I couldn’t sleep well last night. I had my Alien Registration Card appointment today and was super nervous for no reason. I slept in two-hour increments and ended up eating breakfast at 7 am. I took a thirty minute nap and then headed to the Office of Immigration. It was about a 30 minute subway ride there. I usually take the subway with friends, but this time I let my mind wander. I’ve been letting myself not think about anything in particular lately. I am so used to always calculating my next move or trying to distract myself with social media that it’s nice to take a break while I’m commuting somewhere.

Everyone here is still wearing masks. I really am not sure how sustainable this will be. You have to have the right ID to buy them publicly and I’m not sure that I qualify as an exchange student. I have some left, but if my sister visits then I hope she brings more. I have been reusing the ones I have and it’s kind of gross sometimes. I’m starting to break out around my nose.

I realized my picture was a 2″ by 2″ instead of a 35 by 45 mm and so I cut it smaller when I was waiting. They had a glue stick there, so I just re-glued it back on the paper. My actual appointment only took about 15 minutes. The building didn’t have security like I expected an office in the US would. Just hand sanitizer and warnings about covid. After the appointment I went to Muji since it was close by the station. I didn’t realize they sold clothes in Asia. Too expensive though. I wandered around and then headed to a No Brand store. The closest one to me was inJung-gu in Doota Mall. I didn’t realize it was literally in the middle of a traditional-style open air market. For context, No Brand is like a smaller version of Costco. It was very strange to see it surrounded by vendors.

I didn’t have to speak Korean to get some fruit. It’s been a while since I had apples, so I bought some of those as well as bananas. At No Brand I bought tofu and some frozen dumplings. I am trying to stop spending so much money on food, since that’s the thing I’ve been splurging on a little too much. I wanted lemon concentrate, but they only had lemons, so I skipped out on that. I, admittedly, am too lazy to juice my own lemons everyday.

My class starts at 2. It’s only 12 right now. But…. I accidentally signed up for an English class taught in Korean, so I will probably end up switching out of it. I’m sad. I bought the textbook already. It’s not that bad since it was less than $7 USD, but still, I had filled out all the paperwork for this one already. The other one that fits into my schedule is about Irish Literature. I guess we’ll see what happens. I’ll try and sit in on this English class, but… since I don’t know any Korean it’ll probably be pretty awkward.

The constant news on social media about covid in the US is stressing me out more than being in Korea, where there are more diagnosed cases. Everyone is stressing social distancing or doing the opposite and going on vacations and partying. Ideally, people would stay inside as much as they could, but it’s hard when there are so many other factors like housing, food, money, etc. I hope it doesn’t get worse, but it probably will before it gets better. I’m just tired of reading it all sometimes. I think I need to take a break from social media to de-stress and focus on keeping in contact with people that I can.

I talked to my old mentor from DC. He’s doing well and I and my old roommate offered to help him with any errands that he needed. He called us “super friends” and sent his love. I miss him a lot and hope that he is doing well. He’s a very active retiree, but I’m nervous for people like him and my mom who are more susceptible to the virus.

In Washington, they closed down all the public schools and most colleges are online. The governor said that only take-out and delivery services for restaurants are allowed and banned all gatherings of more than 50 people. I hope measures like these work. But I also know people are still reckless when they’re not directly affected by the virus. I don’t know what will happen in the states. I don’t know what will happen here either. Lots of uncertainty makes me uneasy.