교회 - Church

Happy Sabbath! I've gone to church here twice so far. In tiny little 괴산, there are no churches with services in English. But some local students helped us find a friendly (and non-cultish*) place to worship. It's called 괴산중앙교회 (Goesan Central Church), and it's apparently Methodist. Like most Asian churches, it's somewhat charismatic, with loud prayer and lots of singing.

The first week I went, I understand only a few words here and there in the hour-long service, including 아버지 (aboji, Father), 기도 (kido, pray), and 피 (pi, blood... yeah, I promise it's not a cult). I also heard the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer in Korean, but I couldn't understand much of either. One thing I did pick up on, however, was that every time the pastor (목사, moksa) said 축하합니다 -- which I had learned meant "congratulations" -- the whole congregation replied, "아멘! (Amen!)" My guess is that the phrase could also be translated as "praise".

Anyway, I meant to write about a small adventure I had this morning on the way to church. Tracey and I were the only ones who intended to go this week (down from about a dozen curious Americans last week), as many people were asleep or on weekend excursions out of town. But, we missed the shuttle that goes into town from campus, and the next one wouldn't leave for another hour. So, we got our friend (and RA, actually), a Korean guy named Caden, to call us a taxi before he rushed off to his part-time job. As soon as the taxi arrived, Tracey and I realized that we couldn't remember what the name of the church was. Neither of us is fluent in Korean. Here is the ensuing conversation with our 댁시 운전사 (taxi driver), roughly translated from Korean:

Taxi Driver: Where do you want to go?
Tracey and me: Uh...
Me: Goesan... Church?
Tracey: Church!
Taxi Driver: What?
Me: Church! (in English, to Tracey: Oh no, what was it called? How do you say Methodist?)
Taxi Driver: ... What?
Tracey: Chur-ch. Church! Church? (in English: Does he not know what church is?)
Taxi Driver: ...
Tracey: Um, (mimes holding a Bible) Jesus! Amen! Hallelujah!
Taxi Driver: ...
Me: (in English: Okay, wait, what's somewhere near the church?)
Taxi Driver: Are you going into town? Into Goesan?
Tracey: Yes!
Taxi Driver: Okay, you just give me directions, then, okay? Right, left...
Tracey and me: Okay!

And so we got to the church, and the driver charged us about fifty cents extra (3,500 won total, which is about $3.50) for the trip, probably because we were stupid and unintelligible. (But in all seriousness, it seemed less like he didn't know where we wanted to go and more like he didn't know what a church was. Which is weird. When we ran into some of our Korean teachers later -- also on their way back to campus from church, albeit a different one -- one of them said that taxi ahjussis don't ever go to church, so it was slightly more reasonable that he didn't understand. But still...)

Anyway, during the service they sang two songs I recognized: 'Tis to Sweet to Trust in Jesus and Joyful, Joyful, translated into Korean. The sermon was delivered on the story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14. That's about all I understood. Oh, and after the service, some of the ahjummas insisted that Tracey and I eat lunch with them, so we joined them for a lunch of kimchi onions and chicken soup that had half of an entire chicken in every bowl. Score!

Next week we'll see if I can keep up with the sermon a bit more. Perhaps this is a good way to track my progress in listening comprehension!

*I was warned by one of the Orientation Coordinators to be careful of what churches I went to, as some of them were actually branches of Korean cults, which are fairly common and not at all like the American stereotype of a cult.

버섯 찌개! A Korean Korean Restaurant

Bosot jjigae is mushroom stew. It's spicy and delicious and I had lots of it at my first Korean restaurant in Korea. I've been told that Korean cuisine in the US is pretty different from the real deal, kind of like a lot of Chinese places you'll find in the States are not 地道 (authentic) Chinese, just tons of MSG and pandas and stereotyped names and all. So when my American friends think "Korean restaurant", they think bulgogi (bbq beef), bibimbap (rice + everything), and kimchi, but not much else.

This is 묵 (muk, acorn jelly). Definitely something I've never seen in an American Korean restaurant before. But it was good!

I have to say that the Korean food I've been eating at the dining hall here isn't nearly Korean restaurant-standard fare, but we did have bulgogi once -- for breakfast -- and I'm getting used to the spiciness. Yet after a few days I was pretty ready to see what actual Korean food places had to offer.

