Be careful what you eat!

So, it turns out that Chris's illness is food poisoning. I explained all of his symptoms to a guy that works at the guesthouse, and he proclaimed it to be food poisoning as he had suffered it last year by eating contaminated peanut butter. My research online confirmed this, as well. Poor Chris slept all day last Thursday without eating, or drinking, anything. Even a sip of water would send him running to the bathroom within minutes. Initially, we doubted it was food poisoning because Chris and I usually eat all of our meals together, and generally similar foods. Then, we discovered that Ben has been sick since last Wednesday as well; he had to keep going to the bathroom in between teaching and called out of work on Thursday. By the way, they met up for dinner last Saturday and ate pork - aha! It was probably undercooked or improperly handled. In any case, I'm really glad it's not me, but I feel bad for Chris. Even as I type this, and having consumed a breakfast of cereal and half an apple, he is laying in bed. He's probably lost more than five pounds, by now. If  you thought he was skinny before, well, let's just say you haven't seen anything yet. My parents stopped by a few days ago to go out for dinner and were shocked at his gaunt appearance. 

Hopefully, he's better by the time we go to Jeju-do on Saturday! My parents are there right now, and will return Tuesday evening. Then, we'll meet up on Wednesday to go shopping at Dongdaemun and eat dinner.

It was nice out yesterday - 50 degrees and sunny. We went to go lounge by the Han River with Ben, Jennifer, and Jessica. Apparently, half of Seoul had the same idea. A lot of people picnicking, biking, rollerblading, sunbathing, and doing all sorts of various activities. Has spring arrived? >.<>

R.I.P. Grandma

On March 24th around 6:30pm, I received a call from my aunt informing me that my grandmother passed away. I really wish my parents had arrived, at least, the day before so my mom could've seen her. The next day around 8am, my aunt called again to ask if I would be able to make it down to Cheonan that afternoon. Of course I'd be able to - I just needed to cancel a tutoring appointment and dinner plans. The problem was in honor of my friend Eunah's last day in Korea - she went back to Japan - Chris and I ended up going to bed at 7am. Surprisingly, I woke up at 12:30pm and Chris got up shortly afterwards, so we showered, grabbed breakfast, and took the train down.

The grieving process in Korean culture takes place for about three days. The first two are held at a place called a 'jang rae shik jang' which is sort of like a funeral home. This place has a small open room with the deceased person's portrait, white roses, incense, casket, and the sons standing by. The family members wear black of course, but the women wear a type of hanbok in a lighter fabric, I think muslin. Then, people stop by all day to eat food that is served, pay respects, drink (of course), gamble (eesh), and then leave. It's an exhausting three days, I can imagine. Chris and I were nodding off because we had gone to bed so late, but my poor aunt, cousins, and other family members had had very little sleep since guests keep coming up until around midnight and linger around to drink. I helped serve tables for a bit, but Chris was sitting by himself so I joined him. Eventually, an old man beckoned us over and made us drink. -_- Chris had to take six shots, and I got by with one (thank God). In Korea, you HAVE to drink even if you don't want to. Poor Chris.

The night was a long, noisy one. We tried to go to sleep in a separate room, but it was so noisy with people yelling and talking, and others coming in and out of the room. In addition, around midnight or so the family members turned on the light to use our room to count the money that people had donated. Korean culture has people paying their last respects by giving any amount of money to help pay for the funeral services. I think this is a really good tradition. Anyway, it was so difficult to sleep with people talking and counting and recording money while a guy operated a money counter. We were woken up around 6:30am to wash up, change, and eat. I wasn't really that hungry, but my parents had arrived(!) so I ate with them. Unfortunately, Chris is pretty sick. Again. Now he has an upset stomach, a slight fever, and is dizzy. We ended up coming home early and skipping the funeral. Chris also suggested taking a cab back from Seoul Station instead of taking the subway because he figured it'd be quicker, but it wasn't. Then, we got out a little too early and ended up walking back to the guesthouse getting soaked by the rain. *sigh Chris has been sleeping for about an hour now, and I've been using the Mac in the common room. What a gloomy day..... I hope my mom's okay, and that I get to see my parents tomorrow.

Cold, cold week

Can you tell Chris loves beer?

This guy's last night before the army!

This was last night

playing a game

My uncle when he was 20- handsome, right?

at my uncle's house in Cheonan

riding the last train home with drunken middle-aged men

wreaking havoc in Apgu

we had to take a picture with the lovely mural

I think Allen was trying to strike a pose

He thinks he's not in the shot

Cheers!

the usual: fried chicken and beer

ice cream & waffles!

It is freezing today!! Korea had been basking in the warmth of sunny, 60-degree temperatures the past week, and now it's just above freezing here. At night, it's frigid especially with the wind. Chris and I are sitting in our room at the guesthouse -this place is awesome, by the way- and I keep blowing into my hands to warm them up. :( It actually snowed for a little while, but it eventually stopped, mercifully. I thought spring was here?!

So, we've been at this guesthouse since the 16th. It's in a great location - plenty of people-watching, stores, and restaurants, but our guesthouse is nestled in a side alley away from the drunken clamor and blaring k-pop. When we wake up, it feels like we're in the countryside. It's only when we venture out of the guesthouse and onto the main road, that we remember that we're still in the heart of Seoul.

