Part I:

It’s a strange feeling to walk around and have people assume I belong. When they speak to me in Korean, I panic. I usually look to my friend, and if I don’t react quickly enough, then they’ll explain that we speak English. I hate the feeling of being disappointing. Like I should understand them. But it’s not like I was preparing to come to Korea for half a year. I know only basic phrases and can barely read hangul.

I wonder how it would be in China. I think it would hurt more. Not knowing what people are saying when I wanted so desperately to belong. I feel silly taking a sense of pride when people assume I belong here. Like I’m a native. Sometimes I pretend I understand and it goes fine. I give with two hands and receive with two, communicating with nods and “mhmms.”

I still think about the person I met at the international gathering who encouraged me to move to Asia. Why did he move back? He grew up in Japan and he said it was too tiring to think constantly about his identity in the states. There is such a different racial dynamic at play there and a history of being a perpetual foreigner.

But wouldn’t I still be a perpetual foreigner abroad? Why do I like living in Korea? I have a lot of financial privilege here because my school is funding my stay. I know it would be different if I was working. But… I like feeling connected to something. I know these customs are not mine, but living here I don’t have to explain where I come from and if somebody does ask about my ethnic heritage it doesn’t feel like it’s coming from a place of malice.

But this is all just me imagining. I don’t know if I could actually give up living in the same country as my family or friends. I don’t know if I could learn how to navigate a new country alone facing different social issues. I don’t know if I want to travel to just escape feeling like I don’t belong. One of my old mentors lived in China for a while and he said he realized he was trying to run away from being American. He couldn’t speak Chinese, but he had grown to love living there as a second-generation Chinese American. Am I doing the same thing?

Part II:

The above videos describes how I’m feeling and then nothing at all. (Side note: I’ve been following her since middle school and I’m so glad she’s still active on YT). With all of the uncertainty going on with Covid and my friends and family being directly affected back in the states, I am so… Sad and stressed and overwhelmed and I wonder why I am here.

I have so much privilege being in a country right now where the government is testing people and treating them without burdening them with financial hardships. But it’s hard seeing small businesses being affected. Yesterday, the girl from Norway bought a dress and the seller was so happy that she almost started crying and hugged her. I think about my family in the states and the small businesses struggling back home. I think about those who don’t have healthcare and those who are homeless and those who are sick and those who are struggling… Here’s a resource list if anybody needs it. Feel free to share and edit.

I am lonely and constantly trying to find new people to hang out with. I met a girl from orientation the other day and she was really nice. She’s from Australia and is half Japanese and we had very deep talks about race relations in our home countries and our experiences in predominantly-white spaces. I really like her and might hang out with her tomorrow. But when I get back to my goshiwon it feels lonely.

I have no idea what I’m doing with courses. I can’t talk with my friends or family until late at night. I worry about money constantly. I wish my sister or friends were here to explore, but know they might be safer in the states. I hate feeling constantly on edge and like like the world is going to end. Having GAD during this period of uncertainty certainly isn’t helping. I feel the need to constantly be doing something, but also know it’s good to stay inside. I don’t know what to do with myself and that’s so frustrating to me. But life isn’t fair and life doesn’t make sense and all I can do is try to love as much as I can while I’m alive. So thanks for reading. I love you.

Just got back from a restaurant/bar. It’s 2:20 am and it was a nice night out. The taxi was less than $23 USD from Hongdae to Anam. The taxi driver was also so nice and he was listening to our conversation in English to practice his. He kept asking us to be his English teachers and he thought I was Korean. He kept complimenting us, haha. He was a really nice old man and he said thank you and that he would remember us. ❤ Aw.

I was really hesitant to go out tonight. I went with the girl from Norway (who is Eritrean, but was born in Sudan) and we left for Hongdae at around 3:30 pm. It takes about 40 minutes to get there from the subway and then we walked around the street stores. I was trying to look for a concealer because my acne scars have gotten bad. 😦 I didn’t find anything, but my friend ended up getting a nice button down shirt for less than $20 USD. We met up with the girl from Gilman at 6 pm at Artbox. I love Artbox; it has so much cute stationary and other useful daily things like slippers and water bottles and humidifiers.

