gogogo!

1st day of the 2010 Korean school year! 
I have no idea what my class schedule is. 
I am indeed signed up for Korean class, they start on March 16, EXCITED. 

Korean stationary stores are my new favorite place to dump money. There is a 4 story shop in Old Downtown, a row dedicated to different pens of all colors and sizes. !! 0.5 size seems to be the most common line size for ink (LOVE IT), but there are pens as skinny as 0.28, it's crazy! The smaller ones don't write as well, though. I have a hoard of colored pens, a new pencil case (a must have here), and a stupid-cute notebook. I've also amassed a sizable collection of stationary. Stupid-cute letter paper like happy donut time or angel hamsters... I have letters half written to people at home, I just need to get them sent... 


Korean quirk: old people and their sense of entitlement to everything. Korean old ladies are obnoxious, and they make me want to be rude to them. It makes me appreciate American old people because they're more humble, and they encourage me to go out of my way to be polite. They're also gracious. Once in a while you get an old person here who is shocked, or at least pretends to be surprised that you're giving up your seat on the bus. Once in a while I see an old person kick a kid out of their seat. Old ladies push their ways to the front of lines everywhere. Seriously, everywhere. They're shameless. Then, you get the occasional broad who goes out of their way to bump into younger people, or foreigners. Like yesterday, for example. Leaving the stationary store, I get run into pretty hard by this hag. She squawked when my 6 foot tall white man friend did the same to her, stopped and looked at us with this expression of "how could you possibly bump into an old lady?" I mean... seriously? The kids here always seem shocked and insulted when they're bumped, I wonder if they'll grow into the kind of people who will do the same or if possibly this behavior will die out. 

And possibly a downside to being the foreigner and bottom rung: I just had to trade chairs with a Korean teacher. The reason why, I'm assuming is because of the squeaking wheels. So while this one is more comfortable to me, I will squeak whenever I move. F. haha. Does this all sound bitter? Not supposed to; take it with a sigh and an "Oh, Korea." Though lately, I've been saying that a lot. It makes me wonder sometimes if I really could do another year here without completely resenting the country by the end, or if I could even survive a second year and not become miserable. In a lot of ways it isn't much different than home, but at the same time it's nothing like it. Some things are just uniquely Korean. 

The new fashion for spring is old woman floral patterns on 90's style dresses. I need to keep reminding myself that they're either indeed straight from the 90's, or too hippie-renaissance wannabe to wear and not regret it later. stayawaystayawaystayaway. And those boots. those nasty immigrant looking boots, flat versions, heeled versions... it's all hipster, and emo, and everywhere. Korean women don't seem to have an in between fashion style that fits in the middle of jeans, hoodies, and Converses, and the high fashion look- decked out in skirts, tights, fancy shirt, or dress, topped- or bottomed in this case, with heels. It seems that the middle school ages where the jeans and chucks, anyone older needs to be in heels. Wearing jeans out in public is almost like the equivalent to sweatpants at home. Simple and classic is boring here, it's all about being flamboyant, super trendy, and SHINY!! The shininess of it all! That part is kind of awesome.