du gae lists

That's two lists, for you non Korean speakers.
List #1: Things I've Gotten Used To
I. Carrying Things. I didn't realize how convenient cars were until I had to carry groceries (or anything I purchased) home. I don't own a car here so everything I do is through public transportation. Luckily, taxis are really affordable here. Anyway, whatever I do - I use public transportation. Getting my school stuff, lunch, violin, and sometimes work out gear to school has turned me into an even larger spectacle on the morning bus. I just didn't realize how much I relied on my car back home - that was a seriously convenient and useful mini van.

2. Not Knowing. There are so many times a day I say "I don't know" and it's in a way that I never said it back home. Went to a bakery today… wondered "What do you think is in that bun?"… and I didn't have to ask because I KNEW the answer was "I don't know". Someone calls my cell phone, and I answer thinking "I don't know who this is", knowing that "I don't know what they are saying to me". Literacy is a serious tool and strength. Without it, I sort of feel powerless, but…. still capable? I live in a WORLD of "I don't know".
(2.5 Figuring it out. Context clues. Miming. Asking for help. Google Translate. These methods are sometimes the only method to get through things.)

3. Lack of open container laws - you can consume alcohol pretty much anywhere, anytime here. I'm a fan.
(3.5 Not getting carded. Nobody checks IDs here. .)

4. Korean manerisms - half bowing all the time, handing things to people with two hands/touching my wrist (as explained by EatYourKimchi), repeating myself, responding with "Oh really?", etc.

5. Chopsticks. Hell yeah for acquiring skills.

6. Soup all the time. My friends back home made fun of me for how much I love soup, so it makes sense that I've moved to a place on this planet that ALWAYS has soup :)
I've recently tried Pho for the first time, and there's a delicious tofu soup restaurant near my apartment as well as a Shabu Shabu establishment. Winter in Seoul is rumored to be bone chillingly cold, so I'm looking forward to consuming lots of warm soup this winter yummmmmm


List # 2: Things I Haven't Gotten Used To
1. Everything is sweet. Okay, so everything isn't sugary sweet - but there are very few things I consume here that are actually salty.

2. Getting paid to do things that I like.
I seriously am not used to it.
Once a month I get an email saying "This is how much you made this month!"... and I sort of stare at it. Like, what? You pay me to be here every day? This is too good.
I get to do things that I love. I get to learn so much... and I get to do it with hilarious smart kids.

3. Prices. I still compare things to back home. The exchange rate changes, but has been pretty regularly around 1,000 won = 90 cents. In my head that turns into 1,000 won = 1 USD. I still think "how much was lettuce at home?". I'm just really not used to paying for groceries. Things are often either dirt cheap or pretty expensive here.

4. Walking everywhere. I need to invest in some more intelligent footwear options. I mean.. I have some cute shoes... but those don't really get you far. Or, they will, but they'll give you blisters.



In case you were wondering, life's pretty good in SoKo.
I had my first concert last tuesday (October 29th) - Middle School orchestra, band, and chorus (they don't say choir here). It went really well, even though I was SUPER nervous about it. My high school ensemble is heading to another international school on Tuesday for large group contest, and then we've got parent teacher conferences on friday and saturday. I submitted recordings of 7 students for the international honor orchestra festival and we should be hearing back within the next week or two...
AND BEST OF ALL:
we're starting christmas music :)