Just last night, I was busy window shopping on Gmarket and contemplating getting a pretty wine colour coat and a pair of ankle boots (less than 5cm high, almost died in my 10cm ones) to look pretty in Seoul. After walking to and fro to my class, I think I’d rather look ugly and fat in my puffy down-feather jacket than to freeze while looking pretty. It’s so cold today and to think that Busan is the warmest part of South Korea currently. I’m definitely going to freeze in Seoul this weekend.
It’ll be snowing on Friday (hopefully I can see it!) and not from Sat-Mon because the temperature will drop to −10 deg C. I can’t remember how many layers I actually wore when I was in Seoul back in 2010. Oh man.
Anyway, my class won the 1st prize for cheering during the recent speech contest held at City Hall and with the 100,000원 that we won, my classmates bought a mini Christmas tree for our classroom and candies and biscuits for everyone.
I registered for TOPIK exam today, rather unwillingly. Why enter a battlefield when you know you’re not going to be winning the battle at all? But my teacher said Jan and July’s exams are supposedly easier than the April and September/October ones so I’ve decided to spend 40,000원 for the exam (apparently, I heard that we can get reimbursement for it but I have to check it out). 블러르 언니 said that it would cost around 20,000원 but it’s double of what she said :( Initially, I decided to take it because 20,000원 isn’t that ex but now that I know I have to pay 40,000원 for something I’m going to fail, I’m thinking twice. Apparently, students in Vietnam/Myanmar & Mongolia only have to pay about $10-$20 for taking the TOPIK test while in Tajikistan, $5?! Why do we have to pay $80 to take it in Singapore? :(
Ok, so I quarrelled with a Korean girl just now. It was my first time quarrelling with a Korean girl and in Korean #bitchiness. I think I have quite a severe case of PMS this month too. On Saturday night, I was waiting for the lift which was on the 7th floor. As it travelled all the way down from the 7th floor to the 3rd floor, I could hear 2 Korean girls talking through the lift shaft. It was LOUD. And during the journey down to B1, one of the girls exclaimed so loudly that I jumped. My ear really hurt.
But anyway,what happened was that last Saturday, I couldn’t study in my room for reasons I can’t disclose in public. So I went to one of the study rooms on my level to study at 11pm+. There was no one in the room but there were notebooks, books and notes used to reserve all the good seats, leaving me only with the seats with the back against the door to choose from. And I HATE to sit or run or just simply, having my back facing the door. I get paranoid. Back home, there was only one spot in the room where my treadmill could fit, but whenever I ran on it, my back was facing the glass sliding door and the room door. And for a while, every time I used the treadmill, I practically ran with my head over my shoulder watching the door. I know only my family was at home but I was so freaked out and worried that I might see someone/something else behind me. A few times, my mum came into the room to water the plants and because I blasted my music (to distract myself from thinking about the door), I didn’t hear her come in and when I suddenly saw her beside the treadmill (me), I almost fell off in shock. So yeah, locking the door did help to allay a great part of my fear. Ok, back to the study room. Given that it was my first time studying in the study room, I wasn’t sure if the girls were going to come back or anything, so I had no choice but to take one of the horrid seats. Needless to say, I didn’t stay for long in the room because I got more petrified by the minute and I kept looking back at the door.
