Day 03

Churros
Hongkik University
Grocery shopping
Cats
Airplane cold 

Hwa-jang-sil

Happy belated cinco de mayo everyone!

There is actually an odd fascination going on here in South Korea with churros. They have them in chip form, in their convenience stores, and they're sold on roadside food stalls. I wonder how that got started.

Anyhow my third day here was a relaxing one but I had to take it slow because I am feeling a bit under the weather. I think it's from the low humidity on the airplanes and the time difference. I woke up at 5am once again and cannot sleep.

During the day I walked around the neighborhood that I'm staying in and just pretended to be a local. I even went to the market to get food. The area that I'm staying in by the way is the Hongkik University area, and because it's one of South Korea's top art schools, this area is jam PACKED with artsy coffee shops, cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. It is the hip place to be. It is also where a few of those cat cafes and dog cafes are if you've heard of them.

So it makes sense when I was walking around I noticed a lot of young Korean college students, as well as foreign exchange students and tourists. Korean students here by the way are really well dressed and I know why! There are shops and stands EVERYWHERE here selling tons of cute clothes for very reasonable prices. I was really tempted but had to stop myself. Maybe on my last day here I'll pick up a few items.

See, no sidewalks,

While that was fun it was also a bit overwhelming for me. I walked around for about 1.5 hours and I was exhausted. After that I went back to my friend's place and made myself a little salad with the food I bought earlier on and took a nap.

If you're curious, the price of food here is pretty comparable to the U.S, but it does vary a lot too. For example, strawberries and lettuce were the same as U.S prices, but bananas for some reason were quite expensive. I think I bought 1.5 lbs for like $5 dollars? But things like water and eating out seems a little bit cheaper on average. 

                                       

Useful Korean phrase #2 is hwa-jang-sil, which means bathroom! I had to learn that after eating at a restaurant and couldn't find the bathroom in there. I am also passing off as a Korean person exceptionally well, almost too well, because when I buy things everyone greets me in Korean and then because I don't want to be rude I smile and nod. But they're probably thinking I am rude because I don't say anything back. Dilemma.

                                  

                                                             One of my housemates.

I have more pictures but this blogger app doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Will post next time then!