Boryeong Mud Festival (AKA in my world: Kid Day)

This event was quite fun. I was expecting there to be only mud, and mud slides but there was a beach right next to the festival and I was wanting to go to a beach in South Korea so this trip allowed me to kill two birds with one stone. The mud festival was quite small though. It cost ₩10,000 to enter so I could not expect for that much.

At the festival there was two slides, two big mud pools, one obstacle course, one couple obstacle course, one mud jail, and a pool to wash off. I really enjoyed the slides because it was fun to go down, getting to the top was difficult because there was someone else going on the bounce slide with you. This was a little bit of a competition to see who would get to the bottom faster, but the true competition was the obstacle course. It was difficult to get myself through it because everything was slippery. So I could not walk properly and grasp on to items to make my way through. In the mud pools there was little games we played that involved 20 people. The first was a hitting/slapping the palm game. This was difficult because the floor was slippery, so you could fall on your own account. Then the chicken game, so we were split into two groups and there was the mom chicken and the rest on the line were chicks. If the other team mom chicken touches the end of our line we would lose. Sadly, I kept slipping and breaking our teams’ line so we all had a punishment, sitting in the middle and allowing everyone who did not lose spray you with mud, in the end. The last game was to group with the amount of people the announcer of the game would pick. Of course I lost in this also.

Temporary Palace @ Suwon and Korean Movie: The Fatal Encounter (역린)

I am always amazed that South Korea has modern and traditional buildings right next to each other. I think it is great to change old buildings with new ones, but by preserving the countries landmarks, it helps not only the native people but also people who are visiting to understand the country history.

In the past, I have watched many Korean dramas. So it was really exciting to put myself in the setting and it was fascinating that I could walk on the same ground as kings and officials did.

When I went to the Temporary Palace in Suwon, it was not as grand and fancy as I thought it would be. Despite the appearance, I had a great time learning about South Korean history. The palace was used during the Joseon Period during the twenty second King Jeongja reign. The day after visiting the palace, I saw the movie, The Fatal Encounter, which helped me understand the situation a little bit better. During King Jeongja’s reign, his grandfather ordered people to kill King Jeongja’s father, the crown prince. In South Korea, a crown prince is the one who is definite to be crowned next. After watching all these monarchy dramas, it was no surprise to me that something like this could happen. I saw the box, not the exact box, which was used to kill King Jeongja’s father. When I first saw the box I had a feeling it could be used as a torture device. And I was right. They put King Jeongja’s father inside the box and nailed it so he would not be able to escape. He was left in the box under the heat for 10 days, till his death. The movie was more graphic than I thought it would be. King Jeongja’s father had his fingernails chipped and covered in blood, possibly from the attempts to escape. Including feces on his clothes. Since the death of his father happened, King Jeongja felt deep regret for not being able to be filial, a characteristic that is popular in eastern cultures because of Confucianism, to his parents. Thus when he was on the battlefield he personally protected his mother to make up for not being to protect his father when he was younger. There is actually a picture of the format of the battlefield. The tour guide told the group that she told her son about King Jeongja’s action and her son did not feel the same way King Jeongja felt. I believe that King Jeongja’s traumatic experience was the basis to be protective of his parents. His personality shows that he has power, influence, and a great leader because King Jeongja was fairly high in neurotic, there was seven attempts to kill him but King Jeongja remained calm. In addition he was high in conscientious, because he was hard working and sincere. He read books daily, exercised, and cared for his people. King Jeongja was probably in the low average area of the spectrum for agreeable because he did not simply agree to the officials’ comments when they went against him for wanting to change the meetings to make them more effective to tackle real situations. Overall, King Jeongja left a good impression on me because he is a resilient person for being able to put up with so many opposing factors and he is a person I admire.

My Dog ate my Visa…

Yes that’s right. That’s pretty much what happened.

Because I’m leaving the U.S.A. a lot earlier than my other classmates C.L.I., The Chinese Learning Institute, like the wonderful people that they are Fedex-ed my visa documents overnight with an attached application guide so I could go to the Chinese Embassy as soon as possible.
They did not foresee that the Fedex delivery man was afraid of my 9 month old puppy….Ok I’ve give the mailman pity points because my pup is 65 pounds
but C’MON MY VISA!!!!

MY VISA, MR. MAILMAN!!!

