Are we there yet? Bored out of my mind on the plane, slowly embracing Korea….

DISCLAIMER: This post is timed kinda weird, because I wrote it while I was on the plane... but I'm actually in Korea now! And I'm jet-lagged, so I figured this would be a good way to pass time :)

  I really can’t think of anything else to do right now, so I have gone through the trouble of pulling out my laptop during hour #7 of this 15 hour flight. I spent the first seven hours in shock… it hasn’t really hit me that I’ll be in Korea for 3 crazy months until now, and it took 7 hours to digest that. Well, more like 6 hours. I spent a good hour watching random bits of “Tangled” (excellent movie), “The Fighter” (good, but too much cursing), "Tron" (too many bright colors), and “Little Fockers” (meh).  The feeling first hit me when I was hugging my mom and dad right before I went into the security checkpoint. Being the manly man that I am, I wouldn’t have imagined feeling even the smallest pang of sadness before leaving, but I did. I thought to myself, “Wow. I’m actually going to be on my own for the next three months.” It was a weird sensation that was quick and painful, like ripping off a Band-Aid, but it was far from unexpected. As a self-proclaimed momma’s boy, I’ve never been this far from my parents for this long. But now that I’m well on my way to Korea, I feel like the transition’s been relatively smooth since then. I’m steadily being dipped into Korean culture whether I like it or not, and it hasn’t been as bad as I imagined. For starters, the airplane served us lunch as soon as we got on the plane. And I’m not sure if this is normal, but I’ve always LOVED airplane food (I really don’t understand why it has such a terrible reputation), and find it better than the food back on Earth, so you can imagine how excited I was. When they placed a plate of Bi-Bim-Bap (not sure how to describe it, so just check out the picture below), I let out a quiet yelp, and now the people sitting next to me think I’m mentally insane. Even worse, at the beginning of the flight, the man right next to me asked where I went to school … sorry to all you Yalies, our reputation is now ruined.

Showed that lunch who's boss

Pshh.. I don't need an instruction manual to do my thing

As you can see, I pretty much destroyed that Bi-Bim-Bap, and it was oh-so-satisfying. It was like being reunited with a long lost love, which I had not seen since eating at Seoul (not the city, but the ONLY Korean restaurant on campus) right before final exams. As I scooped up the last spoonful and shoved it into my mouth, I felt pure excitement for a good five minutes (after which I started to feel nauseous… those first two pictures were taken within 2 minutes of the each other). If the food on the airplane was this good, what could I expect in Korea?? I mean that’s what everyone talks about after visiting the place. Food gets me pretty darn excited, and it was a good reason/excuse to slowly chip away at the fears I’ve had about this trip.

Speaking of immersion of Korean culture, I forgot to update you guys on something pretty cool and relevant that happened to me on Sunday. So my aunt somehow scored tickets to a K-Pop concert at the Prudential Center (in Dirty Jerzee, of all places), and I got invited to go! For all of you K-Pop fanatics/freaks/losers out there, the performers at the concert used to be a part of the K-Pop boy band called 동방신기 (also known as DBSK) before they broke off and formed their own group called JYJ.

 

I wish I followed K-Pop more before going to this concert. I’ve never seen anyone go this crazy for anything… and ironically these hordes of little girls and aged women were shouting at the tops of their lungs for three guys singing and inappropriately dancing. And at certain points of the night, I wish I could’ve related to these crazy fans and shared the same love for K-Pop that they did, because for most of the night I just stood there like an idiot, waving this little red glow-stick that everyone received at the concert (the picture below is misleading… that was just a pose). As you can see, the red glow-sticks made it clear how crazy the rest of the crowd had been. 

Exaggerating enthusiasm

 Looking back on it, even though I was probably the only male in the crowd, I realized that it was a nice slice of the place I would be for one month thrice (for the sake of rhyme). I got excited about going to Korea, getting some exposure to this culture that I’ve staunchly resisted for 19 years, a culture that remained so foreign yet worth getting to know. It was a feeling that would revisit me four days later on the plane, as I made sweet, sweet love to my Bi-Bim-Bap.

As you can see, I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing, but the transformation has already kind of begun…