Thursday Volunteer

One of my friends Melissa Gaare was able to organize with the local highschools and elementary schools some volunteer work for us international students. We can choose a day between Monday-Friday and spend 3.5 hours to help teach english to kids and/or their parents. This past Thursday, I decided to go volunteer with Wanjun. It was very fun, we were able to teach simple phrases to a kind girl and her mother. It was a great experience.
This is where they fed us:

The director, mother and daughter:

Dont ask...keke

Two shout outs!

I just wanted to post to say a belated happy birthday for JiangJun who turned 23 on April 20th. We went drinking on Sunday, just a little bit. And also congratulations to Keith for getting accepted to UCLA yesterday.

Unisex Washrooms

Although I have been in Korea for 2 months now, I still find the unisex washrooms very funny. This is something I do not see back in Canada nor do I imagine it ever happening. At some of the pubs around the campus, they only have one washroom facility. It shows a picture of both the male and female doll and when you walk in there are 4 stalls. 2 of them for the females, 2 of them for males and then two urinals. Pretty funky idea, but I guess it saves on cost. Also, the sink to wash your hands is really dirty, if there is even a sink (sometimes there are none). But I guess that is how it works here and I must get used to it, which I have.

Oh for the americans reading this blog, many Canadians (well that I know of) say washroom instead of bathroom. Sometimes there is no bath so why would it be called a bathroom? But 99% of the time there is a place to wash your hands, hence, washroom!

WARNING!

I wanted to make this post seperate from the Pyeongtek post because I wanted to give a warning for the following pictures.

WARNING WARNING WARNING: The following pictures may cause tears because all the puppies are soooo cute!








Arn't they so cute?

Good for dinner! j/k j/k

Another normal day

I received this piece of paper back a couple days ago, just never had the chance to upload the picture. This is nothing out of the ordinary, I am used to seeing this on all my papers...

I am NOT an alcoholic!

So it appears MANY people think that I am an alcoholic of some sort because in most of my posts I talk about drinking. Well let me get this fact straight, my name is Bryan and I am NOT an alcoholic! You see, in this small town, there is nothing to do except stay in the dorms or eat or drink. Most of the international students enjoy to go out and socialize so because there is no coffee shops or bubbletea places, we are forced to go the bars. I don't want to be anti-social nor be a party pooper so I agree to tag along to go because I rather not do nothing in the dorms. When I say we go drinking, it doesn't mean I always drink. It means I say no, then people force me to take a shot of soju, then I stop. One shot or one beer, it is harmless. I stay around for a bit to take care of my friends but I do not drink the whole night. Because I am asian, I have a weak enzyeme and thus resulting in the asian flush which is very embarassing.

So I just wanted to make it clear that when I say im going out drinking or juts came back from drinking, it does not always mean that I myself was drinking alot, just the group and I only went to socialize.

A trip to Pyeongtek

Today a few friends and I had plan to go to Pyeongtek because we all have no classes due to midterm exams. We wanted to go to Pyeongtek because there is an American army base there so we wanted to buy some clothes from around there and also just take a look around. We left SCH at around 1 and went for lunch at our usual spot, Kimbap Nara. From there, we took the bus to Cheonan and then took the subway to Pyeongtek. Total travel time was probably around 1.5 hours. 1 hour to Cheonan and 30 minutes to Pyeongtek. When we arrived there, we just walked around the side streets to find some clothes. I wanted to buy a dress shirt and blazer but could not find any that would suit my style. My friends, Keith, Addison and Oscar, all seemed to be able to find something that they liked. At the end of the trip, I walked out with nothing except a bigger stomach because we ate at Burger King. It is ok, it was a fun trip and pictures will be posted soon!

Us having lunch before heading off:

The buses and station at SCH. They go to everywhere practically. It only cost us 1000won to go to Cheonan, an hour away.


I think this was a field trip for the kids to walk around the campus:

Cheonan:


Cheonan Subway Termainal:



After arriving in Pyeongtek, we just decided to walk around and shop. Here are just all the photos.


(they were trying to look casual just like the bear!)
Inside the market:








So here is a funny story. You see the guy behind the meat. I took this picture and he came running out to chase me and was screaming in Korean. He wanted me to delete the photo but I refused and just ran away. He kept following and was talking in Korean but I just ignored him and laughed at him until he went back to his meat. what a wierd guy.

Some Children's traditional clothes:




Does this sign look familiar? IGA!



Some Canadian style food in Korea? What is Canadian food though?



Dinner at Burger King. Whenever we go out, we usually eat at western fast food restaurants because we can get Korean food anywhere near campus. Look at how nice the takeout bag is and the ice cream!


Ya....Korean culture at its best ^^


While waiting for the train back to Onyang, we randomly saw Cherrel:

April 18th

Today I went for a walk with my friend Wan Jun and went around to a nice garden area to light some incents for my late mother. It was her birthday today on 4/18/1956. Please, if you read this post, I would like to ask you to say a prayer for her. Thank-you.

2 down, 1 to go!

I write this post while I am a bit buzzed and downloading my favourite TV show, Entourage. I have finished 2 exams (Korean writing and Korean conversation) and now I only have my Korean Business and Finance Midterm examination left. That is on Monday and I will study hard over the weekend to get a good grade. Although I am sure it will be easy considering I learned this stuff like 3 years ago! On Friday it will be my best chinese friend, Jiangjun's, birthday so we will go to celebrate that. I am not sure where we will be, but I do know it will be fun. Tonight I went out to the bars after a long hiatus. We drank to celebrate our 2 finished exams. Only Addison and my Hyeong (older brother [Hunjoon]) and two chinese girls, Lei Shan and Wu Wan Jun went. It was fun ^^. But I did not drink much, only a little bit, seriously! Pictures will be posted with permision of the girls. Well my episode just finished downloading, so I will go watch that now.

Oh hey Steph, I heard you did the SunRun a couple days ago. Great job! I am very impressed with you. I admire that you can run so much and stay fit. Good job big sis!

Korean Music

So using my roommates computer, I have been listening to more Korean music. I still cannot understand the words but I think the music is very lovely. I have been listening (more like watching) to Boa and Ivy (my roommates favourite singer, besides Beyonce) and also a few random pieces. Here are two songs that I have been enjoying.




And although this song is Japanese, I still think its good:

Long Hair!

Why does our hair grow so fast? Kekeke (Korean laughing of hehe/haha). I havn't had a haircut since Feb 18th by my good friend Tim Kuo. I was told that if I get a haircut around Soonchunhyang campus, it will be cheap but not good quality. They usually just give you a buzz cut and will ruin your hair. If I want a good haircut, I would have to go to Seoul and pay around $50usd! That is way too much considering Tim would give me a better job for free! So I guess I will wait till I go back home in the summer or possibly get a haircut in HK. I miss you Tim!!!

Here is how long my hair is now. It is not usually like this, but the wind is blowing my hair up on the left side. I have styled it different though because it is longer which I like. I do not spike it up, I let my bangs go down.



Oh I am so ugly >.<

Hyeonchungsa Shrine

Today a few friends and I went to Onyang to help a friend get a cellphone. She ended up paying 50,000 won for a used phone and putting 20,000 won for prepaid minutes. After this, the four of us went to Hyeonchungsa Shrine which is a popular tourist destination in Onyang. The shrine was built for general Lee Sun-Shin who was a famous general during the 1932 Japanese occupation. More information can be found by clicking here. Here are a few pictures of us today: