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한국 생활
14 years ago
난 재미있는 삶을 살고 있어.
Korea has been the greatest experience of my life. Actually, it still is - I haven't left yet. I just figured that I should do SOMETHING to assure people that I haven't changed accounts. For those of you who recently found out that I exist, I tend to do that a lot. Some people still won't watch me. People should have more faith in me.
So how is my life these days?
It's awesome.
How is Korea?
It's awesome.
How is the food?
It fucking blows.
But otherwise, Korea is pretty fucking fantastic. Although I am confused as to why Korea University, the second most prestigious college in Korea, was built in what is probably the shittiest part of Seoul. You go to Hongik University (홍대) and you can find some of the best clubs in Seoul. You go to Ewha Women's University (이대) and you can find some really great places to shop (if you like wearing things that have flowers on them.) You go to Korea University (고대) and you have, well... Anam. There's a homeless guy selling magazines all day, everyday on a street corner and at least fifty places where you can enjoy fried chicken WITH your beer. The bars are shitty (although I have grown found of Drogba and Abbey Road), the restaurants are shitty. There are holes in the sidewalk, and I don't mean cracks. I mean actual holes you could lose your foot in.
Wait, what was I talking about again?
Oh right - Seoul is amazing. Except Anam.
I live in one of the dorms at Korea University, which as its own wikipedia page. Kind of badass. What is less badass is that it's at the top of a massive hill, and there are rules forbidding me from taking guys up to my room. The night guard will catch you if you try. That night guard is the biggest cockblock of my life.
In a completely unexpected turn of events, it turns out that I love Japanese food. At least, I love Koreanized Japanese food. And since Koreanized any kind of food always tastes worse than the original, I assume I really fucking love Japanese food. Speaking of Koreanized food, Koreanized pizza looks like someone sat on it.
Dating's been interesting in Korea. Koreans just love blind dates. Through experimenting and trying new things, I have come to the conclusion that I hate blind dates. Through meeting people at my university, I have discovered that men here tend to be conservative. I was talking to a guy for like a month and we were in this awkward stage where we were about to get together, and then he confided in me that the idea of making out makes him uncomfortable. The idea of dating him suddenly made me uncomfortable. Lots of people are virgins.
Actually, I sometimes suspect that people at Korea University are just huge nerds, because after meeting so many guys at clubs and bars outside of Anam I have concluded that... men are pretty much men. In fact, I have never experienced a moment in America like the time I went to a club in Hongdae and this dude picked me up, dropped me on a table, and then started making out with me. He was hot so I was cool with it. I had to give the guy I went with hand gestures to communicate that it was all cool and that he should not beat up the guy.
To conclude my dating life, Japanese men are as kinky as you think, and they have bigger dicks than you think. also they obsessively practice playing the drums/practicing Korean/writing papers for ten+ hours a day while you pretend to be having a good time in the corner of their room. Or at least my boyfriend does. Who knows, he hates zombies and anime, so according to the western perception of Japanese he pretty much should just give up his citizenship already.
Also, like, anyone not from mainland China (particularly people from Hong Kong and Taiwan) passionately hate mainland China and everyone that lives there. I only think this is worth noting because every time I drink with someone who grew up in Asia, this topic comes up. Every. Time. With extremely passionate anger. Last night my friend Timmy (which is apparently a girl's name in Hong Kong, idk) posted a note on facebook about how much she hates girls from Beijing. So much emotion.
For a couple of months, I landed an English tutoring job that paid forty dollars an hour. That was pretty nice. People here are really eager to learn English, which kind of saddens me because I think Korean is a much cooler language and I wish English wasn't everywhere in Korea like it is. It's kind of sad.
In conclusion, Korea is 10x better than Ohio, and I suspect that Japan is too.
But seriously, disregard like all of this. I can't really sum up a country with my observations. I'm sure if I were staying here even longer I'd completely change my stance on everything. Just take my word for it - Seoul is awesome. And Ohio sucks dick.
EDIT: Oh, here's something that a lot of people might find interesting. Being gay sucks balls in Korea. And not in a sexy way. To put it simply, being gay is still classified as a mental disease here. Not only that, but it's reflected in so many subtle ways. For instance, the gay clubbing district in Seoul is in probably the shittiest part of Seoul. It's even shittier than Anam, which just blew my mind.
I know a lot of people in the gay foreign community at KU, which is also synonymous with the gay domestic student community. What's depressing is the guys I know pretty much only have foreign friends. Three of the guys I'm close to were personally disowned from their families and can't find work. There's a transgender in the group, and she is absolutely adorable but can't really pass as a woman yet. She got beat up a couple of weeks ago. My heart really goes out to them. One of my closest friends here, his name is Thomas, is gay and comes from one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world (Paris.) He's really disturbed by the state of gay rights in Korea.
Korea has been the greatest experience of my life. Actually, it still is - I haven't left yet. I just figured that I should do SOMETHING to assure people that I haven't changed accounts. For those of you who recently found out that I exist, I tend to do that a lot. Some people still won't watch me. People should have more faith in me.
So how is my life these days?
It's awesome.
How is Korea?
It's awesome.
How is the food?
It fucking blows.
But otherwise, Korea is pretty fucking fantastic. Although I am confused as to why Korea University, the second most prestigious college in Korea, was built in what is probably the shittiest part of Seoul. You go to Hongik University (홍대) and you can find some of the best clubs in Seoul. You go to Ewha Women's University (이대) and you can find some really great places to shop (if you like wearing things that have flowers on them.) You go to Korea University (고대) and you have, well... Anam. There's a homeless guy selling magazines all day, everyday on a street corner and at least fifty places where you can enjoy fried chicken WITH your beer. The bars are shitty (although I have grown found of Drogba and Abbey Road), the restaurants are shitty. There are holes in the sidewalk, and I don't mean cracks. I mean actual holes you could lose your foot in.
Wait, what was I talking about again?
Oh right - Seoul is amazing. Except Anam.
I live in one of the dorms at Korea University, which as its own wikipedia page. Kind of badass. What is less badass is that it's at the top of a massive hill, and there are rules forbidding me from taking guys up to my room. The night guard will catch you if you try. That night guard is the biggest cockblock of my life.
In a completely unexpected turn of events, it turns out that I love Japanese food. At least, I love Koreanized Japanese food. And since Koreanized any kind of food always tastes worse than the original, I assume I really fucking love Japanese food. Speaking of Koreanized food, Koreanized pizza looks like someone sat on it.
Dating's been interesting in Korea. Koreans just love blind dates. Through experimenting and trying new things, I have come to the conclusion that I hate blind dates. Through meeting people at my university, I have discovered that men here tend to be conservative. I was talking to a guy for like a month and we were in this awkward stage where we were about to get together, and then he confided in me that the idea of making out makes him uncomfortable. The idea of dating him suddenly made me uncomfortable. Lots of people are virgins.
Actually, I sometimes suspect that people at Korea University are just huge nerds, because after meeting so many guys at clubs and bars outside of Anam I have concluded that... men are pretty much men. In fact, I have never experienced a moment in America like the time I went to a club in Hongdae and this dude picked me up, dropped me on a table, and then started making out with me. He was hot so I was cool with it. I had to give the guy I went with hand gestures to communicate that it was all cool and that he should not beat up the guy.
To conclude my dating life, Japanese men are as kinky as you think, and they have bigger dicks than you think. also they obsessively practice playing the drums/practicing Korean/writing papers for ten+ hours a day while you pretend to be having a good time in the corner of their room. Or at least my boyfriend does. Who knows, he hates zombies and anime, so according to the western perception of Japanese he pretty much should just give up his citizenship already.
Also, like, anyone not from mainland China (particularly people from Hong Kong and Taiwan) passionately hate mainland China and everyone that lives there. I only think this is worth noting because every time I drink with someone who grew up in Asia, this topic comes up. Every. Time. With extremely passionate anger. Last night my friend Timmy (which is apparently a girl's name in Hong Kong, idk) posted a note on facebook about how much she hates girls from Beijing. So much emotion.
