한국에 있는 백인 남자

Postponing my trip.

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:40:50 -0400

So after much procrastination and plain forgetfulness I’ve decided to postpone my trip to Busan. The problem I encountered with waiting for so long to try and book my trip was the fact that all the train tickets were gone and all of the hostels, guesthouses, and reasonably priced hotels were all booked. I am, however, going to Gyeongju (a city about 90 minutes by bus from Busan) with two of my friends. We’re leaving on Friday at 1:00pm. I’ll be missing my two classes, and I feel bad about it, but I don’t know when I’ll be coming back to Korea, so I figured doing some exploring is worth missing a day’s worth of material.

I got one of my midterms back, and I got a C on it. Which is not what I thought I’d get, since after taking it I felt incredibly confident about it, but I didn’t read the story for one of the questions, so I only got a 2/10 on it. The other questions I got 9/10, 8/10, and 10/10. So I guess I’ll do better on the final (I only need a 76 on it to get a B in the class) assuming I read.

I honestly cannot wait for my return to Korea. I’m hoping to keep in touch with the friends I’ve made here. It will be interesting to see how generous (or not) time will be to them. The same can also be said about myself. I hope everything works out for the best. Only time will tell.

Midterms are over.

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:18:46 -0400

So midterms are over. I feel like I did pretty well on all of them. I haven’t gotten any of the grades yet, but they should be fine. I lied, I got my Korean midterm grade. I got an A. Anyway, now is the time of year at Yonsei called AKARAKA. What it is is a big celebration, like a spring festival. They have a bunch of events that you can go to to really see what the school is about. Today, along the main street of the campus, they had booths set up that were basically mini-bars. You go and buy drinks for a small amount, or some food, and the money is put into the funds of the certain department you bought it from. On Friday there is a big concert that’ll be held in the amphitheater. They’ll be having a few big-name performers there. Tomorrow, Thursday, I’ll be standing in line to get a ticket for the performance. Hopefully I’ll get there in time, as there’s only 220 tickets available and there’s about 500 international students that want to go.

I’ve also decided about my future. I’ll be going back home on my scheduled date, June 23, and studying the material for the class I want to skip on my own. Hopefully, with the connections I’ve made in Korea, along with my Korean friends back home, I can get what I need to get done. I’m also helping this along by trying to learn 3-5 different parts of grammar every week. So far that’s been going pretty well, I just hope that SOME of what I’ve been teaching myself will be a part of the placement test I’ll have to take. Next week I’ll be heading to Busan, a city in the southeast of Korea. I’ll be meeting with a friend I made last semester at UMBC who will be back visiting her family. I’ll report my experience in Busan after I get back, as I don’t know if I’ll have suitable wifi or allotted time to update while I’m actually there. Other than these details, nothing has really changed. Hopefully my last (little more than a) month here will be just as good as these past three. But only time will tell.

Midterm time.

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:16:00 -0400

So this week at Yonsei (and most other schools, from what I can tell) is midterm week. Although my midterms are fairly easy, the only one I’m really going to have any trouble with whatsoever is the Korean midterm. Mainly because it’s split up into several different parts. My Modern Korean History midterm is just 5 simple identifications and two one-page summaries. My Intro to Korean Studies midterm was basically all subjective. He was more or less looking to see if we could draw conclusions from the stories we were supposed to have read and relate them to the concepts that we had gone over in class, which was fairly easy and only took about 45 minutes. My Topics on Korean Language and Culture midterm is a five-page group paper, with each member attaching a one-page reaction to the place we wrote about, which shouldn’t be too difficult. But all my friends that are taking classes that aren’t targeted specifically at foreigners aren’t having as much luck during exam week as I am, seeing as they have ACTUAL exams.

