AND WE’RE BACK!

… to cold as hell Seoul. Damn, I knew I should have packed some of the warm of Taiwan in my suitcase. Total traveller’s remorse 🙁

Well, it wouldn’t have done too much initially anyway because the first thing I had to do as I returned was to finish whatever packing remained and leave my homestay for the notorious abode of the frugal student: 고시원 (goshiwon). The goshiwon in particular that I was going to be moving to was one that was first inhabited by Joseph and then by Jake a month after and then again by Frances the following month. I would be the fourth in line to join the occupation and add more Yale favor to the resident makeup.

So I guess this means I’ll have to evaluate my homestay life.

Let’s go with the pros first. Living in homestay does mean you get to partake in daily Korean life. Considering the fact that my homestay was retired and my homestay mom was a banker, taking my schedule into account means I couldn’t necessarily take full advantage of this but when I could, it was pretty nice. I got to partake in a few holidays, meet their grandkids, and even go farming. Also free homemade Korean food was always available but to be honest, your taste sense is not excluded from the dilapidating sharpness of your sensory abilities as you age so the food tend to be a bit bland at times. However, my budget life was like, “Meh.” Most significant was probably the fact that I got to have a pretty decent bed for an entire semester.

Now, for the cons… I just want to say one thing clearly before I continue so you can grasp my frame of mind: When your initial interaction and relationship is based on money, it is pretty hard to replace that financial basis with a filial mentality.

I’ll let that sit with you. Okay, now, let’s continue…

Although you would imagine a lot of speaking and listening practice would get done when you live within the home of a foreign culture, I would like to point out that is not necessarily the case, particularly when the perceptions of each other’s background and intentions differ. A aspect of my homestay experience I imagine would be quite relatable is not necessarily the fact that you are not really a legitimate member of it, but how their interactions remind you that you are not a part of it. I think both parties were offenders of these harsh reality of the barriers individuals need to overcome to reach intersectionality. In other words, don’t you prejudge me! Likewise, since I was learning their language, there was often a lot of baby-ing and treating me like a child, which I was already pretty done with because of the nature of these terrible language programs. It really did not help having it at my temporary home. Also the last thing will sound privileged but like laundry machines in Korea can be a little bit of burden to use because of the mutlitude of settings and the lack of dryers in most homes. In turn, the right setting may not have been used for clothes and the air drying made my clothes a little rough, and your boy Mahir does enjoy having his clothes Downy soft.

Well following one last night of wine and 반찬, it was time to bid adieu and transfer my things over with the aid of Jake. Not the easiest task with two backpacks and two suitcases, but we got it done and it was nice to finally crash after a relatively meh night of sleep due to my second layover in Shanghai.

So what did the week entail?

Monday: Your boy Mahir’s unpacking skills are still ON POINT! Four luggages and laundry done and taken care of in as little as 2 hours. Joseph and I also went shopping for groceries and made some friends.

Tuesday: Back in school already. As meh as meh could get and I even took the wrong bus so I would give this day a thumbs down.

Wednesday: Reunion with my wonderful hip-hop class at BWB! Let’s just say the pineapple cake I brought back was much appreciated! 😀

Thursday: Remember Patty? Well since I returned, she immediately wanted to leave. I KID! Since her semester at Yonsei KLI was finally over, she wanted to do a little celebration with us academic year fellows before departing. How to end your time in Korea? With naan, curry, and 막걸리! At least, the 막걸리 was Korean and we even got some pretty nice 파전 with it.

Friday: Not going to lie, this was actually the day I finally got some sleep because I finally paid off my tuition and goshiwon fees and had some peace of mind. Now, just have to wait on my refund from KLCC.

Saturday: Well the two graduate students I did a pronunciation study with in the summer became my 도우미들 for the remainder of my language study time. We grabbed lunch and hashed out gaps in my understanding, courtesy of KLCC. It was pretty productive and hopefully will continue to be so.

Also, sorry for the bullet run down of my week, but I’m going to try and revamp my blogging style. I know I can get off on rants or get vapid with details at times and I want to make these shorter and more enjoyable. This will be the start of me weening myself off of my blog narcissism so I get to touch upon culture things moving forward. Hope to amp up the story of my time!