On the Radio

So, many of you may have heard via Facebook that I was on a Korean radio station. I should probably elaborate… As my roommate and I walked down the crowded streets of Myeongdong, a young man walked up to me and asked if I would be interested in doing a quick clip for a local radio station about a song that had special meaning to me. My thoughts of course went first to Manther and Symmetry/Symmetry, but when I asked the guy, he said he wanted something more well know that he could play in the background of the interview. I thought hard, considering Lady Gaga, Beyonce… but then I knew what it had to be. Guster! And what song has a special meaning to me? Well My good friend Erin Pattyn and I while driving to school every morning during high school developed a particular fondness for the song Ramona. It is a song that reminds me of my friends and family back home. I explained this into the microphone, he thanked me, and John and I were on our way. I'm famous!

Placement and Seoul Exploration

Hey everyone.  Thanks for following my blog. Where did I leave off…? I was just arriving at the university, not much interesting happened there. I checked in, got a room, met my roommate (who was a little intimidating at first) and went to bed. I guess the one thing to mention is that when my roommate John (who is actually pretty awesome) saw I only had the blanket and pillow I had stolen from the airline (having been misled to believe that bedding would be provided) he graciously offered one of his own blankets which I shamelessly accepted without hesitation. This was the first of many kindnesses he has shown an apparently useless foreigner (me!).

The next morning I woke up at 6:30 and lay awake for an hour in bed until breakfast. I went down to the cafeteria which each morning serves both a Korean option and a "western" one. Thinking myself worldly I headed straight for the Korean table and served up some of the strangest breakfast items I have ever seen. It was actually quite good. Koreans believe in spice for every meal, so it's lucky I prefer spicy food. I then had a decision to make. Where to sit… I scoped out the room and targeted two nice enough seeming students, one giant white kid and a vaguely Asian-looking well dressed fellow. I (completely out of character) confidently strode up and asked if I could sit down. I was well received and had an enjoyable breakfast getting to know my first friends in the program.

Next it was on to my language placement test. I once again found myself lost and inadequately prepared lacking a notebook and writing utensil (when did I become such a pudd?) but I found a nice looking group of students traveling the same direction and together we found the right building. One even let me borrow a pencil. The test was moderately difficult but very long and two hours left me half way finished (as seemed the case with everyone else so I wasn't too worried). My oral interview went alright. I could understand everything I was asked, but I unfortunately take too long to process speech, so the interviewer may have gotten the impression that I didn't understand her at all. Also, I over think all my answers so I failed to exhibit my superior understanding the Korean language ㅋㅋㅋ(lol).

I ended up being placed in the third level (of five) which was lower than I had hoped, but my new Australian friend Sandy was in the same level so I wasn't too upset. That afternoon we had our first field-study class. Our teacher 구은미 (Eunmi Gu) was really fun and gave a short intro to the class and then had a Sogang student take us on a tour around campus. There's nothing too special about Sogang. It's a pretty small university without any spectacular scenery or architecture. Then it was back to the dorm. I ran into my roommate who was going out with some of the other guys I had met and invited me along.

Away we went exploring the college district of Seoul. The five of us ended up being literally pulled by the hand into a korean style BBQ restaurant by a 4 foot insistent 아줌마 (old woman). The food was delicious and very cheap. We got to know each other over a few bottles of soju and then went to a nearby bar where we had a few more beers and watched the North Korea vs Portugal game. We were back to the dorm before the midnight curfew and I was quickly asleep.

The next day I had my first Korean language classes. The first two hours of morning classes are grammar where we went over patterns I had learned last year. The second two hours were reading and writing which was surprising more difficult. Our two teachers are pretty awesome though, and all of the other students are pretty fun to be around. There are surprisingly few nerdy-anime freak-"I have a Korean girlfriend" kids to be found (that isn't to say there aren't a few). Afternoon classes were more of the same. We learned how to give and receive directions to each other and practiced using a map of the nearby area (which has been very useful in finding my way around). That night, I planned on working out, eating dinner, doing my copious amounts of homework and then sneaking out with the other students after curfew to watch the South Korean match against Nigeria. Unfortunately I passed out at 4:30pm and failed to wake up until 5:00am the next day at which point I had to hurriedly complete all of my homework before breakfast and class. Epic fail!

