Class at Universidad Catolico and Korean Nametags

I have my first class of Study Abroad today at Catholic University which is about 30 minutes walking distance from Casa ACU. I was little nervous to take a class outside somewhere in Montevideo. However, it turned out a good experience to walk around neighborhood.

There are only three people in my class including myself. The teacher was very nice and funny in several ways. We are not allowed to speak any English in class; therefore, she had to draw lots of stuff on a board to explain what a certain word means... and she is a really good at drawing..
I wish I took pics of her drawings of forks, knives, and spoons.. but she erased them.













After coming back from class, I learned how to play SET from Mrs. Walker. I was lost in the beginning, but it was a good game.

Today girls and I went to gimnasio urbana to do aerobicos.
I never did one before in my life; however, it was really fun to jump around.
The instructor was a tiny woman who had a major ADHD....
she was so funny...
It was a productive day


Finally I got to take pics of the Korean name tags I made for the guys...
Brandon's Korean name means "hill" since his name means a beacon on the hill.
I really like how his Korean name sounds.
Earl's name means "a fluffy cloud"... welll.. because.. he is EARL...
Aaron's Korean name literally means "a gansta" because he wanted a manly name.
Tanner's korean name means "a hunter" since he likes to hunt. I drew of him killing a bear with one shot.. :)
My favorite name of all is though Jordan's. Jordan wanted to be named "one who talks alot". However, Earl came up with a better one "a petite bird".
I liked both. so I named him "a petite bird, who talks alot" in korean..
It also sounds funny as much as it sounds funny in English.. I love it..  

Here are their name tags...

                                  

Good time on 18 de Julio

Today.. we went to church next to Casa ACU.
I really wish I had brought my camera.. because people were so nice.. and they were just so happy to see us...
I had a lunch with an old guy and two old ladies.
They were very nice and patient with my Spanish.
Especially the guy (he told me my name, but I don't know how to pronounce) treated me like I was his grandaughter or something.
Also Bible Study in Spanish was very interesting...


Afternoon around 4:00pm
Aryanne, Kelly, and I were bored.. and wanted to take a walk toward Ciudad Vieja via 18 de Julio.
It was very different from when we went on Friday.
Since many shops were closed, there were rarely people walking..
So Aryanne stopped every 5 seconds to take pictures of anything... and.. soon she ran out of battery lol .. I ended up taking more pics that I thought I would
It took about an hour to get there...
we sat at the bench.... just chilling...
and we walked back..even though we had decided to take a bus earlier..





While we were walking back, I noticed one specific old woman was following.. us...
I found her in three pics.. that I took earlier..... that was creepy....
She was walking along us for like 15 minutes. at least until we stopped for ice creat at La Cigale..
I got dulce de leche! it was only 50 pesos.. (alot cheaper than Cold Stone) .. but tasted so much better than that one.. :)








We were really happy to find out a place to just chill and relax on weekends...
and pics turned out very good

Feria de Sabados and Victory of Meat....

Today, we went to Saturday Fair...
Weather was so nice..
no wind, no heat.. and no cold...

They sold a bunch of stuff....from fruits to underwear..

Vendors were really nice toward us...
I got a little purple bag for 50 pesos ..

however, my favorite purchase of the day was a bundle of white flowers from a little girl. Flowers smell good!

Aryanne found lots of stuff with hello kitty on.. so I lost her once in a while..... but I found her again.. that was good..
The best Hello Kitty Product was a Gothic Hello Kitty BackPack.....

The market place looks very familiar to me.. cuz I love going to market in korea too.
Actually lot of things here in Uruguay remind me of Korea..
like Bus system, Grocerty Store, smell of food. and good customer service..

Aryanne and I went to study McDonald in uruguay..
People there were all nice too..
Aryanne didn't like her burger that much.. but I loved my mcflurry!!!
it was so sweet that even I couldn't finish it..


ok.... this Story of my defeat against Meat in Uruguay..
Basically I got bitterly betrayed by a chicken...
When my friends went to a popular hamburger stand, I asked the guy nicely if they had a chicken burger....He was very kind to tell me where I can buy a chicken sandwich..
so I went to that place and got a chicken patty sandwish.. and I was about to cry.. cuz I was hungry and happy..
I took a bite of victory.........
but I tasted something that was not even considered a chick....
THERE WAS A SLICE OF HAM IN THE CHICKEN PATTY!!!!
A chicken and a pig are not suppoesd to be each other!!!
I got badly badly offended by this camouflage and ambush of a Uruguyan pig..

