A little late on this post. We took the subway back to the hostel around 9:45 last night and we were all exhausted by that time. I still haven't gotten on a regular sleeping schedule even though it seems like everyone else is waking up around 7 or 8 now; by the time night rolls around my body basically just shuts down. I'm getting sick, too, so I decided to take today off running and use every medicine I can out of what is essentially a pharmacy in my suitcase. Hopefully I can make a quick recovery and adapt to the time change soon.
We didn't get going until 11:45 yesterday so I had about 8 hours on my own before then. I ran through campus again in the morning and stumbled upon the art school of Ewha Women's University where there were all these unfinished sculptures out on the sidewalk. Spencer and I had breakfast in a cafe near our hostel where we made the very dangerous decision to pay $3 each for real coffee (hopefully that's not a slippery slope because it tasted amazing). We window shopped on our own in the morning, mostly just through clothing and make-up stores. There are tons of skin care stores around here and some of the products are extremely expensive: we saw a tiny bottle of anti-wrinkle cream that cost over $100. They also have facial masks made of "snail essence." I can't imagine who the first person was to look at snail slime and think "Ah, yes, I think I'll put that on my face," but apparently it was a good idea.
After shopping we headed out with the group for lunch and ran into the cast from the variety show "Running Man," which I'd never heard of before. They must be really popular, though, because there were a lot of people crowded around the bus and even some Americans from our group knew who they were. We had lunch at a vegan restaurant, which was great for me, and I ate Jajangmyeon, which I've wanted to try since we watched "Castaway on the Moon." I ate it a couple times in Beijing but it wasn't very good; I think the Korean version is much better.
After lunch we took a bus to Yonsei's international campus where we met up with some Korean students. I was extremely impressed by the fact that almost all of them spoke perfect or near-perfect English because one girl told me that only about half of them had studied abroad. I have a lot of respect for people who can become fluent in foreign languages without leaving home because it requires so much dedication and initiative.
We sat in on a freshman Asian Studies course where Professor Ahn gave a lecture on Buddhism. He discussed the history of Buddhism and some of the legends on which it was based in India as well as some meanings of Buddhist symbols. What I found most interesting was the discussion on the problematic nature of labels and categories. Professor Ahn argued that Buddhism as a tradition does not have an unchanging core and that the category is not altogether useful when discussing religion. Because different sects of Buddhism disagree over even the most fundamental tenants of the tradition, it is difficult to place them all under the same umbrella category. In the same way, though, most categories can be understood as equally arbitrary and not useful. In our daily lives, we work under the assumption that the boundaries that separate one category from another are real and can be easily explained, but whenever we think critically about it we realize it is nearly impossible to do. Intellectually, I am very aware of this, but interestingly, I continue to live daily life under the assumption that categories are universal and can be separated. I think this is a good example of the tension between trying to see things for what they really are and trying to live a practical life that many people seem to experience.
After the students presented about cool places to visit in Seoul, we headed out for what was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever walked into in my life. I couldn't believe how much food there was; I kept thinking the meal was over but the waiters just kept on clearing empty dishes and bringing out more food. There weren't a lot of vegetarian options but I still enjoyed the experience of having an amazing dinner in a private room with friends, and honestly just looking at the food was enough for me. I kept feeling twinges of guilt about wasting about 20% but know from waiting tables in the States that this is by no means just a "Korean" phenomenon.
After dinner we went to Sejong Center and watched an amazing dance performance that bordered on acrobatics. I couldn't believe how effectively these performers bodies could communicate without language; I've never seen anything like it. Maybe I was just having a lot of feelings because I was exhausted, but I found the performance very emotionally moving. Seeing others fulfill so much of their capacity as humans both physically and emotionally was also very humbling.
Anyway, I think we're going hiking soon so I should probably end here. It still hasn't fully hit me that I'm on the other side of the planet and I can't believe how lucky I am to be here. Can't wait for more adventures.
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