We went to a chicken place, called “bb.q chicken and beer” and had some interestingly sweet chicken. We then walked around for a while. Both of the girls had heard of a language exchange party/bar, so we checked it out at 8 pm. The last time we looked in, it was empty. However, this time there were a lot more people there. It was really fun actually. I took 1 shot of fireball, but that was it. I had gone to the Kakao Friends store before and bought a stuffed animal, so I felt so silly bringing it with me lol. But the people who were there were really interesting. A lot of 30 year old locals and college exchange students. I met a girl taking a gap year and living in Hongdae, a Japanese coder who had lived in Singapore, LA, Japan, Australia, etc., an Asian American who was teaching English in Seoul, a local Seoul 26-year-old, and lots of others.

I was surprised nobody was wearing their mask. It seems like not a lot of people do at night. Or maybe it’s just the young people who aren’t as worried about it. The Japanese coder said he doesn’t think it helps at all and he never wears it. However, I feel like it’s more of a social pressure for me. I don’t want people to look at me funny. Maybe that says more about me than other people though. But I think it’s considered polite to just pay attention to community health practices. I’m still trying to figure that out.

The other girls wanted to go to a club, but I wanted to head back because the subway stops running around midnight. It was around 11:30 pm by that time. They ended up convincing me to go since the Gilman girl would leave this Thursday. We walked around trying to find someplace. The Norwegian girl is so bold and went up to these two girls and asked them if they knew where a club was. The girl said she was homosexual and then pointed us in the direction of places to eat/drink. She said that clubs were closed and DJs were banned because of the virus. I’m not really sure why she told us she was gay?

We headed down the block and ended up going to this weird outdoor eatery. The Norwegian girl and the Gilman girl tried grape soju and I refrained again. We ordered this braised chicken dish, but they gave us seafood stew. The girl from Norway is definitely the most vocal out of us all and she called back the waitress and got us the chicken dish even though we had tried the seafood stew. I felt a little embarrassed, but also glad that she is so confident in herself. She really doesn’t back down. Also, this girl across from us was really tired and just fell asleep on her boyfriend’s shoulder even though they were in a group of 8. Very interesting to see the couple behavior around here.

By the time we left it was about 1:30 am and the Norwegian girl didn’t realize the subway wouldn’t start until morning and the bus would take 2 hours. I was kinda frustrated at this point, but I downloaded a taxi app and she said she would pay since she kept me out. I was glad that she paid and she said that she wants to do it once a month. I don’t know about that, but I don’t think I would mind going out with her in a group again. It’s almost 3 now. I’m very full and happy that I’m here. I know classes haven’t started and there’s a lot of unknowns.

Tomorrow I have to contact my KUBA to see if orientation is actually cancelled and then figure out where to buy my books since the KU campus is closed down. I also want to get a concealer. Everyone at the language exchange meeting kept saying what bad time I came at. Also there’s drama with travel bans in Korea and Japan. So much going on. And US schools are also starting to do online courses. This virus is so bad. But people are resilient. I just hope everyone stays as safe as they can.

Some days I’ll stay in and just nap all day between episodes of whatever drama I’m watching. Other days I’ll meet up with people I met through TEAN or Gilman. I went to one of the TEAN people’s event in Gangam. They were throwing a birthday party for a member of Red Velvet. The cafe was expensive though, so I just waited to eat. The girl from Gilman I met the other day was also there. She showed up late though and by the time we left I was so hungry. I went to SMTown and the Coex mall today. I bought some skincare and earrings for myself and as souvenirs. I miss my friends and having people to hang out with from TEAN. I need to stop spending money on food though. I’m going to start eating kimbap from the convenience stores or ramen more often just to save money. Cooking here is a little expensive and fresh produce isn’t super close to me.

I don’t know how to meet people here, yet. I hope that I will make more friends once school starts, but because classes are online I’m not sure how that’ll go. I need to email KU about my student ID because I think TEAN used their email and I need to change it to my personal one. I also need to figure out my phone plan for when the one they gave me expires.

I mentioned the girl from Gilman a few times. She’s really nice. I saw her post in the FB group and reached out. Her program was cancelled the day she landed and she’ll be leaving Thursday. I think she’s going to switch to TEAN in the fall. I hope she has a good time.

I don’t know if I miss America or I just miss being around people. I like Korea, but because I’m here under extenuating circumstances, I feel like I don’t have a good and complete view of what the city is like. So many people are staying in, but today was the first time I took the subway when it was super crowded. I didn’t like that much, especially when people started coughing or sneezing. That’s just me being paranoid. I want to be able to wander around and explore, but that just doesn’t seem like a good idea at the moment.

When people back home keep messaging me about how I am, I appreciate the concern, but I also wish they would just call or tell jokes or act like things are normal. I want to not think about how many people are sick all the time. But I also know that I have to balance that with being realistic about my health.

