Summer in Seoul at Hanyang University~!

I've been back in the States for almost 8 months now, and I really miss Korea... So I decided to apply for Hanyang International Summer School in Seoul, Korea!

Last time, I was in Korea for the TaLK program, I'd planned on keeping this blog updated but it didn't work out. This time, I will try harder to make updates at least once a week from the time I get there. Once again, a reason I'll be blogging about my Hanyang adventures is that I couldn't find many blogs about it online.

I'm not worried about getting in because a professor from our school is doing the faculty-led program, where he brings a group of us over and we get an awesome discount (half price tuition and free housing)!

But, hopefully the financials will pan out. So far, it looks like I'll be good for summer, but right now things like buying a plane ticket, paying all the rent so I can finish the lease, and just utilities and such or stressing me out because I haven't had a job since December and of course my financial aid is running out :/ My plan is to pay rent through the end of school at least (May) and buy the plane ticket. This way if everything else goes to hell, I'll still be going to Seoul for the summer and not be homeless during finals muahahaha. But I'm sure things will work out. I just have to keep my head up and believe.

Anyway, the program seems like it's pretty fun and well-rounded. You can take 2 or 3 classes and there are lots of field trips planned, including ones to Everland (an amusement park I've visited once before), a mud festival, and even a Korean traditional village. And I'm so excited because this year my birthday will fall on a Wednesday!-- And there's no classes on Wednesday! Yay~.

I have a tentative plan that I'll go to Lotte World on my birthday with some friends. And I'm also thinking a 1-2 day backpacking trip to Japan on that weekend. Since classes will end at 7 on Friday (if I decide to take 3), I've been contemplating whether I should leave on Friday night and get to Japan late enough that there will only be enough time to party it up, or if I should just leave on Saturday morning. I'd like to take in some sights, maybe do some window shopping, and of course get a taste of Tokyo nightlife. I'm thinking Shibuya and Roppongi. Then sleeping at a cheap hostel or even better, a sauna/bathhouse! That would be so cheap and fun. I'm all about budget here. But right now, that is just a possibility I'm turning over in my head... I've been trying to find stuff about saunas online, but it's been difficult. Maybe there aren't the same kind in Japan as in Korea- for $10-15, you can get a little pajama set, you can take a shower, soak in the tubs of hot and cold water, and then mingle in the co-ed area watching tv, eat some boiled eggs, and sleep.... I'm looking for something like that.

Anyway I'm just letting the world know that I'm planning on being a Hanyang university student for the summer! Click here for more information about their international summer school and, and maybe I'll see you there~! :)

Things I Learned in Korea

Things I learned (or improved on) while in Korea so far:

1) Take advantage of (and not fear) public transportation.
2) Get really creative in the kitchen when poor.
3) Guys are douchebags everywhere (and don't give you piggyback rides all the time like in the Korean dramas T_T)
4) I have the most comfortable ass in the world. I can sit wherever I want!

I'm Still Not Dead, In Case Anyone Cares

So yeah, the title says it all. I'm still alive and mostly well. Still being lazy about my blog, but a lot of interesting things have happened in the past few months, but as you can see, I clearly haven't been blogging about it. Two epicly awesome things that happened to me that I have to share though are:

1. I met Brian Joo-- twice. ♥

2. I went to Japan-- twice (the first time I went to Japan was the 2nd time I met Brian ^^)

So those things were cool.

I kinda feel like I should really go back and catch up on everything that's happened the past few months, but I also feel like that's just gonna take forever, and am considering just starting the blog from here on out, and maybe updating once a week or so... Or I might just end this blog altogether, and start an anonymous blog so that I can talk about eveything without censoring any of the.... uhh more interesting parts. >:)

I don't think a lot of people are reading my blog anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter too much what I decide to do with it haha

This doesn't really deserve to be called an update~

Well, once again, I have been neglecting my blog. Work started up here, and I feel like I don't have time to really get some serious posts down. But I know the real reason is because I'm just lazy I guess~

Lots of interesting things have been happening here, but I don't think I want to post all of that on my blog. It's a bit personal. In that case, I think I might be starting another blog soon, which will be anonymous.

Well, I'm about to go out soon. I like to have a drink sometime at a bar close to my house (actually it's literally across the street), but I just wanted to check in and let whoever is reading or cares that I am not dead ^_^

Catching Up, Part 4- English Camp!

English Camp.

5 days without internet access, sharing a room with 10 people, cafeteria food... Need I say more? I was really not looking forward to this part of orientation. But I really had no choice. So I packed my bag-- scholars were strictly forbidden to bring suitcases- no room on the bus-- and climbed aboard for the 3 hour trip to English Camp.

The point of English camp-- besides being free labor for the camp folks lots of fun for the TaLK scholars-- is that is actually does give you a chance to get a little experience under your belt. Experience with nasty cafeteria food, crazy cute Korean schoolchildren, and other things that suck provide great experience.

The rooming situation wasn't the best. Some people roomed with as many as 10 other TaLK Scholars and instead of a mattress, you had a make a little pallet on the floor...
That little empty spot near the window is where I put my pallet.

Each TaLK Scholar gets their very own Korean kid and it's supposed to be great because you get to bond with the child, eat meals together, and in addition to group activities, do 1-on-1 stuff. Unfortunately, this time around, a few children canceled for English Camp, so about 10 Talk scholars, myself included, didn't get a child. I was pretty bummed out.

This is one of my friends in my group and his Korean kid, Bill.
I guess I'd have to say that Bill was the kid I 'bonded' with the most while I was at English Camp.
He even drew a self portrait of me....
Yeah.... Not much to say about that...