So when Jeewon and Se Eun came to visit (Yay! Swatties! Friends! Bilingual friends!) tiny little Goesan, they took me to a small little place that, according to some locals, had some great mushroom stew. We took the shuttle into town and walked for a bit, asked a few people for directions, and then arrived at what I thought initially was a house. I would hardly call it a restaurant.

The restaurant was called Pyeol-mi ("Gourmet") Restaurant (식당 shikdang means "restaurant" or, according to Google translate, "noshery"). A local referred us to it when Se Eun asked for 버섯 찌개.

As is custom in many Korean households, we took off our shoes before entering, and then sat down cross-legged at a very low table, on cushions on a hardwood floor. Jeewon and Se Eun did all the ordering, and before long (we were the only patrons in the entire house) the ahjumma came out with 반찬 (banchan, side dishes) and a giant hot pot-like thing filled with a red stew and mushrooms. The pot was on a burner at our table, so soon the whole stew was boiling and smelled delicious. Definitely 맛있어요 (delicious)! 

Se Eun lifts the top off our 버섯 찌래 (mushroom stew). It was very red and very spicy, and all of the side dishes were red and spicy, too. Typical Korean cuisine!

A close-up of the jjigae. Okay, maybe it doesn't look that appetizing, but whatever, I like mushrooms.

During our meal, we talked about some of my expectations for Korea, learning Korean, Korean linguistics, and -- of course -- Swarthmore things. It was such a nice evening being away from campus and with old friends. It's a lot like the feeling I get when I get away from Swarthmore and go into Philly for an evening, but of course, it was much less glamorous than Philly (which itself isn't... okay, you get the picture). So that was my very first Korean restaurant experience. Next time, I'll see if I can order and do it all by myself in Korean!

Three Swatties in South Korea! Thanks for coming to visit!

Changes

I've been in Korea for almost one week now.

Prior to departure, I was curious as to how things might change for me while I'm here for one year, besides the obvious changes of occupation, location, and community. For example, I had an interesting conversation with Andrew and Sharon about Myers-Briggs personality types. From what I remember, I'm an INTJ. What we wondered aloud was, could a drastic change of environment and lifestyle cause a sort of shift in one's MBTI letters? Supposedly, the way you test is supposed to remain constant throughout your entire life.

Usually, when I enter new social situations and meet lots of new people at once, I spend a little time thinking about how I'll portray myself, what kind of first impression I want to make, and how much I will tell my new friends or acquaintances about myself. Although I'm an introvert, I've learned over the years how to be outgoing and how to seek out the less predictable friendships. I have to remind myself constantly not to judge but to look for the most awesome aspects of everyone as I create new social circles. Maybe I could become more E (extroverted) than I (introverted) if I tried really hard and had the right motivations. How badly do I want to become bffs with the people I meet here?

As it is, I still haven't added any of my fellow ETAs on Facebook. I'd prefer that they get to know me purely in person, without being able to flip through all of my photos and scroll down my wall to get any other (extra-contextual) ideas of who I am. (I wonder if any of them are reading this right now?)

Because what if I change? What if I can actually be a totally different person while I'm here? Do I even want to be? Or am I supposed to "stay true to who I am"... even if I don't like every part of who I am?

In the past week, I don't think I've tried (at least consciously) to be different from the norm. I mean, as an introvert, that sort of thing is mentally taxing and our orientation schedule is keeping my nose to the grindstone already. But some things have changed. Two things specifically: I'm not a vegetarian anymore. I was an on-and-off meat-o-phobe for two years, capitulating only to my mother and to sushi when it came to eating anything that used to be alive. But 삼겹살 (Korean bacon) and 불고기 (Korean marinated beef) are too good -- and I don't want to 麻煩 my homestay family (because vegetarianism is rare and not well understood in Korea), so I'm eating everything on my plate these days. Another change is that I've been going to the gym every morning at seven, which means going to bed around eleven in the evening. This one's a weird change for me, but I want to work on my self-discipline, and working out in the morning is a good way to start the day, as it wakes me up and makes me feel accomplished before I've even eaten breakfast.

So, those are some changes. As for other things, well, only time will tell if my personality will shift or if my new peers rub off on me in any way. I'll check myself again at the end of the summer. Until then, I'll try not to try too hard...! Because goodness knows I don't have the time or energy to do much more than be myself.

한국어 수업: Korean class

Classes began today, and they were fairly overwhelming. As I said before, I was placed in an intermediate level (out of four levels: absolute beginner, advanced beginner, beginner-intermediate, and advanced). But I was worried that I would struggle a little bit because I only have one semester of formal Korean training under my belt, and that was two years ago.

