Orientation Day 1

Look who came to say hi during orientation =)

Having been here 3 semesters, I'm not going to lie, orientation is SUPER SUPER boring. The only part that is interesting of course is meeting the new students.

However, there was a highlighted surprise when I picked up the new guide for SCH and Aimee is on the cover!!!

National Museum of Korea 국립중앙박물관 & Hanging out with Jay Liu

For some reason the last two semesters I did not go to very many museums. Sure I went to palaces and cultural sites but I never went to explore any of the museums or art galleries available in Seoul. This semester I think I am going to find more of those to visit.

This week is pretty relaxed since we have free time except for the 2 mandatory orientation days (Wednesday and Friday). Thursday March 1 is a national holiday here in Korea. Today was also the opening ceremony for the freshman class of 2012. When I went to the subway station to head up to Seoul there were so many of them lining up to take the shuttle bus to our university.

I decided to go to the National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관) today with my friend Jason visiting from Beijing (originally from Toronto). I remember seeing it out the window of the airport limousine bus when I was heading home for the winter break. It looked so beautiful and I thought I must visit! Since it was Jason's first time to Seoul, and this is actually a site I've never been, we decided to give it a shot.

The National Museum is located at Ichon (이촌) Station on Line number 4 or the Jungang (중앙) Line. If you take Line number 4 it is at Exit number 2. Very easy to get to, there are signs posted everywhere. You walk about 10 meters to the intersection and turn in towards the museum or you can walk straight for just a bit further and go through the main entrance.

The main exhibition hall and Children's Museum is free to the public (closed on Mondays and major holidays). There is also a special exhibition hall that requires a fee and a by donation section in the main hall. We did not go into either of those places, we just roamed through the main exhibition. The exhibits basically go through the history of Korea starting from the prehistoric/stone age and moving through. I didn't read too much this time around because Jason and I were catching up. Since it's free this could be something that I do next time. They have some really nice and special artifacts that are highlighted throughout the museum.

They also have a special section just about Buddha and a South East Asia sector. The Buddha section is really neat because they have pretty sizeable Buddha statues within this really large room. It's quite grand, I enjoyed that displace. The outside of the museum is really beautiful as well so after walking indoors, it's quite nice to take a walk around outside in the fresh air. Today was a bit chilly so we didn't venture off too far, but in the spring time I can imagine it being really nice.

After we dropped my Myeong Dong (명동) and had Kalguksu - hand cut noodles (갈국수) from a famous noodle place in Myeong Dong called Meong Dong Gyu Ja (명동교자). It's quite famous, there is always many people and line ups. It seems this places is recommended in a lot of tourist books, especially Japanese tourists. It's right behind the giant FOREVER 21 on the main strip.

After our giant meal we walked up to the cable cars to Namsan (남산) Tower. I've never been to Namsan in the day time so it was neat to see performances and traditional reenactments right at the base of tower. The cable car ride is reasonable price 8 000won for return trip. We decided to walk off our lunch so we walked to the cable car station and back down. If you didn't know already Namsan Tower is a big destination for tourists and for couples. However, since it was a Tuesday afternoon we saw more tourists today than couples.

But of course the couples weren't completely missing.

It's great to be back in Korea, still a bit jet lagged! Of course with time it will regulate. It really feels like I live here and am not just visiting anymore...but of course there is still so much more for me to see! I promise to continue taking pictures and updating this blog more since this is my last semester. I am super excited!!!

Part Three

I am at the airport, once again, at my gate waiting to board. So unreal that I will be going to Korea for a third semester. Even though I know this puts me a bit behind in school, I am very happy I am able to have this experience. I know later I'll fall into a routine of school then eventually work where it will be difficult to just get away. Although this is an exchange program, it is also an opportunity for myself to experience some freedom.

Being away from home, family and friends, really made me lean on myself more. I realized there is a lot more that I can do on my own.

So here is to another semester, and another great group of people and another 4 months full of laughter and fun.

Uniquely Korean

After being in Korea for 10 months I definitely see cultural customs and behaviors that are authentically Korean. I just wanted to list off a few of my favourite ones.

[NOTE: I will be generalizing a little bit just because that tends to happen when you make observations such as these. I do know it doesn't apply to every single Korean person out there. These are just a few things I have seen that I thought were interestingly uniquely Korean.]

1. Koreans are Shy!
In the first semester I had a really great group of girls as suite mates. Many of their personalities were far from shy, BUT the moment we put them in front of boys they would put both hands on their cheeks and say I'm shy. It was pretty cute. The guys will also claim they are shy around girls they possibly are interested in as well. It makes for an interesting dynamic sometimes.

I find both parties do this because they believe the opposite gender is more intrigued and attracted to shy boys/girls.

2. Koreans will always ask you, "Don't you think Kimchi is too spicy?"

It doesn't matter where you are from. If you are not from Korea (even if your original country has spicy food, very spicy food) they will ask you this question. It's kind of cute how they believe their gochu peppers are too spicy for most people to handle. At the same time you can also see how tourism and interactions between Koreans and foreigners is relatively new to the country.

3. December 25th is a VERY important Couples Holiday!

Ok actually I think Japan has a very similar stance on this holiday as well, but based on my observations Fall semester (compared to the Spring) definitely seemed to have more couples on campus as the single boys and girls rush to find significant others to spend the wonderful Christmas holiday with.

Although at the moment Korea has a large percentage of their population under Christianity, I think extravagant Christmas dates still prevail over Christmas service or mass, well at least amongst the younger generations.

4. Anthems in Korea for 2011: We Speak No Americano & LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem. You will hear these songs in stores, in the clubs/bars, on your friend's computer etc. Also if you see a Korean guy and he's playing an acoustic guitar, most likely if he plans to sing you an English song it will be Jason Mraz's - I'm Yours!

Everybody's shuffling in Korea

5. Traffic rules are only suggestions and guidelines in Korea.

I still remember the very first time my cab driver went through a red light. At first I thought maybe he didn't notice the light and happen to blow right by it. However, after he went through 3 more lights I realized he was doing that on purpose. It definitely makes for a very interesting experience.

[More to come...since I'm not in Korea at the moment I'm trying hard to recall these things. I'm sure the moment I return they will all come flooding back! Look forward to more posts like these.]

Deja Vu

This time last year I was also anticipating my trip to Korea. Once again this year I have about two weeks before I fly back to South Korea for my 3rd semester at Soonchunhyang. It feels like a dream. Since I started in the Spring semester, I almost feel like the last two semesters did not exist.

Knowing this will be my final semester I am going to work hard every day in my Korean classes and of course go to all the places I haven't been to yet in Korea.

When I get back home after this semester I will have to focus on getting my degree. I do not think I will be going back to Korea for a while. It's time to make the most of it! Let's make each day count!

SCH Fall 2011 Anthem

This semester 2NE1 - Ugly was definitely the theme song for our wonderful Fall semester. Not so much the meaning of the song, but we heard this song everywhere and students were singing it left, right and center. It didn't matter if you were a KPOP fan already or were just new to it. Every single international student this semester thoroughly enjoyed this song.

So it was very fitting when Victor decided to make a video where we all sang along to the song. I had a wonderful semester with this group of people and this song will always remind me of SCH Fall 2011! Thanks for a great semester everyone.

I look forward to seeing what Spring 2012 at SCH has in store for me!