It's my first blogpost here as a third person storyteller and I've got so much to tell about Cathianne's adventure for this day.
Today, Cathianne marks her first Saturday in Jochiwon, Korea. She wakes up at almost 9:00 AM and prepares herself for new discoveries! As she walked out of the dormitory, she realized that her boots are starting to wear out real bad. But that's the only pair of comfortable shoes she has with her since she left the Philippines. So she has to live with it...or buy a new pair? She's thinking (smiling)...
After a couple of minutes, she arrives in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory where she will be working with several graduate and post-graduate students who are all Korean nationals. She's the only foreigner under their advising professor and it's her first time to be alone in a foreign land. She is also the only girl in the laboratory, good thing that her labmates are all gentlemen and kind enough to help her get settled down for her first month. She also finds it hard to converse with them because the only Hangeul word she knows is "annyonghaseo". Since today is a new day for her, she has to learn at least one new word in Korean.
In the lab, Cathianne has been keeping family and friends posted through the social network and she found out about this website www.TalkToMeInKorean.com that teaches Korean Lessons for beginners! This is what she definitely needs! So there she goes, saving the site so she can come home every night and learn more from it.
While waiting for any possible instructions from her professor, she heard Minjue come in the lab. That's her lab-mate and will be her classmate in some other classes that she will be taking for her first semester in Korea University. And that lab-mate of hers is a very nice person who has been helping her since her arrival. He is going home to his hometown, Seoul, for the weekend.
It is almost lunchtime and Cathianne starts to feel hungry. She decides to go eat lunch at the cafeteria where Minjue taught her how to get the food ticket. When she got out, she didn't know how to lock the laboratory! It was her first time to use the student card of her other lab-mate, Gijung, and nobody is in the lab at that moment. She calls up Minjue and he tries to explain. Fortunately, another lab-mate, Wayne, passes by and she asks how to work the lock. And successfully she's done it!
At the cafeteria, she realized she can't read the instructions in Korean. She decides to go by the GS25 convenience store instead to buy some food ending up with an instant spaghetti! *laughs* A few minutes later, Minjue calls up to check on her if she has had lunch and reminds her that instant food is not good for the health! "This is just for now while I'm still finding my way through", she responds.
After lunch, she goes back to the dormitory, unpacks her bag, brings her camera with a big smile on her face. It's her free day today! Remembering the pathways where she and her lab-mates have gone to during dinners, she walks past the Library and down towards those familiar pathways. To the right of the road, she sees the colorful but abandoned elementary school building. Straight she goes towards what seemed to be plowed empty lots. K-5 is the landmark that she kept in her mind, that's where she turns left and towards the highway she goes.
From the highway, she sees the half-football-designed plant boxes, her favorite landmark of all. She then waits for the green light in order to cross the street. 18 seconds, 17, 16... As soon as she has crossed the street, her face lit up at the sight of the entrance to the downtown area!
She remembers the tunnel that her professor has pointed out to her when he taught her the way to the church and the pharmacy store. Amazed by the walkway of the tunnel, it is her first time to pass by that tunnel where even bicycles and motorcycles also go about to enter the city. She takes out her slr and snaps some shots of the tunnel and the people passing by on their motorbikes. Too bad, they were just too fast for her to capture them. She continues to walk until she sees the familiar main road, Gil Rd. At the corner, she stops and takes a picture of Family Mart at Saenae 16-Gil Rd in order to remember in case she loses her way. From the intersection, she turns right and saw some shoe stores right away! Along Gil Rd., she crosses the street to go to Converse. Hoping to buy a good pair of shoes this time, the shoes that will comfort her feet for the next two years! With a nice greeting "annyonghaseo" from the sales guy, she greets back and asked for some shoe sizes. The man is glad to help her out. After some time, she picks out the black and purple shoes of the same type and asks the man which one is better. The man points out, smiling and says "purple". And there goes the 69,000krw to the store. Cathianne bids them "kamsahamnida" and tells the guy "I hope next time when I come back I already know how to speak (Korean)". Off she goes to more discoveries.
