The Students' Lifestyle

My friend Marysia invited me and my roommate out to see the Pine Forest and Ulgi Lighthouse* in Busan. We had thought it was going to be us three girls, with Marysia being the guide since she knows the most Korean. But two others joined us along the way and our real guide, Gunn, met us at the bus stop.

The ride to Busan was supposed to have been an hour long, but didn't feel like it at all. Maybe because we took a taxi halfway instead of transferring buses.

The Pine Forest was beautiful. I also experienced my first squatter toilet here, which really isn't a pleasant experience. They place a roll of tissue right beside the bathroom entrance and you have to squat to do your business. The smell was horrible and I tried to breath as little as possible while I was in there.

After walking through the Pine Forest for a good bit, we came towards the Ulgi lighthouse and finally got a full view of the sea and surrounding mountains. There was sea as far as you could see and we took tons of photos. Gunn was a gracious guide and was very patient with us when we constantly stopped to take photos.

Saturday morning was another exciting adventure in Ulsan. We met a student named MJ who is set to come to AUM for this upcoming school year. All the AUM students decided to meet her on Saturday and she took us out for lunch so we could get to know each other and prepare her for life in Montgomery. During the convo we ended up telling her all the fun things to do in Montgomery or the surrounding areas and were actually surprised that we could think of so many. I guess growing up in the city makes you forget all the good things to do. After the meal we grabbed a drink at the book store and talked a little bit more before ending our meeting. Everyone had something to do , so we parted ways and planned to do something another day.

My experience in South Korea has been pretty good so far. I've met some really great people and the locals are really nice. Besides the language, there haven't been many differences from back at home. But here are just a few of the minor things I've had to get adjusted to while here.

Kimchi
Kimchi, or pickled cabbage, is served with almost every Korean dish. I knew this already from going to Korean restaurants back home, and could only eat it in a stew or in small bites. I've learned that kimchi isn't only limited to the spicy red dish, but also has other colors and more bearable flavors. I am not a hardcore fan yet, but the variety means I may actually eat more of it.

I am notorious in my circle for cutting ties with people. Not something to really be proud of, but I have learned that I don't have to put up with people's BS on the internet, and deleting unnecessary drama makes my life a lot more enjoyable. I've deleted family,"friends, and even my boyfriend before, so no one is really safe with me. If I have ever deleted you here are a few reasons why.

I Don't Play Games
But I used to. I was heavily into Farmville, Sorority Life, and Candy Crush when I started FB and would add strangers who played the game online to get ahead (people started blocking my game requests , so you gotta do what ya gotta do ). But as I got busier, I stopped playing the games and realized a lot of my new gamer friends were kind of ...weird. Like the 40-year-old Sim friend who messaged every time I was on chat. Yep. Delete. Besides, why keep these friends online if I don't actually know them? (Okay, some of these random adds are actually pretty cool people and I haven't deleted them yet).

Jesus Told Me To
If you are one of those people who are constantly posting those "Like for Jesus" posters, you are going to be cut off of my friends list if not blocked from my timeline. If your relationship with god only needs confirmation with a few clicks online, you may wanna re-evaluate your relationship.