Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

?? 19-years-old in usa = 21 in Korea ??

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WELCOME TO 12월 !
Welcome to December ! 
Korea’s winter is coming~ and is said to be brutal every year. Yet.. tomorrow’s weather should be a high of 10 degrees …. CELSIUS (relatively warm late-fall weather) !! But some days this past week haven’t gotten above freezing temperature. >.<


So how can your age be one or two years older in Korea ?
  • When you are conceived, you are considered 0
  • When you are born, you are 1
  • On your birthday, you stay the same age (people still celebrate their birthdays)
  • Every January 1st, EVERYONE ages 1 year

So this means… someone born on December 31st will become age 2 the next day !

Ex: I’m 21 outside of Korea ; 22 in Korea. I have a July 8th birthday, so I’m two years older from January 1 to July 7, and one year older from July 8 to December 31.
Completely messed up, yeah ? I think it’s illogical, but solely a fun thing to know ^u^
The age system is very very important here ; the biggest thing about the Korean language is that your speech changes depending on how much older the person you’re talking to is. I often hear the question “how old are you?” 


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Last Tuesday, I went to my first PC방 – Computer rooms – which you can see everywhere on the streets. These are places you can go to relieve stress playing League of Legends, Starcraft Brood War, or Korean or Japanese computer games.
You can also go here to just use the internet.
It’s maybe $1/hr …can’t remember xP
I just wanna point out how cool the East Asian talley system is ; here is the block of five: 正  Stroke order: http://sites.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/12412/2013/11/%E6%AD%A3-order.gif
You can use this at some restaurants when you’re given a pad of the menu names and a block for the quantity to order. 

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Also, money is kinda cool too. 
The bills increase a bit in size and include [1 5 10 and 50] thousand Won (KRW, 원, ₩)
The value amount is almost the same as dollar divided by 1000. This eliminates the need for a decimal point.
And they’re color-coded =D 
And the backs have cool artwork~
Aaaaand there’s a woman on the 50000 !!
Plus I included my T-money (subway) card in the photo. Idk why~ :3

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Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, the only place to find real Thanksgiving food in Seoul is in the Itaewon district (which placed #1 on my personal Top 7 Things to Fear in Korea). SO INSTEAD– Some of the Americans and I went to Outback Steak’ouse – Yes, Aussie-themed American food) – for a decent substitute of chicken and mashed potatoes, which was a fantastic $20 dinner =D …well, really good but expensive. We got a photo with the waiter because he had cool hair~
Earlier that day for lunch, I had one of my get-lost adventures in BongChunDong. There’s not too much interesting there ; I went there because I was really curious and wanted to find the exact location of the setting of this well-known Korean horror comic: 
(don’t open on a mobile device)

And~
I ate an entire Hot Chicken Pizza (pictured left) in Bongchun-dong …  
Outback Steakhouse dinner on the right
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..I see a lot of pizzas with corn as a topping on pizzas, like the one above.
If you’ve been skipping my music discussions (it’s okay ; KPOP is a crappy genre), definitely try this one—
How ’bout some really classic 90s music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3zIGP8ATkM
Jaurim 자우림 (meaning “Purple Rainforest) has been releasing albums since 1997 and hits the 90s sound very well. Their singer YoonAh Kim is currently 39-years-old — surprised ?? :3
I’d say the best part about this group is YoonAh’s range of voices ; the best example is probably in her weirder songs.
What’s your age in Korea ???  =P xP xP
Comment with your birthday and Korean age as a guess and I’ll lecha double check
~Ry  ^-^
This blog has been brought to you by the letter 월 “Weol”
and
얀얀초콜릿맛 Japanese Chocolate Dip Biscuit Snack

Location: East Asia~

A Very English Thanksgiving

This is coming in a few months late, but at the time, I was too busy with the workload to worry about blogging about my Thanksgiving experience. I am all done now, and here it is! Thanksgiving this year was obviously not spent in Lancaster PA with my second family, however it still consisted of well-cooked turkey, cranberry sauce and perhaps a third family? With a bonus of champagne.

I think I speak for most of us American visiting students in saying that Catz was very thoughtful and kind in organizing a thanksgiving supper for us, as we were away from home. The Dean, and the Master among other administrators were not obliged to celebrate this American holiday, but did so and did it well. We began the evening at the Senior Common Room, having some drinks with the Master and casually chatting with our peers. We then abandoned our glasses of champagne and/or orange juice and went over to the dinning hall where we were served a delightful traditional meal. Turkey, green beans, red wine, cranberry sauces, etc and topped it off with a delicious pecan pie for dessert. At the end of the table, a group of us decided to keep American tradition alive and go around the table, stating what we are thankful for. Family was one that got mentioned a good number of times and while it sounds like a clich�, I think it had a lot more meaning at that table that night than it did at any other point. There we were, a group of students, none of whom had known each other prior to taking the huge risk to study abroad. We were out of our comfort zones and away from our families and loved ones, however, we had somehow managed to find a new family amongst each other and create a home away from home in St. Catz.

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The Dean gave a great speech addressing this towards the end of the dinner that put everything into perspective. As an Irish man away from home himself, he related to how we may had been feeling. And although Brynne was unable to make her Jell-o thanksgiving special (because apparently, there is no jell-o in the UK! *GASP*) we were able to form new Thanksgiving traditions so that if ever we should all be in the same area again during the season, we would know how to celebrate it in our own way and while stating what we are thankful for, we will be sure to include our experience at Oxford University, and more specifically, St. Catherine’s college.

PSU Crew I

The PSU Crew at Catz


Location: Oxford, England