Thursday, March 29, 2012

Jay Park - 박재범 @ Club Nine

I SO wish I had pictures for this even, but me being a total fail, didn't keep my camera on me. I have some pictures on my phone, but I haven't really figured out how to put it onto my computer yet. I'm not even sure I can...

On Saturday March 24, Club Nine in Cheonan city (close to my university) featured Jay Park as part of their opening month celebrations. The club itself isn't too bad, the facilities are quite large. It's nice having a club closer to where I am, gives us an option to party it up if we don't want to trek all the way to Seoul to do so.

Jay park was on stage for about 30 minutes give or take. He's not the greatest singer, but he is one charismatic performer! Plus he's a great dancer. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. I also had a really good view since I got pushed up onto the platform with my friend Evelyn. So even though I couldn't catch it on video, no regrets.

I also really love his new song (well new-ish) - Know Your Name. If you haven't heard it, check it out! Here's the link to the practice video cause I love seeing him danceee.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plKgZc_BTqc

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Hospital (병원)...

So it's not as terrible as it sounds, nothing bad happened to me. In Korea their medical system is a bit different. Instead of going to a family doctor or a drop in clinic to see a doctor, like in Vancouver, here if you are sick you go to the hospital to visit the doctor.

The last two semesters I had regular colds so I just took my cold medicine and was fine. However, this semester my cold was a bit worse than usual and I actually needed to seek medical attention from a doctor at the hospital. I didn't visit the little clinic here at SCH because I knew they would just tell me to go to the hospital if it's serious.

So off I went to Onyang's Hyundae Hospital. I didn't have a Korean friend available to go with me so Kristen and I went to the office and Sue Jung helped us translate my symptoms into Korean. Plus Soonoh was able to give me a photocopy of my passport and alien card. I only had photocopies at this point because we were extending our Alien Card period and the Immigration Office had my real passport and alien card.

Kristen who visited the hospital last year told me that the doctor kind of spoke English, but he can definitely read English, so it shouldn't be too big a deal if we went on our own.

It turned out to be pretty easy.

When I walked in a person greeted me at the counter and asked (in Korean) how he could help me. I just passed him my papers saying I had a cold and needed to see a doctor. My Korean level is passable so I wasn't too afraid of going to the hospital alone, but if you are not that confident in your Korean level I would highly suggest finding a Korean person to go with you. Also SoonOh and Sue Jung (workers in the international student office) gave their numbers to me in case I ran into any trouble. So if I did run into a language barrier the hospital can give them a call.

There they had me fill out a few things. My name, number and signature + date. They filled out everything else. I sat in the waiting area, and then they called me into the doctors office. I don't know how many different doctors they had at this hospital. I passed him the paper with my translated symptoms and he actually asked me a few questions in English. He also gave me my diagnosis in English and told me what type of medication I needed.

I had bronchitis and the flu. That's why my throat was killing me and I lost my voice =(. I also received a shot and they still give you the shot on your butt. Hahahaha. Plus they have a pharmacy right behind the hospital to fill my prescription.

The hospital visit was about 15 000 won ($15 Cad) and the medicine was about 15 000 won. I had enough medicine for 3 days worth (Breakfast, lunch and dinner).

The people working in the pharmacy doesn't speak any English, but you just pass them your prescription. When they are finished they will call your name and tell you the price. If you don't understand Korea they will type it out on a calculator. So it's pretty straight forward.

Everything took less than half an hour! I was very pleased and the medicine did help. Especially the disgusting cough medicine...ICK but it did help with my cough. I had to take that 3 times a day, it taste so gross. Good thing I usually saved part of my meals so it can help wash out the taste.

I had a pleasant first experience, but I am hoping I wouldn't have to go again. It's never fun being sick while away from home.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Big Show & Nami Island (남이섬)

This was one of the best weekends I've had thus far in Korea. I know that's saying a lot but it really was. Kristen's friend, Jessica, flew in on Friday night. So right after our orientation dinner with the new students, Kristen and I went to Seoul to pick up Jessica and go to our hostel for the night.

SIDE NOTE: Hostels are WONDERFUL in Korea. They are cheap and clean. The two we stayed at over this weekend had really nice owners and their facilities were kept spotless. I highly recommend staying at a hostel if you are coming to visit Korea. Most of the hostels if you book a private suite will include a kitchen, some even a washer ensuite.

So Friday night we stayed at Egg Hostel, the owner doesn't speak too much English but with the combination of her English and my Korean we understood each other very well. This Hostel is in a very convenient location. It's a 2 minute walk away from Exit 2 at Hongdae Station =) At first we had problems getting to the 3rd floor so we took the creepy looking stairwell. It turns out, as we suspected, the main elevator doesn't stop on odd floors.
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We took Jessica to Taco Bell, because she has been craving Western Mexican food. We also just did a short once over around Hongdae. We didn't party that night since A. Jessica has been travelling around South East Asia and was pretty exhausted. B. I was still getting over jet lag. I think I am the worst when it comes to getting over jet lag. So we settled back into our hostel pretty early and just called it a night.


