My dear readers, it has dawned upon me that if my blog is your only source of what the score is in the game called "Meg's Life" then you most likely think that I spend all of my time hiking and teaching. Admittedly, this is not a bad guesstimate. I do enjoy the time I spend on the mountainside and I love to share it with you! However, another hiking post would just be bore-0-rama. "Oh great, she went up a mountain, oh look a picture of pollution. How wonderful, a picture of a sweaty, tired Meg."
We begin with T-9: Now, for anyone reading this post who is over eehhhh say, 35 years old? You might not know what T9 is. In a nutshell, T9 is little man who lives in cell phones who magically finishes words that you start typing in a text. For example, if you wanted to type the word "cosmic," you start hitting 267624 and somewhere along the way, the little man figures out that you want "cosmic" and he finishes it for you! This little man has the entire dictionary memorized and when used correctly, he's a brilliant timesaver. He's also only brilliant, I imagine, in English-speaking countries. My cell phone here in Korea knows Korean as its first language and the little T9 man is nowhere to be found. But what can be found is a frustrated Meg struggling to see what's on her screen and quite deliberately hitting the wrong buttons on her Korean cell phone. A text that took me 15 seconds to type out in America now takes me about a year.
Waiters: The food industry here is so different than in the states. First, there is no tipping, which I've discovered to be mostly fantastic. I say mostly fantastic because when you take tipping away from the playing field, you also remove the motivation for extra-ordinary service. In America, it's all about the eyes. You have to catch your waiter's eye and go from there. In Korea, it's all about the "YOGIYO!" "Yogiyo" means "here" in Korean. You literally yell that to get someone to come over to your table. At first it was a bit jarring to just see people yelling at the wait staff. I don't know if I'll ever be completely comfortable with it, but it's not as odd now. Koreans also aren't too big on beverages. Cups for water are itty-bitty and they never give you refills unless you do the "YOGIYO!"
Not being stared at: I know, readers, I know. I've mentioned this about 17 times. The fact remains; I will never ever get used to being stared at.
Salad: Salads here are like Fazoli's interpretation of Italian food. Pathetic. And you don't even get free breadsticks.
Root beer: Actually, the soda here generally tastes better than in America. I think I've heard that it's because they use better sugar to make it. I have no idea if that's true, but it sounds legit. But soda choices are limited and my favorite soda that makes me feel like I'm still 11 years old is nowhere to be found.
My nephew: Little booger just turned 1. and he has teeth. I canNOT believe I'm missing the chompers.
Spring at ND: I realized that one of my most favorite feelings is waking up and realizing that the winter freeze is over and the thaw of spring has been working its magic on Notre Dame's campus. There is nothing quite like walking down North Quad to Tom Petty blaring out of someone's dorm window and joining your pals playing frisbee or juggling a soccer ball. Being able to don short sleeves and shorts, or seeing one of your friends racing to class on a scooter just makes you feel like Bookstore Basketball is in the air.
Things I do NOT miss:
Allergies: Seoul is roughly comprised of about 80% concrete and 19% pollution, which leaves approximately 1% for anything that could make me sneeze. Meg's allergies are pretty severe so my sinuses are in heaven over here.
I leave you now with a video that I took of my kindergarten a few weeks ago:
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