With a huge shame, I declared my defeat under Uruguyan Meat... I thought Texas was bad enough...

I love animals.. but I guess I should enjoy them here in Uruguay... since.. they even sacrificed themselved to be fried along with chicken...

............ oh ... geezz.z.....

Trip to Old City and endless UNO night

Friday (Aug 29th 2008) was very relaxing...
we chilled until afternoon when we went to Old City (Ciudad Vieja).
I really liked our group cuz Eric knew lots lots of Montevideo history...
Uruguay seems to have a political history similar to Korea.
Both countries won independence from another country not long ago..
We tried to keep our constitution,, but we gave in under military dictatorship for a while like Uruguay did.. but we came back.. again as democracy and republic nation.

Walking along 18 de Julio is alot like walking around a city in Korea.


My favorite of all things we saw was the fountain where u can make ur love wish come true.
I will take a pic of it when I get a chance.
what they do here is. they get a lock and put initials of two people. then they put a lock on a fountain and dump a key into water.
Then love will be kept forever.. something like that..

Another exciting moment was when we found a korean restaurant!!!!!!!
I can go when I go crazy here

No pic today... cuz it was very crowded....

In the evening I was walking from Trus Cruces with Earl and Aryanne.. and I heard someone whistle.... I KNEW I should not look back.. because guys here think it is their JOB to show interest to women... but out of reflex I looked back.... at that moment.. Earl told me "DON'T LOOK BACK!!!".. well .. thanks... Earl..lol


Tonight, Earl, Aryanne, and I were walking near Casa ACU and found a pizzeria..
They sell cheese pizza by a half meter or one meter.. and it is very cheap.
The man, owning that place, was really nice toward our lack of spanish speaking skills.
Pizza was amazing.. and we were happy to meet someone nice.

When we came back to Casa ACU, we three started playing UNO with two decks.. of cards.
and that was not a good idea at all...
cuz no one would win easily.. and we kept playing for like 3 hours.....
last two hours, Jordan played for Aryanne....
We didn't officially finish the game.. but we LET Earl win since he had 4 jokers...
lol....

Plane Ride and 1st day at Casa ACU

yeah I know it has been almost a week since I got here.. but I've been occupied with other stuff...

but I am catching up my blogs today.. because I forget everything that happened..
well.. the plane ride was very uncomfortable somehow..
however,, the nice lady let me and Aryanne have seats together with an empty seat between us..
and they showed the movie that I had already seen twice....
so I tried to sleep...but it was not successful..
there were two old ladies next to me and Aryanne....
and they kept staring at my face... so I felt very offended.


The best part I remember from the day I arrived in Montevideo (Aug 28th 2008) was when I had to go through an immigration officer. The lady saw my korean passport and asked another lady working next to her "Do you know if South Korea needs a visa?" ..
the other lady said " I dunno"..... and then the lady.. just put a stamp on my passport..
I guess.. I look very innocuous.. cuz I am not north korean...lol

When we arrived in Montevideo, it was raining and little chilly.
However, thankfully, we all got our checked in luggages back..
Applaud for you, American Airline.

It took about 40 minutes in a bus to get to Casa ACU.
We passed by a nice town next to a beach..
everyone was excited!!

We finally made to Casa ACU around 11:00 am..
We were busy looking around, moving in, and unpacking..
Raquel and Mariela greeted us with awesome food.... that I forgot the name of..

Me and Aryanne chose a tiny, cozy room.. so that we will clean as often as possible :)
We had a nice lunch with empenadas.....
then off to "Scavanger hunt" ... around the neighborhood.


we couldn't bring our camera... but we walked around, used ATM and Cambio,, and found grocery stores..

We had a little break.. before going out for dinner.
I had a hard time ordering food that will accomodate my vegetaranism.. but shamefully I had to order a fried chicken... which was excellent..
Aryanne had a freaky moment at the restaurant.. when one guy keep passing by us and taking pics of her..

People told me I am really loud outside.. getting attention..
so I decided to shut up... in public...
well.. they look at me alot anyways cuz I am asian...
I havnt' seen a single asian today...
very very weird..
when we came back, we watched Brandon dance lol

it was really really a long day... and I am glad I've come..
I love people on trip.....even though I am very judgmental.lol

Bus Ride and Waiting in the Airport

We actually left this morning!