For a couple of months, I landed an English tutoring job that paid forty dollars an hour. That was pretty nice. People here are really eager to learn English, which kind of saddens me because I think Korean is a much cooler language and I wish English wasn't everywhere in Korea like it is. It's kind of sad.
In conclusion, Korea is 10x better than Ohio, and I suspect that Japan is too.
But seriously, disregard like all of this. I can't really sum up a country with my observations. I'm sure if I were staying here even longer I'd completely change my stance on everything. Just take my word for it - Seoul is awesome. And Ohio sucks dick.
EDIT: Oh, here's something that a lot of people might find interesting. Being gay sucks balls in Korea. And not in a sexy way. To put it simply, being gay is still classified as a mental disease here. Not only that, but it's reflected in so many subtle ways. For instance, the gay clubbing district in Seoul is in probably the shittiest part of Seoul. It's even shittier than Anam, which just blew my mind.
I know a lot of people in the gay foreign community at KU, which is also synonymous with the gay domestic student community. What's depressing is the guys I know pretty much only have foreign friends. Three of the guys I'm close to were personally disowned from their families and can't find work. There's a transgender in the group, and she is absolutely adorable but can't really pass as a woman yet. She got beat up a couple of weeks ago. My heart really goes out to them. One of my closest friends here, his name is Thomas, is gay and comes from one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world (Paris.) He's really disturbed by the state of gay rights in Korea.
WTF does "Koreanized" MEAN? What about their food blows?
Korean food tends to be really bland, but spicy, and some of it has a different sort of texture. Koreanized food is food from other places that has had parts of it substituted for more Korean-appropriate ingredients. It happens everywhere - the Chinese food you could get in, say, America vs. Mexico vs. actual Chinese food is all going to be radically different.
What's wrong with your health? I read the newest journal; mega-bummer about the mix up, girl.
Oh, wait, the thing they do with foreign food that I hate the most is they make it sweet. Korean pizza is basically pizza sauce on a pastry. The garlic bread tastes more like some kind of buttery doughnut. That kind of thing.
Hahaha lmao that is so true about American food though. All the Asian food can basically be summed up as "some kind of meat with bell peppers." for extra danger, there might be a jalapeno in there somewhere.
My health? It's.. been complicated. I've had this heart condition for a couple years, which since I have medication wasn't a problem until I started getting sick all the time, so now I'm just really tired and weak all the time. But recently, I went in to get my yearly pap smear, and the doctor found that I have pelvic inflammatory disease. I went through one week of antibiotics, it didn't do anything, then another week which didn't work, and now it's moving into the acute stage. The doctor wanted to hospitalize me but it was too expensive, so now I have to go in every day for a couple hours to get an IV. The doctor can't figure out what caused it; usually it's caused by an STD, but when he did an STD panel everything came up negative. My health blows.
HA! Yeah, cuz a jalapeno is so right up there in Asian food. I hate people, sometimes. I went to an O'Charlies recently and tried to find something I wanted to eat; everything that looked good was filled with bell peppers. I was like, "Is this our default button? Is this what we put in a dish when we can't think of anything else?" It takes over the food, too. Like, that's really all you can taste.
Dude, that sucks! You really have to go in EVERY day?! I'm so sorry this is eating up your time. Even more so that you don't know what started it. I hope the antibiotics are really wide-range if the cause is unknown. Are you on one or two kinds?
My health is...interesting. I dunno if I ever told you, but when I was 16 I tried to off myself and landed in a psych ward for a little less than a week. It was fun, oddly enough. They did blood work there and found out I have hypothyroidism. Levithyroxine has balanced me out. I also have Lyme disease, but we're working on that. If I seem calmer and more relaxed than I used to, it's because I discovered pot. Seriously, why it's illegal is beyond me; as a person with PTSD and anxiety up the yin-yang, I can attest to the miracle of pot. Instant cure for sever anxiety.