Saturday we moved to our next hostel location. We booked a hostel closer to the stadium where we would see Big Bang. It was on the other side of the city at Olympic Park Stadium. The name of the place is called Phil's House and it was also about a 2 minute walk from Achasan station on Line 5. Super convenient and super clean. One of the owners Kun and his associate, who I didn't catch the name of, have really good English so there are no problems with communication whatsoever.

This was a super quaint neighbourhood, BUT I found one of the best tasting vanilla latte's in all of Korea at a coffee shop nearby.
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After dropping off our stuff we were off to Olympic Park Stadium. We were going early so we can buy some official concert merchandise. Right when we got off at Olympic Park station we can feel the buzz. The station was full of women. We even lined up, for what felt like an eternity, to go to the washroom. After this we were off to find the line up for concert merchandise.

Prior to the concert we were just standing in a lot of lines. Lines for merchandise, more lines for washrooms, and then another line for the section we were sitting in. Basically be prepared to line up wherever you go.
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I saw everyone holding these really nice boxes and I kept thinking no matter what was in that box I had to get it! I mean there was a price limit, but I liked that box A LOT. Luckily when Kristen went up to buy her stuff a cd + a light stick that box appeared! We found out it housed the crown light sticks. I was pretty adamant about not buying the light stick, but after finding out it came in that beautiful box I caved and bought one too. Oh how pretty packaging can sway me so...
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They were really strict about cameras inside, as they should be. However, I was able to get a few shots of the stage. I really wanted to get a good shot of all the glowing light sticks. But its very dark inside and everyone is waving the light stick so its difficult to get a clear shot.
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Words cannot describe how fun this concert was! If you're a fan you should definitely try to see them live at least one time. It was truly a really wonderful experience. Way too short, but they sang a lot of my favourite songs + all the ones on their new album Alive.

After a really good concert, we also had a very very good samgyupsal meal! This place their samgyupsal is a bit different, they seem to smoke it on a charcoal grill before giving it to you. Plus they have this salty leaf you eat with the meat and it tastes so good. The blend of the meat + the leaf was really delicious. I'd definitely be able to eat that every night.
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Sunday before heading back to the dorm my friend Tae, and his friend took Jessica, Kristen and I to Nami Island (남이섬). I've been wanting to visit Nami Island for a while now, but just haven't made it out there. Finally I had a chance to visit here! For those that were part of the Korean Drama craze from the beginning, Nami Island is home to the scenes of the famous drama Winter Sonata.

Personally I did not watch this particular drama because I wasn't into Korean dramas at that time. But the snowman theme and the treeline streets are very popular regardless if you've seen the drama or not.

Kristen, Jessica and I actually ziplined into Nami Island. It costs 38 000 won and includes the entrance fee into the park and the boat ride back.
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It was super fun "flying" into Nami Island. The weather was pretty nice when we were ziplining and I was able to wave at the passengers who were taking the boat underneath. Nami Island is kid friendly so there were a lot of families there. Of course there were the couples but I think I saw more tourists and families than anything else.

I'd recommend to go on a nice day. It doesn't matter if its winter or spring the little island has its own charm. I think as long as you go on a sunny day no matter the season it'll be nice.
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At the end of the day we took Jessica back to her last hostel. I took a shot of this Garfield cat because this is exactly how I felt at the end of the day...exhausted.
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I had a WONDERFUL weekend, but was so glad to just sleep when I got back to my dorm room.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Delay...

Sorry for the delay in posts...I've been sick. I had bronchitis and the regular flu for the past week or so. I've also been voiceless for 4 days now. I'm feeling better now, even though I still cannot talk. I should be updating about my SUPER exciting Big Bang Big Show and Nami Island weekend very soon!!!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Hyunsoo Farewell

One of the freshman babies that I met in the first semester is leaving to the army =(. So I met up with him and another friend of ours, Da Jeong, last Thursday so we could have a farewell dinner.
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For those that do not know, Korean boys have mandatory military service that lasts 2 years (or slightly longer depending on the situation). We had a super delicious samgyupsal (삼겹살) dinner, one of the best since I've been here.
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I gave him a souvenir from Canada, a moose with a mounty hat, to bring with him to the army. Although we don't chat too often the freshman babies feel like little brothers to me. It was sad to think this will be the last time I will see him for a while.
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Hyunsoo good luck and please take care and stay healthy in the army!!!