Getting away from the exam week talk, I also came up with a decision on a few other things. The main thing is that I won’t stay here for the summer, at least I won’t stay to take a class. This is because I most likely won’t have enough money to stay AND take the class, seeing as frugality is not one of my strong points. So if I do end up staying, I will most likely stay for one month in a Hasookjib (a guesthouse of sorts), and study on my own. I will be going to a bookstore within a few days to find the book that is used in UMBC Korean classes and practice speaking with the friends I have here. Also, this will give me a good amount of time to go exploring on my own, and not have to worry about making it back in time to get enough sleep for class. I don’t know how long this plan will last, seeing as the original plan didn’t last very long, but time will tell.

New friends and stuff.

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:10:05 -0400

So lately I’ve gotten into the daily lifestyle here in Korea (I think I said that last time). But anyway, I’m pretty much settled into life here, and it feels like I’ve been here for a lot longer than just over a month. I order stuff in Korean now, I speak Korean as much as possible, I try to observe all the cultural norms that I know. I’m even comfortable going out on my own now. Although, I haven’t gone on any expeditions alone yet. All of my adventures “alone” are going to the subway station and getting on the subway by myself to meet some friend(s) somewhere. But I’ll still count it (hi haters). I finally went to Itaewon and did some exploring with some friends. There we had Turkish food and desserts and bought shoes. The only place that I can find non-basketball shoes in my size are in Itaewon, seeing as it’s the main hangout spot for foreigners, specifically Americans (read: military personnel), so there’s a number of stores that sell big shoes (12 is about as big as it gets though, which is good for me), and big clothes. It’s also where the majority of the larger Koreans shop. I think I had more culture shock in Itaewon than I have anywhere else. Seeing so many foreigners was a big surprise to me. I KNEW that it was a center for foreign residents, but I just wasn’t prepared I guess. I actually wanted to LEAVE because I felt uncomfortable. All in all it was a good experience. Nothing much happened except the guys that I’ve become friends with one of the guys I throw the football around with. He’s a Korean-American. I’ve gone out with his group of friends twice now and it was pretty fun. Last night was one of the most eventful nights I’ve had. There was clubbing (we went to about five, for the price of one), drinking, eating, more drinking, a drunk (already beaten-up) Korean man that wanted to fight my friend and when he realized he didn’t want to turned his attention to me (I finally got him to leave us alone), cab rides, all you can eat BBQ at 5:00am. I finally got back to my dorm around 6:30am and passed out immediately. I also woke up around noon without an alarm which I found incredibly strange. Then today I met a friend of mine in Myeong-dong and we got smoothies, went to a bookstore, ate dinner at Lotteria (fancy, I know), and saw The Hunger Games. Watching a movie in Korea was a bit different. Unlike America, you don’t just buy a ticket and pick your seat at your own discretion before the show, you have to tell the person at the ticket window which seat you want and they print it out on the receipt. Also different is the fact that there’s no tickets, you pay and then the receipt has the admission information, so if you lose it, you’re screwed. Also, large popcorn was only like 6,000 or 7,000 Won (which is roughly $5.50-6.75). If I hadn’t already eaten dinner I would’ve DEFINITELY bought some, but I didn’t; drinks were only about $2.50. So yeah, if you’re looking for a cheap place to vacation, or live for a few months, Korea is definitely the place for you, but I hear taxes are ridiculous. Who knows if I’ll run out of money, time will tell.

Video

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:08:17 -0400

Update.

