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hi! i guess this is... my first post...?
i don't have a way to upload photos right now, so sadly a picture-free one. :c
but yeah! i'm in korea now. everything is wonderful. i like the food, the people,
and the weather (not as cold as it could be).

the past couple days i arrived here to the university where i'll be dorming for the next
month or so and doing orientation activities. it's a lot of fun here, and all the scholars
are really nice and interesting. i feel really silly cos i'm always looking around like O__O
at everything, but there's a lot to see and lots of differences to note... i guess at times
like these, you get to see how your own culture is very unique even in a modern world
with so many shared ideas and technologies. i'll try to write more about that kind of
thing independently... with pictures...

anyway.

i got here, was all jetlaggy and in a daze... then yesterday we went on a field trip
to CHINATOWN, some museums, that kind of thing. it was pretty surreal going to
chinatown in korea. my first time seeing anything in daylight too, so that was interesting. :p
there we ate some delicious things, i struggled to learn some words, etc.
we bussed around to the incheon landing memorial... i'm kind of a nerd in that i like that
kind of history stuff. i knew a little bit about the korean war, but not the logistics of
that landing. it was very interesting. our tour guide repeatedly talked about the marines
being very brave. i had some secret pride going on.

and then we went to the "future city".

i looked forward to the "future" alllllll dayyyyy thinking about hovercars and cool
gadgets and stuff, but it ended up being about city planning for the incheon area.
which was very interesting, but dude. it felt like very subtle brainwashing :p

love incheon... support incheon... love incheon... support incheon...
incheon, the place for beautiful people to lead interesting lives...
incheon, the place where the world will someday come to meet asia.. incheon, incheon, incheon... love... love us....

no, but really the planning had such clear goals and seemed very ambitious.  i was very impressed by that, and the designs for the city were stunning.

BUT THEN they got me even more excited with this "5D Movie" we were supposed to see.
i was pretty skeptical at this point cos they showed us a "4D Movie" which was obviously just 3D, but i mean really how much can you ask for.
i was late to the 5D  one and everyone was like... wow... that was messed up... have fun

so i pranced right in there like :D because i'm pretty comfortable with things that are messed up

DUDE
i wish i could like detach my brain and hook it up to the computer so everyone can see.
it was really fun and i had a great time, but SERIOUSLY
there was this tree character, right? and he was like "nature is wonderful, i get all my nutrients from nature" ---so far it seems like koreans have this thing about nutrients--- and saying something about
incheon was so natural, etc.

and then he was like WANNA SEE A SURPRISE? and like... covered the screen with his
tree hands... and i was like ok, this is the part where they talk about parks and stuff that are going to
be in incheon

so he lifts his tree hands so we can see, and it's not a park. THERE ARE NO TREES.
IT'S JUST A BUNCH OF SKYSCRAPERS.
and then the tree character was like ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL??? IT'S SO GREAT!

at this point i was sort of feeling bad, like wow his family just disappeared
and then the movie ended with a bunch of repeating about supporting incheon and loving incheon

:O lol. so basically, this trip has fulfilled all my hopes and dreams ALREADY
about being in korea. i really am very very happy even though i'm tired and my sleep
is all wacky. it's 4:17 in the morning here right now and i am ravenously hungry.
i feel so grateful to be here.

tomorrow i am going to seoul for the opening ceremony of orientation,
which is going to be really cool. and then hopefully i'll be able to stay awake and
functional at night so i can go check out the downtown. (:

love you, talk to you later! <3