in addition to keeping up with my anti sugar habit, i’ve also continued and succeeded with my morning studying habit.  A week ago i thought it had no extra benefit to my studying but now im beginning to see that it actually works.  Theres definitely more focus and i’ve accomplished something everyday.

This weekend i went to eat fresh ass fish.  Like you straight up buy it from the fish market still swimming and then go upstairs to have it cooked.  I also ate live octopus.  I dipped the squirming tentacles around into sesame sauce and chew.  Delicious. 

I went with some hk friends and I realize i really like hk people.  They’re really different when they speak English vs. when they speak Cantonese.  But when they speak cantonese, they can explain themselves so clearly. One thing i really admire in the way hks speak is how quickly and straightforwardly they can get their point across.

Left:  Landscape from the exit of the business building in winter. 

Right:  Theres a touch screen information and direction booth in the subway station.  It gives you suggestions on places to tour and how to get there.  Did i mention its TOUCH SCREEN?

I was hanging out with my friends from mentors club, a school club for exchange students to meet real students.  I asked them if they liked guys with super short hair or korean style medium length hair.  They said medium length because super short hair reminds them of guys who just came out of the army.  I also asked what they eat on an average day, and its usually one main soup dish, few side dishes and rice-as expected. 

Top:  A small mall in Insadong that sells alot of indy products.  I drank some pretty good tea there.

Bottom:  Korean Museum of Education.  Cute little kid was our tour guide and gave us an English tour.  He was so nervous but he grinded through by focusing on laying out the information.  Big props to him, I’m not sure if I would have been able to do that as a kid. 

Above:  Entrance to the chinese medicine market

Below:  One of the main Korean streets features a statue of King Sejon, the greatest Korean King.  Also the street where the final scene in the drama, IRIS, took place with the car explosions and the gunfire. 

These guys were pretty into their performance

The changing of the guards and a peek into an old korean palance room.

View from inside Ben’s dorm

As some of you may know I have a slight obsession with being ambidextrous. 

My decision to start becoming ambidextrous started while working in summer staff.  As a chef I had to spend hours a day cutting fruits and vegetables.  I decided that rather than have a sore and tired right hand at the end of the day, that Ill just take my time and split the work with my left. 

It was super awkward at first.  My slow pace got my yelled at a few times.  I had to switch to my right when bosses were looking, but when I had the time, I would carefully cut a dozen watermelon.  Luckily, I never cut myself and halfway through my kitchen skills with both hands were great.

 In Korea, as i meet and see many non-asians fail to use chopsticks, I set out to prove that chopsticks really isn’t that hard.

So i started using my left hand.

Being really ravenous and not being able to eat due to your own incompetence is once of the worse feelings in the world.  This includes looking like a dumbass by ducking my head down and tilting my jaw to eat that piece of kimchi and realizing that the kimchi fell and is staining my sweater. 

Honestly, the learning curve is pretty extreme, but its also really short.  It took me only 2 failed attempts where i had to switch to right hand to finish my dinner, and two really frustrating dinners (Korean side dishes are slippery) to get to become adequate. 

conclusion, learning to use chopsticks is really easy, I don’t know what these foreigners are complaining about.