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:06:35 -0400

Hey guys. Not much to report in the last few days. I haven’t really been exploring and whatnot. Mainly because I have no motivation. But now I have a new friend that wants to show me around all of Seoul, so I think I’ll be having many (mis)adventures soon enough to report to you! So what have I been doing? Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Just going out, eating, going to clubs, going to bars, studying Korean, practicing Korean. The usual. On Friday we went to the club called BarFly for some exchange student party. It was PACKED. I didn’t even go to the bar and get any drinks because there were too many people that I would’ve had to maneuver through, so I just stayed in this section with all my European friends and my new Korean friends and danced. I’ve discovered (I may’ve already reported this) that I gain the ability to dance after a few drinks, which I’m perfectly okay with. On Saturday I went to a soccer-themed pub with my Korean friend that I met through the language exchange program. It was VERY small, maybe 20 people could fit in there at the most. But it was good, a great atmosphere. We had a few drinks and watched the Arsenal match (which they won 3-0 against Aston Villa!!!). Strangely enough, the place was run by a few ajummas (definition of the word here http://wiki.galbijim.com/Ajumma) who were very nice and welcomed me even though they spoke very little English (as did everyone else in the pub, save for my friend). They, and the male customers, got excited at every shot on goal from either team. On Sunday I didn’t really do anything. Today, however, after my 10:00am class was over, I went to the Immigration Office to pick up my alien registration card. It was fairly painless and we were in and out in maybe 30 minutes. Then I threw a football around with a few guys I know from my Korean class. Korea keeps presenting me with different things that make me love it even more. I hope this continues, but only time will tell.

Nothing much has changed.

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:12:35 -0400

So nothing much has changed since last time. Nothing too exciting has happened. I’ve just been going out and finding random places to eat, taking a few pictures, etc. I did get to experience a little bit of the Korean drinking culture. Two nights ago I went out to dinner with my friend I met through the Language Exchange program. He wanted to introduce me to his girlfriend so we went to dinner at a place right outside of Ehwa Womans University (where she goes, it’s also literally right across the street from Yonsei). It was a place in a back alley, it was DELICIOUS. I had something with pork, pepper sauce, bean sprouts, rice, and egg. My friend also bought a different take on Sashimi for us. It was raw beef placed on top of rice (like raw fish on rice that is commonly referred to as Sashimi). However, the waiter brought out a blowtorch and cooked the steak ON the rice. It was cool, it was also incredibly delicious. Then afterwards we went to a place in Sinchon and drank. We had fruit-flavored soju and Maehwasu. Both were very good, and we drank…a lot. It was good. There was a Soccer Jersey party at a club in Hongdae (the place I mentioned in an earlier post), where you could get in for free if you wore a soccer jersey. We were going to go to that, but when we got done at the place in Sinchon it was somewhat late and my friend had class at 10:00 so we just left and called it a night. During our time at the place, he taught me some things about Korean culture (FINALLY!) and helped me a little bit with my Korean; after I have a few drinks I become (in my opinion, annoyingly) interested in learning more about the language. But it was fun. Then last night we went to a Chinese restaurant in Sinchon. It was pretty good. Somewhat expensive though, actually not really. It was 45,500 for 6 people. So that’s actually kind of cheap. But for now I’m deciding on the places I want to go. I will do more exploring starting from next weekend. I have to go to the Seoul Immigration Office on Monday to pick up my Alien Registration Card. So I will keep you updated when something interesting happens. Hopefully it’ll be soon. But time will tell.

Haven't updated in a bit.

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:42:20 -0500

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, this week has been so hectic that I haven’t really had time. I’ll just get right into it. I’ve been exploring more and more of Seoul as time has progressed. Most of my adventures are with Sawyer and we go to random places via the subway. Places like Myeong-dong and Seongsu-dong. One of the places we went to in Myeong-dong was Lotte Department Store. Oh. My. Word. That place is HUUUUGE. It’s basically the size of a mall…on every floor…and there’s 12 floors. Everything was SO expensive there though. So I feel like most of my shopping that I’m going to be doing will definitely NOT be from Lotte Department Store. Hmmm, let’s see, what else have I done? Lots of going out. Tonight is my break night. The last few nights (Wednesday through Friday) I went out drinking with friends. It is a great time. Last night was my first time drinking with actual Koreans. We went to this place in Hongdae (which is the neighborhood located outside of Hongik University, hence the name Hongdae. ”Dae” is a shortened form of the Korean word for college) that had touch screens on the wall. We had drinks, food, played games. It was a smashing good time. Then we went to a club in Hongdae called Club Exid (or Exit, I don’t remember exactly, people kept telling me different names so that may not even be the correct name). That was boring so we ended up just going home around 3:30.

