Cultural Surprises

Happy August Everyone! 

I hope you are all enjoying your summer break with your families! I am so happy to be back home in Pennsylvania. After three consecutive semesters which consisted of attending classes for ten straight months I'm grateful for a break :)

One thing that gave me the motivation to endure to the end of all my homework and assignments was my trip to Korea! Earlier this year one of my friends from BYU-Hawaii, Saeyeon, invited me to stay at her house this summer and somehow the flight prices and timing worked out so I bought a ticket! I was there for two weeks and it was so much fun! I met up with friends, visited beautiful sights, and ate spicy food (we'll get more into that in a later post!)

Saeyeon invited my friend Kristen to visit Korea at the same time as me. She is also from the US so while we were there we started to make a list of the differences we noticed. She kept them in her phone and I thought it would be fun to share some of them here with you :)

Cars are (for the most part) monochromatic

  

This is something that we noticed early on. The majority of the cars were either gray, white, or black. Even some of the taxies were gray! Sometimes after a tiring day of walking almost 8 miles we would take one home. 

Putting the car in park  

 

When we did take the taxies I noticed that whenever the car stopped our driver would put it in park, even if we were just at a red light. While we were driving, another difference I noticed was that at some points the turning lane was in the middle of two lanes going straight. So we would stop to turn and cars would go past us on both sides! Also at intersections the cross guards would bow at the cars as they passed. Speaking of which, while I was in Korea I got in the habit of bowing to others to show respect. I even started doing it to people when I got back to the US! 

Buses can be stick shift 

I had never seen this before! I noticed it in Busan. We were on the bus and we got seats near the front so I saw the drier shifting gears. The buses in Korea also have their own lanes. This helps them to stay on time. I have to admit the buses were much more punctual than the ones in Hawaii :) 

Travel cards

  

Not only are they cute, but the travel cards are so convenient! We were able to use them to pay for the bus, subway, and taxi. Traveling from place to place was so fun! We learned that people in Korea usually don't get their licenses until they are older because not everyone needs a car, especially when they live in the city. 

 Firm beds

This is a picture of the room we stayed in while we were in Busan. ( I had to get it off the internet because I forgot to take one while we were there) When we first got there we were tired so Kristen and I jumped on the bed, but it was a mistake because we forgot how hard the mattresses are! Let's just say you could definitely bounce a quarter off these beds haha.

No shower curtains

This is a picture from the hotel as well. As you can see there is some glass, but the shower is open behind that. If any of you read Sydney Arvanitas' letters when she was on her mission in Daejeon, you will know all about this. In Korea, there are no curtains to separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom. This means water goes everywhere! 

Flip flops are not common  

  

The whole time I was there I didn't see anyone wearing flip flops! (besides Kristen ;) There were however stores selling shoes everywhere we went. In Seoul there was one street that was all shoe vendors. Saeyeon's mom was kind enough to buy Saeyeon and I matching sandals to wear. They were so comfortable! 

Lemon Ade

 

Most of the fruit drinks in Korea had "ade" at the end as a separate word such as "mango ade" or "lemon ade". Often times it meant that the drink was sparkling. The BEST lemonade I had was at the salon where I got my haircut. It was bubbly and delicious!

Where are the trash cans?

 

In the US it is common to see trash cans outside different establishments, but in Korea I couldn't find them anywhere! That's not to say it was dirty, the streets where really clean. I hardly saw any litter. However after I bought a drink or a snack I would have to carry the empty container for several blocks. In the picture on the left I was carrying a corn dog stick for about 15 minutes until I could throw it away! It became a joke because I started to get so excited whenever I did see a trashcan! I guess that's one way to appreciate the little things :) 

Socks are really popular

As we walked around the city, one of the most popular things that I saw sold was socks! Any design you wanted, you were sure to find it!

Malls

  
 

The malls in Korea are huge! The difference between those found in the US is that all the stores are close to each other. The best way to describe it is to think of them as one giant store with different departments. You know how you walk into Macy's and theres the Men's section and the Women's section? They are separated but it's still in one store. That's how the clothing departments were in the mall for different brands. At other malls, they were sorted by floors. For example 1st floor Women, 2nd floor Men, 3rd floor Children, 4th floor Electronics. My favorite thing to do at the clothing store was to read the English printed on shirts Most of the time it made no sense so Kristen and I got a kick out of that :) 

 Couple outfits

    

Speaking of clothes, this was my favorite fashion trend in Korea. Everywhere we went there were so so many couples, especially at Han River. And several of them were wearing what are called "couple outfits". This is when two people either wear the same outfit or an outfit that compliments the other person. Often time couples even wear matching shoes. It is absolutely adorable. Talk about #couplegoals

 Take-out

 

The night we got back from Busan, we were tired so we decided to order takeout. Instead of the food coming in styrofoam or disposable containers, the restaurant gave us nice plastic dishes. When we finished eating, Saeyeon put the dish outside her door and she said the delivery men would come back the next day and pick them up. How cool is that? Also in Korea McDonalds delivers! We never tried it but we would see them driving on their scooters :) 

 Commercials are really short

When we came back to Saeyeon's house after a day of touring, we would usually turn on the tv and watch some music programs. When there was a commercial break I was expecting it to be like here in the US, but they were over as quick as they started. It was like that on YouTube too. The app knew I was in Korea so the ads were only 5-10 seconds. It was so nice! I could't find a picture of us watching tv so I'm using one of my favorite kdrama haha!