We haven't been getting much sleep lately. On Friday, I finally met a friend that I'd been conversing with online for about eight years- she IMed me out of the blue one day. Still unsure how she obtained my screen name. Anyway, she's Korean but was born and raised in Hong Kong. She attended a British school here and a slight accent still remains. She's been all over the world- lived in England for a while where her aunt resides, visited Switzerland often for family vacations, attended UCLA, did a semester in D.C., lived in NY for a while as well, and Hong Kong, Australia, Korea, and now Japan! We finally met, and I was initially nervous but it was so comfortable. After we had lunch and waffles & ice cream for dessert, we met up again later that night around 10pm for fried chicken, chips, and beer. Mmm... :9 We hung out again last night until 1am. We were going to go karaoke, but we said we'd save it for tonight.

Korea's been following the WBC, of course, and unfortunately the final resulted in a heartbreaking loss to our rival, Japan. I don't understand why Korea had to play Japan five times!! I guess I'm glad it's over, but I really wanted Korea to win so badly. I woke up at noon and went to the common room to watch the game. Chris woke up and joined me shortly thereafter. All I ate were 7 strawberries until 3:45pm when Chris and I, disappointed with the loss, ventured out to eat the first meal of the day. We popped into a Vietnamese restaurant. We love pho, but it's not that good in Korea. This place was better than the other place we'd been to. At least, the 'Bibim gooksu', or 'mixed noodles' were similar to the "American" version we so know and love.

Gah, it's too cold to be comfortable. I can't even sit in a relaxed position because my body is tense from the cold. Chris is reading a book.. I don't know how he does it so nonchalantly.

My parents are arriving in Korea in a few days!! It'll be so weird to see them here. Unfortunately, they're coming for a sad occasion. My maternal grandmother is dying- she's literally skin and bones- and they're coming to pay their last respects, and see our family. I rode the bus down to Cheonan last weekend to see her, and I lasted for about 5 minutes in her room. I had to leave because tears were streaming down my face, and I stood sobbing with the front door open so my wails could escape. She doesn't recognize anyone, and instantly forgets who you are as soon as you say your name. She kept asking "Who is that?" to my cousin and me, and she also kept asking "Why aren't I dying?" I'm just so upset that some people need to die in so much pain and misery. I don't want her to die, but I also do so she doesn't have to suffer anymore. My grandmother lived a hard life- my mom grew up in poverty basically so my grandparents had to work long hours in the field so that they could go to school. The crazy thing is, I didn't know my mom had brothers until a few years ago. I thought it odd that my sister only had an older sister, and when I asked her about it she finally revealed that she has THREE older brothers, but that she and her sister don't get along with them so she acted like they don't exist. I was understandably stunned. From what I hear, my uncles were terrible sons and brothers, and caused a lot of heartache and pain so my aunt and mom are still embittered over it. One of my uncles is actually dead, one lives north of Seoul and rarely visits, and the other lives in a house right next to my grandmother. I guess he's realized the error of his ways. I met him and his wife for the first time on Saturday, and all I can say was that it was an awkward family reunion. There was a big dinner with my mom's cousins as well.

Sorry to end the post with depressing news, but it was a difficult time for me. At least, Chris is here to comfort me when I can't sleep at night. It will be good to see my parents, but I fear for my mom when she sees grandmother in that state.

Happy White Day~<33

Hi, everyone!!

In case you're wondering what "white day" is, it's like Valentine's Day. In Korea, girls give guys presents on Valentine's Day, and a month later on March 14th, the guys return the favor. It's actually a made-up holiday to boost commercialism, but it's basically an official holiday now. I meet my student at Krispy Kreme on Saturday mornings (I know, right?) and today it was decorated with pink and white balloons with red heart streamers. I don't get anything at KK, but today I couldn't resist and purchased six assorted doughnuts. Don't worry - they're not all for me. Two are, and two are for Chris and the other two for my friend, Ben.

Chris and I have been jogging lately. We jogged three times this week - hurray! We were going to go bike riding in lieu of jogging yesterday, but it was raining when we woke up! So, we just lingered around and read for a while and made our way over to the COEX Mall to see what movies came out - in Korea, movies usually come out on Thursdays. Nothing really good came out, though Chris REALLY wants to see Friday the 13th, sigh. Next week is the release of "Slumdog Millionaire"! We didn't get a chance to see it back in the states, so we're excited to see that. We saw "Watchmen" last Sunday. It was all right - I liked the plot, a few of the characters, and the well-intended storyline but it was so long and lacked character development. Also, it was really cheesy at some points, like the love scenes - eesh. I really liked the soundtrack, though.

We're finally moving out of Ben's place on Monday morning. We booked a tiny room at a guesthouse in Seoul - it's 4 subway stops away from Myeong-dong (the shopping mecca) and Dongdaemun (the bartering place with floors of cheap shopping), so I'm really excited. AND *drum roll* wireless internet. Thank the almighty Lord.. I will be able to update blogs and go online without going to these PC rooms to pay about a dollar an hour.

All right, I should go back home and devour some doughnuts!