Orientation at Insa-dong

My final day of orientation!! Today's schedule was a sightseeing trip to Seoul city. We were first brought to the National Folk Museum of Korea, which is in this huge space with ancient buildings, like the one seen underneath.

The weather was damn cold! For the previous 2 days, the weather was actually warming up, so I wore less for the trip, and I was so so wrong! It was totally freezing that I could not bear to stand in the outdoors at all! In fact, most of the exchange people there were feeling so cold that everyone was rushing to get into the museum so as to escape the cold.

The amazing thing was, however, the Korea University girls. My OGL, in particular, wore only a tee-shirt and jacket with super mini shorts and socks. I have no idea how she could actually stand the cold with her bare legs, when I myself was freezing with jeans and thermal wear inside. Apparently, I was told that the Korean girls would rather look pretty in nice clothes and bear with the chill. Also, all the university girls wear make-up. And it's really the full makeup, with mascara and foundation and lipstick etc. It's really amazing how they can wake up early to perm their hair and put on make-up every single day, when I am complaining about wearing so much clothes in the morning when I wake up.

Singaporeans gathering at a Korean pagoda.

The folk museum is really quite cool, and it's free entry! There are a lot of stuff to look at, and the museum uses quite a bit of new technology inside, so there are 3D images, and falling plum blossoms and moving images everywhere. It's like visiting the science centre, but in a historical manner.

Stephenie and me with 3 Japanese that we met on the exchange program.

Surprisingly, there are quite a number of Japanese that are here on exchange. I thought most people would travel further on exchange, but I see Japanese everywhere in school. And they are super fluent in Korean language and are quite competent in English language as well. Really cool.

A Turkish ice-cream stall. The man is actually playing tricks on the students by snatching the ice-cream away and preventing the students from taking it.

Our meal at a tea-house. And as always, the side dishes are all free. The bill came up to 10,000 won, which translates to less than SGD$11.

After the trip to the National Folk Museum, we were given time to shop at a nearby neighbourhood, Insa-dong. Here, there are many streets selling handicrafts, art pieces and quirky clothing. Many galleries are located here, many of which are free to enter.

Me with my buddy, Jang-ho. He has been helping me with a lot of administrative matters since day 1 of orientation and is really friendly, except that he speaks very little English, which means that I basically cannot converse with him at all. Example of our language barrier: On day 1, I asked him where he stays, and he didn't understand what I meant. And he is a student at a top university. Imagine the shop vendors on the streets; it's even worse!!

Here's a group picture with some promotors with Shinhan Bank. They are all dressed up in traditional Korean hanboks, and were going around asking people to write their wishes on the post-its. The girl with blonde hair behind is a Masters student from Sweden. Before this, she was actually stopped by a group of high school girls to take picture. At first, she thought that they wanted her to take pictures for them, but in actual fact, they wanted to take pictures with her because she was very pretty! According to the guidebook I was reading, Koreans seldom get to see caucasians, and like to approach them when they see one because they think caucasians are very good looking and speak very fluent English, unlike them.

The Korean words here means Starbucks Cafe. According to another buddy, Koreans love Starbucks, because it connects them to American culture. Korean guys love to bring their dates to Starbucks, because it shows that they are rich enough to bring them to expensive coffee joints. The special thing about this particular Starbucks is that this is the only joint in the entire South Korea that uses hangeul (traditional form of Korean writing) in their shop sign. All other Starbucks in Korea are written in their original English language.

We ended off the tour with a special viewing of Jump at a theatre. Jump is a martial arts comedy that combines martial arts with light-hearted comedic antics and is very popular amongst Koreans. I actually didn't have a very good impression of the show, as I have seen snippets of it on this Channel 8 show hosted by Belinda Lee as she goes around the world to learn new dances. I though that Jump would be really boring, but I really enjoyed myself during the show. If given a chance, everyone should watch it. And because dialogue is minimal, and does not play a crucial part in the story plot, there is no worry over communication problems. Meanwhile, here's a snippet I found on Youtube for everyone to view.