Breakfast is the biggest meal

 

Every morning we were there Saeyeon's sweet mom woke up and made breakfast for us. They don't have ovens in Korean apartments so everything is made on the stove. Breakfast foods are my favorite, but in Korea they do not consist of waffles and omelets ;) On different days we had rice, kimchi, zucchini, dried young sardines, bulgogi, seaweed, and fried eggs. It was different, but all so good! 

Bag paper cups 

 

It was common to see water coolers when we went out. They had them in banks and the history museum that we went to. Instead of having cups, they had little bags to put the water in! 

Rest stops 

 

When Saeyeon's parents took us to the burial ground of King Sejong, we ate lunch at a rest stop on the way home. The food ranged from udon to gimbap to hamburgers. They also had what they call "walnut cakes". They look like walnuts and they are filled with red bean paste. I wasn't a fan of the filling, but they smelled delicious! 

Shaved Ice cream

 

This is now one of my favorite treats! I first had it in Hawaii thanks to my friends Camilla and her husband Evan who served his mission in Taiwan. In Korea it is called "bingsu". The best way to explain it is ice cream with the consistency of shave ice. It is really smooth and it melts in your mouth. There are so many flavors you can try. You can top it with fruit, nuts, chocolate, or red beans. If you ever get the chance, this is a must-try!

CDs are much more popular 

 

With iTunes and Spotify, I feel like it is not as common for Americans to buy CDs of their favorite artists. In Korea it is another story, and for good reason! The CDs in Korea don't only come with music but they come with photo books of the artists, photo cards, written lyrics, and even sometimes posters. The marketing is amazing! And the music is so good. If you want some new music to listen to look up BTS, Winner, BigBang, Twice, BlackPink, or Psy (yes he more songs than Gangnam Style ;) 

Chicken by the river

In Seoul one of the most popular places that people go with their friends is Han River. It runs right through the city and it is so pretty. However people don't just sit and watch, they also eat. When you get to the riverside tons of older women come up to you and give you flyers for chicken. As you can see from our picture, we got quite a few! After you choose what meal you want, you call a number to place your order, and then they deliver it to you! You just tell them where you are and they find you! I'm so glad we did it. The food was good and so was the view :)

These are just a few things that I noticed while I was in Korea. I will have more posts on the different activities that we did while we were there, hopefully soon!

Thanks for reading! 

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

Happy New Year!

Aloha!

I hope all is well with you and your families. As I sat down to write this post and I was a shocked to see that the last time I had written was a little over a year ago! Where has the time gone? So much has happened during this past year. I have tried many new things and I have learned a lot. I am excited to see what experiences and opportunities 2017 will bring! 

I was inspired to write this post because of an experience I had yesterday in the Orlando airport. I arrived at 7am then rushed off to my gate. I arrived, boarded the plane, and found my seat. Soon the plane was filled and we were preparing for takeoff. After some time, the captain came over the speaker and we were told that there was a mechanical issue that would prevent us from leaving so we had to return to the gate. As you can imagine, this upset many people on my flight. I could hear people all around me grumbling and complaining. 

I exited the plane and got in line to change my flight since I would be missing my connection. I could hear some adults behind me saying sarcastically "Well this is a great way to start the year!" Instead of joining in, I tried to think of three positive thoughts as my mom has always taught me to do when something doesn't go as planned. I thought to myself:

1. They found the problem before we took off. If they hadn't, it could have led to bigger problems
2. The sun is shining so the weather won't interrupt our future flight 
3. I have a Dunkin Donuts breakfast bagel from Papa in my backpack so I won't starve :)

I soon got my new boarding passes and then sat and waited. I watched as the departure time slowly increased. First it was 11:30, then 12:00, then 12:30 and so on until it jumped to 5:30. Everyone rushed in line to change their flight plans. By this time I could feel how angry the people around me were so I put in my headphones and listened to some happy music while I waited my turn. I soon turned it off though because I noticed the mom in front of me struggling with her daughter. The things she was saying to her little girl made me very sad. Finally the mother sat her daughter on the ground and said "Have a temper tantrum on the floor. I can't do this anymore." As the girl started to cry, I wanted to help but I didn't know what to do. 