Today I pretty much sat in my room for the most part. I listened to music and talked to people. I had a pizza sandwich for lunch that I got from GS25, which is the convenience store located down stairs in the Global Plaza. It was interesting. I recently just arrived back in my room after going out with my friend and his friend. We went to a Japanese themed place in Sinchon. I had a dish with egg-topped pork cutlets on a bed of rice. It was very delicious. I don’t think I’ve eaten something in my three weeks her that hasn’t been incredibly delicious. I’ve been craving Taco Bell lately though, so I don’t know how that’s going to play out, especially since they just got these new Dorito shell tacos that I really want to try.

On another note, I’ve decided that I will probably stay for the summer session here at Yonsei as well. The 3 semesters I took of Korean at UMBC were equivalent roughly to 1.5 semesters here. So, after this semester I will be exactly where I had planned to be. I can graduate ahead of my original schedule at UMBC however, if I can learn enough to place into 302 or 309 at UMBC here. So that is what I’m going to try and do. Also, a very interesting method here is that the teachers don’t speak any English. I don’t know if they don’t have the ability or if it just helps you learn quicker if you are only speaking the target language. I wonder how my skills will improve during my time here. Time will tell.

Clubbing and Dongdaemun.

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:22:13 -0500

Last night we went to a club called Club Level in Gangnam. It was pretty fun, although somewhat lame, and EXPENSIVE, but other than that it was pretty good. It was my first experience on the subway. It’s very simple, I was afraid of it for nothing. It’s not even bumpy either, you don’t have to hold onto anything and you can remain on your feet. So far I haven’t been on ALL the lines yet, I’ve only gotten the chance to ride on the 2, 3, 4, and 5 lines. But as my exploration takes me further I’m sure I’ll end up being on all of them at some point. Anyway, the club took us a LONG time to find because it’s kind of hidden away in a back street. It’s not dangerous though, since it’s a quite expensive district (being where all the European cars are sold). We managed to find food in a BBQ restaurant and we had drinks, lots of drinks. Most of us were somewhat intoxicated when we eventually got to Level. There we didn’t drink a lot more, seeing as ALL drinks were KRW 10,000. So we got there around 12:30am and left around 2:50. The trains were all done for the day, so me and 3 friends took a taxi back to Yonsei. Telling the cab driver this was somewhat challenging since I was speaking drunken Korean. The ride itself was INCREDIBLY cheap, we were maybe half an hour away, and the total fare was less than KRW 16,000. Then we went back to our rooms and went immediately to sleep.

Today, I got breakfast around 12:30pm, so it was really more like lunch. Then my roommate and I got on the subway and went to Dongdaemun to meet up with his friends. Everyone was speaking French and I had no clue what was going on most of the time. But it was fun. We explored the shopping complexes. A lot of knock-off stuff I saw. There was one floor of this one building dedicated STRICTLY to Hanbok. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s traditional clothing worn at important events like funerals or weddings. So yeah Dongdaemun was fun, then we ate at a place where I had shrimp bokkeumbap. And now I’m here, waiting for the Arsenal game to come on at 9:45. I wonder if all of Seoul is a interesting as the few places I’ve been so far. I guess time will tell.

Going to the stadium.

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:30:36 -0500

I’ve been to the stadium twice before, but this time it was different. We went there to watch a World Cup qualifying game against Kuwait. The atmosphere was AMAZING. Korea won 2-0 with goals from Lee Dong-gook and Lee Keun-ho. The stadium was electrified during the goals (separated by just 6 minutes), it was hard NOT to get on your feet and cheer. On this journey I discovered that I’m pretty good at navigating the bus system here. The next thing I have to worry about is the subway system. I’m super wary of that. But my friend tells me that it’s not that hard to navigate, so in due time I’ll try my hand at it. I’ve also got my T-Money card. This thing does EVERYTHING. You can ride the bus/subway, you can pay for things in the store, basically everything you need. I also got my student ID card, that ACTUALLY does everything. Does everything that the T-Money card does PLUS it’s a debit card. The technology here is far superior than in the US, in my book. It’s interesting to see that the city isn’t as advanced as a New York or an LA, but what they lack in cosmetics they make up for with technology. I feel this will make my life here a lot easier, but time will tell.