So today, I went to the study room again and AGAIN, there was no one. This time round, I decided to go to the seat where I would feel the safest at- all the way at the end of the room, with my back facing the window and me facing the door. Except, there was a notebook and some worksheets used to reserve the seat. The SAME notebook and worksheets that I saw on Saturday which obviously meant that this girl has been reserving this seat for days and probably weeks or months. Now, no one is allowed to reserve a seat for more than 30 minutes. There’s a notice that clearly states that on the door. Since there wasn’t anyone in the room anyway, I just shifted the stuff to the table beside me and started studying. I mean if the owner comes back within 30 minutes, I’d just apologise and scram. 1.5 hours later, the owner came in and asked what had happened to her stuff. I said I didn’t know and just shifted my chair inner so that she could get to the table beside me. It wasn’t my fault… I didn’t know that she was the owner till she started interrogating me later on. She asked what had happened to her book on the table where I was sitting at. But a notebook and a book are two different objects. Some other seats were reserved with books, and some with notebooks. The seat where I was at had a notebook. So 10 minutes later, she started interrogating me, asking if I had seen her book on the table. I said yeah, and then she questioned me why I sat at her seat then -.- I told her flatly that no reservation of seats was allowed and she said she left for a while only. She said 잠깐 and a short while shouldn’t mean 1.5 hours (in my definition) but I obviously don’t know what others’ definition of “a short while” or a Korean’s definition of that means. So I told her that I was in the room since 1.5 hours ago. And she proceeded to ask me why I couldn’t sit at another empty seat then. It was too much of a hassle explaining my paranoia in Korean so I just gave her a pissed-off look and apologised when I don’t think I should even have done so because YOU CAN’T RESERVE A SEAT FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES. And since there are so many empty seats, why did she have to reserve a seat?!
Oh, and last week I met another girl who was so freaking weird. I overtook her when I was walking towards the shuttle bus. I mean she was walking straight and she could have been heading to the bus stop or the shuttle bus that people were already boarding. Doesn't mean I have to walk behind her, wherever she was walking to right? And she was walking so slowly because of her heels. I was afraid that the bus would leave soon so I hastened my pace and overtook her as I rushed for the shuttle bus and suddenly she ran past (and brushed past) me AND cut the queue right in front of me when there was no one else behind me so that she could board the bus first. Like WOW. So, I've been pretty amazed by the girls I have met here. Such graciousness. Since I got here, I have never changed my belief that Korean guys are nicer than the girls. Ok, now I feel good. Because I’ve let this out. Ok, end of my whining and back to my revision and homework. Finishing up my work in advance so that I don’t have to study when I’m in Seoul.
So excited because I just came across the news that Laduree will be opening its first store in Seoul this Friday!!!!!! High time that they do so given its existing presence in Japan. Macaroons for me this weekend :) Better hit the gym tomorrow and Thursday too so that I can EAT in Seoul.
Anyway, my class won the 1st prize for cheering during the recent speech contest held at City Hall and with the 100,000원 that we won, my classmates bought a mini Christmas tree for our classroom and candies and biscuits for everyone.
I registered for TOPIK exam today, rather unwillingly. Why enter a battlefield when you know you’re not going to be winning the battle at all? But my teacher said Jan and July’s exams are supposedly easier than the April and September/October ones so I’ve decided to spend 40,000원 for the exam (apparently, I heard that we can get reimbursement for it but I have to check it out). 블러르 언니 said that it would cost around 20,000원 but it’s double of what she said :( Initially, I decided to take it because 20,000원 isn’t that ex but now that I know I have to pay 40,000원 for something I’m going to fail, I’m thinking twice. Apparently, students in Vietnam/Myanmar & Mongolia only have to pay about $10-$20 for taking the TOPIK test while in Tajikistan, $5?! Why do we have to pay $80 to take it in Singapore? :(
Ok, so I quarrelled with a Korean girl just now. It was my first time quarrelling with a Korean girl and in Korean #bitchiness. I think I have quite a severe case of PMS this month too. On Saturday night, I was waiting for the lift which was on the 7th floor. As it travelled all the way down from the 7th floor to the 3rd floor, I could hear 2 Korean girls talking through the lift shaft. It was LOUD. And during the journey down to B1, one of the girls exclaimed so loudly that I jumped. My ear really hurt.
