aim high~~  ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 

I don't know what it is, but I always feel so legit when I use an actual dictionary and not an online one. I feel more studious and intelligent, you know?

Plus, using the dictionary,I see other words while looking for one which helps me expand my vocabulary. 


At around lunch time I text all of my friends trying to find someone that's available to eat with me. Generally it's either Christine (American) or Estelle (French). I am still in love with Korean food and never want to eat anything but Korean. Especially since my boyfriend (Chad) works at a Chinese restaurant and gives me free 자장면. So I go there often. Otherwise, I eat Korean bbq or dakgalbi (chicken stirfry thing) which are both VERY good. I don't know what I'm going to feed my vegan mother when she comes to visit..... I think there's like one vegan restaurant in all of Seoul...She's just going to have to live off of rice and bibimbap because Korea like meat.

Anyways, I normally end lunch at around 1 or 2 so I just go to a cafe and do some reading or homework before class starts. 

At 3:20 I head to my Korean speaking class. The teacher is SO pretty and SO young. I swear she's a student. She's incredibly nice and very funny. The class however, is way below my level. So I normally play on my phone when we are working on things I already know very well. Every once in awhile we'll do something I don't know. In which case, I take advantage of asking questions and participating.

At 4:45 class ends and I go to the classroom next door to prepare for Beginners Korean class. 

Mondays and Tuesdays we have an older male prof who is hilarious. I love him. He doesn't speak English well so he uses a lot of hand movements because, once again, I'm in a class below my actual level, so  there's a lot of debutante students who don't understand what he says in Korean. So he makes a lot of gestures. 


 At 6:15 I leave for dinner with either Estelle or my roommate.
After that, I either go back to the dorm or go to a cafe and wait til Chad gets off work so we can hang out and he can help me with my homework.

------Tuesday------
Tuesday, I have class at 2...HOWEVER... I am totally failing that class to the point of no recovery. 
It's an English lit. class and I feel severly hurt my ankle so I had to get physical therapy and the only time I could go was during that class Tuesdays and Thursdays. Before, I was already way behind on work and now that I've missed about 6 classes, I'm too far behind to even think about getting back. Plus, even if the teacher does accept me back in the class.. I won't be able to pass the final because I have missed too many notes.

Yay for failing my first class my freshman year. 

I'm so disappointed in myself. But now I know what college expects of me and I plan on studying my ass off next semester. I have to to get my GPA up after this class. 

Also, my ankle is still killing me. I have no idea what I did to it and neither does the hospital.
Tuesdays at 3:30 instead of Speaking I have Writing class. Which is above my Korean level and I LOVE it. It's the one class that challenges me. The one class where I actually feel like I'm learning Korean. The teacher is hilarious and she speaks ONLY Korean she doesn't even try to speak English. She speaks so fast too so when I understand what she's saying I am SO proud of myself. 

After that I have Korean beginners class until 6:15.

-----Wednesday-----
Wednesday I have French class at 10:30. It's basically a French class where we read and learn to translate into Korean,,, except I don't speak Korean. So the prof makes me read and then summaries in French because she doens't speak English. 

This prof loves me though. Because I speak French and lived in France. She always makes me answer the questions and walks with me after class. Last class we had a class lunch which was fun. They only spoke in Korean, but I love listening to Korean conversations to see if I can pick up anything. It was realy fun. Plus we ate at Chad's restaurant so I got to see him.

Then at 3:30 I have speaking class again.

6:15 Korean for beginners.



-----Thursday------- 

Thursdays I technically have English Lit. at 2
Writing at 3:30
and
Last day of Korean for beginners for the week.
It's generally an uneventful day. Sometimes I go to some sort of festival with my Korean friend Wonsuk. Or we just get dinner somewhere.



-----Friday----
At 10:30 I have French class again. I hate waking up early, but I enjoy that class. 

Then at 2 I have my 3 hour long history class. It is SO easy. The prof gives take-home exams and our midterm was to write a one page paper on an ancient Korean folk-song. Which was incredibly easy. You don't have to pay attention in the class. You just have to show up because he takes attendance. It's really boring though... 
I fell bad because he says this is the first time he's taught unversity students. He normally teaches business men or something. So he tries to make the class interesting but it's just not. It's so boring. The prof is really nice though and I love him for trying.

=====WEEKENDS=====

My weekends are normally very uneventful.... I have tutoring on Sunday and I hang out with my roommate or Chad all day. Or I just go to a cafe and work. Sometimes I go shopping.