Suddenly, the sweetest grandmother came over to talk to the little girl. The warmest feeling hit me when I saw her smile. She offered the child a cookie from her purse and asked her what her name was. When she replied the woman said, "I am going to visit my granddaughter who has that very same name!" She then told the mom she would hold her daughter while she waited in line. The little girl quieted down immediately and was soon sleep in the grandmother's arms. Her kindness surprised me and I actually started to get tears in my eyes while I was in line. 

I have seen many posts online about the terrible things others have done. Many people believe the world is full of hate. I disagree. There has to be an opposition in all things. There is good in the world if you look for it. As my Mom taught me, you have to "look for the blue". It all has to do with your perspective. For example, if you were to sit in a room you may passively glance around the room not really seeing anything. But if someone were to ask you to look for the blue in the room you would suddenly see things you never saw before such as a blue sock, or a blue stripe on a book cover. I believe there are many kind people in the world. 

If we treat others with kindness, it will be returned. I saw that as I made my second flight change. The mother I spoke of earlier never made it to the front of the line and ended up leaving angry and upset. When it was my turn to fix my flight, I greeted the woman at the counter with a smile and told her where I was going. She quickly got me on the right flight and arranged a hotel room for me for the night because I would not be able to make it back to Hawaii like I had planned. She also gave me two free meal vouchers to use in the airport. I was happily surprised and very grateful. 

As it turned out, there was another girl on my flight in Orlando who was traveling to Hawaii. We were both able to get to California and help each other find the hotel provided by the airline. Another small blessing.

Although this is a situation I would have rather avoided, I have learned how to be brave and do things out of my comfort zone. Even though it has only been a little more than 24 hours, this new year has taught me a lot about the person I want to be. 

I think the moral of this story can be summed up with a quote from one of my favorite princesses, "Have courage and be kind". 

Wishing you all the best in the coming new year!

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

The Great Wall of Kahana

Aloha!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was quite exciting as I got to swim in the ocean for the the first time since I've returned to Hawaii! But it wasn't just for fun, it was actually for a service project. I am taking a GE class this semester called 'Local Communities' where we learn about the culture of Hawaii. This weekend we had our first field trip. We took six buses and drove to a place called Kahana. When we arrived we greeted the people there with he chant Hiki Mai as a sign of respect. We then split into groups and started to work. 

The topic we've been studying in class is ahupua'a. This is the Hawaiian word for a subdivision of land. Early Hawaiians divided each island into pie shaped ahupua'a that went from the mountains to the sea. This allowed each section to be self sufficient. One of the things the Hawaiians would do is build a rock wall in the ocean to act as a fish pond. Our project on Saturday was to rebuild the rock wall in Kahana. There were different jobs to do such as weeding, collecting rocks, passing rocks in an assembly line, and forming the wall. We all worked together as a team and got a lot done in the time we had.

My friend Kahea and I vlogged the adventure so I will add that here at the end. We had so much fun! It was a great service opportunity and I am grateful that I could be a part of it! We have been blessed to live in this beautiful world and we must do our part to take care of it. Hawaiians believe if you care for the land it will in turn care for you. 

"The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men." (Psalms 115:16)

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

10 reasons to smile

Aloha everyone!

What a week it has been. In such a short amount of time I feel like so much has happened. We seem to be on a boat and the waves keep taking us up and down.  I'm sure you have all seen in the news the awful things that have been happening all over the world. It has been easy for some people to see these events and say that they have 'lost all faith in humanity'. I disagree. Of course these attacks are terrible, but that does not mean there is no good in the world. Darkness cannot extinguish light. As I was reading about the news I came across this quote by Mr. Rogers.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”

His mother's words are true. Among the articles about death and confusion there have been several posts about the people in France who opened their doors to strangers, cared for lost children, and donated blood for those that were injured. So I thought I would write this post to focus on the good. Look around yourself and find reasons to smile today.

10 Reasons to Smile

1. Family: Take some time to tell your family that you love them. 

I was so grateful to my family this week. They have been there for me as I adjust to college life again. My parents are my greatest supporters and are always there to help me do 'grown up things' when I have no idea what I am doing. I have also been blessed to have wonderful family members here in Hawaii who have been kind enough to let me stay with them while I go to school. Thank you Jordan family!

2. Peanuts Movie: Go see it!

I'm sure you all know how much my family loves the Peanuts (it was our Halloween theme last year) so believe me when I say that this movie was amazing. I was so pleasantly surprised. There was no crude or inappropriate humor, which was honestly so refreshing. It was just clean fun that had me laughing out loud several times throughout the film. The story was beautiful and had a great message. I feel like I could write a whole blog post about how perfect that movie was. I'm sure if Charles Shultz was alive it would be something he would be proud of. And just to convince you how good the movie is here is one of the songs from the soundtrack. This will be sure to make you smile (and dance!)

