Green Pinwheels

Today has been a great day all alone here at school. I got to do all kinds of things I usually just wish I had the time to do, like waste time taking pictures of things like food.

This semester I've made friends with a girl named Trang, whose family comes from Vietnam. It seems like every time I see Trang, she has some new tasty Asian snack for me to try. Since I love trying new foods, I love getting to see Trang :) Yesterday I stopped by her dorm room, and as custom, she loaded me down with all kinds of new goodies from the Asian market. I like most of the Asian food that I've tried so far, but some of the things she gave me this time... well they weren't my favorite.

There was one thing that she gave me, though that was quite tasty. I can't remember what she called it, but I woud call it a green pinwheel. It was about the size of a giant Subway cookie, and it was shaped like an American jelly roll. But instead of jelly rolled into cake this was made of a very lightly sweet and spongey bread filled with a light cream. This is an Asian sweet that I could certainly get used to!

Romeo and Juliet

Spring Break is here! and so am I... stuck at school for the first few days of spring break, I have nothing better to do than laundry, homework, and Korean Drama...

I was informed just yesterday by my friend Jamie, from Malaysia, that I must start watching Korean Drama. Korean Drama is equivalent to an American mini-series. On you-tube they're shown in 10 minute segments with about 7 or 8 segments per episode. I decided to devote an hour of my afternoon to watching some Korean Drama. So I You-tubed Korean Drama, and as I ate my leftover Chinese that Flora cooked last night at Encounter Bible study, I watched my first Korean Drama ever. The one I watched today reminded me of a cross between a day-time soap opera and Lizzie McGuire.

Today I watched Delightful Girl Episode 3. This drama is about newlyweds Mong-ryong and Choon-hyang who are both still in high school together. They really don't even seem to like each other all that much in the beginning. Choon-hyang thinks that Mong-ryong is simple-minded. Mong-ryong even regrets the marriage at points as he still seems to have a thing for his old girl friend Chae-rin. Over the course of the episode Mong-ryong and Choon-hyang each do different things to trick or embarass the other. By the end of the episode they both seem to have developed a care for the other. Choon-hyang becomes jealous of Mong-ryong's obvious feelings he still has for Chae-rin. And later, when Choon-hyang is cast as Juliet in the school play and has an onstage kiss, Mong-ryong gets his fair share of jealousy. Only time will tell... or maybe just a few more hours of Delightful Girl... if Mong-ryong and Choon-hyang truly do love each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYD_YKwhvw&feature=related
I posted this link to my favorite segment of this episode, segment (6/7), definitely the climactic segment of the episode. In this segment Choon-hyang is cast as Juliet, and Mong-ryong decides to be in the play since he is so apprehensive about the kiss. In this scene we also see that Chae-rin, Mong-ryong's former love, shows up to watch his performance. And, there is a renowned producer of some sort that's really interested in Choon-hyang, but Da-ni (I can't tell if this is her sister or just her friend) is really the one who wants to be a star. I guess that's why Choon-hyang is the Delightful Girl. This Korean DRAMA certainly lives up to its name!

Culture Shock 101.

I guess this blog has somewhat of a corny title, but then again, we can't all perfect the art of being corny quite as well as I! Nonetheless, the trip is quickly approaching, and everyday I am feeling more and more unprepared! So, instead of sitting around and allowing it to sneak up on my any longer, I've decided to start this blog. Every day... or as often as I get around to it... I will post something new that I can learn about South Korea.

I also hope for this blog to be a way for me to journal my thoughts, questions, and comments mostly regarding my summer trip, but also just for everyday life. I hope that sharing how I learn and grow can help to encourage those around me. So.. for whoever actually takes the time to read this, other than my own mom (which I very much appreciate mom!), I will try my best to be open and honest. Hope you enjoy it and learn much along the way with me!

As a side note... this blog was also inspired by my great friend Meredith Brunson, who recently started her own blog.