Ah the irony, it's never far away. I spent this entire trip trying to get myself to sleep in later instead of wandering around at 4am, and staying up later instead of falling asleep at 3pm. And now for the first time all vacation, I have to set my alarm clock to wake me up at 7am. I have to get a cab from my hotel in Gangnam to a bus stop in Jamsil where a resort bus will take me at 9:30 all the way to Gangwon-do. It only runs once a day since the distance is so great, so I am waking up early and taking no chances. I will be in that taxi by 8am. Jamsil is only a few subway stations away from my Yeoksam station (~10 mins by subway) but since I have all my luggage with me, those epic subway stair sets are going to be a no go!
I was chatting with my unnis and oppas at the front desk this morning when they suddenly realized I was leaving tomorrow morning :( They were so sad. I made such good memories here, in the hotel and in the area around it. I finally know where everything is and can make my way around when I need something or want to go somewhere, aaaand I'm leaving. /sigh. I bought boxes of cookies for my staff friends and for the cleaning crew who took care of me so well this whole trip and wrote my favorite hotel attendants a card. I had Dajeong translate what I wanted to say into Korean so I could write it down :)
I was chatting with my unnis and oppas at the front desk this morning when they suddenly realized I was leaving tomorrow morning :( They were so sad. I made such good memories here, in the hotel and in the area around it. I finally know where everything is and can make my way around when I need something or want to go somewhere, aaaand I'm leaving. /sigh. I bought boxes of cookies for my staff friends and for the cleaning crew who took care of me so well this whole trip and wrote my favorite hotel attendants a card. I had Dajeong translate what I wanted to say into Korean so I could write it down :)
These are my three favorite attendants here :) You have no idea how INCREDIBLY fond I am of them. It must be something to do with the fact I've never traveled abroad before to a strange country, but I feel like they really took care of me while I was here, like real older brothers and sisters (which is the meaning of unni and oppa, often used among friends or those you are comfortable with). They ordered all my deliveries for me over the phone, chatted with me everyday on where I was going and what I was doing, helped me out when I was lost or needed a translation, and always greeted me every morning and afternoon with a smile and a laugh at all my shopping bags/grocery bags/excited tales of what I did that day. Apparently they think I'm super cute for being happy all the time and so energetic, greeting them everyday and sharing my stories. I guess they don't get many people who stay as long as I do, who will get attached to them lol. It's the strangest thing, but I will miss them so much :(
Looking back on my trip thus far, I had a random thought about shopping in Korea. I think the reason I end up buying much more than I expect I will is because in these small Korean shops if there is something I like, there is often only one of them and chances are it'll be gone next time if I don't buy it now. It's an impulse-buy-or-nothing kind of shopping going on.
I know you're all thinking "but you always buy a lot". Contrary to popular belief, I am a careful shopper! I have a Costco of a closet but its carefully accumulated :D I don't usually buy expensive clothes or ones that aren't on sale, and I try to limit what I buy at one time with some exceptions (E.g. I am halfway around the world and a $5 silk button-down top is staring me in the face).
My Usual Method of Shopping
1) See something I like, 2) Check the price, 3) Judge mentally whether its worth the price; if its worth the price, 4) Judge mentally whether I need it and/or already have others like it, 5) If I STILL want it I view items in my head I would/could wear it with and 6) judge whether I'd wear it enough to justify buying it for the price and quality
If it passes all these trials, I buy it. If it fails at one of them, I move on! Now y'all know what's going through my head when I'm staring silently and intently at an article of clothing while shopping hahah. This is why I prefer to do any real shopping alone, to spare my shopping companion :)
I know you're all thinking "but you always buy a lot". Contrary to popular belief, I am a careful shopper! I have a Costco of a closet but its carefully accumulated :D I don't usually buy expensive clothes or ones that aren't on sale, and I try to limit what I buy at one time with some exceptions (E.g. I am halfway around the world and a $5 silk button-down top is staring me in the face).
My Usual Method of Shopping
1) See something I like, 2) Check the price, 3) Judge mentally whether its worth the price; if its worth the price, 4) Judge mentally whether I need it and/or already have others like it, 5) If I STILL want it I view items in my head I would/could wear it with and 6) judge whether I'd wear it enough to justify buying it for the price and quality
If it passes all these trials, I buy it. If it fails at one of them, I move on! Now y'all know what's going through my head when I'm staring silently and intently at an article of clothing while shopping hahah. This is why I prefer to do any real shopping alone, to spare my shopping companion :)
I also met a new friend from Saudia Arabia today in the elevator!! I finally meet a friend my age, who speaks English, is staying in my hotel, HAS A ROOM ON THE SAME FLOOR AS ME, and its my LAST DAY HERE. Life, why do you do these things to me?! -.- We had a spirited conversation on the way up to our floor and we talked so long in the hall, her family poked their heads out to see where she was lol. Her little brother came bounding out too, all shy and smiley. He didn't speak English but happily responded to my wave and bow. They were so cute :)
She excitedly introduced me to her parents as well, as "Candace from America!!!". This struck me as so funny, since I've never been anywhere where it was cause for excitement or where you had to explain you were from America before. If my parents were there, I would've been equally excited to introduce her as my friend from Saudi Arabia!! It seems like such an exotic and far-off place, but I guess to everyone else, America is also a far-off place. That's so interesting to think about for me; I'm learning all sorts of things I've never thought about before. This is another reason I wanted to come abroad, to learn more about the world and how other cultures think and act. We live in a bubble in the US, and I want to know what's outside it. This is a first-hand chance!
But I digress again. Sorry, I got excited lol. Going back to my friend, we commiserated about not understanding the sentences Koreans tried to speak to us, although she has mastered English as well as Arabic, so she's way ahead of me linguistically. Her English was really good too, completely natural and fluent! I was so impressed, I wish I was bilingual lol. I can't remember her name, much less spell it but it was really pretty. It sounded like Riyula or something. I will leave her a note on her door before I leave, with my email or something. Maybe we can still be friends and penpals :)
She excitedly introduced me to her parents as well, as "Candace from America!!!". This struck me as so funny, since I've never been anywhere where it was cause for excitement or where you had to explain you were from America before. If my parents were there, I would've been equally excited to introduce her as my friend from Saudi Arabia!! It seems like such an exotic and far-off place, but I guess to everyone else, America is also a far-off place. That's so interesting to think about for me; I'm learning all sorts of things I've never thought about before. This is another reason I wanted to come abroad, to learn more about the world and how other cultures think and act. We live in a bubble in the US, and I want to know what's outside it. This is a first-hand chance!
But I digress again. Sorry, I got excited lol. Going back to my friend, we commiserated about not understanding the sentences Koreans tried to speak to us, although she has mastered English as well as Arabic, so she's way ahead of me linguistically. Her English was really good too, completely natural and fluent! I was so impressed, I wish I was bilingual lol. I can't remember her name, much less spell it but it was really pretty. It sounded like Riyula or something. I will leave her a note on her door before I leave, with my email or something. Maybe we can still be friends and penpals :)
Time to tuck in for the night, after my favorite probiotic Asian drink :) These things are so darn good and are healthy for you! It's a win-win. Unlike in America, when you buy these here they give you mini straws. This is because they are properly supposed to be drunken all in a row (see how they are packaged), with a straw on top to drink it through. I got made fun of so much in college for drinking it like this hahah, but seriously it's way more convenient than drinking each tiny thing individually and peeling off the foil top for each one...Asians always have it right, whether it be chopsticks as the ultimate eating utensil or ways to drink probiotics :D