catch-up time

I have been remiss in my posting as of late.  I have has some super busy time that included Chiaki visiting, massive graduate school apps, a vacation to Jeju Island just south of Korea, and various random school things that have been put on my pile.

First, lovely time with Chiaki and her friend Mie in Seoul.  They knew more about what to see in the city than I do.  I had work on two of the days that they were here but I still got a fair amount of quality time and food sampling fit in.

Making progress on my graduate school apps but still not done.  So much writing.  Ugh.

My Korean co-teacher is getting a promotion because another one of the teachers is leaving so I've had more classes and more work lately, which is not all bad because I'm making overtime wages.

The Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving was last week so Brittany and I took a trip to a Korean island just off the southern coast.  We took a ferry over which was quite an interesting experience.  Instead of having seats, the ferry was divided up into larger rooms with floor mats and you just kind of found a space and sat down with your stuff.  It was really weird and not particularly pleasant.  The island was beautiful and we saw a couple of waterfalls, a beach, some mountains and ate a huge, expensive, delicious meal of sushi.  Jeju is known for a couple of different kinds of fish that only live there, a certain type of citrus called hallabong, chocolates, volcanic rock and women divers.  We saw/tasted everything except the divers.  It's also really interesting because it is a matriarchal society, unlike it's mainland counter part which is extremely patriarchal.  Right away you can notice that the traffic cops are female, and women have a more prominent role in the society.  All in all I had a good time, Jeju is definitely worth a visit.

Made a trip to Costco finally.  Yummmm, cheese.  And oatmeal.  It was good to see basic things that they don't sell in Korea.  And then eat them.  Yum yum yum.  I think it shall have to be a monthly occurrence.

Korean character of the day: ㅒ- yae, kind of like beginning of "yet" without the t
Korean word/phrase of the day: 제 이름은 ______ 이에요. (jay ee-rheum-eun ______ ee-ay-yo) - My name is _______.