New blog layout, the great grandparents, shopping trip, sightseeing teaser, and more.

New blog layout, that I happened to find and, oh, it so matches my current mood and second previous post. Coincidences. Again, I apologize to everyone (mainly Ba Gia) for not getting down to the comment glitch sooner. I didn't realize at first it was acting funky on the first layout. But now, I got most of the kinks worked out. I haven't been able to figure out how to keep the comments off the main page, but....oh well. It's good enough for now. Also, I finally managed to set this blog on the right time zone! Silly me...it was so simple...>.<

It was a pretty long and eventful day today. Where to start? Even if I try to condense what happened, this is going to be a long post, so get your coffee and blankets out or something, lol.

This morning, I woke up way too early again. It's been like that since I got here. Jet lag? I don't know. But my body just keeps wanting to get up at six in the morning.

Well, I woke up, and since I had nothing better to do, decided to take a shower, and spend some time on my laptop. That's when I found this new blog layout, and stumbled on the whole comment glitch thing. At around ten, LaChoi's mom who've also been awake, came to my room and said to eat some breakfast and get ready to go to the bank. She was to help me with opening a bank account today.

Thanks to her, I have a Korean debit card now, which they call a "check card." It's quite handy. Only problem is, when I tried to withdraw some cash from an atm to see if it worked, it didn't work.....so, I told LaChoi's mom later after my solo shopping trip (more about this later), and I suppose we're going back to the bank tomorrow to sort it out. Oh, errands.

The most nerveracking part of the day, though, was after leaving the bank. LaChoi told me a couple days ago that she had a lunch meeting with her grandparents (she said grandparents, but I found out they were actually great grandparents....Koreans just use the same terms for both) today, and that great grandad wanted to meet me, so I should accompany her.

Hah, to be honest, I had totally forgotten about it. >.<

Well, in any case, while LaChoi's mom and I were on our way back to the home, we saw the great grandparents driver waving at us, and just in time, LaChoi was just leaving the building. So, LaChoi's mom left us to eat lunch with them, and oh boy, was I nervous as hell.

Picture this:

black expensive BMW

a driver

great grandpa in expensive clothes

great grandma in expensive clothes

LaChoi speaking politely to them the whole time, great grandparents dote on her

and knowing LaChoi's family has a history of being on the rich side...

Dudes. They both effortlessly demanded respect. And just being in their presence....it's like something out of a drama or movie. Being in the presence of the respected, the rich, the authority, or something. It's normal that the elderly are always shown respect, but the great grandparents had that and more. I was intimidated. But I figured I would probably like them given time.

Because, we ended up going to Pizza Hut for lunch. xDDDDD

I don't know if that's considered luxury food here, but according to what LaChoi told me about KFC, McDonalds, etc being the "it" food as opposed to "shit" food, I'll take my chances. 

Anyways, I was known as the "Vietnamese Roommate." ^^; It was another moment where I wish my Korean was better. Through the 50 percent I could understand, they asked several questions to LaChoi about me. Through the 50 percent of English the great grandpa does know, he told me about his sons and daughters and his grandsons and daughters, and some of the great grandsons and daughters, which include LaChoi.

I was as polite and respectful as ever. But meeting LaChoi's great grandparents wasn't the troubling thing. 

It was LaChoi herself. I knew that her parents and these great grandparents had conflicts in the past, and I had thought my accompanying her would relieve her of the loneliness/tension for her, but the whole time I felt like I was burdening her. In fact, during the whole lunch, it seemed like we were both stressing out. 

Another reminder that I should really get my Korean going.

I really shouldn't be complaining as a friend, becase I know how LaChoi is, but honestly, we haven't spent a whole day together hanging out since I got here. It's very different from when we live together in an apartment in the states. Here in Seoul, I'm the friend who unintentionally got in the way of her busy schedule. 

Honestly, would you leave a friend alone in a foreign country for days straight and expect her to figure out her way around because I care enough about the language to learn it? 

I guess I'm still a little bitter. LaChoi had an appointment with other people after lunch, so she left, and I had to sit uncomfortably in the passenger side of an expensive car while the great grandparents drove me back to LaChoi's apartment (by the way, their apartment complex is called Tower Palace. It's rich people everywhere....) 

I mean, it's fine that I'm learning how to live in this city at my own pace, but is it asking a little much to hang out for maybe one day just the two of us, no boyfriend or great grandparents to worry about? 

It was a little lonely shopping by myself. Sigh. Well, I digress.

I wanted to do some sightseeing with somebody. Before school starts and I get to busy anyway...shopping is easy in any country, but sightseeing is not fun solo.

Anyways.

I needed some personal supplies so I figured I should spend the rest of the day visiting shopping districts, and places I heard about.

Apkujeong was first on my list, followed by Myeongdong. bnguh mentioned Itaewon, but I hear all sorts of stories about that place, and I'd rather not go alone...

I know Apkujeong is one of the richer spots of Seoul, too, and I've heard about it a lot in movies and dramas, so I had to check it out. 

Got there, on my own, using the subway (the Korean metro lines are SO much more efficient than the BART) and wow. I really wish I had my camera charged so I could take pictures of the department store I ended up at cause it was Designer paradise. I was in awe of how rich the Hyundai store looked. I'd probably go back again just to take pictures of the place.

I totally felt out of place, though, hahaha, it was waaaay too rich for someone like me. I explored Hyundai for a bit before checking out the streets in front of it. Haha, they had "aesthetic centers" everywhere. In other words, plastic surgery centers. So this is where all the TABS live, I suppose. 

I got out of there soon. Just wasn't my cup of tea. But I still needed a handbag, and a new wallet, and I would love to spend my minimal cash at a more affordable spot so I decided to go to Myeongdong. According to the source I found, it's the place where all the Japanese trendsters do business. The stores there have brightly colored clothes, and a food court and all sorts of normal stuff. It sounded like my kind of shopping. Sorry Dolce and Gabbana.

And boy, was I glad I went there. If Hondae is the Oakland, Myeongdong is the San Francisco (and Apgujeong is the Beverly Hills!). I absolutely love the place. There are so many shops! Including American brand names like Forever21 and Gap, there are at least 50 other apparel stores. What really amused me was how many skin care stores there were. Body Shop's got nothing on what the Japanese managed to do in Myeongdong. There's Skin Food, Nature Republic, the Face Shop, and at least 100 other body product shops. 

And underground, connected to the subway station, are cd shops. DBSK, SuperJunior, Big Bang, SS501, SHINee, dominate those places, dude. Kyaa, I bought BoA's "Best and USA" CD and DVD set. Yay! Totally beats having to pay shipping and handling on Yesasia. I actually wanted to get Epik High's latest cd, but it wasn't there....the search continues!

I spent a lot of time at Myeongdong, but I think I want to go back. There's so much there I haven't seen yet. I need a map of Myeongdong.

There's probably more I wanted to talk about, but this post is way long already. Maybe tomorrow. :)