Adventures in Korea: 수업

Today was my first day of classes!

I think I'm really going to like all of them. I'm taking Korean, Korean Mass Media & Popular Culture, and Korean Americans. I figured since I was in Korea, it would be a disservice to take any classes that aren't about Korea!

The class on Korean Americans was first, at 9am. The class was very small, only 7 students including myself, but it's going to be mostly discussion based so I think that's good. Out of the 7 of us, 5 are Korean American. The professor told us that she's never had so many non-Korean American students in this class before. There were two of us. She said it'll be refreshing to hear about Korean Americans from a non-Korean American perspective though. We spoke about what it means to be Korean American, how the immigration experience differs from that of other ethnic groups in America, and about the history of Korean immigration into the US.

After class, I asked one of my classmates, who had already purchased the reading packet, where I could go to buy it. She instead offered to take me there, which I happily obliged. We walked to the Student Union Building, and in the basement was the Copy Nara. There was a list of course numbers, and I was able to tell the man working there which numbers I needed in Korean. One of the KU ISC "buddies" was there to help assist international students with getting their packets, and he told me my Korean was good, which made me pretty happy. Afterwards, my classmate and I went to the University store to buy some notebooks. I decided to grab lunch at one of the restaurants in that building, and although she already had lunch plans, my classmate joined me to keep me company. I ordered dolsot Bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥); rice, hot pepper paste, vegetables, and a raw egg served in a hot stone pot to cook it all. The woman at the counter seemed relieved to have an American come in and order in Korean. After I payed, my classmate leaned in and said something to the woman, to which she smiled and replied. At the table, she told me she had said to the woman "doesn't she speak Korean well?" and the woman agreed. I'm easily flattered and this was twice in an hour that my Korean had been complimented, so I was pretty happy.

I went back to my dorm to study for my Korean placement test for a little while, then had my second class, Korean Mass Media and Popular Culture, at 2:40. This class was very large, probably around 50 students. We just went over the schedule and syllabus, then all had to introduce ourselves and say why we were taking the class/were in Korea. He looked around the room for someone to start, our eyes locked, and he immediately gestured his hands out to me and asked me to begin. I talked about the relevance to my majors and future goals, and either my answer really intrigued him or confused him, because he spent the whole time with his hand on his chin, squinting and occasionally nodding. After the introductions, class was done for the day, about an hour early. The girl sitting next to me, who was here from China, asked me where she could buy the course packet. I decided to pay forward the kindness done to me earlier in the day and take her there. After she bought her packet, there was still an hour until the placement tests, so we decided to sit on a bench together outside and talk and prepare for the test together. A few minutes in, we heard a loud drumming sound and decided to go investigate. We made our way down the road and saw a long flight of uneven, tree-lined stone steps that seemed to lead to the sound. We made our way to the top and saw through a small grove of trees three students playing some sort of traditional Korean drums. We watched for a few minutes, then returned to a bench to study/talk until it was time for the placement test.

There's no easy way to say it, but I'm pretty sure I completely bombed that test. There were about 25 of us that had signed up for that level, and apparently there's something about my eyes today that makes professors want to call on me first, because before I knew it, I was being summoned over to a chair on the side of the classroom. Before I even understood what was happening, I was bombarded by questions in Korean. It was a surprise speaking test. She asked me maybe around ten questions, but I couldn't understand about three of them. My answers for the others were pretty weak. When she told me I could go, the relief overrode the disappointment and I made my way out as fast as possible. The results are posted tomorrow, I'll see how I did, but my hopes are not high.

That being said however, today was still a wonderful day! After purchasing a new umbrella to combat the torrential rainstorm that had begun while I was in my test and filling my stomach with ddeokbokki (떡볶이, spicy rice cakes), I made my way back to my dorm. I'm completely exhausted, but have about fifty pages of reading due at 9am, so, sleep is for the weak!

안녕히 계세요!