It's my fault I held off writing this blog post for so long. Honestly, I could probably write an essay to describe my whole first week in Seoul. But for the sake of you readers I'll write down random facts and experiences I thought have been interesting.
Day 1: Flew to Korea via Korean Air. Which was a great airline. Lots of movies, good food and pretty flight attendants. I arrived at the airport, where my cousin Sam picked me up. I haven't seen him for 5 years so it was great to catch up. We took the subway, to my aunts house which was about an 1.5 hours away. It was quite the workout because I had 3 suitcases and the air was typical Korean summer weather-- humid and hot! The subway station is very intimidating at first, there are so many lines in comparison to Vancouver's 3 lines. Finally arrived at my aunts house 3 hours later due to us getting lost and walking. She lives in an apartment in Seoul. You will see loads of apartment buildings here, they all look the same and none of them look amazingly nice, but that might just be the areas I've seen.
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| Bee Beem Bap on the plane |
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| Map of subway lines |
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| View from my aunt's apartment |
Day 2: This day started out rough and hectic. My aunt and I got up early to complete paperwork for my visa, open a bank account and get supplies. It turned into a day of running around Seoul in 30 degree, humid weather. First, we went to the immigration office to hand in my paperwork for my visa. However, when we got there they told me I need more paperwork from Canada so that was a fail. Once we knew we could do nothing at immigration we trained+ran to Yonsei University to talk to someone about my dilemma, it wasn't too helpful. I opened a bank account at Woori Bank under my aunt's name, but really all you need is a passport to open one. In the evening we trained+ran back to my aunt's house to grab all my luggage and check into dorms at Yonsei. Upon arrival at Yonsei, one of my suitcases broke and all my clothes fell onto the dirt. When I went to check into my dorm, I realized that they had recorded me down as a guy and placed me in an all guys floor. This is funny because Yonsei is so strict when it comes to assuring guys and girls do not mix. You are not allowed to enter the floor of the opposite sex, yet I live on one! I have my own bathroom so its ok. My aunt was amazing and did so much for me that day to assure I was taken care of and settled in. I finally met my roommate. Her name is Julia and she is of Korean heritage and lives in New Zealand. The night ended with us getting to know eachother and making fun of eachothers' accents.
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| My roomie! |
Day 3-4: Orientation is intense at Yonsei. The first day we had orientation for almost 12 hours! It's true Koreans work hard. We went over policies, various school clubs and a tour of the school. In the evening we met our mentors and our cell members (all exchange students are assigned to a cell which they are aligned with a mentor and over exchange students). My cell went to dinner in Shinchon for chinese food. It was interesting to converse with people from all over the world. There were people from Russia, Sweeden, Canada, USA, Japan, Korea, France at my table. It was great company and food. All the cells went to local bars afterward but I called it an early night and walked home with a couple of the girls from my cell.
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| Section of orientation |
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| Cell 13, first night at Mike's Cabin |
Later on that week a lot happened so trying to remember what I did on an exact date is difficult. Here are some random experiences:
People: I think the biggest culture shock for me was witnessing Korean people of very low social class. The social economic divide in Korea is huge and very noticeable. You will see old Korean grandmas begging for money on the subway, or homeless old men drunk out of their minds on the streets. It's really sad and takes time getting used to, especially because in Canada the majority of Asians are upper-middle class or very wealthy. The people in public can be a little rude and usually push without saying sorry; they also have the tendency to stare a lot. The woman generally look like dolls-- tall, skinny, pale and big eyes, while the men look like your typical fob but some dress really well. I was pretty shocked to see that a lot of Korean guys have tattoos. I always thought tattoos were taboo in Korea but I guess not anymore. However, it's not true when people say everyone in Korea is good looking. I think the majority are not that good looking but the ones that are, are very pretty. Also, it depends on which area in Korea you go to to find good looking, well-dress people. Gangnam you will find that! Another thing random is that there are a lot of couples and a lot of them dress the same lol. I wish I could get my boyfriend to match me. The general population does not speak that much English, so prepare to learn some Korean before/while you are here.
- I will take pictures of street fashion and post later!
Food: Food in Seoul is abundant and you will never run out of new places to eat. I notice that cafes are very in and sell everything from fancy drinks, pop-ing-su to waffles! And if you ever feel like eating food on the go you can purchase food from the street vendors. The food they offer are all relatively the same such as dook-bok-ee, and various other friend foods. The first night clubbing we stuffed our faces with it. In addition, you will see a lot of Western restaurant chains here. Apparently, Pizza Hut is a big deal and is considered a luxury meal that is very tasty. The food is also incredibly cheap it can range from 2-7 Canadian dollars and there is no tip or tax! However, I find I spend more just because it's cheap.