Lunch at the KU Cafeteria

I really think I will become heavier by the end of the exchange program. Look at what I had for lunch today. Please don't get a shock, the entire blue tray, but the food beside it belongs to me and me alone.

I had spicy octopus stew, fried rice with pork and sunny-side-up, spring rolls, pork in pineapple sauce, fish in sweet and sour sauce, a salad, apple jam cookie, yoghurt drink and apple juice. And the most exciting thing is - the entire tray is free. Yes, free of charge! And of course, armed with the Singapore mentality, I naturally took as much as I could. Exciting right? I love Korea University!!

Orientation

Just came back from orientation today. Woah the school is really beautiful, and the orientation was actually quite fun! Actually the front part was quite routine, like some presentation, den tour around the school and a Korean language placement test.

The after school part was the fun part. The entire OG went over to a fried chicken place near the school called ‘Chicken Mania’ and for 10,000 won (roughly SGD10) we got, per table of 4, a bucket of KFC-style fried chicken, a large plate of roasted hot chicken parts, a large fries, salad, pickles, canned fruits and one bucket of beer! The food was so excessive that we couldn’t finish eating them at all! Although our buddies are not very proficient in their English, they were all super friendly, and we just sat there chatting for hours.

I seriously think this is the best orientation I’ve had in my life. Looking forward to starting school next week!

Korea University

Some pictures of Korea University taken while we were walking out to the subway station. Enjoy!

First Day in Seoul: Itaewon and Yongsan

Itaewon

Itaewon was the very first place that we (Ziyi, Chee Keong and I) visited after leaving the hostel. We chose to go to Itaewon because apparently a lot of foreigners and Caucasians go there and there are more English-speaking Koreans there also. It was an eye-opener when we got there. It’s basically a long street of shops on either side of the road. Very different from Orchard road though, cause the shops are not housed in shopping centres; they are real shops each with their own building. There are more foreigners there, but still fewer than the number of foreigners we see Orchard Road.

One interesting shop we was actually Rotiboy! They just opened a branch there and it was so popular! They even made a Rotiboy mascot to walk around the place to interact with people!

The weather is damn cold though. Every time the wind blows towards us, we would like “Woah!” It’s impossible to not wear gloves out, but it’s really nice to experience such refreshing weather when outside. Before coming to Korea, I was so scared I would not cope with the cold, but after coming, it’s been real nice, and I love the weather! Just not the part about wearing so many layers.

This is technically not Itaewon. It's just the place down the school neighbour where we had our first authentic Korean meal in Korea. The lift door opened at the restaurant, so we couldn't back away even if we had wanted to. The staff speaks only Korean, and we just pointed to any picture randomly to choose our pick.

This is what we ordered from picking the picture. All the white plates are side dishes, and they are all free. The black bowl is actually some kind of kimchi soup, which is wonderful to have on a freezing day.

The scene we see out of our 4th storey restaurant.

This is Itaewon. Just rows and rows of shops!

CK has its own storefront too.

This is actually a set-up for a newly-opened shop: Athelete's Foot. There was loud Korean music blasting out and the storekeepers were promoting the shop for passers-by to enter.

Yongsan

We went over to Yongsan cause we wanted to go to a hypermart to get all our groceries and stuff. Actually we had wanted to go over to Carrefour, but none of the Koreans we approached knew what even Carrefour means. Luckily we managed to catch a woman who could speak English, and she told us about this place.

Yongsan is really cool! It’s very metropolitan and the shopping centre is really big! If I am not wrong, it’s called I’Park or something. It’s at least the size of Suntec City and Marina Square combined together. But the most amazing thing is really the supermarket. Every shelf has a promoter promoting the items on the shelf. They are all dressed in different uniforms sponsored by the product maker, such as Pantene uniform, Lipton uniform and such. And the uniforms are really very fanciful, with blazers, female bowties, short skirts (for the cosmetics side) and etc. They were very friendly, and would help us out in any way they can, even though they can’t speak English, and they don’t earn commissions. Also, at the entrance, there are also staff who would bow and greet the shoppers. The service here is really excellent!

