My adventures are coming to an end! Alas!
Where am I? What's going on? I am being swept away! (I started to write, "The world is spinning too fast!" but it came out "The world is too much with me, late and soon!" Hmm. A much nicer, if stolen, way of saying the same thing.)
But before we get to that, back to Korea. I like chronology.
Korea!
I will keep this short and sweetish. Maybe even a nice, round issue of ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!
* Saw a cool Korean movie on the plane, called "Fly, Daddy, Fly." Chubby man being trained by too-ridiculously-good-looking highschool student. All you need to know? Salarymen can outrun buses.
* There's this famous Korean actor, who in Japan is known as "Yon-sama." There was Yon-sama merch everywhere in Korea. All you need to know? The van that picked us up at the airport had a zillion photos of Yon-sama attached to the ceiling.
* Koreans are friendly, and eager to use what little English they know. All you need to know? A stranger at independence park apparently loves us.
* Katie, Crystal, and myself apparently look like Canadians to Korean people. Katie thought my coat made me look more like a Russian. All you need to know? In Korea, "Russian" is code for "hooker."
* There was this one shopping center done up like a weird little museum, devoted to Any Warhol. All you need to know? A mini-cooper hanging from the side of a building.
* Katie and I cannot read Korean, but often there are English translations on menus and such. But they are not always to be trusted, as Katie soon found out. All you need to know? Avoid the mysterious chicken monster that's supposedly "filled with sweet."
* Kurutare are the best food ever, because they are A) delicious and B) made by hilarious Korean boys with questionable English skills. I and one of them made a promise to get married. All you need to know? "Tiger is delicious! OH MY GOD, WAAHH-OOOHH!"
* Korea is severely, spitefully cold. We were dodging in and out of these weird underground shopping malls just to get out of the wind. I felt like a whack-a-mole. All you need to know? It was about twenty-five degrees on the day we left.
* Korean dramas are hilarious, especially when you don't know what they're saying. We started dubbing over our own dialogue and storylines. Like dear Earnest, the police rookie. Or those two secretly gay highschool boys. All you need to know? Romeo and Juliet was really about two (male) oldschool Korean warriors from fighting clans -- Beards vs. No Beards.
Other stuffs happened, I'm sure. We saw a temple, and a palace, and did lots of shopping. I bought six movies (five of them Korean) for about twenty bucks. (Three cheers for mysterious roadside stalls!)Food was awesome and spicy and awesome. I'd like to hit Korea again sometime.
Last Thursday Katiekay and I went and did karaoke and games with our boys. There are six of them now, by the way. We started with Komatty, Takeshi, Yuki, and Naoyuki, soon added Yukihiko, and recently collected Daisuke. They are all adorable. Anyways, we sang a bunch, and Naoyuki made me feel really good about myself because he kept exclaiming, "Kakkoii!" (sort of like "cool!" or "impressive!") whenever me and Katie sang. What a doll.
We briefly played ping-pong, and then two team games of pool. My team won both times! The second game my team was me and Daisuke, and I had a serious high point by sinking the winning ball. YESSS.
Friday, my theatre class went and saw a (FIVE. HOUR.) performance of kabuki. It was really sweet, but the chairs needed to be more comfy if we were going to sit there that long. I am now enamoured of onnagata -- the female impersonators. The way they alter their behavior and mannerisms is really amazing. And they're just so PRETTY!
Saturday, Dan and Rebecca came to visit from Tokyo, and we went to Kiyomizu Temple. It rained (of course, it always rains...) but it was fun, nonetheless. Afterwards, we met two other Witt alumns in Hirakata and grabbed dinner. Then me and Katie went to her house for a SLEEPOVER! We watched a crazy Chinese movie called "The Promise." I want to marry the villain.
Sunday was Katie's goodbye party. There were games, and prizes, and I slaughtered everyone at bingo. It was a silly day.
This week has been finals, finals, and more finals. Finally got Jack back (alive and well!) on Monday, went to Shinsaibashi with Juli, Kim, and Charlie on Tuesday, and went to the movies with Okaa-san yesterday. Movies in Japan are usually about fifteen bucks a ticket, but Wednesdays are ladies' days -- only ten dollars apiece. :P We saw "The Devil Wears Prada." Iiiiinteresting.
And today, oh, today, is our last day on campus. I've been saying goodbye to everyone, and it HURTS. Got a ridiculously big, long hug from Dominic, and our boys gave Katie and I the sweetest sweetest goodbye cards. That was rough.