Last weekend I rented a oneroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. I move in June 22. I'll post more about how I found it later. I'm so happy to not be in the dorms anymore. I don't have to walk up those damn stairs!!!!!

So happy~~~~~

Anyways,, that's my week. Boring, right?

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this post. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Another Keith Cho Text PT 1

SO…. 

Sunday March 31… I broke up with Keith. 

He called me early morning, no idea why. But I just started crying because I missed him so much. And for some damn reason my brain was like “Hey, Maggie, waiting hurts you, so just break up with the boy”

So… I did. I broke up with him. I cried and cried and then I hung up on him. He called me back a few hours later begging me to rethink. He told me he’d start calling more and he’d put more effort into our long distance. He said he’d start talking to me and telling me what he thinks. Which has always been a problem for us. He’s afraid to look weak to me, so he never expresses his feelings. But that just pushes me away. I told him that…

I don’t know how I did it, I have no idea how I managed to, but I hung up on him. I said “Keith, I have to go, this is too hard for me” and I hung up.

Lord only knows how…..

But I went on with my day, regretting it and then trying to convince myself that it was the best thing. 

Waiting hurts. I spend every night staring at my phone hoping he’ll call. I’ll send him a dozen emails a day expressing how much I love and miss him and never receive a reply. And I can’t get mad at him for it because he’s in the army, he’s busy. He doesn’t have time to think about me or call me. I understand that„, he calls me when he can. I have to accept that and not torture him for it. 

I figured breaking up with him would be easier for both of us.


Anyways, Monday morning April 1, I was in a cafe with my friend telling her about the break up and then I get a text message from Keith’s mom saying that she wants to meet tonight- she has a gift for me from Keith. 

I freaked out. It was 11am, she said to meet at 7h20 pm. I was having panic attacks allllll day. What could the gift be?? What could Keith possibly ask his mother to buy for me??

I decided that I should write a letter to her explaining why I broke up with him. I wasn’t going to be able to express my feelings otherwise because I don’t speak Korean. So I got my tutor to translate a short letter which I copied onto some pretty paper. I put it in my bag and I went to wait for her…….

I was panicking. I didn’t know what to say to her or what she was going to give me. 

I was in the midst of a small attack when I hear:

“Maggie” 

I look up and who the hell is standing in front of me but Keith Cho himself. I was hoping it would be him, but I didn’t wan to get my hopes up because there was no way he could’ve gotten a break on such short notice. 

I literally almost fainted. 


I just jumped into his arms and hugged him for a good 5 minutes before he asked me to take him to a restaurant. 

Wanna know what my goddamn boyfriend did to me then?!

We sat at the restaurant and I asked him

“Keith, how did you get this break? Why are you here?”

“I had to tell you something Maggie…….I’ve decided to go to Afghanistan.”

My heart exploded. I got so angry at him..

“Why???”

He said “Well, they recommended that I go a few days ago, but I turned them down because I knew you wouldn’t like it… but considering the circumstances now, I’ve decided to go”

I started bawling my eyes out at this point. I kept telling him how stupid he was, he should know by know that our break ups last a month at most. We always get back together.

“When do you leave?” I asked.

“At the end of the week, I’ll be back in December”

I start bawling even harder.
He sees that I’m distraught and he stands up and grabs my arm and asks me to come outside. I refuse. He asks again… so I let him lead me out of the restaurant.







“April fools, Maggie”


I punched him and walked away.



I’ll post PT 2 with pictures later, I have class now~~

Classes~~

I got class in an hour and I'm in one of the moods that I just don't want to do anything. 

My Korean speaking for beginners class is sooo boring because I'm surrounded by people that can't speak so we had to start from the beginning. Which let me tell you, is SUPER boring. I basically text the entire class while the teacher and students repeat the alphabet over and over like a machine. 
"아 야 어 여 오 요 우유 으 이"
"가 거 고 구 그 기"

I don't know how much more of that I can handle >___<
Hopefully today we'll start working on comprehensible and useful phrases. 

As for my English class, haha, my teacher is...... what's a good word?....eccentric. 
I swear she looks like a skinny Asian Einstein. Her hair is all over the place and she talks like a crazy genius. She has the heeeaavvy Korean/British accent which makes listening to her speak really difficult. 
it's so fun though. It's one of the classes where we discuss books and stories and we end up debating for hours on the importance of virtue and morals. 