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| Spicy chicken meat |
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| Dessert |
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| Gal-bee-tung, best hangover food |
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| $3 at the cafeteria |
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| Huge pizza omplet |
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| New form of bul-go-gi |
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| Street food we ate in a street tent |
Health: The first couple of days I felt like I was losing a lot of weight. I kind of didn't have an appetite for the first couple of days and ate one meal a day. Probably because of the heat and fatigue. Also, the fact that I walk what seems like 10miles a day may help! I would suggest future exchange students to bring really comfortable running shoes. Now that I am a little settled in, my beer belly is slowly making it's way lol and my lungs are suffering from second hand smoke, as smoking is allowed everywhere. Lastly, if you ever feel sick, need a check-up/drugs the medical system is based on capitalism so if you have money you can get anything and fast! A lot of my relatives come to Korea for their health issues.
Party life: This is truly the city that never sleeps and never stops drinking! I guess because alcohol is so damn cheap here. $1 for a bottle of soju which is cheaper than water! My university is located right beside Shinchon where you will find endless amount of bars to drink at. We are a station away from Hongdae which is kind of grundgy clubbing district for a younger, artsy-er crowd-- but still super fun and lively. My first night clubbing was in Hongdea and I had an amazing time! The people in the clubs don't really dance like Canadians do but they get all hyped up when certain songs come on such as g-dragon or some song that goes.. "sex, sex, sex on the beach" LOL. In one of the clubs I went to there is a huge screen TV that zooms into girls' ass and legs and boobs. That was kind of degrading. Other than that the music is sweet-- House music, k-pop and old school R&B. Oh! and every second Friday of the month is national clubbing day so all the clubs are jam-packed. You can buy one ticket and have access to all the clubs and club hop! Hongdae is so lively at night, I just love it. All the stores seem to open at night so night shopping is a blast. I look forward to clubbing in Gangnam which is like the balling district. I heard the clubs are a lot fancier and the people are a lot "better looking and classy". Lastly, Korean culture=drinking culture. It ain't no thang when you see people drinking at 10am lol A couple of my friends and I started drinking at 1pm one day and we felt sick by 10pm. I guess we need more practice.
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| At Harlem, the first club I've been to in Hongdea |
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| Beer drinking contests |
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| You see these bars everywhere |
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| No alcohol prohibition, so you can drink on the streets at all times of the day |
Shopping: If you want to buy cheap stuff for your dorm go to Daiso. It's basically like Korea's dollar store. I heard the shopping areas follow these categories. Myeongdon, Apujeong, Gangnam= higher class shopping; Itaewon= American, Edea= lots of hair salons and girly stores because its beside Ehwa Women's University; Insadong=traditional; Amdaemun= open air market, lots of bargaining and knockoffs, trinkets and jewelery. So far I haven't really done much hardcore shopping but I did buy a couple of shirts for $5 and make-up for really cheap! Lastly, I can't understand why I can't find a freaking bath towel anywhere in Seoul? I've been drying myself with 3 small face towels or clothes.
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| Night shopping in Hongdae |
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| Typical summer fashion in Korea= skirts, blouses and heels |
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| So many stores to choose from |
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| In Gangnam= baller district |
Things to do for fun: Ultimately, you will never run out of activities to do. So far I have had fish clean my feet, smoked Hooka, went to an amazing 24/7 spa park, site see because the city is so beautiful. I want to go to the water parks, Lotte world, Kareoke, visit Seoul tower, jet ski, travel to Busan and Jeju etc...
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| Amazing sunset |
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| Yoga infront of P90x lol |
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| At a cafe drinking smoothies |
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| Getting our feet pampered by fish |
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| At Hooka Cafe |
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| Spa |
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| At Dragon Hall spa |
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| Inside the salt steam room at Dragon Hall Spa |
- Regardless of how much I love my life here, I miss home and the people at home. I can't wait for those who I love come to visit. Mom and Dad are coming for a month in October, friends are coming for a bit in November/December and I hope DL will come too =)
--- Sorry for the really long post but I tried to squeeze everything in a nutshell for you guys! Well now you know a BIT of what I've been up to. I will start blogging regularly so that my posts won't be as long.
