anyway, at this typing it is approximately 5:52pm, Monday the 28th (or 1:52am, Monday your time) and it is pretty sticky hot outside. I think even though it's cloudy/overcast outside, this is considered sunny (it is sunny, but nothing blue like back in cali)
On Thursday I get to stop Narita/Tokyo, as I've said, and blah blah blah, I make it to Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea, Thursday the 24th. It's approximately 9pm, and after going through so many stopovers I am lucky that my luggage is intact and there for me to obtain. I go outside and am hassled by many a taxi drivers, who try to convince me to spend 70,000₩ (~$70) for a taxi ride to school (Yonsei). I know better. I buy a bus ticket for 9,000₩ and hop onto the airport limosine, 6011, which will take me straight to school. Hah. The first thing I noticed at the airport is that people are definitely in a rush to get somewhere, talking fast, cutting in line, pushing through people (mostly) to get to where they need to go.
Get to my destination, getting off at Ewha Women's University Back Gate, am lost for about half an hour trying to find my dormitory, but eventually ask some folks passing by and find a building with my school's logo on it. There's one guy in there, who leads me to an area I passed by awhile ago (I have the address written in Korean, but in Korea, addresses don't really help much), and there's my dorm. woot. finally. by this time it's maybe 10:30pm. SK Global House. I get inside, they have given me a male roommate. fail. after much switching, much disorganization, definite rudeness from one of the workers, and general waiting, I am assigned a room, thanks to the help of the resident/student assistants (how can I be one?!?!?!?!) I'm in my room at about 12am throwing all my stuff everywhere, and meet my roommate for the next 6 weeks. Her name is Abby and she's from Hong Kong. Cool beans. So if she's ever talking about me in not english, I will definitely know what she's saying (she speaks Cantonese). I set up my internet (finding an ethernet cable somewhere, ahem...) and basically pass out at around 2am, after sending some e-mails to folks letting them know I have arrived safely.
The next day, Friday, is a bunch of orientations. Because I showed up so late on move-in day, it seemed that everyone has already formed their groups, so in the morning I am determined to wander to a few of the places I passed by at night and find some breakfast. I wake up later than I anticipated, sweaty from the heat, but I have the aforementioned hoarded sandwich and some tea leftover, so yay foods. Orientation for the entire summer school is at 10:30am, then a UCEAP-only one is at 12:30pm, with free lunch, huzzah. At around 2pm I'm pretty beat, so I go online, talk to some folk (it's 10am), then wander around Sinchon/Idea-ap, which is maybe 15min walk from my school. This area is filled with bars, restaurants, and tons of shopping. I show up at the 5pm orientation for housing, but it's silly-ly packed, so I leave. I pass out until maybe 10pm, woken up by a phone call to my room for my roommate, then get ready for bed and fall back asleep. Yeah, I'm weaksauce. I should have been out because it was Club Night, where you go to Hongdae, pay 20,000₩ for a wristband, and go to a bunch of bars/clubs with drink specials... but I hadn't met anyone yet. Even on my floor. As I've said, people have already made their groups. (which is why I'm glad for classes to start). My roommate is part of an exchange progam with HKU. How it works is that she spends a semester in Japan, then back at HKU (Hong Kong University), then summer here at Yonsei. It's pretty cool. But, throughout this exchange she sticks with the same group of people- so, she already has her friends.
I wake up at around 11am. Saturday is the big game. I buy what is known as a T-money card, which is 3,000₩ and is a subway pass, load 10,000₩ on it and I venture to a nearby neighborhood, Myeong-dong/City Hall/Namdaemun market, known for its shopping, but it's drizzly and def'ly starts to rain a bit. I buy what's known as a Hottek for 700₩, but only finish half of it because I realize there's peanuts in there. Fail. Well, no allergic reaction (maybe it's weaker in Asia) and then also realize that because it's Asia, they probably fry everything in peanut oil. Double-y fail. Oh well. I'll just carry meds around with me and a sign that says "I cannot eat peanuts or have peanut oil" written in Hangul (Korean characters). I buy things like a razor, soap dish, some groceries, and other random things like that. Basically I find a place similar to walgreens- known as watsons- and a place similar to dollar tree- known as daiso.
Get back to my dorm, meet up with Austin and the group he's made friends with, who are all fairly welcoming, and we go to the subway station, buy a shirt, get dinner, and head off to the game at City Hall. When we get out of the subway station, I'm surprised to see an actual patch of blue sky with some white clouds.
This makes me happy, and also that Korea has a chance against Uruguay. It is only 7pm, 4 hours before the game, and it is PACKED. so many people wearing red, there's a large stage with performers, so many people everywhere, so excited.
Around 9:30pm it starts RAINING. balls. We're all cold and such, so we decide to go back to Sinchon, find a bar/restaurant, and watch the game there. After much moving around, we find a place and just chill. Watching the game with people who love the team, love the sport is great. Everyone's so excited, and they clap after failed attempts, sorta like a "good show, we played our best." There was one girl who would shriek every time the ball almost went in, or whatever. It's about 1:30am, the night is young, we try to get rid of some military guys who've been following us around all night (and we met at City Hall) so we say we're going back to school and we hit up a noraebang (karaoke room). I'm fairly beat, but I follow and sing along anyway. Back at my room at around 3am, I talk to my roommate for a bit. She's a psychology major, too, interested in International Affairs/psych, is Team Jacob, and has been to San Diego once. She's insanely jealous that I'm 10 min from the beach, because she loves swimming and the ocean, and loves the weather there. I let her go to sleep after bugging her with these questions and I go and heat up some instant rice and eat it with seaweed- ah, college student life in Korea. I watch the USA/Ghana game for a bit, but am tired with how much we suck, and am glad that Ghana wins. Woot. Sleep at around 6am... I saw the sun rise and everything.