Now I am sitting against the window at the airport next to two outdoorsy guys...
I wonder where they went, because one guy is sleeping on the floor :)


Around 9:00 am, Rachel, Amanda and I met up at Campus center and had a very southern breakfast.. lol
I was in denial until 10:00 am that I was leaving.
it felt so weird to say bye to my friends who swung by..
The meeting at the bus was quick and emotional..



Sandy also came by to give us a card and candies as well as to take a pic of biochemistry major stuents who are going study abroad.


The bus ride was long but fun.. it was fun to listen to side conversation going on...

Check in was fairly quick,,,.. I had to take a book out of my suit case and put it in another bag.. cuz it weighed 53 pounds... even after that it weighed 51 lbs... but the nice lady just let me go.

Me and Aryanne just had a nice meal at TGI Friday..

They didn't have Dr. Pepper.. it was so weird...
Texas without Dr. Pepper....lol


Out first flight is leaving in one and half hour... to miami...

And then we take another flight to Montevideo...
We will be in Uruguay by tomorrow morning!

D-1 extremely stressful

Hola!
Last two days have been so crazy!
I can't believe I have about 9 hrs before leaving Abilene, TX.
Check-In... was.. well... time consuming.. little boring.. but.. required...
We started the two-day meeting with INTS exam.
The exam covered the world map, vocabulary, and the two books we had to read.
The exam was little harder than I thought it would be..
If you are planning to go on Study Abroad, make sure you really really read the books even though they are not the best books in the world. The Cross-Cultural servanthood book was great though.
I borrowed a gigantic world map from Rachel to study with Tiffany.. people thought we were crazy but it was very helpful.


Anyway...
and lots of lots of meetings.. and meetings..
the most boring one was about alcoholic prohibition policy.
it is simple, "just don't drink! Come on u are on ACU!"
However, the most exciting fact I found from these meetings is that I don't need to buy any textbook for my classes....I end up saving like 1000 dollars this semester on books compared to others....

I've been very stressed more since my car stopped working well.. and I can't stay here to fix it.
but my good friend, Rachel, will take a care of it :)
Also, one of my suitcases got torn.. so I had to go to wal-mart and buy a new suitcase... wow. that just drained all my patience out of me.

Also I was very sad at the fact that I am leaving those who love me here..
it is always hard to say good bye even though I will see them again.. soon!

agh!!! What should I do without RACHEL!!!

we three were really bored....

Before Leaving My Loved Ones!!

Since my friends started to coming back to ACU for the coming semester, I 've been very socially occupied. In my life so far, I havn't been good with saying Good Bye especially to those whom I really love; it is just very sad to do so. However, this time, I realized that I need to express my honest emotions whether it is happy or sad. I have never felt this sad to leave my friends for 4 months; I really appreciate my friends because they are the ones who make me believe God's existence and love in my life.
Las few days I've been haning out with Rachel and Ken alot and we commemorated our friendship by taking horrific pictures at Wal-Mart! :)
Especially with Rachel, I spent lots of quality time in places such as Hot Topic! (Hot Topic always makes me feel like a rebel.... :)

Yesterday, Aryanne and Amanda came back too!!! My current mental state is beyond super excitement! Last night we had an amazing dinner at Sharkey's. I got to introduce my amazing friend Brittney (who resides at Sharkey's) to Aryanne and Amanda. Today, Tiffany (and her family), Amanda (and her parental units), Aryanne, andI had a Good Bye lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse along with McKay's Cake (one of few things I appreciate in Abilene). Aryanne and I got to play our little game, called "Making Amanda squeak!" again. Everything was great even Mr.Desrocher's joke about Korean and Japanese. (I hope he was kidding)
More people came back later so we decided to have a little get together at Chillis for dinner. We ended up making a reservation for 13 people.We had to wait alot for a table to become available, but talking about everything was priceless. Morgan, Bryanna's family and Aryanne's father also joined this little party of our own. Everyone laughed at everything.. and for the best part, the waiter was very fun and cute !! He named us according to drinks we ordered. I was Dr. Pepper. Amanda was Diet Coke. and Rachel was Water.
I also started this little game called "Stealing Amanda's stuff" Today I succeeded in stealing her hair elastic, which was on her hair, and her ring, which also was on her hand. Maybe Amanda should never go to a popular tourist place where a stealing is common. or I should turn in my application at CIA, FBI.. or something.
Every moment, I laugh with my friends, I feel like the happiest person in the universe. I should really appreciate this part of my life. I will miss my friends so much for next four months.