Friday, April 24, 2009

Ahhh... YES

After a long week that seemed like it was never gonna end, it has FINALLY ended. After 4 midterms and an essay, my hell week of midterms and assignments is over. Now, as you might have guessed, it's time to party... Korea style. Although maybe you could say my celebration started yesterday because some of my friends and I went to a Mexican restaurant called "On the Border" which served all you can eat Mexican food and all you can drink MARGARITAS! We had 2 hours to get filthy. Since we had an allotted time between 7-9pm, we were trying to go as quickly as possible. I got pretty crunk and by 2am, a hangover had already set in due to the extreme sugar intake from the margaritas. I could barely go to bed cuz my head hurt so bad.
Anyway, tonight I'm getting dinner with a friend and we'll see where that leads us afterward. Bar, club... maybe the usual Friday/Saturday night? Tomorrow morning, the UC program organized a trip for us to go to the DMZ, the heavily guarded boundary between North and South Korea. Sounds like a pretty cool trip, but I just hope it doesn't rain tomorrow as it has the past couple days. Anyway, just thought I'd give the blog a lil' update. Now that I'll have more free time, I'll try and update more often!

Peace,
ChrisP

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

31 Ways You Know You're An American in Seoul

In order to commemorate the Korean drinking game known as Baskin Robbins, here are 31 ways you know you are an American when in Seoul

1. If you hold doors open for people in public places (i.e. shopping centers, restaurants)
2. If you are female and do not carry around a giant Louis Vuitton tote bag around campus
3. If you are female and attend class without wearing high heels
4. If you don't include ^^ or ㅋㅋㅋ in a text message
5. If you expect liquid soap in public restrooms instead of bar soap
6. If you say "excuse me" or "sorry" when trying to get through a crowd of people
7. If you pour your own shot
8. If not sure whether to tip after every type of service (i.e. dining, haircuts, taxis)
9. If you use Google instead of Naver
10. If you are stunned/repulsed by a squatting toilet
11. If you dislike the smell, taste, and/or sight of kimchi
12. If you don't know the words to "Gee"
13. If you don't have a dangling thing-a-ma-jig hanging off your cell phone
14. If you have whip out your cell phone to make metric conversions
15. If you do not throw up a peace sign when posing for a picture


case in point (L to R): Korean, Korean, American, Korean

16. If you dislike sharing the same soup with a group of people
17. If you are not a professional at using chopsticks
18. If less than 99% of the pictures on your digital camera are of you posing by yourself
19. If you just glance at a reflection of yourself rather than staring at it to check if everything is perfect to the smallest hair
20. If you think every beverage in Korean vending machines are too small to quench your thirst
21. If you are a male and have a pants waist size larger than 30 inches
22. If you grab a soju bottle and drink straight out of it
23. If you show you show teeth while posing for a picture
24. If you are a male and smile in any sort of identification card picture (i.e. school ID, driver's license)
25. If you are a female and you don't cover your mouth when you laugh
26. If you are a female and walk in public with another female without locking arms
27. If you have the urge to say "you're welcome" when someone says "thank you" but don't know how to say it in Korean
28. If your stay at a restaurant is longer than 30 minutes
29. If you feel the need to sleep in a bed larger than a twin size
30. If you do not drink coffee after every meal
31. If you cannot sit in the cross-legged position for longer than 10 minutes

Until next time,
ChrisP