Did you miss me? :)

Hello again, back from the homestay experience! I stayed with a girl named Yejin, who couldn't have been sweeter. She took me to all corners of her city, exploring little side streets and neighborhoods that I might not have found on my own, and taking me along to do things that she likes to do with her friends. We went to a karaoke parlor (lyrics in Korean not my strong point, they did choose some English songs for me too, otherwise, I just danced around with them all!), took sticker photos (you go into a little booth, take a bunch of campy photos, then go into another booth and decorate them on a monitor, then it prints out little stickers for you), went into cute little stationary/writing supply stores (they go to school from 7am-10pm at a specialized high school, and even have to go in on Saturdays and in the summer, so they need something to make it more fun for them!), and went shopping. Yejin showed me her school and her classroom, took me to a local temple, brought me to places that served her favorite foods, and explained the subway system (much more confusing than in America, but also much more attractive, with malls in the subway tunnel, and glass walls that open to let you on to the train). She kept wanting to buy me gifts whereever we went, and never wanted to let me pay for anything, saying that we were in Korea, so she had to (I compromised by buying her gifts in return, but still, she sent me home with a bag of things that she gave me right before I left!). Her mom was sad that she couldn't talk with me more, since she couldn't understand English and I couldn't understand Korean, but she was delighted with the biscotti that I baked for her family, especially since she was a baker too (I will be coming home with her rice cake recipe...for those who know it, it's the sticky little rice balls filled with red bean paste, and for those who know me, I find these to be strangely appealing and addictive!). I also spent a night at one of Yejin's friends houses, and her father was very excited to find out that I was a vegetarian who enjoyed tofu, vegetables, and rice for breakfast. He brought out and dramatically presented a large cake of tofu for me in the morning, in addition to the large sampling of foods that make up a traditional Korean breakfast. I would list them for you, but I'm not really sure what they are, which sort of sums up eating here, where tasting everything and deciding if you like it after is much more exciting than trying to figure out what it all is first! For breakfast there was gimbap (sort of like thin sushi with lots of different vegetables in it), a peppery leaf which you wrap around rice, potatoes, mushrooms, rice, soup with sprouts in it, ttokboki (which is good, not quite sure what it is, but worth having), and, how could I forget, kim chi, which rather grows on you, and can be a nice way to wake up your taste buds.
Yejin and her friends were very sad to see me go. They want to travel to America to visit me and to see New York, and some wish that they could be a part of our educational system, since theirs is so competitive and all-absorbing. I gave each of her friends a little friendship bracelet to remember me by, and gave Yejin an "I love NY" t-shirt and map for when she comes to visit. They all dropped me off at the lobby of the university dorm, and to my surprise, they were all in tears and didn't want to see me go (got me a bit misty eyed as well). The three days I spent with them were just as meaningful to them as they were to me.