Sean's Summer
Journal Entries - Week Seven
![]()
Saturday,
26 July 2008
I got a call in the evening from Euna, the woman I went and had coffee
with several weeks ago. It was completely unexpected. She wanted to know why I
hadn’t called her.
Sunday,
27 July 2008
I spent the whole day at the dorm, did laundry, worked on the website and
posted pictures, and wrote some of my NSEP scholarship application essay. In the
evening, I helped our other roommate, Ali, revise an essay he had to write for
one of his classes. He’s working on his Master’s degree here at Korea
University. He speaks English very well, but he’s Yemeni, so his written
English is difficult to follow. It’s much different than writing in Arabic. I
helped him separate his sentences and helped make it easier to understand,
hopefully without changing his intent. He had an entire paragraph tied together
in one sentence. By the time we finished revising that paragraph, we’d split
it into about 9 sentences. After helping Ali, I watched “Batman: The Dark
Knight” on the Internet before going to sleep.
Monday,
28 July 2008
I got up and went to the gym, but I got moving a little later than I
expected so I had to cut my time short. I also planned on sending a box of stuff
home because I can’t carry it all with my on my return trip. I should have
souvenirs for everyone, now. I’ll have to take an inventory sometime soon.
Anyway, since I got moving late, and since I didn’t want to try to carry a big
box to classes with me, I decided to skip the post office today. I should have
more time tomorrow morning. I’m telling you, in case you didn’t get the hint
the first few times I mentioned it, that hill is a real bitch when coupled with
the heat. I can’t even imagine trying to go up or down it in the snow and ice.
Surely they block it off.
OK, so we were supposed to continue our I.R. class with Professor Amyx in
Pennsylvania, but her doctor told her she couldn’t teach anymore. I assume
that’s because she’s going to be on some good drugs and she needs her rest.
In any case, IIE (Program Manager Jennifer Kim) found us a new instructor. Some
of the people in the class were borderline hostile, which I thought was pretty
rude, but he did a good job. I think people just don’t like change. We had to
schedule an additional class for Tuesday evening because the instructor missed a
few classes last week, so I think that may have contributed significantly to
people’s attitudes. But, this situation actually worked out great for me
because I’ve been trying to find someone to sponsor me for additional classes
or a project for my Fulbright and NSEP scholarship applications when I get back
to Kansas, and this guy’s studies are right up my alley. He teaches and
studies Asian Foreign Policy, Security Issues, and North Korean Policy
(particularly regarding the Nuclear issue). I spoke with him after class and he
said he would like to talk to me again sometime over the next couple of weeks. I
think I might just pull this one out of my ass.
Well, after talking to the professor I made a phone call to Suhui. We
planned to go to the 63 Building, which has an aquarium, an Imax theater, an
observation deck on the 60th floor, and a restaurant, but Suhui had
something else she needed to do. No luck today, but we tentatively scheduled it
for next Tuesday.
I have to make an adjustment to an observation I’d made earlier on in
the journal. Koreans haven’t abandoned their culture or their history in favor
of a more western style. They’ve added quite a bit, sure, but they’re still
Korean at heart and very proud of it. In addition, what they have added to their
culture, such as the government and the economic systems, are a Korean version;
similar, but not quite the same. My previous assessment, while not completely
wrong, was biased by the proximity of the U.S. military bases I’d been staying
at. After seeing the country and studying Korean history, I have a better
understanding of what I’ve experienced.
To continue, I spent the afternoon paying bills, updating the journal,
working on scholarship application essays, studying, and working on my history
paper. That pretty much consumed the remainder of my day.
Thursday,
31 July 2008
OK, I know I suck at keeping up on the journal stuff, but there hasn’t
been a whole lot to talk about. I’m still working on the scholarship contacts
and sponsor stuff, and I’m still working on making sure I get my GI Bill money
for my time here this summer. That’s been my week, mostly.
I stayed up most of the night last night studying for my history final. I
didn’t do it intentionally, I just didn’t have a clock where I was studying
and I kept going until I got tired…which happened to be about 0400 this
morning. Completely unintentional, and I knew it would cause problems with my
sleep schedule. I didn’t wake up until 0830…half an hour before the final. I
actually got there a few minutes late, but it wasn’t a big deal because most
people show up to class late anyway and I’ve always been there on time. Well,
the instructor would only tell us the format for the test; 5 identifications and
2 essays. He wouldn’t tell us anything else, so we really didn’t know what
to prepare for. I think I did relatively well, but you just never know. We
didn’t have anything else in the class to give us an idea of what he was
looking for, no assignments, and no grades. It’s all up in the air at this
point.
My second class went as scheduled. Nothing special. But after class I
went back to the room and watched a movie before going to bed early. I was
exhausted.