What are my goals here? Why am I in Korea? I think these are things that I have to rethink. I knew why I wanted to go to China. Why did I want to stay in Korea? In part, it was an impulse decision because of the time crunch, but I do like this city. What can I learn here? What can I find out about this city and myself? How will this change my views on life?

I woke up to an email saying that I will be able to stay in Korea! It will be a direct affiliated program with Korea University. I messaged my other friend in Hanyang and my friends back home. There are 3 other people staying from the same program I’m in. I heard that some European students also had their programs cancelled. I hope that everything goes well for us all. The virus is apparently hitting the city hard, so many people are staying inside. I don’t want to be cooped up in this tiny goshiwon, but I also realize that it’s safer.

Yesterday I didn’t do anything until noon. I met up with the last girl in my hotel and then went to lunch with another guy from the program. We ate and then went to the Korea University bookstore. I just got more postcards. (Right now my landlord is vacuuming. The walls are so thin here!) I went back to say goodbye to the other girl who was leaving. At 4 I went out to Hongdae with the first girl and we went to the Meerkat cafe. It was so cute and they had animals like civets, meerkats, wallabies, raccoons, and arctic foxes. They were so cute and so tame. The meerkats were a lot noisier than I thought they would be. They also had some really pretty cats there. It was around 13,000 KRW to go in, but I definitely say it was worth it.

We visited a dog cafe right after that. There were about 15 dogs and it was 10,000 KRW to go in, which included a drink. The dogs were all really familiar with some of the people who visited and it was cute watching them interact. I love Samoyeds and big fluffy dogs, but they shed so much! We spent about an hour there and then went to the Line Store, Kakao Store, and walked around a little bit. We ate at a pho place and talked about her family. She’s a first-generation college student and her dad apparently was in a gang before he moved here, where he became a chef. Both of her parents cook now and she has two other siblings. I really enjoy hearing about other people’s family dynamics because it helps me contextualize my own experiences while getting to know my friends better.

There were many more students milling around there than around Anam. I miss being around people, but I understand why people are staying away from crowds. I didn’t know if I was going to leave, so I just spent a lot on souvenirs and gifts for my friends.

We ended up getting back to the goshiwon at 11:30. I was so tired, so I just went to bed. This morning, like I said, I was informed that I could stay here. I’m excited to stay, but I wish I could move somewhere where I could have friends over. But I don’t think any goshiwons really allow visitors. I think mine is just more strict.

I went to my last lunch with the ABC who stayed here and she insisted on paying. I miss her already. She was the only one left who was in the same goshiwon as me. Now I’m not sure who I will hang out with. The RD had me sign a contract saying TEAN won’t provide any more services. I also talked to my sister. She wants to come visit, but I don’t think it would be a good idea until the virus is contained. I also worry about her going back to the US and if she will need to be quarantied. I need to wash my clothes soon. It’s only 2:30 pm. I know that some of the last people staying are going to karaoke, but I don’t feel comfortable singing with people I don’t know that well. I might just stay in, I guess.

My Hanyang friend said to stay in and order food or just shop online. I don’t know what would be best. Everyone is asleep right now. I want to go out and explore… I don’t know if I should though. I guess I’ll keep you updated later.

Edit: I took a nap for a few hours and then woke up. A girl I messaged from the Gilman Scholar Facebook page (whose program also was cancelled) messaged me and we went to Hongdae to shop again. I know I shouldn’t go out too far, but… I don’t know. I finally got a coat! I’ve been wanting a cute trench coat for a while and it was less than $40 USD. We had Korean fried chicken again and I got the 32 cm ice cream. I had green tea and it was really good. I got back at around 11 again and it’s finally midnight.

Tomorrow I need to go out and shop for hand towels and get more cash. I think I’ll end up staying in unless somebody else reaches out.

It was our first full day free from orientation. We were supposed to be happy and excited and ready to explore. Instead, we all received an email at 1 in the morning that the TEAN program was cancelled and that they would only help us for two more days. I didn’t know if anyone else was up, but I called my family and my friends back home. This is the second trip cancellation I have been through and I just felt so defeated. I couldn’t do much since it was so late at night, but it was hard for me to fall asleep. I felt like this was some stupid trick the universe was playing on us all. Most people will not graduate on time and we had all been planning this for so long. Especially the people who were going to originally going to China.

