팜

I can now read most Korean characters, and am capable of producing hangul (the Korean system of writing) on or off my computer. The above is Pam (pronounced "pahm," the British way) in hangul.

Three Korean cafeteria meals later, my vegetarianism is still intact, minus one accidental bite of a fish patty that I thought was breaded zucchini. The food is quite good, especially once I learned that the vast majority of the sauces are quite spicy and thus, for me, something to be avoided (for now). Hopefully, my spice tolerance will improve in the course of the year. I'm especially a fan of how much they rely on fresh fruits and vegetables over here. I have mango juice and bananas with nearly every meal, as well as broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, etc.

I hadn't bonded much with my roommate (Christina) before, but yesterday she asked me if I'd pooped since I got here. "Yes" was the answer, but then she followed up: "Yeah, but was it a good poop?" No. It wasn't. I'm officially in love. We are also mutually open about the fact that we tend to fart in our sleep.

As of now, I have a Hello Kitty subway card and nearly no free time. I get up every morning around 7 and it's beginning to seem not only normal, but preferable. I hardly recognize myself.