For those of you who don't yet know, I've decided to return for another three months of study. I want to make more progress on my Korean, and also take advantage of some research opportunities here.
This time I'll be taking classes at Seoul National University, instead of Yonsei. I took my placement test yesterday and it looks like I will have no trouble advancing to the next level, despite going two months without any Korean practice. Classes start Monday.
In the meantime I'm hanging out for a few days with Erma's parents.
I've taken a new name. In an earlier post on Korean names, Erma pointed out that my Chinese name 蘇懶思 Sū Lǎnsī (which sounds quite similar to my English name, at least if you are a Chinese speaker) doesn't work all that well as a Korean name if the characters are read with their Korean pronunciation, So Nasa (소 나사). While So is a perfectly good Korean surname, Nasa is a weird-sounding given name. I could, of course, just call myself Laenseu (랜스), rendering my English name into its closest Korean equivalent. That is in fact what I did in the fall, but it's not much fun to have an awkward, obviously Western name, like all the other Americans and Europeans here.
This time around I'm trying something different. I've dropped one character/syllable from my Chinese name, becoming in Korean just So Na (소 나). I like it 'cause it's short and punchy, and connects to my Chinese name.
I don't like to leave blog entries picture-less, so here are some photos of a mystery substance for you to contemplate. Brownie points to whoever can identify the brown(y) stuff attached to this wall.
Clue #1: These photos were taken on November 24.
Clue #2: These photos were taken not far from where Erma and I lived.
