Our first day in Global Strategy of Korean Business class. We all introduced ourselves to one another and wrote our names on the board. Charlie wrote his name in red ink and our teacher proceeded to tell us how in Korean tradition one does not write their name in red ink because it means death...little did Charlie now.
March 8 - 2011
On this Tuesday we had an orientation with the Korean students that have now settled into our dorm rooms. The rules of the English Exchange program was explained to them. The international students also had about 30 seconds to stand up and introduce ourselves to everyone. Here are my suite mates So Eun and Do Yeon, the freshmans of our suite.
After the orientation that same night we had a suite party for everyone in my suite (D-501) to get to know each other! We ordered in food. There is no delivery fee in Korea and most restaurants that deliver (especially chicken places) are opened till 3am. We had Pizza KimChi Tang Su Yuk (피자김치탕수육), Fried Chicken (garlic+regular) and a cake to celebrate!
My suite mates are all super cute! We have a good mix of students from all ages. There are normally two international students per suite, Maiko (from Japan) is the other international student in my suite =D
1st picture below from left to right:
Maiko, Sun Min, Soo Young, Ka Kyoung & Hye Joo
2nd picture: Mi Kyoung, Me and Do Yeon
We attempted a few group shots.
Back row (L-R): Maiko, So Eun, Hye Joo & Mi Kyoung
Front row (L-R): Me, Do Yeon, Sun Min, Soo Young & Ka Kyoung
We actually have two more suite mates Hye Rim and Ji Jye but at this time they haven't moved in yet.
We also took individual pictures with our roommates! I have an instant camera so we made a contact sheet and posted our pictures up.
The following day I attempted to try some of the strange instant noodles ,known as ramen, here. I tried Spaghetti Ramen first. It's very interesting the tomato sauce and ramen noodles don't really mix. When I took a bite I tasted ramen first (w/ the normal msg soup base) and then the tomato sauce part hit...I may attempt to try it again to see if it gels well once I got used to it but it's definitely a strange combination.
Ramen is really really cheap here. Lots of students eat this when they are trying to save money. If you go to E-Mart or Home Plus to buy them in bulk they are less than a dollar per cup...probably anywhere between 50 cents to $1 depending what type you are buying. Not the healthiest option but is not bad if you do not want to leave your dorm room or spend money.
Weekend March 11 - 13, 2011
I spent the up coming weekend with my friend Melanie (she's here teaching English in South Korea). On Friday I went to her place straight after school. I met up with her and then we met up with her co-teacher Sang Hwa. We all ate dinner together before Melanie and I went to hang out with our Korean friend Tae for the night.
We ate at a place very near Melanie's apartment that only sold Soon Dae (순대). We all had Soon Dae Guk (순대국) which is a soup that has Soon Dae and other intestinal parts of a pig in it. Soon Dae is potato noodle wrapped in intestine. I loved this! It's not spicy and so soothing on a semi cold winter's day.
Then on Saturday Melanie and I went to Myeong Dong (명동) for a little bit of shopping. She was looking for a new purse and a few other items so we had a good time looking around and discovering quite a few great boutiques. We also ate lunch in Myeong Dong at a naeng myun (냉면) place and I had myul naeng myun (물냉면). I was so happy because I was actually kind of craving it. Naeng Myun means cold noodles, it is exactly that buckwheat noodles that are served cold. There are a few different kinds. This one literally translates to Water Cold Noodles and it's the basic kind. You have to add mustard and vinegar yourself to tailor the taste and I really like it. It's not everyone's cup of tea though.
Later in Myeong Dong we found a coffee chain that Melanie and I both enjoy, Ediya. Their drinks are delicious and besides Dunkin Donuts they are one of the cheaper coffee shop chains.
After shopping we met up with my international friends from school. One of my friends told me about a photo exhibit in Seoul and Melanie and I thought it sounded good so we wanted to join them. Although the art exhibit itself was a complete let down we had a good time meeting up with my friends before we parted ways again. We walked down the street that leads right up to the doors of Gyeong Buk Goong (경북궁 the biggest palace in Seoul). Along this street is a statue of the first King of Korea (or something like that...) and a statue of a major general. I forgot their names at the moment but will remember to make a note for next time.
We also passed by the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. I recognized this place because it was one of the locations in the Korean variety show Running Man. The architecture for this building is very pretty.
We then also passed by a Starbucks that is written in English and in Hangul (Korean characters). We finally made it to the photo exhibit. We all imagined something quite different. It was outdoors and very underwhelming. Some shots were very nice and some were a bit too gruesome for me. We didn't stick around too long because everyone had been walking for a very long time by this point. We all just wanted to go in somewhere nice and warm. We ended the day off at a coffee shop then Melanie and I separated from my international friends and ate dinner at Kimbap Heaven (김밥천국) before heading home.
Sunday, Melanie and I went to meet my good Korean friend who I met in Vancouver in Hong Dae (홍대). This is actually the club and bar district of Seoul at night, but in the day time they have many shops, restaurants and coffee shops for people to hang out in.
My Korean friend Jae Chul was going to introduce me to his twin sister and two best friends. I was curious about his life in Korea and they were curious about his life in Vancouver. So we decided to get together and swap stories.
Melanie and I got there earlier than expected so we walked around. We saw a store named Man Studio, it's basically a cosmetics type store but for guys! AND we randomly found the Hello Kitty cafe! I think there is actually more than one location in Seoul.
Jae Chul's friends treated us to lunch. We had pig diaphragm barbeque and it was delicious. It's got just enough chew to it. When I first heard I thought it would be too chewy but it was the perfect mix of chewy and tender.
After Jae Chul took us to a cute coffee shop where we chatted more over coffee. I had a mint hot chocolate and it was so delicious. I definitely wouldn't mind having that again! The mint was very distinct, but in a good way. There was a nice small kick to it. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
That is all for now, I will update more later!
ooooh cute hello kitty cafe!!
ReplyDeleteand man studio - intersting!
hey i think i passed by that "photo" gallery before - they were holding a classical concert there. it's near the traditional performance hall where melanie and i watched miso! but i thought the ground was all grass... hmm maybe not.