However, The Moon and Sixpence is the book we are beginning to read. I read the first chapter and I have NO freaking clue what is going on. 

Why can't we just read something like Harry Potter?? Or Of Mice and Men, I like that book. I want to discuss that book. So, I need to figure that book out tonight before class starts tomorrow O.o

Alright... I got to sleep.

I'm Terrible at Korean Games...

So, I went out with a friend the other night because he wanted to teach me how to play Korean billiards (I'm American,, I call it pool, but whatever)

Anyways..  should've taken pictures because I'm going to suck at explaining this properly. 

Here goes nothing:

The table is exactly the same size as a normal pool table except there aren't any ball pockets (is that the technical term for holes...?) instead of the normal 13(?) balls there are 4. There's a white ball, a yellow ball and two red balls. 

Basically the point of the game was to get rid of points by making your ball (either yellow or white) hit the two read balls without hitting your opponents ball. 

I was white and my friend was yellow. He is like a master at this game. He would make his ball bounce all around the table squeak past my ball and manage to hit both red balls. It was incredible. He gave me a handicap because he started of with 12 points and I only started off with 5.

Guess who won.....?? 

I was doing really well (not really) until I got to my last point. I played with one point left for almost an hour while my friend was just getting rid of points left and right. In the hour it took me to get rid of 4 points he got rid of 11.

It was really haaaarrrdddd!! 

but soooo much fun. Give me a few months (or years) and I'm sure I could kick his a**!! 

This might not be a Korean game, but I've only ever seen it played in Korea and it seems to be a big thing here. Either way, I'm going to practice and one day become master~~ ^^

xx

Myeongdong~~~

So on Saturday I met up with my Korean tutor and we went to Myeongdong for shopping.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into...
I had to use the subway to get there and I was really nervous to do it by myself. Myeongdong is only like a 20 min subway trip so it really wasn't bad at all and I di it!!! 

Anyways, when I got there I had to wait for my tutor. And the friggin' subway station is a mall!!! So I ran around and bought some earrings and this preciousssssss cat shaped bag (I love bags)

So once she arrived we just ran up stairs and entered heaven. I swear, Myeongdong is REALLY cool. There were so many people and so many stores and little kiosk things in the streets. The big stores had a few clothes in my size which was very exciting. But there were a whole bunch of really cute little stores that I couldn't fit into :((( We bought some delicious Korean street food and then ate some chicken galbi (I can't remember it's a Korean dish). She is really awesome and chill. I really like her. She has a lot of energy like me so we get along really well :D :D

The problem with Korea is that since everyone is basically the same size, I guess there is no need for dressing rooms. So it's really hard to decide if something will fit me if I can't try it on.

I had to leave a whole bunch of cute clothes behind because I couldn't try them on.

BUT! I bought this really cute skirt and shirt for when I see Keith on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to look so cute! It's going to be great.

I've kinda gone through this HUGE style transformation which Keith hasn't seen yet. I used to only wear very large teeshirts and sweatshirt and never wore makeup and stuff. Now I actually put some effort into myself in the morning to look better. So I'm excited to see what Keith thinks. Keith's mom is going to pick me up Saturday morning at 10 and we are going to drive to go pick up my 오빠~~~~!!!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!! I haven't seen him in 9 months :( So when we get back to Gangnam we are going to go to Coex mall so I can get a polariod camera so I can take a million pictures of him *^.^*

I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures yet :((((((

I'm so lazy. ㅠㅠ

But, I start classes tomorrow which is so surreal to me.  I'm a freshman in college. and not just any college, but one of the top colleges in South Korea.

It's crazy!!

I'll post again about my first day soon~~

I'm so nervous.

xx

PS This post is kinda lackluster, I'm sorry. I'll be better next time and provide more detail of stuff >_<

Class Registration is Stressful

So, I Would like to point out that I'm a international FRESHMAN student.

I have never ever registered for classes before

And all of my exchange friends keep talking about the horrors they went through while registering for classes. I'm SO nervous~~~~

I had orientation yesterday, which I would like to say was pretty useless. Most of the international students are Chinese, there are only like 15 non-Chinese international students so basically the entire orientation was about what Chinese students need to do for visas and stuff.

She only covered class registration for a minute. She didn't say anything about what credit I need or anything. She just said "You need 130 credits to graduate and I recommend you do 12 credits your first semester"

12 credits of what?!!?! Am I required to take a science? or a math? or even History? Because if you don't tell me I'm going to avoid those subjects at all costs.