Well, I ate a super-rushed breakfast this morning at 8:45am, went up to the sixth floor of the main building, and found my classroom. At 9:00am, the "horror" began and all that I dreaded came true: 김선생님 (Teacher Kim), a petite Korean lady with a gentle persona, began to speak, and I understand not a single word that came out of her mouth. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, I guess. I understood about 10% of the words that she spoke. Words like "hello", "name", and "America". I was slightly terrified for the first half hour of class.

But after a bit, I started to catch on. Parts of the lecture that dealt with grammar I could follow by what she wrote on the blackboard, and she also was very helpful in explaining in detail what activities we were going to do. There was also lots of reading, which I'm more comfortable with. Lastly, there are four Korean-Americans in my class (who probably belong in a higher-level class), and the other six 학생 (haksaeng, or students) have a bit more Korean classroom skills than I do, so, following their lead, I could stumble along fairly well.

And stumble along I did, for the duration of four fifty-minute class periods that morning. By 1:00pm, I was worn out from the non-stop Korean, and I nearly ran to lunch.

The interesting thing is that because of my difficulties, I feel like I can better grasp what my future English students will feel in class. Like Korean students of English, I've studied from the book, and I've watched Korean media, so the extent of my language skills is good conjugation and limited vocabulary, as well as some useful conversational phrases. But it's nowhere near conversational level, and I'm not used to using it regularly at all. My students will come to my class having studied English grammar and reading comprehension only, and my goal is to get them to be conversational (among other things). But they might feel completely lost and overwhelmed even on the first day. They'll be intimidated by some of their peers and frustrated at their own lack of understanding. I was! So I'll just have to be as gentle as 김선생님 and as exuberant and funny as 홍선생님, our other teacher. I want my classroom to be a safe space in every way possible.

Okay... So, some other reasons why I feel like I'm going to pass out as soon as I finish typing this: following lunch, we had two workshops lasting 3.5 hours total on classroom management and important things to do on the first day of class. Again, I'm incredibly grateful and relieved that Fulbright's orientation is training us the way they are. While it's not fun to have tons of information thrown at you in big chunks like this, the fact that they are spending the time and effort to bring outside people in (our workshop leaders were current ETAs with one or two years' experience in Korean classrooms) and give us as many resources as possible is really, really good.

After the long but informative (but looooong) workshop, I went to the first meeting of my taekwondo class! I was very excited about this one, for reasons which I'll explain in a later post, but in all honesty, everyone was completely drained by 5:30pm and we could hardly pay attention to our 사범님 (sabeomnim, or master) as he gave us a brief history and description of taekwondo. More on this later. After taekwondo, dinner. After dinner, Global Language Education Exchange meeting, where we played Charades and my team ("Bigger Bang") pwned everyone else in the first round and eventually got second place. After GLEE (hehe), one-on-one conferences with an Orientation Coordinator to see if we're adjusting all right. Which I am, and am thankful for. After that, I was very ready to go to bed, but I played a few rounds of Bananagrams first...

Today: breakfast, four hours class, lunch, three point five hours workshops, one hour lecture, dinner, one hour game, half hour meeting, Bananagrams, and now I need to sleep. Tomorrow's another big day. Oh, but first: a cute puppy (귀여운 강아지!) that I met on my way to my first Korean restaurant.

School site visits

I woke up at 6:30am this morning! Willingly! Weird, huh? The reason is that we had school site visits today, and we had to meet at 7:15am, but I wanted to go to the gym beforehand (trying to make it a habit). So, I ran and lifted for a short half-hour, tore back to my room to shower and change, and was only a little bit late to the bus, catching it before it left for Daejeon (대전), which is about one hour south of Goesan (괴산)

School site visits are an important part of our teaching and cultural preparation. I'm really glad that Fulbright puts us through such thorough training. It really shows that they're not just aiming to throw native English speakers into classrooms and hoping for the best, but that they're committed to creating a crop of competent teachers as well as cultural ambassadors. They want us to understand as best we can what our year is going to be like before we even begin.