Exploring the city.

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:20:51 -0500

So Saturday and today I explored the city on various tours. The one on Saturday was just a tour of Gyeongbok Palace. That place is gorgeous, definitely a must go if you’re ever in Seoul. Other than the palace I didn’t really see much else. Today, however, I saw much more. I started off by going to the Seoul World Cup Stadium (which I’ve already been to, briefly). We went to the museum and got to go in the stands and on the field (kind of). Then we went to the DMC, which is a planned Digital Media City. Everything is going to be run by a series of internet-connected devices, and it’s where the headquarters for most of the media companies are planning on re-locating to. I got to go inside CJ Entertainment VERY briefly, before we were asked to leave for some reason. For lunch we had bibimbap. After that we made Kimchi and Ddeokbogki which was incredibly fun. Then we went to Seoul Tower and I took a good number of pictures from the very top. After that we went to the King Sejong statue outside of Gyeongbok Palace, and finally back to Yonsei. That’s it for the tours, not too exciting, but I got to see the city, which is what I wanted.

Also on Saturday there was a First Night Out event sponsored by my friend Jung-su’s club IYC (International Yonsei Community). We went to a bar called Heidelberg-haus just across the street (and down a few more) from the main gate of campus. There they served us free beer and we got to experience Korean drinking culture. It was SO much fun. There was music, drinking games, dancing, food, strobe lights, fun. I feel that stuff like that is how you learn about cultures the best, when everyone lets loose and shows you the not-as-advertised side of things. I also won a contest (in a tie) for being the fastest drinker. Yes, I beat out Germans (the guy I tied with is also German). Then after that had come to a close, a few new friends and me went to another bar called Bar Fly and had a Jack and Coke, then I came back and passed out immediately (after hearing word that my friend had arrived home safely).

This place is amazing, I hope that all of you reading will get the chance to come here one day. It’s so much fun and you’ll be glad you did. One semester isn’t enough to experience everything there is to learn, but you have to work with what you have (seeing as other things are more important than having tonnes of fun). I can’t wait to see if the rest of my time here in Seoul will be the same as my first week. Time will tell.

Welcome Week.

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:42:48 -0500

Welcome week is in full effect. I’ve been here for a few days now and I’m pretty much over the jet lag (I never really had any to begin with). Today was pretty interesting. We started off walking ALL OVER trying to find out how to make a copy of our passports because we needed them to submit our Alien Registration applications. So we finally found where we needed to go. We also found the photo shop so we could take our pictures for the application. While we were waiting for the applications, we went back to the public health center to get our x-ray results. While on the bus we ran into two other international students, two girls from the West Coast. We started talking to them and eventually ended up spending the whole day together. We went to this Cheer Orientation later in the day. It was INCREDIBLY fun. It was basically an introduction to all the cheers that they do during sporting events and whatnot. We got REALLY into it. We were jumping up and down, throwing our arms around, grabbing our neighbors and swaying. I can’t believe they have so much school pride. I guess it’s because they had to work their asses off to get into this school so they appreciate it a lot more. Earlier in the day I also had tea at the coffee shop with my friend Jung-su. She paid, I wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t know whether or not it’s part of the culture for the younger to treat the older one, so I just let it be. For dinner I ate at the western-style burger place in the Global Plaza. The burger actually tasted like the do back in the States, so it was a little slice of home, if you will. I’m really excited about what the rest of the week has in store for me. Only time will tell.

PS - If you buy a shirt in Korea make sure to buy one size up. I know from experience today, XL is NOT what we call XL in the States.

