Attempting to Learn Korean...

Having completed my second day of Korean class I am now downgrading my learning classification from "Learning Korean" to "Attempting to Learn Korean."

It is not a pretty sight!

But, when I left my class and walked home I started trying to read words. I didn't know what any of them meant, but I just kept trying to remember the sounds. And despite my complete inability to remember what this letter "ㅊ" or "ㅈ" (or about a dozen others) sounds like... I'm hanging in there!

If you want to get an idea of the new letters I am learning, you can play around with this online game.

http://www.genkienglish.net/speakkorean/koreanalphabet.htm

A few more details about my new class and new routine. My Korean class is from 10:00-12:00 everyday. In order to get to the class I have to walk eight minutes to the subway station. Ride the subway four minutes to Gangnam Station which is two stops away. I then have to walk four more minutes to the class. It costs me 1,800\ for the entire trip, about $2.00. (If I wanted to take a taxi it would cost me about 2,500\, not even $3.00. But, I like to walk.) Afterward, since my work starts at 2:00, I can stop and eat lunch at a little Korean restaurant near my school and get an entire meal for 4,000\, about $4.00. And, of course, I can study my Korean letters and words while I walk and eat. (In fact, I can study Korean just about everywhere... I'm in Korea!)

It is a nice routine.

Funny thing happened today. I was on the subway and an old man got up from his seat to stand next to me. He started asking me questions in broken English. He then pulled out a book from his pocket "Speed English for Beginners." He was trying to practice his English by talking with me. I've heard that it happens a lot, but this was a first for me. The best part was that I had him help me remember some of the Korean letters. I just pointed to a sign and had him say the word. It was a fair trade.

This morning I didn't want to wake up. Drinking last night (and the night before) was an unwise decision. But, I pulled myself out of bed and got ready for class. On my way to the subway station I was cold, the wind was blowing and I realized that I’d forgotten to re-charge my ipod. I was in an unpleasant mood. Then it occurred to me…I live in Seoul, an unbelievably cool city, and all I have to do to stay here is to go to work and talk about debate all day.

It's hard to maintain a foul mood when things are working out so well.

Debate rocks.
Korea rocks.
I rock.