That's "how are you?", in case you're wondering. Hello and "thank you" are the only phrases I can speak and that's just because they are the most often spoken by the Koreans here on base and in town. Although, I'm afraid we are mumbling something profane when we try to say "thank you", so we don't do it very often. Here is the phonetics of it: hello=annyeong haseyo. But, look at this: how are you=annyeong haseyo? And good bye= annyeong-hi gaseyo. For pete's sake! Of course, I guess English would seem as frustrating to a foreigner. With so many meanings for the same word, it can get confusing.
Anyway, I haven't written much because I've been rather busy. After the first week of being bored a lot, I spent most of last week seeing the sights. And now that I know my way around the base and in the town right outside the gates, I'm fine. Just trying to not spend too much money!
Let me mention a couple things. These are broad statements with exceptions, I'm sure, but I didn't see any.
1) Koreans LOVE ice cream!! This is strange, since no Korean restaurant I've eaten at has served dessert. In fact, they say that coffee is the dessert, or sometimes fresh fruit. They think Westerners eat too many sweets ... but there is an ice cream stand on almost every corner. And, I've never seen so many Baskin Robbins stores. I'd started to feel sorry for BK since they all seemed to be closing down in Arkansas, but now I see they are flourishing here in Korea!!
2)NO flip-flops! What is that about? I felt like a slob in Seoul with my flip-flops with everything. Back home, they're a staple to your wardrobe, but here, all the girls are tottering about on heels with everything. Or jellies... the shoes that were popular when I was in about 6th grade are very big here! JELLIES. That's a trend I hope I never get into again. Although, I liked the rubber smell...
3)No jeans!! To go along with their superior footwear, all the girls are wearing skirts. Those flowy types, which I do happen to wear a lot. But you'd think you'd see some women in shorts or pants or jeans or sweats or something...NO...I'm not kidding, I saw one girl in jeans the whole time we were in Seoul. And, that goes for men too. Even the construction workers here are wearing slacks with tucked in shirts and belts. No t-shirts either. Izod type shirts or button ups only. I'd say they should relax, but really they look very nice and made me feel sloppy for wanting to kick around in shorts. I'll not go into town again in shorts and flip-flops.
4)This is not a tourist destination. The only other Americans we saw were one couple from the Army base. Even on our English tour of one of the palaces, there were three Australians, two Germans and a gaggle of kids from the Korean School of Dallas...so they were American, but didn't look different, as we did. I felt like the main attraction at a freak show in Seoul. The first day we spent there, we went to the Korea War Memorial and Museum. There were hundreds of school kids there and they all wanted to say "HI". Picture it something like this: We walk by, Korean kids notice, one gets brave and says "HI!" followed by a round of giggles as they turn to their friends and probably say "can you believe it? I said HI! They speak English and look differenct! HAHA" I can't exagerate how many kids said hi to us and giggled uncontrollably that day. One older student came up and practiced a bit on my sweetie. He actually said "Where are you from? I am from Korea. She is cute." Then ran off to giggle with his teenage friends. Two days later when we returned to Seoul, a guy nearly had a wreck on his motorcycle as he turned his head 180 to look at me sitting on the bus stop bench. AN AMERICAN! WHOA. I told him that I've decided to think that they think I'm someone famous instead of a freak. Maybe they thought I was Sandra Bullock or something...here to film a love story. haha
Well, I will leave on that note, as this is a really long post. I'll catch up on more details later.
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