After crying a little, I just went back to bed. That morning I met up with the other girls from my hotel and we all just expressed how upset we were. We had to meet in the kitchen since our individual rooms aren’t big enough for other people. We decided to just go out to eat with some of the other people from the program and so we got dressed and met downstairs. The other people from another goshitel met us outside and we went to lunch at a jajangmyun and tangsooyuk place. One of the Korean students led us to a restaurant and we all commiserated. We decided to just explore since there wasn’t anything else we could do.

Most of the other students had already booked their flights home, but I had decided to try and stay and enroll directly in KU. Now it’s almost 11 the next morning and my college, TEAN, and other people are still figuring out if that’s even possible. I’m so upset about it. I don’t know if I’m being stupid, but I just really want to be in Asia. I don’t want to graduate late. I don’t want to be stuck with nothing to do for months and scramble to find a summer internship. I have spent so much time planning and replanning this trip. But I also don’t know how KU will react since there’s still a few weeks until school actually starts and the amount of cases went up so quickly.

After we ate, we went to another shopping district, but I forgot where. We met one of the TEAN staff in the subway and she started crying. I felt so bad, but I hugged her and we talked a little. We ended up walking along a tiny river for about an hour to get to a street food market. I wasn’t hungry, so the group split into two. One went to eat street food and the girls from my goshitel went back to myeongdong to buy souvenirs and skincare for our family back home. I got lost trying to find my way back to meet them, but I met the Italian students in myeongdong and they also said they were heading back soon. Once I met back up with the other girls we decided to meet up with the other group. It was such a long subway ride though and we were almost in Gangam, so it took an hour. We got lost a little bit in the subway, which didn’t help.

We met up with them and then went to kbbq. It was my first time having it and it was good. But I wasn’t that hungry, so I don’t know. Some people drank, but I just wasn’t feeling it. We took the long subway ride back and then went to a cafe, where all the other people ordered dessert. My stomach just isn’t happy when I’m anxious, so I was in a bad mood and wanted to talk with my family and friends. It was around 10 pm by this time. I had been worrying and talking with my friends back home.

I am so sad. My heart hurts for everyone. For the families in China separated by the travel restriction. For those infected and for the doctor’s fighting to take care of them. For other exchange students who don’t know what to do.

Once I got back to my room, it was basically a waiting game to see if my college would let me directly enroll and if TEAN would be able to help. I didn’t feel like writing here. I know these posts aren’t as descriptive as I had planned. I just am so exhausted and tired. I miss my friends. I think it would’ve been better if I knew for sure I could go to KU and meet new ones, but I have no idea what will happen. Even if I stay, I want to move to the other goshitel because it allows visitors and my sister wants to visit. I don’t know how good a decision that is… I don’t know how good any of the decisions I’m making are.

My mom keeps saying everything happens for a reason and that this is teaching me to be adaptable. I don’t want to be adaptable right now though. I want to feel like I know what’s going to happen and that everyone will be safe and happy. I want to not feel anxious all of the time and not have to wear a face mask outside. I’m supposed to meet up with the group later today and go on more adventures. I guess we’ll see how that goes. For now, I don’t have a flight booked and I’m in a country where I don’t know the language. I don’t think I could have prepared for this. I am so sad and even though I’m trying to keep busy I just have this heaviness in my chest.

It feels like 5 millions years have passed since I last wrote, even though it has only been a few days. Yesterday we went to myeongdong, or the shopping district. We met up at 10 for a crash course lesson in Korean. The teacher who taught us was very kind and she has also been there guiding us the past few days. She’s an English teacher here and I hope I can be as kind and helpful as she was if I ever go into education. We learned the basic “Hello/Goodbye,” “Where is the subway station,” and “Please give me water.” I’m definitely not a natural language learner.

After that, we met up and all got metro cards. They call it T-Money and the subway station is a little overwhelming, but very clean. I always felt embarrassed going in the big group because of how loud everyone is. One of the elevators we were on was so tall and everyone was freaking out about it. I felt fine because it just reminded me of DC. But we made it to a Taekwondo session. The master there was very patient and funny. It made me realize I need to work out more, haha. But they gave us personalized uniforms. When they tried to make us break the board, I was so nervous. We had to do it in front of everyone and it took my three tries. I was so embarrassed, yikes.

Thankfully, we moved on and went to myeongdong. I only bought a purse, but it was less than $10 USD. There was so much to look at, but unfortunately a lot of the street food stalls were closed because of covid concerns. Everyone is wearing masks right now. The M94 ones are going for $2.50 and up. I should’ve brought more with me, but they still sell them here. I also want to get a fabric one for later allergy season.