It's such a bummer. I can't drink or really do anything all that fun anymore. And it takes up so much of my time. It's just, a mess. I've been on three different kinds so far. Right now I'm getting an IV of ciprobay. What's funny is the last two antibiotics have all been the really strong ones. Like, the stuff you use for anthrax and the plague. So I guess if North Korea tries to pull off some bioterrorism I should be okay.
Hmm, you might have mentioned it, but I don't recall hearing how it all worked out for you. Haha I bet you feel so much better after getting that treated; I've heard hyperthyroidism can be a cause of depression. Lyme disease? Wow. How's that working for you? I forget - is that curable? Dude, seriously, pot is amazing. I'm just sad it's like super illegal in Korea. So illegal that people ACTUALLY don't use it much at all. It's so tragic. I'm looking forward to smoking a shitload of the stuff when I get back to America.
I'm so sorry, man. If you've been on that many and they aren't working, do you think it could be another illness? One which may have symptoms that mimic PID? Or was there a fool-proof test they did to diagnos? Everyone figured my weight, anxiety, and depression were all connected. Turns out, the weight got lost after the thyroid problem was fixed, but the other two remained. I have what's just called "Depression Disorder" wherein no amount of medicine will ever fix it. It is chronic, never gonna go away depression caused by what they think is an inherited trait from my father in that the body simply doesn't have enough serotonin secretion cells to make an individual purely "happy". I suppose this explains why I never got as much joy out of thinks as a lot of other people, but I got pretty good at faking it. They think it was a defect within a defect; that the malfunction was in the center of the endocrine system to begin with, and that just caused a domino effect. Hormones sucks.
Lyme disease sounds intense. I thought it was potentially fatal but I wasn't sure. I'm glad you're getting it taken care of before any permanent damage happened. Hell, I'm happy about your health in general. It sounds like most of your problems have been fixed, aside from the depression thing. I sort of know how that is, but mine isn't a physical defect. I found out I was really abused as a child by my biological parents, and for the first years of my life (actually most of my childhood) I wouldn't do normal things like eat. I wouldn't make friends. I was always really angry. I tried to start fires etc. It turns out I had reactive attachment disorder caused by things that happened before I was adopted, and that's why I always had such a hard time working with other people. I had deep trust issues. I worked out all of my problems with making friends and being social, but I still have a long way to go before I can fully trust... well, anything. I don't even trust that good things will happen to me, so I've just been moving through life without being excited or surprised about anything, because I was so afraid of being hurt by disappointment. It's a difficult disorder to work through. Most people don't want to. Mine's more mild because most of what happened to me happened just when I was really little. I can't remember any of it.
For your disorder - are you sure there's nothing you can do about it? That's really awful. I think there are medications that... hmm, actually I don't know how they work, but they increase the levels of serotonin in your brain?
Fuck your biological parents! You're fucking rad. I'm really sorry to hear that. What you have has so much in common with depression disorder. It's not so much you can't trust people; it's that you can't trust the way the universe works. I get that completely. I lost my job at the movie theatre when I was assaulted by an off-the-clock, out-of-uniform, tweaked-on-something manager whom I believed to be my friend. We both got fired. I remembered then why I didn't used to trust corporations and people. So when I went job hunting, I didn't get excited or thrilled at new possibilities, or at interviews like others did. I always assume things will fail before they succeed. My BF just says I'm a pessimist. I wouldn't have gotten that job in the café if it wasn't for him. He's right, though; I totally am a pessimist. I don't understand why everyone thinks that's wrong. When I'm right, I'm right. However, when I'm WRONG about something, I'm actually just pleasantly surprised as opposed to disappointed.
You totally should the next time you're in FL. I work at a bookstore, which is pretty public, so it's a safe interweb-friends meet-up. I also still see movies in the theatre nearby (worked there for three and a half years and didn't sue them after the assault; you bet I get in for free.) The staff there are still mostly my friends, so getting someone else in is easy (I do it for the BF all the time.) Provided the movie showing line-up doesn't suck at the time of your visit, we can see a flick.