Tuesday, November 29, 2011

My Life & Jim Jil Bang

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately. I got scheduled like crazy at work over the short Thanksgiving break and I've been trying to finish up a couple of final projects. And guess what? After today I only have one project left to work on and then my homework is done for the semester!




Needless to say I am beyond excited. By this time next week I will be a free woman! In addition to being happy that this semester is coming to a close, my BFF cousin is coming home all the way from Micronesia!







I cannot wait to spend time with her again ^_^ My sister will also be coming home in the near future. She is in college at NYU right now. My parents are going to visit her over the weekend and I have already given them a list of all of my favorite idols so they can buy me lots of Christmas presents when they go to Korea town.


My sister better steal this for me this weekend!


And besides the general joy and spirit of the Christmas season, I am already starting to get excited for my next trip to Orlando in February. I am going with two of my good friends, Christia and Claire. Neither of them have really been before and I cannot wait to show them around!






Not only is it the happiest place on Earth, but it's where my love of Korea began



Ahh.....yes, life is good right now. I've also recently discovered that there is a jjimjilbang near Chicago. A real jjimjilbang! I'm trying to convince my dongsaeng Shaylah to go with me shortly after the new year. What a fun early birthday weekend that would be ^_~


For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a jjimjilbang is, it is a Korean sauna and public bath house. It is very cheap (in Busan I paid about $7, in Seoul about $11) and you can basically stay as long as you want once you get there. In Seoul I ended up staying the night which was so much fun! 


When you get to jjimjilbang, it is separated by gender. You lock up your clothes in the locker that is provided for you and you head to the bath area. All of this is done completely naked. Yes, naked. It is intimidating at first, but you (or at least I did) adjust and get comfortable quickly. You can take a shower, and relax in some of the hot tubs. There are normally a few set at different temperatures so you can choose what feels most comfortable for you. 



You can see some of the people sleeping behind us


Once you are done in the bath area you put on the clothes that they provide for you and head out to the open area where males and females can mingle again. At jjimjilbang there is normally a restaurant, juice bar, TV area, massage room, work out room, and sometimes a PC room and a noraebang! There are also various sauna rooms. I don't know about you, but I love the sauna.




A jjimjilbang must- wearing your lambs ears!


Basically jjimjilbang is all about relaxing (who doesn't love that?). 



Besides a potential trip to jjimjilbang shortly after the new year, I have a decision to make in regards to what I want to do for the summer. I want to go back to Korea so~~~~ bad, and a study abroad program seems like a perfect fit for me. My only problem is deciding what university to go through. I have it narrowed down to two right now, Yonsei and Dankook.




Yonsei University is prestigious and they seem to offer a decent class selection. My friends Henny and Hyemi both want me to go here. However, their program is a bit shorter than what I would like, around a month. It is also a bit expensive.







Dankook University offers a longer summer program, about seven weeks. The first three weeks would involve me teaching three English classes, and the last four weeks I would be taking classes. It would be a great experience as I am planning on being a teacher, and it is cheaper than Yonsei. Also, guess who is currently attending Dankook....


The glorious T.O.P.


The negative thing about Dankook is that it would be a lot more work. So you can see why I am having a bit of trouble making a decision. Wherever I end up this summer, I know one thing to be true....


Sandra and Henny



Getting to spend even two more seconds with these girls would make all of this planning, debating, worry, and frustration completely worth it!


I have a couple quick things left before I end this post. The first is that I've made a tumblr (after some persuasion from Shaylah). If you care to follow me, you are more than welcome to. I readily admit to still having no clue what I am doing, but I promise to do my best to have the best tumblr I can have. Find me here.


The second thing is this; I still have many things that I want to blog about. But if any of you reading have something that you want me to blog about, let me know! If there's a drama, idol, or general question about Korea that you are curious about I will be more than happy to share any information that I have with you ^_^






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