We had 4 hours to walk around and eventually we all were tired. I mostly stayed with the ABCs and the Filipina American girl. A few other people joined us and after a few hours of wandering we decided to sit in a cafe. The European-style cafes are so expensive! I didn’t order anything, but some of the girls got tea. We chatted about the covid concerns and it seems like it’s only getting worse. The religious sect that started the big spread is under a lot of scrutiny at the moment, but I don’t know much about them personally. I just wish this whole thing didn’t happen.

We finally managed to meet up with the others at the subway station and then we went to a Michelin star restaurant. I had some cold, spicy noodles, but I forgot what they were called. I also tried some dumplings and they were good as well. I sat with the Italian students who also were originally going to China and one of them asked me why I wanted to go to China. This got into a whole conversation about my adoption and how speaking the language and learning more about the culture helps me feel more like I belong somewhere/how it grounds me.

Following dinner, we went to a Jump Show. It was about a family of Taekwondo masters and the performers were so athletic and talented. It was more of a comedy show, but with a lot of flips and kicks involved. I always am so tired by the end of the day, so I just called some people back home and went to bed.

Orientation Day 4

Move-in day! I woke up around 9 am and headed to breakfast. My roommate had already left, but I found her downstairs and we chatted with some other girls in the program. Because everyone from the program was early, we had to wait downstairs with all of our luggage. Eventually, the people going to goshiwons were guided to a bus and we were accompanied by a translator. The other goshitel has an elevator and allows people over, but ours doesn’t. 😦 I was planning on having my sister over, but we’ll see if that’s possible.

The goshitel is so small. I thought I would know what to expect since I had a single in college in NY, but it is maybe 1/3 of that size with the bathroom inside it (the toilet and sink are also inside the shower). The owner wasn’t fluent in English, so he used Papago to translate. The communal kitchen also isn’t provided with rice or cereal like it usually is because of covid.

We had a few minutes to settle down, but then we ate our last lunch as a big group. It was fine, but the foods we’ve been having have so much cheese, so I have to pick around it. Some of the returning students of the program came and answered questions, but it was very casual. The RD led us on a very very quick tour of campus and then we took a group photo. We stopped by Daiso, thankfully, and I picked up some essentials, such as razors, soap, tissues, toilet paper, etc. I still need to buy notebooks/binders, but that’s if the school is still going to run. There’s some speculation that it’ll be online courses or that it’ll be cancelled altogether. I really hope that doesn’t happen. I know the situation is a public health concern, but university students aren’t the most likely to get the virus and I have already spent so much time and energy switching programs and it’d set me back for graduation.

Anyways, after Daiso, me and the 3 other girls in the 2U goshitel went to Lalala, or something like that, and bought some shampoo and other bath items. I think a few of them are going to dye their hair by themselves?

We’re on our own for the rest of the interim period before class, but I’m not sure what I’ll do. I wanted to have my sister stay over, but I’m not sure how feasible that is. I’m currently video calling her right now and we’re unsure of what to do. I finished unpacking since I only brought 1 suitcase, but now I don’t know what to do. It’s only 5 pm, but I am tired and unsure if I want to go out exploring with myself or other people. I still need an umbrella, hand sanitizer, conditioner/leave-in conditioner, and notebooks. I miss home, but I just want courses to start.

Thankfully my roommate was feeling better today and was able to go with us on our tour! Today we started out the day with breakfast at the hotel again. They said we weren’t eating lunch until 3 pm. There was rice cake soup, apples, blueberries, etc. We got on the bus to go to the DMZ and our tour guide used the English name Katie. She was really sweet and taught us how to say “thank you,” “hello/goodbye,” and “I love you” in Korean.

On the bus ride over she explained the history behind the De-Militarized zone and how the Korean War has not officially ended. Because I wasn’t prepared to go to Korea, this was a good history refresher and she talked about the historical significance of going to this area. I think a lot of tours can be superficial and use war tourism as a means of just gaining more capital, but she and the TEAN people really wanted us to understand that where we were going was a place of pain for a lot of people.

Because the actual DMZ was closed because of African Swine Flu, we went to a few different observatories and museums. There were many photos of families split up because of the war, art created by citizens hoping for reunification, and lots of historical artifacts about Korean history. Korea’s history is so much longer than the US’s I still have a lot to learn about this country.

Lunch was good as well. I had bibimbap and soondubu jigae and then we went back to the hotel. I had an hour to wait until the next activity, so I went to my room and took a quick nap. Afterwards, we went to speak to a North Korean defector. Her name is Eunhee Park and she was very vulnerable in her talk with us. She told us about her family and the difficulties she had coming to South Korea. Many North Korean refugees have to go through Chinese brokers to defect to South Korea and it’s a long and dangerous process. If anyone is interested in learning more, I would highly recommend watching her videos, linked above.

