Earlier this week my birthday took place. I did something unusual. For the first time in my life, I skipped class! That is right. Instead of taking the subway to the university, I went to the bus terminal. I rode an express bus for about the duration of an hour. When I arrived at ์ฒ์ “Cheonan”, my friend was happy to see me. This friend I met about 5 years ago at work in the United States. Since then we have kept in touch. A lot had changed. First of all, she had gotten married. Second, she is busy selling real estate. Despite working 6 or 7 days a week, she left the office early in order to entertain me. It was the greatest birthday gift ever.
Later on, we went by car to a place called The Independence Hall of Korea. It is a beautiful place. A breeze was gently blowing, as a result the flowers and thousands of Korean flags were fluttering about in the wind. It was sunny and clear, we could see mountains surrounding us in the distance. Since it was monday, the place was empty. (It was closed) We still had the opportunity to walk around and look at things. Later on, we intend on returning there when it is open. It has about 7 different museums the provides interesting information on Korean culture, history and even its future!
This place is sort of a treasure. Since is not in Seoul, Daegu or Busan, it is a little off of the beaten tourists’ path.
I will spare you the personal details of my long, happy birthday. After that, is was back to normal life. I haven’t had adequate time to blog, eat, or sleep. My normal day begins with an hour long subway ride during rush hour, then 4 hours of Korean language class. Following that is another hour back to Korea University. There I do another 4 hours of accounting and more Korean language class. Finally, I drag myself home, do an hour of homework, sleep for 6 hours, and then start all over again. I am exhausted but very happy. My classes are useful. My classmates are kind and interesting. My year in Korea is more than half over. I know that this first year will definitely not be my last.
Below are some links about the Independence Hall. You should check them out. ^^
https://global.i815.or.kr/en/https://www.i815.or.kr/kr/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Hall_of_Korea