I've been here.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:58:00 -0500

Sorry I haven’t posted in a little while. I’ve been here for a few days and it’s been so hectic. I’ll try to describe everything that I’ve experienced so far. So, the flight was alright, it wasn’t as scary as I was making it out to be in my head. Incheon Airport is amazing. The hotel was kinda small but it got the job done. I got adjusted to the time difference pretty quickly seeing as I didn’t sleep on the plane so I passed out as soon as I got in. Now I’ll describe my adventures in Korea so far, in depth. On Tuesday I got picked up from my hotel by my new friend Jung-su. She’s a violin major here at Yonsei. She and her dad picked up my new friend Sawyer from his hotel too, after me. After we got picked up we talked on the car ride to campus. About halfway through the ride I stated how big of a soccer fan I am. This inspired them to take us to the World Cup Stadium here in Seoul. In the stadium there is a mall. A MALL INSIDE A SOCCER STADIUM! It was amazing. In the stadium her father bought us lunch. I had a Bulgogi set, and devoured it since I hadn’t eaten since around 3:00pm the previous day on the plane (it was like noon at that time). Then we walked around and took a few pictures of the stadium. Once we left, we went directly to the campus. This campus is HUUUUUUUGE, it’s like it’s own city. Once we got settled and everything, Sawyer and I went looking for a power converter for his alarm clock. We couldn’t find one in the Global Plaza (a place connected to the SK Global House where you can eat from a few different places and there’s a 24 hour convenience store), so we had to go to the Haksaeng Hwaegwan (the student building). There we found SOME of the things we were looking for. After that I went back to my room and met my roommate. His name is Arnaud (ar-no). He’s from France. Arnaud had just come back from getting his mandatory chest x-ray, so Sawyer and I decided we’d go and try to get ours done. We tried navigating the Korean bus system (which wasn’t to hard since it wasn’t rush hour) to the clinic which is Seodaemun-gu. It took us about 15 minutes by bus, but once we got there it was closed so we went back to the dorm. We decided to walk because that way we would get to see more of the city. This took only about 25-30 minutes and well worth it. Seoul is BEAUTIFUL. Then when we got back, Arnaud and some of his friends, Sawyer, and I went to a bar/restaurant called Warawara somewhere in Seoul. There we had Buldolsotbab (Bulgogi on top of rice in a stone bowl) and Soju. The food was KRW 4000 and the drinks were KRW 3600. Then we walked back to campus (a tiny bit tipsy) and went back to the dorm. Arnaud left to go meet with another of his friends and I went right in and took a shower and passed out immediately.

Day 2:
I woke up around 7:00am. We had orientation at 9:30am, so Arnaud and I went to the coffee shop down stairs to get drinks beforehand. Orientation was just a little bit of speaking then they let us go until 2:00pm. During this time, I got a few thousand more KRW out and Sawyer and I finally got our chest x-rays. It was cool because the x-ray technician didn’t really know English all too well, so I communicated with him in Korean (the first time I’d gotten to put my Korean into practice since I’ve been here). To get to and from the clinic, we went about the same way as the previous day. Then we got back to campus just in time to go to the big orientation (the first was just an introduction) and then we went on a campus tour. Again, this campus is HUUUUUGE. By now it was about 6:30-7:00pm. I was VERY hungry seeing as all I had eaten during the day was puffed peanuts. So Sawyer and I went to the Global Plaza and ate dinner at Cafe Kkini. I had seafood rice and miso soup. It was good, but a bit pricey compared to the other food I had eaten. Sawyer had a Kimchijigae set. From there we parted our ways and made plans to MAYBE hang out a little later. I came in and got a shower, then I listened to music for a little bit. After that I passed out completely around 8:30pm. This morning I woke up at 5:30 and now it is almost 10:00. I will be going out to explore soon. I can’t wait. I love Korea so far. I wish all my friends could be here to experience this with me. Will I be this enamored for the whole four months I’m here? Time will tell.