MY VISA, DOG!!! D:<

DOGGY RIPPED UP MY DOCUMENTS

Unfortunately I didn’t even find out about it until 3 days later when I can back from New Paltz. So I’m sure you can understand when my 65 lb terror was terrified of me. I called C.L.I. right away and told me that the documents couldn’t be saved because there were the official ones and I should just get a long tourist visa. I was distraught and really I didn’t know what to do without my student visa so 3 days later I chanced it. The documents looks kinda salvageable…sure there were bite marks and the corners were COMPLETELY torn off . I filled out a tourist visa like C.L.I. said but I made copies of the original documents, got copies from Christian Wilwohl, my study abroad adviser, and also filled out my student visa…with an apology letter written in English and Chinese attached…

AND MY STUDENT VISA CLEARED ;D

Now I just have to find a better method to hold my dog back when the delivery guys comes -_-

"Dog eat visa Day"

“Dog eat visa Day”

NOTE: I ended up tearing the head off the Fedex guy over the phone for throwing a package into a yard had a ‘BEWARE OF DOG’ sign…no regrets.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I’ve been back home for two days and I already definitely miss Chile and Argentina.  It was an experience of a life time.  Both places so distinctly different have captured my heart.  I really hoped to come back with my Spanish experience but I did come but with many things.  Now I know I must study harder and revisit things I thought I knew.  I have a lot of work ahead of me but it is something I deff still want to pursue.  Going to South America only further engaged my interest in Latin America and the the World.  This experience has definitely changed me as a person.  It made realize things I couldn’t and question my beliefs on certain topics.  I promise myself I will got back; not only to return to the friends and family I made but to make a difference to help those who need it.  My time in South America reminded me who I am on the inside and the places I want to go, before I left I was extremely but now I feel like I have been reset on the right path.  My friends and family are all so happy I am who and ask me never to leave again. I have missed them all so much to and they make me all so happy and everything is almost perfect.  But I know that I have to go again and one day, one day maybe soon I will.  But as far away as I am from South America; I am honestly very happy.  Happy to be home with people that I love and happy to remembered one of the most treasured experiences of my life.  Also I will always be thankful to my family and god for allowing to be able to do such incredible things.

 

Some endings pics:

fam

Saying goodbye to the host fan =/

 

yeah

Teachers saying goodbye to all the students leaving

 

party

Going away party for the students leaving

A Reverse Cultural Adjustment

It is a weird concept to be home, but feel an aching for a foreign place. I think about Prague everyday, and all the wonderful experiences I had there. In the short time I spent there, I feel that I matured a lot. I was forced to be independent, and adjust to an entirely new culture. I was able to overcome extreme homesickness. I made such great friends. I feel that I am a more well-rounded and worldly individual too. It is hard to be home now. I miss the beauty of Prague, and its culture. I miss the feeling of freedom, and the endless opportunities for adventure. I miss being on my own, and all the summer nights spent wandering around the city. I miss the Charles Bridge, hanging out by the Vltava River, and tram rides. I miss the random nights staying up late talking and laughing. I miss those things that can’t quite be put into words. The experiences, you would have had to be there with me to understand. In short I miss Prague in a way I never felt that I could miss a place that I never even truly lived in, just visited for a while. In the entirety of one’s life, a month is not long at all, and yet I feel so attached to Prague, it was as if I had been there for years. My thoughts now direct towards how quickly I can get myself back to Prague. I am  even considering studying abroad there for a semester.

There is however, a part of me that is glad to be home. I missed my family and close friends. The comfort of my own culture, the security of being in a place I am so familiar with. I missed American food, and my bed. However, I would do my whole study abroad experience over again in a heartbeat. Prague will now and forever, hold a special place in my heart.

 

Entonces…

Well this was my last weekend in Chile I didn’t do to much but It was still great.  This friday I went to the capital, saturday I climbed a mountain with someone who lives in Chile, and today we had a goodbye party for my host sister, its funny when I was reading through others post to get an idea of how I wanted my posts to be, I read someone saying they were sad and missed home and were talking about how it’s normal.  I haven’t gotten sad until this wednesday; the thing is though my saddens was for leaving.  I’ve gotten very happy were I am, and practicing my Spanish.  It makes me sad knowing that I probably won’t ever see most of these people agin., the fact that I don’t know when I’ll be back and also the fact that I may never get to focus strictly on my language studies as here.  I wish I could prolong my time.  But I know I will definitely be back here one day.  For all those who read this and are preparing to study abroad enjoy every second you can.  For all those who are reading this to see how my experience was I can honestly say their are very few moments in my life that compare to any day here.  I have a lot of plans this week and I am going to try to see and do a lot of things.  My final for my class is weds so after that I can enjoy everything even more.  I’ll post some new pictures of this weekend and the upcoming week prob thursday.  I do miss my family and friends!  I hope everyone is good.  See everyone soon!