The classroom I visited at Chungnam Science HS. For a lesson on how a bill becomes a law, the students are watching Schoolhouse Rock! :)

We were allowed to choose to visit one school from a variety of combinations: elementary, middle, or high × all-boys, all-girls, or co-ed × urban, suburban, or rural = 27 possible choices of school (actually 25, I think, because all elementary schools are co-ed, and, well, actually 24 for me, because some ETAs are here specifically to teach elementary, and I'm not one of them, so I could not choose any of the elementary schools). I decided to visit a very advanced-level science high school (co-ed and urban, but also a boarding school because it was on the very edge of Daejeon). It was called 충남과학고등학교 (Chungnam Science High School), I believe.

Chungnam turned out to be a very unique school among those at which ETAs are normally placed. It is a very rich school with excellent teaching facilities, including laboratory classrooms, geology exhibits in the halls, and an observatory. Although it is public, admission is by test results only (and you'll soon hear me talk about how everything in the Korean educational system is based on test scores and rankings), so the students here are already top-tier. Also, it's a small school of only 120 students total, and class sizes are around twenty, which is half of what is normal for public schools.

This high school has its own observatory classroom! Talk about good government funding. But I doubt the students have any time to actually take their astronomy courses seriously, because they study all afternoon and evening after school.

The current ETA we were visiting was named Brian. He graduated from Grinnell three years ago and taught in Macau for one year and Korea for two. His class was really interactive, and he emphasized teaching his students how to express themselves more than simply how to conjugate verbs or use big words.

His unit was on political science, and his first-year students (who were roughly equivalent to our high school sophomores) were having a test on American government. But rather than having a sit-down test or even an oral exam, their test consisted of all the students playing the roles of State Department secretaries, Congresspeople, and even a President and Vice President as they wrote bill proposals, defended them in front of a Senate and House of Representatives, and passed them into law. The better the laws helped their country's health, happiness, economy, and security, the more points the class got as a whole.

A particularly good-at-English student, Chloe, proposes her bill on increasing subsidies for university tuition before the House of Representatives. Brian, the ETA, is the cute guy to the left of her, and Amy and Amber, other visiting ETAs, look on.

The whole setup was very creative, fun, and interesting. At least, it was for me. I hope the students had fun, too! Some of them were very much into it, and others seemed much less engaged. Also, their skill levels in spoken English varied greatly. Most of them were good at spelling and writing, but when I asked specific students to explain why they voted for or against a specific bill, for example, one said it in Korean first and then translated herself, and another refused to say anything at all.

Besides looking in on the class, we also took a short tour of the campus and ate lunch in the cafeteria with students, where I met Danielle, Sheldon -- who named himself after the character on Big Bang Theory -- and a kid who named himself Oppenheimer. Nerds. Brian also gave us a short lecture on some advice for getting ready for our classrooms and curricula. Some points I'll share:

• Plan on spending more time doing cultural ambassadorship than actual teaching.
• Technology is not very reliable.
• Teach students to be creative and independent thinkers, not just English-speaking robots.
• But also hold them to high standards and be strict about your classroom rules.
• Routine and creative warm-ups and games are good. Notebooks (journals) are good. Reward systems are good. Organization and continuity between lessons is good.
• Give constant feedback, even if it takes a long time! And... always smile!

Dear readers: any more advice for a future teacher? :)

Vika chats with the Department of State.

So from this school site visit, I can say now that I would like to teach in a high school, not a middle school. I would prefer my students to have as high a level of English as possible, as well as the (slightly) higher maturity level that comes with fourteen- and fifteen-year olds. The chances aren't terribly high that I'll get the placement I want, but I'm glad that I at least have some sort of opinion of what I want to do. Quite a change from the norm of having no idea what I want to do (with regard to my future, for example).

Also, Korean classes and taekwondo classes begin tomorrow! I'm very excited for both!

First photos!

나는 사진 찍는 거 좋아해요!

Which means, "I like to take photos!" Which I really do. And furthermore, I like to share them.

Day 3 of Orientation is over, and it was a long day. But fortunately, 화창 했어요 (hwachang haesseoyo -- it was sunny), after two days of rain, humidity, and overcast skies. It was absolutely glorious; a bunch of other ETAs and I just ran outside after lunch and took photos of the gorgeous mountains. The sun and blue skies really woke us up. It's amazing what some vitamin D can do!

While the rain kept us cooped inside for two days, we found ways to amuse ourselves. For example, 나무 쌓기 게임 (wooden stacking game, or Korean Jenga). From left to right: Rachel, Payal, and Hilary.