So basically I chose all the English classes I could find (that weren't any of the subjects stated above) There aren't very many classes in English, but there are definitely enough to have a couple semesters of just English classes, which is nice.

So hopefully my schedule will look something like this:

Intermediate French Tues-Fri
Korean for beginners Mon-Thurs
Language and Culture Tues & Thurs
English and Human Mind Mon &Weds
Syntax Mon &Weds

Once again, I pray this will be my schedule. Sadly, I don't really have any days off, but that's okay. I'm new at this. I can perfect my scheduling later when I'm not so stressed.

There were only 3 classes related to my linguistics majour in English and the level wasn't specified. So, I just signed up for Syntax just in case all the other classes were junior level classes or something. I can always drop the class.

I have 6 back up classes just in case I don't get any of these, but I'm REALLY hoping I can get those. Based on the horror stories from my friends and my parents I'm probably going to end up in some really stupid class taught in Korean.

I don't speak Korean.

On the bright side!!!
While I was at orientation I started talking to this one girl and SHE'S FRENCH! So, I'll have a 4-yr undergrad French friend!! I'm so excited. I think there is also another international linguistics freshman. So, hopefully i can make a few non-exchange student friends. I do love my exchangey friends, but they are leaving me in a few months sooo..... yeah.

I woke up 3 hours before  registration begins because that's what everyone recommended I do so I have nothing to do right now...

I'm just going to listen to some kpop and refresh the registration page until I die.

xx

I made it!!

I MADE IT!!


I made it through the first three days with Keith's mom and it was wonderful!! I think I accomplished my goal of becoming her BFF,,,  I don't know if that is a Korean mother thing or she just REALLY likes me~~ it's much better than her treating me like the Korean Mothers in the Kdramas!

She's so cute though, she was so worried about me when we finally made it to the dorms.

OHMIGOD,

So, I don't know if I have mentioned this or not, but I basically haven't spent any money since I've been here because Keith's mom has bought me everything. Like, they have probably spent over $500 on me... It's so thoughtful, but I also feel really bad that I didn't give her much as a gift. I feel like it wasn't enough. They bought me a phone!!! 

Keith's dad is VERY high up in the Samsung world, so he has ins. So he brought me back a Galaxy Note one day after work and told me they'd pay the monthly fee. I told them that once I get a Korean card I'd start to pay for it, but they told me no >___<

Anyways,

THEY GOT A LIMO! Not like a stretch limo, but a SUPER nice car an a driver to take me to the dorm. Both Keith's parents woke up early on Saturday and helped me pack and then Keith's dad called HIS driver and he came and picked us up and took us to the dorm................AMAZING.


Then Keith's mom and I went shopping for dorm stuff like toilet paper an pencil holders and the such. ~~She paid for everything. 

She unpacked everything for me. She wouldn't let me do it. She then proceeded to hand wash my underwear and plane clothes... This woman is dedicated.

Sidenote: I don't know if I mentioned this either, but she called me her daughter once! ^_^**

Anyways, so she unpacked everything and was really worried I wasn't going to leave the room to go eat because I didn't know anybody (which is so true) so she kidnapped people. 

Keith's mom disappeared for a bit and came back with an American girl who looked terrified and was like "here Maggie, a friend!" and the American girl (Emily) then told me that she ran into Keith's mom on the elevator who started to speak Korean, Emily didn't understand so Keith's mom grabbed her arm and guided her to my room >__< hahahaha

It was really funny. She did the same thing to this one girl because she somehow found out there is a French girl here. So, she knocked on the French girl's door and kidnapped her too. 

I have friends, YAY!

They are exchange students though. I haven't met a single real 4-year student yet. My roommate hasn't even arrived. So, I'm making friends with these really cool girls (there's like 13 of them), but they are all exchange students and are going to be gone in e few months. I need to make some undergrad friends too... 

Hopefully my roommate will arrive soon. And hopefully she's Korean and will be here for forever. 

OH! Also, yesterday morning my friends and I were all gettin ready to leave for brunch and I was in one of their rooms and I here "Maggie!" and I automatically answer in Korean and look out into the hall and who do I see??

Keith's mom is knocking on my door. She came just to sew up some socks that I ripped. She brought me a broom and dustpan. She also brought the costco croissants and some milk with a cup. She then started sewing up my socks and demanding I drink milk. Once she finished she said have fun with your friends!! And left...she took the subway here. It's like an hour lon subway ride. 

