Salsa dancing in Seoul

Last night I went salsa dancing in Seoul with a couple of my Northwestern friends who live here and their coworkers. It was a LOT of fun! We went to an area called Itaewon, which is close to the military bases. There were a few latinos at the club, and I danced with one American army man who unfortunately had no sense of rhythm, so that was a bit painful. Another guy knew how to salsa dancing, but because it's been so long and I am very out of practice I struggled to keep up with him. It was still a lot of fun. Also danced some merengue and bachata at this club. In about 2 weeks I'm going swing dancing.

After last night my spirits have perked up. A few days ago the only thing keeping me sane was the thought of leaving this coming weekend to visit Jim, but after doing something I'm passionate about last night (dancing) I have really started having a better attitude now. For now I'm no longer thinking "Will I survive a year?"

Now that I've been teaching English I've noticed that I've become much more aware of how I speak English and my utilization of grammar. Small grammar mistakes that I could easily get away with now are like glaring errors that I try to correct. Another amusing language fact is that I've noticed in public I accidentally respond or say things in Spanish. One time I was in a cab and a driver was asking me whether the city he was going to was the correct one and I accidentally without thinking said, "Si," and my friends in the cab were like, "Did you just speak Spanish?" It was just something so automatic. In class whenever my kindergartners frustrate me I go "ay-yi-yi-yi-yi," and they think it's the funniest thing. I've gotten comments from parents that their children have taken some of these little quirks of mine home with them, so to speak. Quite amusing.

I'm quite proud of myself because yesterday when Nathan and I were on a bus heading into Seoul to meet up with my friends I understood an elderly Korean man ask another man whether this next stop was the Gangnam station stop. I don't quite know what the other guy said (I guessed it was something along the lines of "No, it's the next one," which turned out to be true), but I was so elated that I understood a Korean just asking something normal and everyday. Also, when we got off the bus and I went out in front of Nathan to cross the street he told me, "Man, there is nothing about you that stands out when I'm looking at the back of your head." I have dark hair, and it was straightened so apparently I blended in with the Korean crowd when he couldn't see my face. That, too, strangely made me happy.

So overall yesterday was a very good day, and now I am much more happy with my decision to come to Korea after all. Hopefully, after quite the rough start I had, things will continue looking up.

-AALA