2 days.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:13:32 -0500

I’m leaving in just under 33 hours to go to the airport. Nothing’s really changed in my head since yesterday. However, today I met with a friend of mine who helped me with some things in the culture that I had questions about. So I feel like I’m ready to go out into Seoul and be immersed in the culture. We discussed things like food culture, the age hierarchy, and the drinking culture. Something that kinda confused me was that even if you are younger than someone but you are above them in school year, they still call you “sunbae”, but outside of school they wouldn’t call you “hyung” or “oppa”. I mean, I guess it makes sense, but it’s still kind of interesting. Anyway, that’s about all. I feel like I’m ready now and everything that I’ve been worried/excited about is gonna be pretty much the same for a while, but time will tell.

3 days.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:36:55 -0500

Today I went shopping. I got to spend a great day out with my mom and sister. Got some winter clothes for Korea since I know it’s cold over there right now. All of the clothes (6 items, totaling ~$135) were bought at American Eagle. This brought me to a big thought. What kind of clothes do they wear in Korea? Am I going to fit in with them? Or will the fact that I dress the way that I do now (because I am American) make me stick out as one? I talked with some of my Korean friends and they said that as long as you’re not wearing the big basketball shorts, then you won’t stick out too badly. Something else that’s not really related, but another thought about being in Korea (which is what I’m trying to express with this blog, until I leave, at least) is getting around. How quickly will I learn how to navigate Seoul? I’m planning on travelling around most of Korea while I’m there, so will I make a bunch of friends (or at least a few) that want to travel with me? I mean…I can travel around alone and probably be fine, but wouldn’t it be much more fun, and a little less scary, if I had a few companions with me? Will the subway system be as easy to understand as New York’s is? Also, I have a meet-up planned with a friend of mine who’s going to Busan at the end of the American semester. Will I be able to find my way to Busan all on my own? I guess really the only worry I have about travelling around Korea, is going alone. Not really being in a foreign city, so much as not being able to understand the locals is what scares me the most. But from what I hear is that everyone in Seoul pretty much knows enough English for my purposes. So navigating Seoul will be easy, the trouble arises once I get into the other places where English may not be as widespread. Plus, I feel like I’ll probably make friends with a bunch of international students, and isn’t the purpose of being in a foreign country to experience the culture? Can you really experience all of the culture that Korea has to offer solely in Seoul? I highly doubt it. But, as with all things, time will tell.

4 days.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:58:13 -0500

I turned in the last of the papers I needed to turn in today. So, barring some freakish health issue or someone blowing up Yonsei or all of Korea, there’s no way I’m not going now. Like I said, I’ve come to a few conditional decisions, so I discussed them a littler deeper with my mom today since this is the first time I’ve been home since Thursday. I started packing finally. I am allowed 2 bags but they have to be under 50 pounds and can’t be over 158cm in any measurement (length, width, depth). And I get one carry-on. Haven’t decided what I’m going to put in that one yet. I also have to get batteries for my scale at home so I can weigh my bags. Also, from what my mom was telling me, there’s supposed to be some inclement weather Saturday into Sunday. HOPEFULLY my flight won’t be pushed back, seeing as I only have 2 hours between flights in San Francisco on Sunday morning. Because I’m already gonna be getting into Korea kinda late anyway (18:00 KST). Well, time will tell.

