i was kidnapped

I really was kidnapped. I mean, I'd started school this week (I find it so weird that I still call it "school," as if I'm in elementary school, not in university...even though I still act like an elementary school kid oops haha) and it had been okay. I have this super-cool teacher (professor? lol) who is teaching a class on Korea's ethnography and it's push to become a multicultural society. That all sounds good but the catch, he says, is that the current Korean conservative government wants a multicultural society by way of assimilation, not integration. In effect, the Lee Myung-bak government wants foreigners to become Korean, not keep their own culture in Korea.

I love this type of stuff. Nerd = Anreeka.

I also have a Korean language class which is...interesting. The people in it are great but I think I annoy them with my super-swearing status and my ability to walk into every room and completely fail at life lol. But still, pretty awesome. We're the only Korean class that has two teachers and one already dislikes me because I swore after I messed up some pronunciations hahaha. Plus, the first two classrooms we've had have been broken haha. Like the air vents wouldn't work so it'd get really stuffy, which isn't conducive to a daily, 2-hour Korean language class hehe. Intense, right?

Besides that, I think everyone should come to Yonsei, just to experience one day on that crazy campus. It's literally ALL hills. During the first few days, I had to keep on going down to the bottom of the campus to get books, food, homework, etc. Oh. My. Shizznit. Walking back up those hills to get to class was such a workout. After the first day of class, my muscles were sore. But it is a nice campus overall. It reeks of money but that money, thankfully, is put to good use, as far as I can tell. I know that the Engineering department recently got over its' physical sexism and finally added female bathrooms in their building(s). Not sure if it was more than one building, but that is what I've heard.

I can't really think of anything life-changing happening during my first few days of school...I did end up going to the wrong building for one of my classes but that's about it.

But yesterday, I was kidnapped.

I know, it's pretty dramatic. I was so innocent, walking into the Education Abroad Program's (EAP) orientation for the UC kids. After they finished that (can I just say that I am really, super excited for the DMZ tour??? YESSSS I GET TO SEE NORTH KOREA!!!! hahaha...I'm so gonna get kicked out -.- ), they calmly announced to us that they were going to treat us to dinner as planned...and then take us to Namsan Tower. At night. To the top. Along with the Teddy Bear Museum.

Umm.

This kidnapping was not appreciated. Granted, going to the top on the tower at night for FREE was freaking awesome (The views!!! THE VIEWS!!! ALL OF SEOUL!!! LIT UP!!!) but...but...I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA!!!! How could you plan this and not tell us BEFOREHAND??? WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO LOVE PICTURES???

I think I was more mad than excited.

I also couldn't take pictures of the dinner they took us to, which was also pretty cool because it was the dinner traditionally served to king of Korea.

Yeah. I'm pretty upset. The ONE meal like that but I couldn't even take pictures of it???? I mean, I can only guess how much that meal cost per person.

Don't get me wrong -- I totally appreciate the sentiment of treating all 65 of us kids to dinner and a free trip to the tower, but if they had just TOLD us beforehand, I would have brought my camera and actually had pictures to post up on this entry. SO SAD!!!!

Because I don't think I'll be able to post up pics of that royal dinner...ever :(

But I'm going back because I can't leave the tower like that. And for all you Korean drama fans, I totally went into the cable car where Jun-pyo and Jan-di get stuck HAHAHA...and I saw the vending machine where they get there coffee from. Only problem? It STANK there. There was this bathroom a few feet from the machine that...ugh. Disgusting haha. But we did go in the cable car haha. That was super fun, especially when too many of us went to the front and it pitched forward hehe.

Anyways, plan for today is to hit Dongdaemun and go shopping. It's going to be super-fun :D I need CLOTHES!!! haha

Hopefully I'll have pictures to show for that hahaha

EDIT: Stole my roomie Jenny's pics from the Namsan Tower because her pics are freaking AMAZING!!!!

hahaha I told her to take this picture <3

Also, the Namsan Tower is really, really geared towards couples. Here you can see what we mean...

This is ONE part of a huge part of the Namsan fence. This whole place is FILLED with locks people have attached, with messages, etc. inscribed on them. We were kind of joking about it because a few people put...umm...bicycle locks on hahaha. We were saying, "You bring your date here and to show that person just how strong your love is, you say to them, 'I love you so much that I brought a lock that we can attach to the fence. It's the strongest lock, the one that can represent our love best. A bike lock.'" LOL love it <3