^^

Yesterday was pretty spectacular. I woke up, got ready, and then took the subway as normal. On the subway, I checked my e-mail to find that the decision had been made for my John Hopkins application. Unfortunately, I couldn't open the letter on my smart phone, so I had to wait for school.

Waiting made me pretty anxious

I opened the letter (well, e-mail) to find that I had been accepted into the International Development program at John Hopkins! I certainly am proud about this feat, but still not really sure where I'll be going to grad school. Too much rides on financial aid packages... I've gotten one from John Hopkins, and, even though it is generous, I would still end up with 40,000 in debt. Ouch.

Anyways, back to my great day. I had some good lessons and fun activities that worked well with classes. I had Korean class downtown at 7 pm, so I decided to take a jog from work. The route was a bit loopy, but quite wonderful. I ended up running east from my school under part of Bukhansan, through Pyeong-chang dong, Bu-am dong, and Cheong-un dong. It was VERY hilly, but so beautiful. I'm one of the few joggers in Seoul, so it is a bit awkward to be running in the streets. But I find such wonderful places, so I just ignore when people stare.

View from the north

So many cute cafes on this street

The ticker said 'Welcome to Korea' in English. Not really sure why...

As I was getting further south, there were more and more policemen. I wasn't really sure why, until I ran into a plaza with a huge plaque for the Cheong Wa Dae museum. Huh? Was I near the Blue House?

Yep, apparently I had run right by Park Geun-hye's new residence. Pretty awesome. Also explained a lot of the barbed wire on the mountain.

After a bowl of tuna jjigae to warm me up, I had Korean class downtown. I haven't attended the Korean Foundation courses in a long time, so it was great to be back. I've downgraded a level, but it is ok because I need to review grammar. Maybe I'll make this run a weekly thing.