Along the way, she discovers the Traditional Korean Market to the left of the road. Minjue and the professor had already pointed it out to her. It sells just about almost anything. She goes in and finds vegetables and fruits, fishes, seafoods, more foods, then coats, clothing, utilities, furnitures, decorations, and just as she was about to exit the other side, she saw BOOTS! Boots with furs! *laughs* She takes some pictures and goes near the store, starts to ask the lady how much the boots cost. It's being sold for 30,000krw. Not bad for the winter boots, and their cute! *wink*
She decides to go straight the street parallel to Gil Rd. She remembers that the church is along Saenae 6. Upon reaching the said street, she turns left. After a few meters walk, she realizes it was almost the end and no church was found. "Don't panic" she says to herself. She walks the opposite direction. After a few meters back, she finds the cross of the Jochiwon Catholic Church! She is glad to be in the right direction. Good intuition! She spots some puppies on a truck and takes some snapshots of them. Then she goes in the church grounds and takes some more photos. Too bad, the church is still closed. She heads back to the direction going to Gil Rd. and finds Power Pharm at the corner. Smiling at her sense of direction, she galdly turns right and started walking back to her original route. Along the way, she meets and greets old people with a smile and "annyonghaseo" and when they answer her back, she'd just shake her head and say that she's not a local. *laughs* While taking a picture of the LG store, a cab driver approached her. She does not understand a word and he seems to be making a gesture of wanting to have his picture taken. So she does and says "kamsahapmida" and waved goodbye 'cos she didn't want to cause anymore trouble by any misinterpretation. A few more blocks and she met a couple more cab drivers. Seeing that she is holding a camera, they have guessed right that she is a tourist but she shakes her head for whatever they are offering her and continues to walk back to Saenae 16. At the intersection where she has marked the Family Mart store by a snapshot, she turns left and sees the tunnel and walks right in it. More snapshots of the tunnel and through it she finds her path back home.
Seeing the half-football-designed plant boxes again, she waits for the green light and crosses the street. Remembering the K-5 store, she walks past it and through the empty plowed lands. Continuing her walk she stops along the area where there is the abandoned elementary school and takes some photos of it. With the sun still gleaming on her face, she takes some photos of the university as it's winter season is fast giving way to spring. Back she goes to her dormitory to take some rest.
At around 6:30pm, she feels hungry and decides to contact Gijung oppa if she can come along with them to dinner. Since he's not around the campus, she is to be accompanied by the other labmates, Ko and Gwang. These two are kind enough to keep her company for dinner and asks her if she'd like to try bulkoki since she has no food preference for that night's dinner. And so they walked out of the campus and went to the restaurant where they serve bulkoki. She remembers her aunt who told her to try the bulkoki because it is one of the best Korean foods her aunt has tried. She was excited and gives it a try. Just a few minutes after her lab-mates ordered, the meals have arrived. Again, appetizers, especially the kimchee, never got out of sight. And the bulkoki definitely tasted great! It makes up a lot for the poor lunch she had. The best thing is that it was Ko's treat! And dessert in the form of icecream became Gwang's welcoming treat!
She comes home full and energized to skype call her family and tell them of her new friends and new discoveries. c",)
Today, Cathianne marks her first Saturday in Jochiwon, Korea. She wakes up at almost 9:00 AM and prepares herself for new discoveries! As she walked out of the dormitory, she realized that her boots are starting to wear out real bad. But that's the only pair of comfortable shoes she has with her since she left the Philippines. So she has to live with it...or buy a new pair? She's thinking (smiling)...
After a couple of minutes, she arrives in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory where she will be working with several graduate and post-graduate students who are all Korean nationals. She's the only foreigner under their advising professor and it's her first time to be alone in a foreign land. She is also the only girl in the laboratory, good thing that her labmates are all gentlemen and kind enough to help her get settled down for her first month. She also finds it hard to converse with them because the only Hangeul word she knows is "annyonghaseo". Since today is a new day for her, she has to learn at least one new word in Korean.
In the lab, Cathianne has been keeping family and friends posted through the social network and she found out about this website www.TalkToMeInKorean.com that teaches Korean Lessons for beginners! This is what she definitely needs! So there she goes, saving the site so she can come home every night and learn more from it.
While waiting for any possible instructions from her professor, she heard Minjue come in the lab. That's her lab-mate and will be her classmate in some other classes that she will be taking for her first semester in Korea University. And that lab-mate of hers is a very nice person who has been helping her since her arrival. He is going home to his hometown, Seoul, for the weekend.
It is almost lunchtime and Cathianne starts to feel hungry. She decides to go eat lunch at the cafeteria where Minjue taught her how to get the food ticket. When she got out, she didn't know how to lock the laboratory! It was her first time to use the student card of her other lab-mate, Gijung, and nobody is in the lab at that moment. She calls up Minjue and he tries to explain. Fortunately, another lab-mate, Wayne, passes by and she asks how to work the lock. And successfully she's done it!
At the cafeteria, she realized she can't read the instructions in Korean. She decides to go by the GS25 convenience store instead to buy some food ending up with an instant spaghetti! *laughs* A few minutes later, Minjue calls up to check on her if she has had lunch and reminds her that instant food is not good for the health! "This is just for now while I'm still finding my way through", she responds.
After lunch, she goes back to the dormitory, unpacks her bag, brings her camera with a big smile on her face. It's her free day today! Remembering the pathways where she and her lab-mates have gone to during dinners, she walks past the Library and down towards those familiar pathways. To the right of the road, she sees the colorful but abandoned elementary school building. Straight she goes towards what seemed to be plowed empty lots. K-5 is the landmark that she kept in her mind, that's where she turns left and towards the highway she goes.