This is a photo of me in front of Jungwon University's main building. It's huge! Ten stories tall, and constructed like a palace. It's kind of weird, but more on that later. [taken by Tyler]

Looking east and southeast from the strange owl-tree-fountain hill, nothing but green all around. The town of 괴산 (Goesan) is surrounded by mountains.

It was such a beautiful day, and we were being photographed, so of course we had to be silly. (Nic, on the left, looks on, confused, at Kristen, Ammy, Ben, Tyler, and Katelyn.)

 Oh, and you guys remember when I talked about our missing Independence Day due to being on a plane from LAX to Seoul? Well, our Orientation Coordinator Team decided to remedy that, and gave us all sparklers and Roman candles to play with this evening, as a belated Fourth of July party! It was such a sweet gesture, and also tons of fun.

Katelyn and Kristen share a sparkler.

I'm really happy that I'm here right now. That's all! :)

School is in session

This morning, all of the Fulbrighters were administered a placement exam that would determine which level of Korean classes they would take for the next six weeks of Orientation.

The exam was fairly straightforward: write an essay about yourself in Korean, and then have an oral exam (an "interview") with a Korean teacher to determine your fluency. It's been quite a while since I've done any written Korean. While I did take beginner Korean for one semester, that class was during my sophomore year, and I've forgotten almost everything I learned that wasn't purely conversational. So what did I write about myself? Just my hometown, my nationality, where I go to school, and why I have a very Korean-sounding Korean name.

The testers looked at my essay, placed me in one waiting area for oral exams, re-read my essay and moved me to another one, and then re-re-read my essay and put me back where I started. And then I waited. I became increasingly nervous about the oral exam because I haven't had to speak Korean for longer than ten seconds for two years, and I was sure I'd have no idea what my examiner was saying, let alone be able to answer her.

As it turns out, the oral exam wasn't horrible. It started with my name and very, very basic information, mostly repetition of what I'd written in my essay. When it came to things like telling time and the date and describing my family, I forgot some key words, but the examiner was very kind and prompted me, even giving English translations when I looked totally lost and could only say, "미안해요; 몰라요." (I'm sorry; I don't know.)

I heard that more advanced Korean speakers had tougher examinations, and were told to describe the personalities of their friends and families in minute detail. I had trouble even explaining what my brothers do for a living, so I definitely wouldn't have been able to talk about their personalities.

At the end of the day, we were given our class placements, and I got into Level 2 (Intermediate). This is good, because my goal was to get above beginner level, and I'm satisfied.

Another part of me is kind of -- and I'm not ashamed to admit this -- wildly excited to have classes again. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be done with college. But the part of me that loves school, structure, and schedules is teaming up with the part of me that really, really wants to learn more Korean, and I can't wait for my first Korean lesson on Tuesday morning. While we're still getting grades for our work (and, of course, are required to pass), somehow the pressure seems much lower because I'm learning Korean as job training and not just for a letter on a transcript. Hm... that seems backward, doesn't it? But you know me: all my life I've striven to get the "A" really for its own sake, even at Swarthmore. Now, it's like I know I'm going to try my best no matter what -- because it is utterly vital that I do -- so whatever grade I get is really not important. Higher stakes, less stress. Weird, huh?

So school is in session. To wish me good luck, say 화이팅 (hwa-i-ting/fighting)! And "way to go!" is "힘내!" (himnae)

Time and Travel (and Time Travel)

잘 도착했어요 (I've arrived safely), and now with Internet access, I'm learning -- slowly -- to type in Korean, the very few phrases that I know. I'll try to pepper my posts with them, along with translations, of course!

The time difference between Seoul and San Francisco is +16 hours. I also crossed the International Date Line as I flew across the Pacific. The result is that my body is jet-lagged and I'm not sure what time it really thinks it is, but I'll be going to sleep soon after a long Orientation day.

Speaking of time twisters, I managed to completely miss July 4th. Well, I spent the last few hours of July 3rd in SFO, lightly panicking because my first flight to LAX was delayed by two hours. By the time my travel buddy Tracey (another ETA who had the same itinerary) and I got off the 비행기 (plane) in LAX, we had only a little over an hour to get out of the terminal, take a bus to the international terminal, check in, go through security, and get to the gate for the plane that was leaving for Seoul. When we arrived at that gate, it was about midnight of July 4th, and I was so out of breath from the crazed airport dash that I didn't even notice. Then, when we flew across the IDL, it suddenly became tomorrow, and July 4th, 2012 went away without really happening.

