July 24, 2009

School has been going splendidly. I have an A in every class thus far. One thing, however, that I’m not happy about, is this business with the Academic Excellence scholarship. Korea University offers a $1,000 scholarship to any student who receives an A in every class. The catch? You have to be an Exchange student and not a study abroad student. L This really sucks. This program is VERY expensive when you include, in my case, rent, transportation, groceries, food, books, the flight, the regular amount for a UC quarter- which is $3,144- and other various expenses. Although the reception of the grant money was very helpful ($450.00), there were many cost associated that you simply don’t figure out until you get to Korea and live for a bit. Since the program the UC program is a study abroad, I’m not eligible for the $1,000, despite my wonderful grades. Oh well. Time for the food of the day. I decided I was missing home, so went for something a bit more western. This place is near my friend’s officetel, and it offers a variety of pasta dishes.

Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

I decided on the fresh shrimp and broccoli alfredo pasta. You can tell this place is “Americanized” because they actually had forks (lol). I still don’t know what those seeds were, but I was too starving to ask, so I ate them. Everything was delicious. The only downside is that the shrimp were fresh and still had the tails on them. Thus each time, I wanted to eat a forkful containing shrimp I had to pull it out, tear the tail off, and then eat it (ugh). One thing I’d recommend, even in an American restaurant, is that if you’re allergic to anything, know what it is before you go and have someone translate into Korean on a little note card for you. I didn’t know what these seeds were and it was fine for me to eat them, because I have no food allergies. However, this can be a dangerous yet common situation for many foreigners. Even in an Americanized restaurant, the wait staff are Korean and usually only fluent in Korean. So, keep that in my mind whenever you eat somewhere alone.

I’d write more but I have a ton of exams to study for, and my sig. other has a show to perform in about 2 hrs at a big club here in Korea- Club Answer. I’m not sure if I previously mentioned the music scene, but it’s so diverse out here. They love “American-style” music. Peace and Love All!

A Previous show of he and the band