Sunday I wake up at around 1pm and go to Hongdae, which is known as the indie college area, with lots of different 'ethnic' foods- like Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, etc.
There is lots of shopping to be done, so I buy a waffle and walk around.
I really wish I was better at haggling. I gave a questioning/tentative "7,000₩?" for a skirt and the owner/lady told me in a stern voice, "7,000₩." then I tried to give a disapproving face, but I don't think it worked. What they say about sizes is true. Everything's a size 0. or -1, if possible. Try to find some semblance of food-stuffs, anything with pictures that I can point at, but not much luck so I go back to Sinchon and the guy is very nice about helping me order and how to do everything- I get sundobu (soup) with dumplings (mandu) at a dobu (tofu) house.
nom. I am gross and sweaty by the end because it's hot and spicy. I wander the streets at dusk for a bit, getting slightly lost in the alleyways and such, and get back to my dorm. Watch an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, make goals for Monday, and go to sleep.
Today, Monday, I go back to Hongdae after waking up at around 9am. I sign up for the upcoming field trip (it's basically already included in our fees) to Busan this weekend. I get slightly lost on the bus, so just end up walking most of the way to Hongdae. I find an LG store so I can get a prepaid phone. Thanks to google translator I was able to get a phone: it was 40,000₩ for the phone, then however much I wanted to add onto it for charge. I added 10,000₩ (1 text = 20₩, 10s of talk = 49₩; so essentially I have 500 texts), but I don't think my credit card went through, so the guy said it was just 30,000₩ for the phone- "Welcome to Korea!". That and I think he was drained from trying to speak english to me, and wanted me out. It's cheap enough, and I don't really need that many minutes or texts- just in case I get insanely lost. It only works in Korea, so no international calls or texts, but I have meebo and can get skype and have a webcam built into my netbook- infinitely better. :) I'm happy I got a phone for what I think is a good deal. I heard about a jjimjilbang (bathhouse) nearby, so I find it and the lady speaks mandarin/korean- they sound very similar, and she can tell instantly that I'm not Korean (I'm darker and my eyes are different). Undress, and sauna it up for awhile, looking around and other naked women and following their lead. Different saunas with different temperatures, eventually I dry off and am very sleepy, so I nap in B2 level. Wake up hot and sticky- the room isn't very well ventilated- and decide it's a good time to go back (4pm)- after I go around the shopping area and get myself a waffle, of course. Mmm, freshly made waffle with neopolitan ice cream for 1,000₩ is a win for sure.
Now I'm back here and will go eat dinner at a nearby restaurant that's down the hill for dinner. or eat instant ramen noodles.
About Yonsei: Yonsei is a Christian school. huh. we have a chaplain and everything. there was a prayer done at orientation. My roommate is quite Christian (she reads scriptures every day, and her favorite type of music is hymns). Its campus is similar to UCSC/Berkeley, in that it is very hilly and also kinda woodsy. I live in the SK Global House, which is like the International House next door but newer. It is very much like dorm-style, with a hall, but there's a bathroom in each room.
It's difficult for wanderers such as myself to handle the fact that everyone's always in a rush... plus I tend to walk and look up at buildings and walk into things.
I'm pretty sure I've lost weight so far, with the humidity and loss of appetite because of the humidity, and the walking up and down the stairs and the hills.
My saddest admission is that I have yet to meet some people. I don't really know who's on my floor, and am tempted to host a floor event so we can all get to know each other. Again, I am excited for classes to start so I can meet some folk who will go out to eat with me, shop, and hit up a jjimjilbang. It's been good exploring the area, and at least I can share some experiences with the people I meet. :)
I skipped the whole being a tourist thing, and prefer the 'I live here' thing, as I have in San Diego. I will be here for the next 6 weeks, and expect more adventures to come. :)
Some things I've noticed about Korea:
-the women wear heels and are size 0.
-EVERYONE has a cell phone.
-there are lots of hills and stairs. subways and buses are the way to go.
-if you own a car, you better be an aggressive driver.
-the motorbikes go when the people go, and the bikes go, and they drive on the sidewalk.
-buildings go up, and also down. there are basement levels that can range from B1-B6+.
-there are a LOT of smokers here. at 2,500₩, no wonder, but you'll see people taking a break from work for a smoke break.
-they LOVE their shopping here. I think it must be their biggest pasttime.
-no matter how humid it gets, people always look fresh, while I'm sweating up a storm.
-you can tell who's a foreigner by the fact that they wear sunglasses. natives have umbrellas with them at all times, through rain and sun.
-there are quite a few coffee bean and tea leafs, dunkin' donuts, 7-11/GS mart/FamilyMarts, and a handful of KFCs, McDonalds, and Burger Kings. I've also seen The Body Shop a couple of times, and a number of starbucks.
-basically everything is owned by LG, hyundai, and samsung
-cass is the beer of choice.
-CCTV is always watching you- it's kinda like a big brother sorta thing?
out, at 6:54pm
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