Mandu

We went for lunch with some of the other new hires after our Korean class to eat mandu, Korean dumplings. They were making them in front of us and continued non-stop the whole time we were there and they were yummy!

Water Cooler and Cups

They have these water coolers at all the stores, gyms, restaurants, everywhere! The first time, I had a water bottle with me and felt bad for anyone who might forget theirs since there were no cups... or so I thought.

Water cooler

It took me up until we went to Samsung to start our Korean lessons to realize that the cups have been there the whole time. Can you see them?

Yep, right there :)

filling up 

Voila! So smart :)

Spicy Chicken

Nicholas and I are discoverig the city my favorite way- sampling all the food! We have been going through our guide book every few days and choosing another "best of" restaurant. We also like to walk to each new restaurant and neighborhood to get a feel for the city. Even when it is far, we feel like it is worth it for what is waiting at the destination.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the best spicy chicken restaurant in Seoul, at least according to our guidebook and to the long line waiting to get in. It took us a while to discover it was the small restaurant on the corner of a small but busy street lined with restaurants, bars, cafes and shops. We later found out we were near a university, hence the large crowds of young people.

Since at the time we couldn't read the characters, it took us a while to finally figure out which restaurant it was with our gps and going character by character of each restaurant and trying to match it with the name in the book (directions here are not the same as back home- if a building is number 12, the one next to it could be number 400... there is no logic in the numbering, so they don't use street addresses, especially since the streets don't usually have names... this is all for another post). We realized locating the restaurant was not our only issue, communicating was also going to be fun :)

Since the menu was only in Korean and had no pictures, it was a good thing I had read up ahead of time on what to order based on price. Otherwise, we would have been totally lost. I matched up the prices and we placed our order from outside while still waiting for a table. When they had us come in and sit, we got around to ordering beer and the side dishes that everyone seemed to be enjoying. That of course was with signing rather than words, although we did learn how to say beer :)

We had a great meal that night and every night since! The food is absolutely delicious. We have not had one bad meal and we have eaten at tiny, incredibly cheap restaurants to more high-end ones. The people here know the way to my heart, for sure!

Korean Lessons

Our class materials

I can hardly believe that I am learning an Asian language, but here I am. In Korea. Taking language courses.

Before we started last Monday, everything looked foreign. I mean, sure, French or Italian or Spanish are foreign languages, but you can usually make out a few words by breaking words down or have taken some form of those languages in the past. Most people at least can pronounce quesadilla properly or have had lasagna :) But what about 안녕하세요? Yeah, didn't think so.

Here, not one word is familiar or can be guessed from reading a sign. Until last Monday, we could not read any signs that were in Korean. After the first day, we could read most of the characters and after day two, we could read all of them! Now, after a full week, we are learning how to introduce ourselves, tell where we are from and our profession and how to order in a restaurant. We have learned a fair amount of vocabulary so far and now Nicholas and I act like 5 year olds who have just learned how to read. Every sign we stop and try to read out loud and then we try to figure out the meaning. Some words are direct English translations, such as banana, tomato and coffee. Others will just take a lot of memorization.

Nicholas and the other Spanish-speaking guys explaining Korean in Spanish

Last week, we also learned how to count. Not just in Korean but in Chinese, since they use both ways. For certain things like how much things cost, like your bill in a restaurant, they use Chinese. But to order a certain number of beers, they use Korean... The counting system is also interesting. There are many ways to count things and from my (lack of) understanding it seems to be based on size and shape, at least so far.

Numbers in Korean and Chinese

It sure is not easy, but it is doable. I cannot believe we are learning a language that does not have letters. It feels like we are getting the key to a secret world. I hope that we stay eager and focused. The more you learn in a language the more you realize you don't know and it is easy to want to give up. There are many expats here who have told us they gave up on learning because they know enough to order food and get home in a cab. They figure they will never use Korean again once they leave. For me, I feel differently.

First, I always find when you say something like "when will I ever use/need... x," you always do. For me, it was my high school French that I never learned properly and therefore led to me starting all over in Switzerland. You just never know when a new skill may come in handy. Second, Nicholas and I are happy here. We want to make Korea feel like our home and to do so we want to be able to communicate in the language to understand the culture and the people.

So far, we are well on our way to confusing every taxi driver and waiter in the city with our dangerous level of Korean :)

My 30th

Despite all my trepidations about entering my 30s, and much like one of my favorite children's books- The Monster at the End of the Book-, there was nothing to fear.

It started at the stroke of midnight Seoul time, with calls from my two Swiss besties, Ashley and Yann simultaneously on skype. After a quick hello from Ash, I took Yann's call. He sang Happy Birthday to me in French and then presented me with a homemade cake that he "shared" over the net :)

Yann showing off his work of art 

When we got up in the morning, I finished my 30th mile of the week- just a little personal goal of mine to welcome the new year and came back from breakfast to a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from Nicholas.

From there, we headed to the Hyatt for a fancy lunch with a great view. But to my surprise, when we arrived, instead of heading to the lounge with the great windows, I was whisked away to the lower level and entered the spa. After the massages and facial, I re-entered the world in a zen state and sat with Nicholas for our lunch with a view accompanied by a beautiful violinist and piano music.

Although I could have stayed there for the remaining hours of my birthday, we had to head to the restaurant where we were meeting old and new friends for a relaxed Thai birthday dinner. There I literally met some of my guests for the first time and saw some of my favorite friends from Lausanne :) I was blessed with an amazing evening and meal! I even received some lovely gifts, including a box of real Swiss chocolate, a great makeup bag, a bouquet of flowers and whitening soap* and a luxurious silk scarf. To end the dinner, our dear friend Mamta had brought a cake to share.

Nicholas and I with two of our friend's children in the background 

To finish off the evening we headed to a pub to have a last drink. The pub was hilarious, below is the sign on the front door :) 

All in all, my 30th may have been my best birthday yet. I am eternally grateful for my wonderful family and friends for making it so special, starting from the beginning of the month til the actual day. 30 is fabulous and I am loving it! 

Well,...

Crap.

I knew this was going to happen. I secretly hoped and prayed it wouldn't, but it has. Here's the thing, I am turning 30. Now, I know that there is no escaping the passage of time. It's just it's...

The big 3-0.

I am not sad to be entering my 30s. On the contrary. Just a little emotional. I need some more time to be prepared to enter into this new chapter of my life. I am not ready for it. Like Grover in one of my favorite children's books "The Monster at the End of This Book," can we stop turning the pages and give me some more time? Please?

In the story, Grover is told that there is a monster at the end of the book and he spends the whole book trying to stop the pages from being turned so he doesn't have to face the monster. At the end, the monster is him. Lovable, furry old Grover. Could this be a metaphor :)

10 years ago, I was still a teenager, for one more day. It seems so long ago, but just 10 years ago, I was in my teens :)

Tomorrow, 10 years ago I was/would be in my 20s!

I already got to celebrate my early birthday with my family and dear friend Stace in Chicago and will celebrate with old and new friends tomorrow with a birthday dinner thanks to my sweet husband.

Awesome ice cream cake surprise courtesy of Stacey :) 

So if celebrating with some of the people who are most important in my life is any indication, maybe 30 won't be so bad after all :)

Bike Transporter in Subway

Smart way to get your bike up the stairs at the Subway stations!