설상가상...

"When it rains, it pours"

This is the 사자성어 四字成語 (four character Chinese proverb) that virtually has the same meaning as this English proverb--the literal meaning is "On top of snow is frost," that is, one bad thing happening on top of another. Which is why I'm posting a late post, sorry T_T! After dealing with that cough for about a month, I then somehow got tonsillitis, followed by smaller things, like my bag breaking and the screen of my old cell phone cracking. Go figure with the bad luck. But, as another Korean saying goes 인생은 새옹지마 (塞翁之馬)이다--you never know when life will turn around (literally "the old man at the border's horse"--behind which there is a folk tale)--turning in the cracked old cell phone actually got me a really nice new one with predictive text, finally a subway map calculator, and other cool functions, yay :D.

Unfortunately, getting tonsillitis put me out of school for two days, subsequently leading to days of catching up on work ahh. Life is also 산 넘어 산, mountain after mountain. And I expect more mountains after break, even though we're finally on break, phew! Just as I caught up too haha. But alas, now it's time for me to catch up on this blog ^^.

Getting sick in a different country has definitely helped me fend for myself more on that front. Also, when you get medicine in Korea, you get a LOT of medicine. At the point where I was taking the most medicine, I was taking a bag with a bunch of small nodules of medicine, two pills for some other symptoms, two pills for sore throat, and then a pill for tonsillitis, eesh. I think that's what we'd call overdose in America haha, but as Korean medicine isn't quite as potent as American, it makes sense too. At least I didn't have to get a shot every day I was sick like I did last summer when I had tonsillitis >_<. Going out with your friends just to explore the city is a lot of fun, especially when you just wander, or even check out places you have been to. You just see them in a different light. Namsan was very different to me with my friends this year than it was last summer--just something about the time of year maybe. Not to mention it was FREEZING! Brrr! I'm pretty sure it's about the same weather as NYC but for some reason I find myself less willing to stand it. Just being inside with the nice ondol (floor heating) is really cozy ^^. The roads up at Namsan Tower were also frozen somewhat, making the road very slippery and perilous. I wonder how many people have injured themselves there during the winter? Luckily the weather decided to warm up by this week, rather than stay several degrees below freezing. Alas, it gets cold again starting tomorrow, but hey, weather forecasts say we might have a White Christmas! :) I can't remember the last time there was one... Oh and another observation on how fast Seoul changes--I looked up a Thai restaurant a few weeks ago and there were good reviews for one that had moved from Itaewon to Apgujeong. So my friends and I took the hour commute down to Apgujeong only to meet with a fried chicken place in place of the Thai restaurant. Ridiculous how fast buildings come and go! Not to mention that on the street right outside my home, near Hyundai Department store, there's now a whole middle "island" area where there are bus stops and benches for the buses, something that a lot of areas in Seoul already have. But what amazed me was that it was all done in the span of maybe 2 weeks. That in New York would have taken at least a year I bet. Ah efficiency! Photo update time ^^. Myeongdong lit up, all ready for Christmas!
We went to a sushi buffet in Myeongdong, which cost W18,000, expensive for a meal, but not expensive for sushi. Naturally we ate as much as possible. Henry and I had a faux-eating competition. Normally I don't eat very much and there'd be no doubt that he'd outeat any of us but thanks to my love of sushi I was able to win by 2 plates ^^. Count 'em up--33 plates and a takoyaki place :). Of course, as is the feeling after going to any buffet and stuffing yourself--I never wanted to see food again after that hahaha.
The liveliness of Myeongdong all day round.
Sketchy looking road that leads up to Namsan. Totally looks like a murder scene, ahh!
Waiting for the cable car up to the top.
Namsan Tower once again--we'll be seeing this plenty of times. Always a nice place to frequent :).
Back down at the base of the mountain. It's interesting how much Seoul traffic can remind me so much of home (except for the fact that Seoul drivers like to take headstarts when red lights are about to turn green...)
Just having fun :). Xue Qing, Kana, and me.
Hehe, reflections in ornaments. Christmas spirit for the win!
Having dinner with Henry's mom. Delicious clam soup.
Mm mm the bacon tasted like American bacon too!
BIG shrimp.
Jenga in an Apgujeong Board Game bang.
Followed by Blokus.
And another thing we frequently do--just hang out at cafes. It's the cool thing to do in Seoul :). Also, gotta comment, Koreans really know how to make good cake :D. Mm mm my mouth just waters thinking about it.

All right, I'll add another post soon about the weekend/week that just happened :)!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!