5 left.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:48:34 -0500

There’s five (5) days left until I’ll be leaving this country. I just picked up my visa today. It’s officially real now. There’s no way I’m not going now. I just need to get my feelings sorted out about coming back. I’m definitely coming back at SOME point. Whether it’s in 4 months, 6 months, a year, or eighteen (18) months. The amount of time I spend in Korea is dependent solely upon monetary issues. As much as I say money is money, it comes and goes, but people are hard to replace, having no money means that you have less opportunities to be WITH people. But enough about that, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Back to talking about my feelings in relation to Korea. I can’t wait to eat all the local food. I can’t wait to meet some new friends. Hopefully I can make some connections for the job market in the future. I’m super excited to go exploring IN Korea. I haven’t decided whether or not I wanna focus on Korea as a whole yet, or just the 3 big cities (Seoul, Busan, Daegu) and Jeju. But I will be doing a bunch of exploring regardless, if I can afford it. Also, like 3-4 weeks into the semester I get a Monday off for Buddha’s birthday. In which case, I’m going to take a boat from Korea to Japan and spend the weekend in Japan. I’m super excited about being able to absorb the culture firsthand and now from what I see in dramas and music videos. Are they similar to what is depicted in this visual media? Time will tell.

6 days.

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:48:56 -0500

So I’ve talked with my mom (on the phone) about things that I was concerned about in yesterday’s post. These are decisions that I’m going to have to make very carefully as the will most definitely have a HUGE impact on the rest of my life. Seeing as I need to finish school, if I can’t find a loan or a scholarship or financial aid here at home, then I’m going to have to look into getting these things elsewhere. If I can’t find ANY of them, then I have to get a job. I’ve already made the decision, as tough as it is, that if I can’t get any of these things at home or abroad, then I’m going to have to take a year off and teach English and save my money up to pay for the last year of my schooling. But there are a few concerns that come with this. The biggest problem that I hear is that a bunch of people that go and do something similar decide to make a career out of it and never come back, or do it for a LONG time. But, a degree is important, so if I decided to make a career out of it, I’d finish my college education up at home, then go back. I don’t think I’d stop going to school forever, seeing as I’m really close to graduating. But, as with all things, time will tell.

One week from today.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:00:03 -0500

In one week from today I will be on a plane over the Pacific Ocean on my way to Seoul. My emotions are becoming heightened. All the anxiety I’ve been feeling has been multiplied tenfold. All the excitement I’ve been feeling has also been increased exponentially. As I get closer, I’ve become more concerned about my future (something I don’t normally do as I’m a “live for the moment” kind of person). I’ve finally reached a decision. I’m going to apply for an international scholarship while I’m at Yonsei, just to see if I get it (I doubt I will, since I only have an overall GPA of 2.62). But I’ve taken the decision a little further than that. I’ve decided that if I do get it, then I’m going to stay there for another semester. It pains me to say that because I’ve found some beautiful things here. However, these things will still be here when I come back, hopefully. Also, if I can’t find a scholarship or a loan that will cover my school costs (as I will have $0 after this study abroad trip), then I may apply to be an English teacher for a while, just until I save up enough money to finish paying for school back at home. I hear though, that a lot of people that do end up taking that job come to love it and don’t want to quit, so they just do it for a while before they come back. Will that be me? Will I get good fortune and not have to resort to staying in Korea? I really hope so, because it would kill me to let some people down (there’s 2 or 3 I’m currently thinking of) by making that incredibly hard decision. Time will tell.

8 days now.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:14:15 -0500

So I’m just over a week away now. I’ve talked with my mom tonight and the whole situation just became EXTREMELY real now. I’m leaving for KOREA in EIGHT days. In just over ONE WEEK I will be in a country with no way to get home for FOUR months. I may never see some of my friends ever again, seeing as a good number of them are graduating. This doesn’t mean I’m not excited anymore though, because I am, I’m INCREDIBLY excited. It’s just a little heartbreaking that these people I’ve grown with may never be in my life again. I’ve gotten used to certain things over these last four years. I have SO much stuff to do to prepare too. We’re selling my car and I have not cleaned it out AT ALL. I have so many people to say goodbye to and not enough time. If you’re reading this and actually know me, I love you all. I know it’s cheesy and normally people say it and don’t do it, but please, let’s not lose touch, because you’ve most likely helped me out in some way in my life and for that I’m thankful. Is my life forever altered because of this decision, or will this experience just end up being a stepping stone to where I’m going? Are these two concepts related? Time will tell.