One part I really enjoyed about English Camp was the music class. I got to play a traditional Korean musical instrument! A Korean friend of mine actually gave me a phone charm a while back...
It's a Janggu (장구), a traditional Korean drum. And ever since she gave me that phone charm, I really wanted to play an actual Janggu. Well~
Sweet!


Another part I enjoyed about English Camp was the talent show. Each of the 6 groups was split into 2 parts and had to perform a dance with their Korean kids. My team was assigned the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and it we had fun making up the steps, practicing the song, and finally performing it. It was pretty awesome! We even had some kids wearing little animals hats (elephant, monkey, etc) and dance onto stage in the middle of the song.

Finally it was time to go, and although I was happy to be going back to the relative 'comfort' of Jochiwon, in some way, I was discovered that some part of me was really going to miss those gremlins kids.

Catching Up, Part 3- Medical Exam

Ah, the medical exam. The part of orientation many people dread the most- needles, drug tests, and the knowledge that if you fail-- you'll be on the next flight home. I'm not going to name any names, but there were a few people who were a little nervous about that drug test portion of the exam...

The night before you couldn't eat or drink anything (except for water) after 9pm, so lots of people were a little hungry by the time things got done. But hey, starve for a few hours, or get sent back home? Which would you choose? Unless you have a serious medical condition, then definitely talk to your coordinators about it and they'll probably bump you up to the front of the line or figure something out for you. I was a little worried because I have been known to have problems with my anemia, but I toughed it out since I was one of the first groups to get my medical exam done.

So the day started out with out daily morning briefing in our assigned group rooms. At the meeting, they handed out a few items...
Hmm a cup and a test tube... Wonder what those are for? Well, let me explain it to you:
The cup is for you to pee in. And the expectation is for you to pour your fresh, warm urine from the cup and into the tube. Hope there wasn't anyone to nervous about their exam! If they were, I imagine their hands might be shaking quite a bit...

So after you're emptying your bladder, you move on to the other portions of the exam, which are just your standard things like vision test, hearing test, weight/height stuff, blah blah blah.

The little tents where each portion is done. Give you a bit of privacy while you do your ear test or whatever...

However, as you can see, the vision test is conducted completely in the open...
Yeah... I totally bombed that one... I couldn't read past like the 3rd line~~ It's a wonder they didn't send me home...

After all of that, they stuck a needle in my arm and drew some blood. And then they sent me off to get X-rayed. Now in America when you have to get an xray, they give you these thin little gowns that barely cover you up, but in Korea.. I got X-rayed in style!
It was pretty comfy! I really wanted to keep it... But I guess I would have looked a bit conspicuous with a big robe hanging out of my purse on the way out the door...

The X-ray machine was in this bus and you just climbed in, got your picture snapped and hopped off and that was it!

So that was the medical exam in a nutshell. Not really too much to it. If you were one of the lower number groups, like Group 1 or GROUP 2, then you went earlier so you didn't have to wait THAT long. But if you were in Group 6... Meh.

Catcing Up, Part 2- Jochiwon Orienation

See, I am working very hard to catch everyone up on my happenings here in Korea. So stay tuned, things get a lot better than my long flight here!

Ah, orientation. Glad that's over. Days full of never-ending lectures, medical exam, cafeteria food, and 11pm curfew. But, there were some redeeming qualities about orientation. I'll highlight a few of them here.

1. Tae Kwon Do

One of our lectures was titled "Korean Culture: Tae Kwon Do". During this lecture, we went to a Tae Kwon Do class. Now obviously you can't learn all the moves or even the basics of Tae Kwon Do in one class, but it was still fun-- we got to practice a bit and even learn a self defense move. :P The instructors weren't too bad on the eyes, either. ;)
And my favorite picture of the day is the one I took with the instructor in the middle. I asked him which way we should pose and this was his response....


We made a heart, hehe! This made my day! Nay, my entire WEEK.

2. Fun With Friends (and Tae Kwon Do Instructors)

After lectures, the new friends I'd made and I would often head down to the nearby convenience store, commandeer their benches, and have ourselves a well deserved drink (or two).
Oh and did I forget to mention? A couple of my friends and I saw the Tae Kwon Do instructors at dinner later that day and invited them to come drinking with us! So without further ado...

3. Coordinators

At Orientation, all of the circa 350 TaLK scholars are split up into 6 groups and each group is headed by a Korean Group Coordinator (KGC) and a Foreign Group Coordinator (FGC). These two people are the go-to guys if you have any issues or questions. I was in Group 2, so my KGC was Riley (the sweetest chick you'll ever meet) and my FGC was Kevin (He seems super tough and I have no doubt he is, but he's also a big sweet teddy bear :P). They were always there for me if I had any questions or concerns and that's one of the biggest parts about orientation I'll miss.

In a way, orientation was something that you kinda just want to hurry up and be finished with- partly because you're anxious about starting teaching, and partly because you want the freedom to stay out as late as you want and do whatever. But at the same time, you really should appreciate it because I've had a lot of foreign teachers tell me that when they came to Korea they did NOT get a month long orientation. The day after they stepped off the plane, they were expected to teach with no training/orientation whatsoever. So I'm thankful for all the work everyone put in to help us do our best. I also made a lot of cool friends at orientation. So I think it wasn't so bad after all. :D

Well that's a quick summary of how orientation went for me for the most part. Stay tuned for my post about the Medical Exam as well as English Camp!