3. Good Food: You are what you eat!

If you are feeling down, a good snack is sure to life your spirits. Usually something sweet does the trick :) I have been having a lot of good food this week. That's just one of the many perks of living in Hawaii. Teriyaki chicken is one of my favorite foods and it is served all over the island. I got some this week with my family while we were visiting the new marketplace at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We also discovered a crepe vender which may be my downfall. I will need to resist going there everyday for a Nutella crepe :)

4. Great Customer Service: It does happen!

This was actually one of the things that inspired me to write this post. So yesterday I received an email from Spotify that my 3 month free trial had expired and that there was a problem with renewing my premium account. I wasn't surprised because I got a new card with a chip so this wasn't the first time I encountered this. I went to update my account but then I remembered that Spotify does a discount for students. I tried to sign up for that twice but it wouldn't recognize me as a student. Suddenly I got a text saying that both tries had taken money from my account even though it hadn't gone through. I sent an email to the Spotify help center about my situation. Within the hour I received the kindest email explaining what happened and an assurance that no money was taken from my account. I'm used to customer service letters being blunt and robot generated, but this was a sincere letter. It was a simple thing but it made me smile. Oh, and I did get my account update in the end if you were wondering :)

5. Friends: Catch up with someone!

It has been a bit surreal to come back to Hawaii and see all my friends again. It has been so nice to catch up with them and hear what has been happening in their lives. A lot can change in a year and a half! This week I had the pleasant surprise of discovering that one of the sisters from my mission is now studying here at BYU-Hawaii! When we first saw each other we couldn't help but call each other sister :) We went to dinner together later and had so much fun talking. So if you have a friend you've been meaning to call or you haven't seen in a while, take some time to catch up with them! 

6. Adventure: Travel somewhere near or far!

For me, traveling always brings back good memories. It was fun being able to travel back to Hawaii this week. But you don't always need a plane to travel, driving in a car can be just as fun! I love sitting in the car and looking out the window and just having time to think. Take a drive into the city or explore a part of your town that you never had before. I'm sure you'll discover something exciting! 

7. Celebrations: Yay!

Our family had a lot of celebrate this past week. First of all, it was mom's birthday on the 5th! We went into town and had a fun day at the zoo. We also stopped at a bakery and sang to her in the car as we ate our cupcakes. We ended the day with Uncle Ben, Aunt Michelle, and our cousins by eating some delicious Ted's Bakery pie. There was also a celebration this week here in Laie to celebrate 150 years of the church being in Hawaii. They had a parade near campus and the community gathered to watch. Kevin, Kenny, and Natalie had fun collecting the candy that was thrown from the floats. There was also a performance put on by the youth at night that we were able to watch. Our cousins Colin and Stephanie were in it. Everyone did a great job! If you don't have something to celebrate soon, make something up! Our family has dinosaur day that we celebrate randomly in November. A few years ago Kevin said there is a break between Halloween and Thanksgiving so we needed a holiday. I don't know if it was an excuse to have cake or not but we've been celebrating ever since. So have fun and celebrate something you are passionate about!

8. Try New Things: It's good for you!

This past week our family went to the Dole Plantation here on Oahu. We had never been before and it was a great experience! It didn't convince me to like pineapple though, not yet. Living in Hawaii got me to like coconut, but pineapple still needs to grow on me :) Kevin and Kenny love it though so they were in heaven. Dole whips galore! Speaking of trying different foods, while I am here I have been trying to expand my tastes. Yesterday while I was at FoodLand I saw this drink that was strawberry flavored so I decided to get it. It tasted nice but I should have read the small print. It had aloe vera pulp in it! That was quite a shock when I started drinking. So this week trying something new, because you never know how it will surprise you!

9. Act of Kindness: There are no small acts

I have been shown so much kindness this week. They may seem like small acts to those who helped me but I won't forget them. One happened as I was leaving the devotional on Tuesday. I was walking with my friend Suifan and she asked if I was going to get lunch. I told her I didn't have a meal plan to eat on campus. She then walked me to the cafe, used her guest pass to let me in, and ate lunch with me even though she was on her way to class. She is such a sweetheart.  Another instance happened on Thursday. I was having a rough day because for some insane reason I scheduled to have four classes that day and my head was not happy about it. I had a terrible migraine and I didn't even feel like going to my last class. I just wanted to lie down. Thankfully my last class was near my friends Annie and Adit's apartment. I stopped by and they were kind enough to give me some pain medicine. They also gave me some edamame and it was just what I needed to get through the day :) This week pray to find someone who needs your help, I promise it will make them smile.

10. Read the Scriptures: They will bring peace

I think this is an important scripture to remember with everything that has been happening recently. 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Keep smiling :)

♥ TTFN, KARISSA