After the talk, I went and got Korean fried chicken for the first time with the other girls from the cancelled TEAN China trip and a few guys. It was good, but there was so much food. 3 baskets of chicken was around 34,000 won. Low-key kind of angry that one of the guys didn’t pay me back, but he said he would get cash later. We split it between 6 people, so it wasn’t that bad. Then, I took a shower and here I am writing my blog.I miss being able to message my friends and family back home. The only times that work are early morning to late afternoon and late at night here. I wish I could call them more often, but I don’t want to disturb my roommate. Right now, the best I can do is send pictures and photos for them to wake up to.

My flight was at midnight on the 20th and I was so anxious the whole day. Talking to my mom and having my sister to drop me off really kept me sane. Whenever I leave a place knowing I won’t be back for a while, I get so nostalgic and sad. This happens even if I know where I’m going will be exciting. It’s hard for me to balance between the two before I’m actually in a new space, but once I’ve established a routine I’m okay.

I cried at the airport. I kept asking myself why I was going to Korea and if this was worth it. The privilege I have to travel and go to such a renowned school is immense, but my heart was just not in it. And I still don’t know how I’ll feel once school actually starts. But I called a few of my friends and my sister. Knowing that I have people who care about me and who are willing to check in reassures me that I’ll be okay.

The layover in Taiwan was really short, but I was also shocked at how few people were there. In general, there are a lot less people out and about from what I’ve seen because of Covid 19. Apparently, some woman at a religious gathering spread the disease to others and now South Korea has the highest number of infected people next to China.

I was surprised when people spoke to me in Mandarin and felt so under-prepared. I obviously would’ve spoken Chinese if I went to China, but the experience of people assuming I know the language was nice, but made me feel inadequate.

I didn’t sleep well on the plane at all, but I watched a lot of movies. I arrived at the airport 6 hours before the TEAN people were picking us up. I cried a little more and wandered around. I got confused with the immigration line, but thankfully the TEAN program managers were really helpful.

I was so surprised at how beautiful the airport was. There were actually stores and cute restaurants all around the pickup area. I withdrew some won and then just listened to audiobooks, called my sister again, and waited. The tour guide and Allison actually found me before I saw them and I waited for 3 more hours while people came. We bonded over how tired we were and how badly we wanted to shower. Once we finally got on the bus and headed back I felt like my soul had left my body. I had gotten to the point where life didn’t feel real because I was so fatigued.

I slept for maybe 10 minutes out of the hour ride and then we hurriedly checked into the hotel, went to a restaurant, and then I went back and fell asleep after my shower.

Orientation Day 1

My roommate wasn’t feeling well, so I went to breakfast alone. I sat with other TEAN students, but I was pretty quiet and just relaxed. At one point the staff came over and told the girls next to me to be a little quieter. It is true that Americans tend to be louder, I think.

Once breakfast (which consisted of fried rice and pollock soup!) was done, orientation started. We set up our Alien Registration Card appointments, installed our new SIM cards, and learned a little bit more about each other’s hometowns/countries. Unfortunately I had trouble unlocking my phone, so I installed the SIM card later with the help of my mom and the Xfinity person. The Alien Registration online appointment also was weird on my phone, so Sandra, the RD, helped me make an appointment.

My roommate ended up throwing up, so she missed the day. We went to eat lunch, then tried on hanboks. I still have mixed feelings about that experience, but the program manager talked about cultural appropriation/appreciation and I think they were coming from a good place. Apparently tourists trying on hanboks and walking around is very common in the area we were in.

It was so cold and windy, but we went to a palace and took a lot of photos. There was a Korean student in our group, so he led us around and we also went to a cute bookstore just to warm up. I realized I desperately need to layer up tomorrow. It’s a lot windier than I expected.

I’ve made friends with a group of girls who were also supposed to go to China. They’re all really nice and I hope that we continue to hang out through the semester. Two of them are Chinese Americans, one is from Italy, and the other is Filipinx American.

Once we got back to the hanbok photography place we changed and then went to dinner. We had dalkgalbi for dinner, but my stomach hurt so much after. I think I’m still adjusting to the food here. It was really good though. I came back to my room and bought my roommate some saltines, since she’s still not feeling well. I’m tired and it’s only 8 pm, but I’m gonna call it a night.