Do you see what I mean by clingy?

I mean I REALLY appreciate it!!!! Like so much! I'd be so lost without her. But I do feel like I haven't done enough for her. I think she just misses Keith. And she also never got to do this school stuff with him. She's so cute.

Anyways, my dorm is beautiful and the view is awesome.

The only problem: 

I have to take 111 steps to get anywhere. I feel like I have already lost weight just by going up and down those steps. Not to mention the entire Anam campus is on a mountain so everywhere is uphill. Even downhill is uphill...

I'll post pictures soon. I have orientation today (I think) and I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, so I'm probably going to get some breakfast and explore the campus so I can find this orientation building. 

So, I'm off!

I'll update again soon, hopefully with pictures!!

xx

I'm so full.

Alright, so here's a summary of my day.

I'm super jetlagged so I woke up at 530. Keith's dad got up at 6 and left at 630 (I'd like to point out that he didn't come home til after 10,, koreans work too much) When I woke up Keith's mom told me to come watch TV with her while she made me breakfast.
For breakfast, I had steak. I mean it was def beef and she cut it up an gave me rice and kimchi. I'm just going to say steak. It was yummy, but I'm still full.
We then went to Costco. Korean costco. Still as amazing as American, if not better. ^^

There I picked up towels because I read somewhere that it's hard to fint a real like large towel. So I was excited to go to an American store and be able to find an Amurican sized towel. Keith's mom made me buy little ones to so I can wash me face.... haha

She is VERY concened with my skin. I got off th eplane and she forced me to put on lotion and stuff. She picked out lots of face lotion at costco and then we went and got food.

Koreans are all over the free sampling stuff. Everytime we saw something she would get it and give one to me. I had maybe three different types of vitamins that were on sample. Im'm not even sure what kinda vitamins they were O.o 

Anyways, we then went to the check out. Where SHE PAID FOR ALL MY STUFF. I was going to make a scene in costco, but I wasn't sure if it was rude of not to refuse...her money, I guess haha. I tried to buy for it but she yelled at me. So I just thanked her a lot.

We then went home and I passed out got a good 5 hours. So jetlagged. Wehn we woke up she took me to dinner.

I'd like to point out that I pravtially didn't use my hands. She was hand feeding me everything. It was sooooo good the first couple of mouthfuls, then I got full. And she continued to give me food, I was trying very hard not to throwup from food overdose haha. IT's so sweet!! But I don't know if it'll be rude to refuse the food, so I just ate it all. I feel like I've gained 20 pounds already. 

She's SO nice though. I wasn't able to find pens at costco so we passed a store that had pens and stuff and I was so excited I picked out a whole bunch and she was holding them like she was going to pay. And in the store they had REALLY cute bows and stuff. Let me tell ya, I LOVE BOWS. I have SO my hair bows it's scary. But I didn't buy any because I knew she was going to pay again and I didn't want her to. So, I had to leave the bows :(

I'll be back though! I know where it is!! And I'm sure there are more bows in Korea to be bought.

When we got back to the house KEith's mom and I just talked. She showed me pictured of Keih in the army. I showed her pictures of Keith and I while I was visiting Korea last Christmas. We talked about the cell phone that they are giving me. Keith's dad is a "high-up" at Samsung, so he always has the latest gadgets. They ahd a Galaxy Note lying around so they just gave it to me. We are going to activate it tomorrow, I guess. Hopefully they let me pay the monthly bill. 

We are going to go to Coex mall tomorrow so I can get a whole bunch of cute things. But I'm going to make a scene if she tries to pay for more stuff. Iwill start screaming or something.... not really. But I'll fight.

Also, I'm writing this in the dark at 4am (jetlagg is a bitch) so excuse any spelling errors and stuff, I can't see the keyboard. 

In which I forgot mt iPod...

I’m writing this from my wonderful window sit on my United flight to Seoul, South Korea! It’s been about 5 hours since we’ve taken off and I’m sitting in the darkness so that the plane can sleep. I don’t understand why everyone is sleeping though, I mean it’s only 7:00pm in the US and it’s 9AM in Korea. Shouldn’t they stay awake so they won’t be jetlagged??

That’s my plan anyway, I’m not going to sleep anymore. I don’t have enough battery on my computer to watch any more movies though…. And this plane doesn’t have those TV things on the back of the seat like I’m used to, they only have the really big ones up front and you can only watch the movies they choose, which is stupid. I don’t want to watch Wreck It Ralph. So, I have no idea what I’m going to do for the next 7 hours… I’ll probably read.