The second day of morning classes was more of the same. Studying the same grammar patterns and then cooking instructions, but for afternoon classes we went on a field trip to the city center to see the city offices and 한옥 (traditional korean houses). We also saw the Blue House where the President lives and the Prime Minister's residence. It was really interesting and we are giving presentations about it on Friday. After dinner, John and I went on a subway adventure to 명동 (Myeongdong) where we went shopping and watched a show where they pulled random girls on stage and, much to their embarrassment, made them dance in front of of hundreds of people. We took some good pictures and found a Forever 21 where I got some cheap clothes.

Korean citizen's office

한옥

Gate to the Blue House

Well that's it for now. Oh yeah, John's sister is competing in the Miss Korea pageant coming up in the next few weeks and he invited me along to see. That should be fun. Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy.

My roommate John and I

This one's for you Ally...

Departure

Hey everyone. I wanted to keep you all updated on my adventures so I created this blog. I'm currently at my desk in the Gonzaga dorm of Sogang University, but it took a lot of time and a few frustrating complications to get here.

I spent all night Friday packing my bags, deciding what was absolutely necessary and what I could begrudgingly do without. With only a few hours of sleep, Andrew and I were driven by my parents (Ally didn't come because she is the worst) to PDX where we said our goodbyes.

Parting ways :'-(

Andrew's flight was at 7:15 and mine wasn't supposed to be until 10:30, but since I checked in so early they bumped me up to an earlier flight. Our flights were on different ends of the airport and we had to go through different security points. This meant our dreaded separation came much earlier than we had anticipated and we had to bid farewell rather suddenly without time to process it.

As I waited for my first flight I read a Korean comic book in hopes of getting into a Korean language mindset early, but this was difficult because I happened to glance up from my book just as a large mouse ran out from under the door of a nearby supply closet. Upon seeing all of the people it quickly ran back inside. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed and caught the eye of someone who obviously had. We shared a quick laugh. After this the mouse ran out every 5 or so minutes checking to see if the room had cleared. Quite a large crowd of people ended up gathering around trying to catch pictures.

Eventually I boarded my flight which was completely uneventful. I sat next to a quiet girl who said little more than hello. Eventually we reached Seattle where I had difficulties. When I checked into PDX with Alaska Airlines, I was told that I would need to get my second boarding pass in Seattle. I thought it would be simple enough, but when I reached Seattle there didn't seem to be anyone who knew where I could get the new boarding pass. I ran around for 2 ½ hours, back and forth across the airport trying to figure out what to do. I was told that if I left the secure area and there was no one at the Asiana check-in, I would be stranded outside, but if I waited at the gate for someone to come and it turned out they couldn't give me a boarding pass, I would have to go all the way out and might miss the flight. I was just on the verge of leaving when I decided to check the gate one more time. Finally some luck! The flight attendants were at the gate and were able to print out a boarding pass for me.

One of many trips on the TWO trains between security and my gate. Don't I look happy?

I spent the next three hours waiting for my flight which was late in departing. I sat in the empty terminal and eventually fell asleep. When I awoke, the terminal had filled with Korean people all bustling about and conversing in Korean. A young teenage boy sitting next to me was complaining loudly to his friend on his cell phone. He was whining about his 14 year old relationship problems and asking what it felt like to love someone. It was actually quite entertaining. Eventually the plane boarded and we took off. I was seated at the window with a very old Korean man next to me. He seemed to have a hearing problem and often made confusing requests to the flight attendants, such as to refill his half empty coffee cup with tea. The flight attendants by the way are all tall, slender, and gorgeous. Any one could easily be a Korean movie star. The seats were comfortable and the food was excellent, but 12 hours on a plane was brutal. I was kissing the ground when I stepped off in Seoul.

The plane tv showed where we were. Here I was over Anchorage. Hi Levads!

After getting through immigration and customs I met my next challenge trying to find my way through the chaotic jumble of buses to find the one going to Sinchon. The long bus ride was hot, sweaty and I think the large Indian man sitting next to me had just eaten a burrito or something… I got off the bus at the correct station and followed a street sign pointing to Sogang. The directions on their website had said it was a 10 minute walk, but after 20 minutes I still hadn't arrived, the sun had set, the streets were getting shadier and I was exhausted, but every intersection had a sign promising me Sogang. Suddenly the signs led to an overpass with no pedestrian path and I was stranded.

A limo bus similar to the one I took

I attempted to use my Korean skills to ask a young couple for directions. They kept asking me if I knew where different landmarks were as points of reference, but I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about so they recommended I take a taxi. Turns out I was nowhere near the school.

Well, i think this post is long enough. Stay tuned if you want to know what happened when I arrived.