Day 4: Etiquette Class

Day 4
Wednesday June 18th

I woke up extra early to watch the Korean World Cup game with my host family. My mother cooked a great breakfast and then we all sat on the floor to watch the game. The mother wrapped her arms around her 19 year old son and he playfully shook her off, but it was very sweet.
Watching moments like that, between Korean families was always a little hard to see- achingly beautiful. Mothers holding babies on the subway. A line of mothers showering their children in the sauna while chatting back and forth like songbirds. It makes you go, "Is that what it would be like?"

Later we met at Seoul National University- founded in 1946. It is the best university in Korea. We had a tour guide there that spoke great English! She had lunch with us and then took us to this adorable coffee shop. I treated her to coffee and she treated us to Egg Tarts. I wish I had more time to spend with her. She was so sweet!

After the University, we went to Etiquette Academy. We dressed in hanboks. Jen and Martine got to be brides! Axel and Tim got to be grooms! 

We learned traditional bows, traditional tea ceremony, mask dancing, calligraphy and how to make rice cakes. 

I've always wondered how Korean rice cakes were made. I learned that it is just cooked rice that you beat with a large hammer until it's gooey. Mystery solved. 

When I returned to my home stay house, we had dinner together and walked around Sillium Station. It was a series of small streets with bars, restaurants, and stores. They took me to a store called Art Box that I could have curled up and lived inside forever. It was all make up and jewelry and cutesy stationary and pens. 

Near my house there is a long division in the street. It is a river and a walking and biking path. My family told me it is totally safe to walk on at night. You can cross to the other side using the stepping stones seen here. There was even a family camping down there at night when we walked by. Also by the river, there were mechanical exercise machines see here. People we using them when we walked by at 9:30pm. They're all around the city. 5-8 different exercise machines. They were clean and fully functional. It was awesome. I asked where all the homeless people were and I didn't get a clear answer. They said that they were in a different part of town where nuns gave them food 2-3 times a day. I don't think they understood how prevalent homelessness is in the US or I didn't understand how the homeless population stayed in one part of the city. Korea not having drugs probably helps a lot. But how do they control their drug problems so well?  

At 10pm, my other host brother came home from school. We ate fried chicken on the floor and I gave them their gifts I brought from the US. Kiehl's products and Theo Chocolate! They were very happy :)