This happened to be the case for almost all of the other Fulbright ETAs -- there were sixty-five of us alone on that same flight from LA to 인천 공항 (Incheon Airport)-- traveling last night. It's rather ironic that our departure for a year of cultural ambassadorship coincided with an unintended subversion of our national holiday.

The flight itself was nice -- I slept for most of it, watched a cute video teaching Koreans how to say basic greetings and phrases in English, and also watched most of Moneyball. Oh, and! I became friends with the guy sitting next to me on the plane, who was not a Fulbright ETA. He was soft-spoken but had a lot of interesting stories to tell about his life: he was in the Marines, worked as a diver and a fisher, and now does landscaping for rich peoples' big yards. He's been to tons of countries and likes to meet locals and learn their languages. So, although he was only stopping in Korea on his way to Vietnam with some members of his VFW, I took the opportunity to teach him the basics of the Korean hangeul alphabet (한글). I really like the rare occasion of actually talking with my neighbors on flights... in four years of flying back and forth between SFO and PHL, it's happened only a few times.

Time... Another time issue I have is with this blog: since I've switched my time zone to what will be the future for most of my readers back in the States, will it not show up on feeds until thirteen or sixteen hours have elapsed? You guys, I'm in the future! (This never ceases to amuse me, no matter how many times I've been to Asia.)

And in the future, everyone is tired, excited, nervous, and learning how to eat 김치 (kimchi) without crying. In the future, private universities are made of marble and have terrific swimming facilities (photos to come), I have no clothes hangers (yet), and it's raining and very, very humid. 아주 습해요! We'll see what else the future has to bring... but tonight I'm turning in early. 잘자 (Good night)!

P.S. If you speak/read Korean fluently, feel free to correct any spelling or grammatical mistakes I make!

환영합니다!

That means, "Welcome!"

I'm in Korea!

That's all, bye!

The Last Night

Tonight is the last I'm going to spend in the United States for a while... I spent it packing and playing Settlers of Catan with my cousins. Time well spent, I think.

So now that I have about seventeen hours before I leave for the airport, it's time to go over my pre-departure to-do list. Number one... SF! I did go -- multiple times, actually -- and I got some souvenirs from the Far East Flea Market in SF's Chinatown, reportedly the best and cheapest place to buy tourist-y things. I also used my time in SF and Berkeley to prepare some cultural lessons, in a way: at the recent Giants-Dodgers game at AT&T park, I shot some short movies that I'm going to try to turn into a video lesson on baseball. (Also -- the Giants won! Woohoo!) I also interviewed some friends of mine who are students at Cal. It's for giving my future students some American college aspirations, I guess!

As for other teaching materials, I've brought along some magazines which I don't think will be terribly helpful, as they are not at a very low reading level, and they will also be outdated by the time I actually start teaching. Oh well, at least I can read them. And I also brought some Taboo cards which should make for a fun in-class activity, as long as I tweak the rules a bit to make them easier.

I finished Level 1 at TalktomeinKorean.com, and I'll spend all my plane time and the first day of Orientation doing a bit of review. The hope is that I won't be placed in a beginner-level class, even though my grammar and vocabulary is still way below intermediate.

In addition to the very useful podcast lessons on that website, I also watched (and finished!) my very first Korean drama, called Dream High. It's kind of like Smash, more like Fame (not really like Glee, I must admit). It started out pretty awful, but after three or four episodes I started to get very attached to the storylines. And while the series finale left me a bit unimpressed, I at least now have a bit more knowledge of some Korean pop stars. Also, the drama's theme song is stuck in my head.

Dream High's beautiful cast of mediocre actors

And yes, I cut my hair. In fact, I almost shaved it all off. No photos for you, though!

Lastly, I've finished packing. I really tried to pack light. One large suitcase to be checked, one small suitcase as a carry-on, and one backpack. The larger suitcase is just shy of the fifty-pound weight limit, and it is filled with nothing but clothes. The smaller one has basically everything else. Does it seem like a lot to you? I'm actually taking less with me to Korea (for one year) than I took to France (for one semester). So I think I'll be buying some more clothes while I'm over there.

Oh, one more thing... Mission Peak! I only hiked up once. Maybe I'll sneak in one more tomorrow morning... should I risk it? Haha.

Good night, moon. Next time I see you, I'll be on the other side of the world!