From the highway, she sees the half-football-designed plant boxes, her favorite landmark of all. She then waits for the green light in order to cross the street. 18 seconds, 17, 16... As soon as she has crossed the street, her face lit up at the sight of the entrance to the downtown area!
She remembers the tunnel that her professor has pointed out to her when he taught her the way to the church and the pharmacy store. Amazed by the walkway of the tunnel, it is her first time to pass by that tunnel where even bicycles and motorcycles also go about to enter the city. She takes out her slr and snaps some shots of the tunnel and the people passing by on their motorbikes. Too bad, they were just too fast for her to capture them. She continues to walk until she sees the familiar main road, Gil Rd. At the corner, she stops and takes a picture of Family Mart at Saenae 16-Gil Rd in order to remember in case she loses her way. From the intersection, she turns right and saw some shoe stores right away! Along Gil Rd., she crosses the street to go to Converse. Hoping to buy a good pair of shoes this time, the shoes that will comfort her feet for the next two years! With a nice greeting "annyonghaseo" from the sales guy, she greets back and asked for some shoe sizes. The man is glad to help her out. After some time, she picks out the black and purple shoes of the same type and asks the man which one is better. The man points out, smiling and says "purple". And there goes the 69,000krw to the store. Cathianne bids them "kamsahamnida" and tells the guy "I hope next time when I come back I already know how to speak (Korean)". Off she goes to more discoveries.
Along the way, she discovers the Traditional Korean Market to the left of the road. Minjue and the professor had already pointed it out to her. It sells just about almost anything. She goes in and finds vegetables and fruits, fishes, seafoods, more foods, then coats, clothing, utilities, furnitures, decorations, and just as she was about to exit the other side, she saw BOOTS! Boots with furs! *laughs* She takes some pictures and goes near the store, starts to ask the lady how much the boots cost. It's being sold for 30,000krw. Not bad for the winter boots, and their cute! *wink*
She decides to go straight the street parallel to Gil Rd. She remembers that the church is along Saenae 6. Upon reaching the said street, she turns left. After a few meters walk, she realizes it was almost the end and no church was found. "Don't panic" she says to herself. She walks the opposite direction. After a few meters back, she finds the cross of the Jochiwon Catholic Church! She is glad to be in the right direction. Good intuition! She spots some puppies on a truck and takes some snapshots of them. Then she goes in the church grounds and takes some more photos. Too bad, the church is still closed. She heads back to the direction going to Gil Rd. and finds Power Pharm at the corner. Smiling at her sense of direction, she galdly turns right and started walking back to her original route. Along the way, she meets and greets old people with a smile and "annyonghaseo" and when they answer her back, she'd just shake her head and say that she's not a local. *laughs* While taking a picture of the LG store, a cab driver approached her. She does not understand a word and he seems to be making a gesture of wanting to have his picture taken. So she does and says "kamsahapmida" and waved goodbye 'cos she didn't want to cause anymore trouble by any misinterpretation. A few more blocks and she met a couple more cab drivers. Seeing that she is holding a camera, they have guessed right that she is a tourist but she shakes her head for whatever they are offering her and continues to walk back to Saenae 16. At the intersection where she has marked the Family Mart store by a snapshot, she turns left and sees the tunnel and walks right in it. More snapshots of the tunnel and through it she finds her path back home.
Seeing the half-football-designed plant boxes again, she waits for the green light and crosses the street. Remembering the K-5 store, she walks past it and through the empty plowed lands. Continuing her walk she stops along the area where there is the abandoned elementary school and takes some photos of it. With the sun still gleaming on her face, she takes some photos of the university as it's winter season is fast giving way to spring. Back she goes to her dormitory to take some rest.
At around 6:30pm, she feels hungry and decides to contact Gijung oppa if she can come along with them to dinner. Since he's not around the campus, she is to be accompanied by the other labmates, Ko and Gwang. These two are kind enough to keep her company for dinner and asks her if she'd like to try bulkoki since she has no food preference for that night's dinner. And so they walked out of the campus and went to the restaurant where they serve bulkoki. She remembers her aunt who told her to try the bulkoki because it is one of the best Korean foods her aunt has tried. She was excited and gives it a try. Just a few minutes after her lab-mates ordered, the meals have arrived. Again, appetizers, especially the kimchee, never got out of sight. And the bulkoki definitely tasted great! It makes up a lot for the poor lunch she had. The best thing is that it was Ko's treat! And dessert in the form of icecream became Gwang's welcoming treat!
She comes home full and energized to skype call her family and tell them of her new friends and new discoveries. c",)
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