But it's not over, yet -- gotta turn in my paper, mail some stuff, and get back my hundred dollar deposit...all before we leave for karaoke (with Katie's new sweetheart! WHAT) in forty minutes or so. Time to hurry!
But before we get to that, back to Korea. I like chronology.
Korea!
I will keep this short and sweetish. Maybe even a nice, round issue of ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!
* Saw a cool Korean movie on the plane, called "Fly, Daddy, Fly." Chubby man being trained by too-ridiculously-good-looking highschool student. All you need to know? Salarymen can outrun buses.
* There's this famous Korean actor, who in Japan is known as "Yon-sama." There was Yon-sama merch everywhere in Korea. All you need to know? The van that picked us up at the airport had a zillion photos of Yon-sama attached to the ceiling.
* Koreans are friendly, and eager to use what little English they know. All you need to know? A stranger at independence park apparently loves us.
* Katie, Crystal, and myself apparently look like Canadians to Korean people. Katie thought my coat made me look more like a Russian. All you need to know? In Korea, "Russian" is code for "hooker."
* There was this one shopping center done up like a weird little museum, devoted to Any Warhol. All you need to know? A mini-cooper hanging from the side of a building.
* Katie and I cannot read Korean, but often there are English translations on menus and such. But they are not always to be trusted, as Katie soon found out. All you need to know? Avoid the mysterious chicken monster that's supposedly "filled with sweet."
* Kurutare are the best food ever, because they are A) delicious and B) made by hilarious Korean boys with questionable English skills. I and one of them made a promise to get married. All you need to know? "Tiger is delicious! OH MY GOD, WAAHH-OOOHH!"
* Korea is severely, spitefully cold. We were dodging in and out of these weird underground shopping malls just to get out of the wind. I felt like a whack-a-mole. All you need to know? It was about twenty-five degrees on the day we left.
* Korean dramas are hilarious, especially when you don't know what they're saying. We started dubbing over our own dialogue and storylines. Like dear Earnest, the police rookie. Or those two secretly gay highschool boys. All you need to know? Romeo and Juliet was really about two (male) oldschool Korean warriors from fighting clans -- Beards vs. No Beards.
Other stuffs happened, I'm sure. We saw a temple, and a palace, and did lots of shopping. I bought six movies (five of them Korean) for about twenty bucks. (Three cheers for mysterious roadside stalls!)Food was awesome and spicy and awesome. I'd like to hit Korea again sometime.
Last Thursday Katiekay and I went and did karaoke and games with our boys. There are six of them now, by the way. We started with Komatty, Takeshi, Yuki, and Naoyuki, soon added Yukihiko, and recently collected Daisuke. They are all adorable. Anyways, we sang a bunch, and Naoyuki made me feel really good about myself because he kept exclaiming, "Kakkoii!" (sort of like "cool!" or "impressive!") whenever me and Katie sang. What a doll.
We briefly played ping-pong, and then two team games of pool. My team won both times! The second game my team was me and Daisuke, and I had a serious high point by sinking the winning ball. YESSS.
Friday, my theatre class went and saw a (FIVE. HOUR.) performance of kabuki. It was really sweet, but the chairs needed to be more comfy if we were going to sit there that long. I am now enamoured of onnagata -- the female impersonators. The way they alter their behavior and mannerisms is really amazing. And they're just so PRETTY!
Saturday, Dan and Rebecca came to visit from Tokyo, and we went to Kiyomizu Temple. It rained (of course, it always rains...) but it was fun, nonetheless. Afterwards, we met two other Witt alumns in Hirakata and grabbed dinner. Then me and Katie went to her house for a SLEEPOVER! We watched a crazy Chinese movie called "The Promise." I want to marry the villain.
Sunday was Katie's goodbye party. There were games, and prizes, and I slaughtered everyone at bingo. It was a silly day.
This week has been finals, finals, and more finals. Finally got Jack back (alive and well!) on Monday, went to Shinsaibashi with Juli, Kim, and Charlie on Tuesday, and went to the movies with Okaa-san yesterday. Movies in Japan are usually about fifteen bucks a ticket, but Wednesdays are ladies' days -- only ten dollars apiece. :P We saw "The Devil Wears Prada." Iiiiinteresting.
And today, oh, today, is our last day on campus. I've been saying goodbye to everyone, and it HURTS. Got a ridiculously big, long hug from Dominic, and our boys gave Katie and I the sweetest sweetest goodbye cards. That was rough.
But it's not over, yet -- gotta turn in my paper, mail some stuff, and get back my hundred dollar deposit...all before we leave for karaoke (with Katie's new sweetheart! WHAT) in forty minutes or so. Time to hurry!