I started reading Of Mice and Men on the 6 hour flight from Raleigh to San Francisco, but I was sitting behind an obnoxious kid who wouldn’t stop crying. That’s awlays the greatest, isn’t it? Having a long flight and listening to a whiney 2 year old scream the whooooooole time…. Wanna know the worst part?

I
forgot
my
ipod.

Yes, I’m an idoit. I forgot my iPod which leads to very difficult and boring travels. I’m literally on the verge of dying because I don’t have my wonderful kpop. I’m so stupid.

Anyway, I get off the plane soon and hopefully my luggage made it. Also, hopefully Keith’s mom didn’t forget about me. I texted her yesterday telling her I was getting on the plane soon. I hope that she’s excited to hang out with me. I mean I really don’t want to impose. My mom said that she would be very excited to let Keith stay with her regardless of my presence. I pray that Keith’s mom feels the same way.

Ugh, my knees hurt. I’d like to point out that I have VERY long legs. I’m crammed in a small seat and the person in front of me decided to put her chair all the way back, I mean who can blame her? But still, I can’t move. Literally, I can’t do anything with my legs because there is no room. So, very uncomfortable flight, but I’m still going to Korea.

Which brings me to my next point. It still hasn’t hit me. I said goodbye to my parents today and I didn’t feel anything because it didn’t feel like I was going anywhere. It hasn’t hit me that I’m going to be away from them for possibly a few years. I’m sure it’ll hit when I land. I’m not prone to get homesick though, I’m used to being away from home, so it won’t be hard. I’m sure at some point I’ll call mom missing her though. It’s weird, I’m sitting on the plane 7 hours from arriving in Korea, which has been my dream for the past couple years and I’m not nervous/excited/scared. Anything. I’m so indifferent. I think my brain thinks I should be sitting on the couch at home or selling shoes. It can’t comprehend the fact that I’m embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. So strange….

I still can’t believe I forgot my iPod…. That needs to be mailed to me ASAP. My computer is dying, I should stop writing anyway. This post is getting kinda long.

See you in Seoul!

xx

Packed!!!

I'm so totally finished with packing. I literally packed everything. I don't have anything to wear for the next three days.

Mom and I went shopping again, so I ended up with WAY more clothes than before. Both of my suitcases are teetering the 50 pound limit >_<

I did buy this REALLY cute dress to wear on the plane so that I look adorable when I see Keith's mom. I just hop I can get to my make up when I get off the plane to touch up so I don't look like a zombie.

My mom and I packed ALL of my stuff before we realised that we hadn't packed Keith's mom's present yet. The thing with Koreans is they are so hospitable Everytime Keith or my friend Bonnie came and stayed at my house they brought an inordinate amount of gifts, like simple traditional Korean trinkets and stuff. Being that I'm from American, we don't have any "traditional" "cultural" things. So mom and I ran around trying to think of stuff to give her. We finally got a good amount of little things and one super nice thing.

I'm getting super nervous. Everytime I go through my Korea workbooks, I think that I'll be okay for 3 days with Keith's mom. I know enough vocab and grammar to converse with her.... but then she'll send me a text message or something on kakoatalk and I don't understand a word of it >______<

I'm so screwed. I just hope I don't shut down and become super awkward, I need to try. The least I can get from her is kudos for trying so hard. ㅋㅋㅋ

I'm thinking about taking the innocent look while I'm with her. I'm not going to out on too much makeup. Just some mascara. Unless I look like a train wreck, in which case lots of eyeshadow and eyeliner will be involved.
I
am
so
nervous.

But once the three days have passed I move into my beautiful dorm!!!! It's going to be awesome. I need to buy sheets though, and pillows and a phone. I especially need a phone. I can't decide between and Samsung Galaxy SIII or the Note II. My friend who has used both phones says that the Note II is so much better. I can't decide though...

I should go help my mother clean though.
I probably won't update until I arrive at the dorm the 23.

xx

Shoes!!

So, I used to always judge girls when they told me that they always pack a bag dedicated to shoes…


Now I understand. I have literally filled an entire suitcase with shoes. I didn’t even realise I had this many shoes. I guess that’s what I get for working at a shoe store. I’ve heard from multiple resources that Korea doesn’t really make shoes larger than a 8…. I’m a 9.

