Plans are Taking Shape

 Departure day is quickly approaching! Less than 3 months away which sounds unbelievably soon. Spring sports have also begun, so life is moving at warp speed. My calendar is quickly filling up with cross country meets, golf matches, and drivers ed. June will be here before we know it!

We still have no solid reservations other than our plane tickets. We need to get on that soon! It's overwhelming looking through all the different neighborhoods of Seoul. I want to stay in Insa-dong. I've heard the best things about it, it appears close to things, closer to public transportation, etc. However, the apartments there are more expensive. There's always a give and take.

But we now have agreed on a broad vision of our trip. We will land in Seoul and stay there for a good 10-12 days. That will give us time to acclimate to the time zone and leave us with plenty of days to explore all the city has to offer. After that we will take the bullet train to Gwangju City (Luke's birth city) and stay there for 3-4 nights followed by a few nights in Busan, a beautiful coastal city in the southeastern part of the country. Then we will take the bullet train back to Seoul and will stay one more night there before heading off to the airport.

And how is the Korean learning going, you ask? Well, folks, it's not going great. Turns out my brain is not as sharp as I like to give it credit for. I'm using Rosetta Stone to learn. I'm able to pass most of the lessons (the writing lessons take MANY attempts before I pass). But I can pass the other lessons without too much difficulty. But even so, I don't feel like I'm making progress. Sometimes I can answer the questions correctly because I know one word which helps eliminate the other choices, but I have no clue what the other words say.

In order not to give up, I have to look back and celebrate what I have learned! Here's a list.

    - I can tell the time in Korean and ask what time it is.

    -I can say my name and ask someone else their name.

    -I can say my age and ask someone their age.

    -I can state my profession.

    -I can ask how much something costs.

    -I can order food but my vocabulary knowledge is small. If I want to order everything in Korean I'll be eating a lot of apples, bread, rice, beef, pork ribs, and chocolate because those are the words I know how to say!  Haha.

    -I've also learned a ton of stuff that just feels random- I can say The woman runs and The woman ran. But when will I say that? I can say I read a book yesterday, I am reading a book today, and I will read a book tomorrow. But again, what's the use of that? At least those would likely be true since I read all the time.

But all this Korean is only in my head. I can read the little bit mentioned above and understand it, but I never actually speak to anyone. Someday soon I need to travel to Seoul Market and try to talk in Korean to the shopkeeper. I'm sure I will completely embarrass myself, but how else will I learn? Who is in need of a good laugh and wants to go with me? I will need some strong moral support!