But anyway,what happened was that last Saturday, I couldn’t study in my room for reasons I can’t disclose in public. So I went to one of the study rooms on my level to study at 11pm+. There was no one in the room but there were notebooks, books and notes used to reserve all the good seats, leaving me only with the seats with the back against the door to choose from. And I HATE to sit or run or just simply, having my back facing the door. I get paranoid. Back home, there was only one spot in the room where my treadmill could fit, but whenever I ran on it, my back was facing the glass sliding door and the room door. And for a while, every time I used the treadmill, I practically ran with my head over my shoulder watching the door. I know only my family was at home but I was so freaked out and worried that I might see someone/something else behind me. A few times, my mum came into the room to water the plants and because I blasted my music (to distract myself from thinking about the door), I didn’t hear her come in and when I suddenly saw her beside the treadmill (me), I almost fell off in shock. So yeah, locking the door did help to allay a great part of my fear. Ok, back to the study room. Given that it was my first time studying in the study room, I wasn’t sure if the girls were going to come back or anything, so I had no choice but to take one of the horrid seats. Needless to say, I didn’t stay for long in the room because I got more petrified by the minute and I kept looking back at the door.
So today, I went to the study room again and AGAIN, there was no one. This time round, I decided to go to the seat where I would feel the safest at- all the way at the end of the room, with my back facing the window and me facing the door. Except, there was a notebook and some worksheets used to reserve the seat. The SAME notebook and worksheets that I saw on Saturday which obviously meant that this girl has been reserving this seat for days and probably weeks or months. Now, no one is allowed to reserve a seat for more than 30 minutes. There’s a notice that clearly states that on the door. Since there wasn’t anyone in the room anyway, I just shifted the stuff to the table beside me and started studying. I mean if the owner comes back within 30 minutes, I’d just apologise and scram. 1.5 hours later, the owner came in and asked what had happened to her stuff. I said I didn’t know and just shifted my chair inner so that she could get to the table beside me. It wasn’t my fault… I didn’t know that she was the owner till she started interrogating me later on. She asked what had happened to her book on the table where I was sitting at. But a notebook and a book are two different objects. Some other seats were reserved with books, and some with notebooks. The seat where I was at had a notebook. So 10 minutes later, she started interrogating me, asking if I had seen her book on the table. I said yeah, and then she questioned me why I sat at her seat then -.- I told her flatly that no reservation of seats was allowed and she said she left for a while only. She said 잠깐 and a short while shouldn’t mean 1.5 hours (in my definition) but I obviously don’t know what others’ definition of “a short while” or a Korean’s definition of that means. So I told her that I was in the room since 1.5 hours ago. And she proceeded to ask me why I couldn’t sit at another empty seat then. It was too much of a hassle explaining my paranoia in Korean so I just gave her a pissed-off look and apologised when I don’t think I should even have done so because YOU CAN’T RESERVE A SEAT FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES. And since there are so many empty seats, why did she have to reserve a seat?!
Oh, and last week I met another girl who was so freaking weird. I overtook her when I was walking towards the shuttle bus. I mean she was walking straight and she could have been heading to the bus stop or the shuttle bus that people were already boarding. Doesn't mean I have to walk behind her, wherever she was walking to right? And she was walking so slowly because of her heels. I was afraid that the bus would leave soon so I hastened my pace and overtook her as I rushed for the shuttle bus and suddenly she ran past (and brushed past) me AND cut the queue right in front of me when there was no one else behind me so that she could board the bus first. Like WOW. So, I've been pretty amazed by the girls I have met here. Such graciousness. Since I got here, I have never changed my belief that Korean guys are nicer than the girls. Ok, now I feel good. Because I’ve let this out. Ok, end of my whining and back to my revision and homework. Finishing up my work in advance so that I don’t have to study when I’m in Seoul.
So excited because I just came across the news that Laduree will be opening its first store in Seoul this Friday!!!!!! High time that they do so given its existing presence in Japan. Macaroons for me this weekend :) Better hit the gym tomorrow and Thursday too so that I can EAT in Seoul.
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