WHY IS KOREA SO SMALL?!

I am literally not going to be able to buy anything there because I’m too big for all the clothes/shoes. *curses*

But I do get to hang out with Keith’s mom soon! Part of me is very excited and the other part keeps repeating “don’t get nervous and shut down, don’t get nervous an not talk” in my head. 

I need to collect some courage and not be scared to talk to her in Korean regardless of how incomprehensible it is. 

She’ll appreciate me for trying! (I hope….)

I still don’t know how I feel about calling her mom, I know it’s totally normal in Korea, but it’s not a western thing to call your boyfriend’s mother “mom”
It might be weird for her too, I mean I am a foreigner. 

SO NERVOUSSS!!!

9 MORE DAYS!

Okayokay…

So I leave in 9 days and I’m not remotely close to finishing packing or shopping for essentials. 

I STILL NEED BRAS!! (AHHHH)

I AM however super ready to get out of the hell-hole of a town. It’s literally the epitome of boring here. Plus, the fact that I have no social life here kinda adds to the hellishness of it.

ANYWAY!

I’m nervous about what to get my boyfriend’s mother. Whenever my Korean friends come and visit me they bring me and my parents a million gifts. Mostly traditional Korean things that are beautiful. Since I live in American though, I don’t have in beautiful traditional things (screw the melting pot culture). 

 My mom made Keith’s mom some potholders that are really pretty, but I feel like that’s not enough. So, since I work at a shoe store I figured I could use that to my advantage. 

UGG slippers are on sale! Koreans don’t wear shoes in the house, their feet should still be comfy and cozy! 

So why not a nice pair of slippers for my 어머니? It’s good, right? I talked to Keith last night and he said that his mom wears like a 255 (which I guess is a 9 US size…), but he didn’t sound very convincing when he said it. I’m scared I’ll get the wrong size >.<

So, I don’t know„, should I risk getting her the wrong size?! I’ll just wait til Keith calls on Tuesday and really grill him until he’s sure about the size ^_^

I’m going to finish staring at my suitcase and hoping it packs itself!

xx

16 More Days!

So, I basically spent my entire last semester at high school dreaming of leaving for Korea. It’s getting so close and it hasn’t hit me yet. I’m excited, but it still feels like a distant dream.

I mean come on, Maggie, you’re going to be living in Korea for the next 4 years!!! 

It’ll take me awhile to get used to the idea. It still hasn’t really clicked in my head that I spent all last year in France. 

Anyways, it’s taking a lot of effort to prevent me from packing now. I still have two weeks. I need to wear something! I just have no idea what I should pack and what I should buy there. 

Speaking of! So, my boyfriend is Korean and he’s in the army doing his mandatory service. But, he told me a few weeks ago that I should arrive in Korea 3 days before I actually need to be there because he might be able to get a break and hang out with me for three days. Obviously I was very excited because I haven’t seen him since he randomly showed up at my door 7 months ago.

Guess what he told me a few days ago? He wasn’t able to get his break. So I was going to arrive in Korea 3 days before the dorms open with no where to stay.

“Don’t worry Maggie! You can just stay with my mom, she’ll pick you up from the airport.” 
Keith (that’s his name), your mom doesn’t speak English. My Korean is beginner. I can have a small conversation involving the whereabouts of cats
“고양이가 탁자 밑애 있어요— the cat’s under the table” I can understand stuff, but that’s only because I watch WAY too many kdramas. I’m basically learning my Korean from Lee Min Ho (bless him). 

Well! Screw it! I want Keith’s mom to like me, she seemed like she liked me when I visited last year. So I’m going to be spending three days with my boyfriends mother without said boyfriend. 

I’m FREAKING out. I speak enough Korean to get by without starving or dying, but I don’t know formal conjugations. Formality is very important in Korea. And I know Keith’s mom will not be insulted by my speaking informally to her because I’m a foreigner learning Korea, but I still want her to know that I respect her and I would speak formally if I knew how!

Why is Korean so difficult?!

Anyways, I can’t wait to move into my dorm. I was originally supposed to stay in Anam hall, which is the cheapest dorm. However, they filled up fast and now I’m staying in the Frontier House which is awesome! I GET MY OWN BATHROOM! I’m so excited. I’ll only have on roommate instead of 2. And we have our own bathroom.

This is long, I’ll try to keep up with this blog better than my blog to France, I kinda failed with that. 

xx