Here's the really big shopping mall: I'Park. The next 2 pictures show the scenes from around Yongsan station.

The 2 staff clad in blue uniform on either side of the supermarket are the greeters who bowed and greeted the shoppers. I was asked by one of them to stop taking photographs. Apparently my camera flash caught their attention. Embarrassing moment.

Bae Yong Jun as the ambassador of The Face Shop. Wih long hair summore. Yikes!

For dinner, we had authentic Zha Jiang Mian, just like the ones seen in ‘Couple or Trouble’. The texture is like Singapore Lor Mee, but it is more sweet and salty. Ingredients include onions, potatoes, mushrooms and pork. The waitress serving us could speak Chinese, surprisingly. Apparently, she is from some Chinese province that requires her to speak Korean from a young age.

A picture of Zha Jiang Mian. Free pickles and onion provided!

Subway

The Korean subway is also very different from the Singapore one. The stations were all not air-conditioned and the trains are rather old looking. What’s more impressive is the culture relating to subways. The Koreans all stood to the right of the escalator to give way to walking parties on the left, and the priority seats on the trains are not taken up by the passengers, even when the train is packed, hence the senior citizens could always find a seat inside.

Another thing is that people talked really softly on the train, so the train is really quiet. There were no loud noises, no shouting, so hand phone ring tones etc. Singapore really has a lot to learn from East Asia!

One funny scene I saw was of this man in his 50s walking from carriage to carriage promoting his goods. He carried a trolley filled with plasters and then would stop in the middle and start to say (I think) advantages of the plasters and all. I guess it’s a rather common scene, cause most of the passengers were not looking at him at all.

CJ International House

Well, this is where I will be staying at for the next 4 to 6 months - CJ International House. The hostel is situated on top of a really steep hill, so much so that my friend was actually scared she would fall and roll down the hill. That apart, the hostel is absolutely wonderful! It is really posh, like a 3 to 4 star hotel, with it's own lobby and reception! Security is tight too, with security guard and cameras at each room door. We also have to use both the manual and card key to access our own rooms, so it's really super safe.


The picture above is taken from inside the lift. The school logo and the tiger mascot can be seen practically anywhere in the school compound. Also notice that there are some storeys that have been blocked up by white tape. This is actually a lift that can be taken by males. In CJ House, students cannot visit the rooms of opposite gender. Anyone who breaks the rules will be expelled immediately (as written on the handbook). In fact, guys cannot even visit the floor of girls! Hence, this lift that is used only by guys can only reach floors that the guys reside. Females get their own lift too.
This is the view of CJ House from the inside of the hostel. The hostel vaguely reminds me of MacDonald House in Dhoby Ghaut. The building itself is super long, so I really pity those who stay at the end of the building and have to walk all the way out to take the lift. As for me, I stay right beside the lift. Heh.




This is my room! It's really cool, with a balcony of my own, and heater plus air con too. And I get an attached toilet as well, so it is really convenient. The room looks rather messy, as Ziyi and I were still busy packing our stuff, but it's alright now! Nice and clean! Below picture shows the front end of the room.


This is the view I see from the balcony. I can actually see the Seoul skyline from my room, as well as some mountains too. At night, the whole skyline lights up, and looks magical. And the best thing is, it doubles up as a refrigerator! The weather is so cold that I can just leave perishible goods outside and they will stay as fresh as if they had come right out of the refrigerator!

This is another type of hostel for the more budget-conscious. The room's half the price of the CJ House, but the facilities are not as good. The picture above is a hostel for females, whereas the hostel in the picture below serves the guys.