Another entry on my life as Go-saum here (senior in high school in Korea).


I go to a boarding school located in Daehangno. It's a 30 minute drive from home and those thirty minutes had been a huge part of my life until the start of the new school year. I never loved having to get up at 5AM every Monday, to shove breakfast into my mouth, to make last minute throw-ins to my carrier, and to rush out the door into the chilly morning air and down to the basement floor of my apartment. But I always loved being able to talk to my dad in the frontseat and to listen to all the good stuff he had to say in reply. It relieved all the leftover stress from the week before and got my heart and soul ready for another busy week of school and self-study hours. I always needed this little session with my dad at least once a week because though I consider the two buildings (I spend the week in) a friendly school and a friendlier dorm, I could never "make myself at home" here. It felt like I had to have this something of a reset button pushed before coming in on a back-to-school Monday.


But as it turns out, I am a senior already (it’s been 5 days now since my first day) and the school made it a rule that all seniors stay in the dorms every weekend except for the last one of each month. And this means I only get this talk session with dad only every last Monday of each month.................................................................................................................................. But then again, it’s time for me to grow up and become a more independent individual :)




And today (my first Sunday here) was, I could say, a nice start. With a group of Christian friends here at school, I went to a church hidden somewhere among the forest of arts related buildings near Maronie park. Walking back, we found the weather so nice that what should have been a rushed, winter morning walk was actually a pleasant experience for all of us. Afterwards, at Hyehwa, I met my dorm neighbor ‘Dexter’ who had just come back from taking TEPS, another one of those English proficiency tests in Korea. We went to eat at Solemio, a pasta restaurant chain and after a nice meal consisting of a panned ‘foundue potato pizza’ and a some seafood spaghetti, we went to the little accessory store in the building next to it and bought some hair stuff. With a McDonald’s icecream cone in hand, we returned to the dorms and chatted away an hour in Dexter’s room. Now, I am back in my room, sitting on my bed, sipping on some Iced tea now and then while typing this record of the day.


The key thing here is, that all this stuff I did today should have been fun if I was still the old me back in 2nd grade (junior in hs). But really, it all just feels like a meaningless waste of time now. Even church, even good food out, even.........friendship...?


What a gloomy day. It’s so sunny out though.