Adventures in Korea: 다시

Well, I'm back in Korea.

This time around, I'll be here for an entire semester studying at Korea University Sejong Campus, in Jochiwon, Sejong city, a more suburban area. I'm here as part of KU's ITS program, "International Town at Sejong", where I'll be studying Korean language and culture, and in turn helping KU students to improve their English.

I left for Korea very early on the 25th. My flight was at 6am, but from Reagan National Airport in DC, which is about an hour away from my house, so my dad and I left at around 2:45am. My flight went from DC to Dallas, then Dallas to Tokyo, and Tokyo to Seoul. The overseas flight was of course very long, and since it was mostly during the day I didn't feel tired enough to sleep for most of it. I arrived in Tokyo with four hours to spare before my next flight. Both going to and leaving Korea last summer I also had layovers in the Tokyo Narita airport, but going there was too scared to spend time exploring as it was my first time in an airport alone, and coming back I was too tired. But this time, I walked around for the four hours, looking in the different shops and eating food (like green tea kit kats and ramen!). I hope one day to be able to actually visit Japan, but for now the airport will have to suffice. By time I got on the plane to Korea, the exhaustion was starting to kick in (it was 6:30pm local time, 4:30am Baltimore time, and I'd slept about three hours for the past 36 or so) so I passed out for that entire plane ride, only waking up once we'd hit the ground for landing. Fortunately I had filled out my immigration forms prior to takeoff so I could just get up and leave. Korea University Sejong had provided a one time free airport pickup service the day before, but when I found out I had booked my plane ticket for the wrong day I emailed the person in charge of the foreign exchange program at KU and explained that I had some familiarity with Korean transportation, and he told me how to get to the university, first by taking a subway to a train station, then taking a train. I had arrived at the airport at 9:30, and by time I got through immigration and had my bags it was closer to 10:30. The last train for Jochiwon left at 11:10, and the subway to the train station takes about an hour, so I knew I wouldn't make it and had arranged previously to catch the first train in the morning, leaving at 6 and arriving at 7:30am. I spent the night in the airport, which was pretty empty with no late night flights coming in. I walked around, got some snacks, watched one of the TVs (a Korean gameshow going too quickly for me to comprehend, but I just laughed when everyone else watching laughed and enjoyed it anyways), and chatted with my friends back home (for whom it was daytime) online. Finally, morning rolled around and I took the subway to the train station, bought a ticket to Jochiwon, and got on the train.

Taking the train was the first time I really understood that my perception of Korea was going to be vastly changed this trip. The six weeks I spent in the summer were all in Seoul, which on its own is a huge city with many districts all very different from one another. I felt like I had seen so much and understood at least a good amount about Korea before, but as I watched the scenes outside the window change as we traveled farther and farther outside of the city, it began to sink in that there was a whole other Korea I didn't know. At this point, I was working on closer to 45 hours with next to no sleep so the whole thing seemed really profound at the time. Looking back, watching buildings because more sparse and run down, Western influence disappearing, isn't some huge, mind-altering experience. But at the time I just stared at the window, mouth agape, unable to believe I thought I'd understood Korea based on what I knew of Seoul. I was the only non-Korean on the train, and I felt the familiar feeling of standing out slowly returning with every person who did a double take when they saw me, and realizing I couldn't understand the chatter going on around me. Initially nobody was in the seat next to mine, but a few stops in some middle-school or high-school aged girls got on my car and one of them had the seat next to mine. She sat down with her friends a few seats over as they talked across the train, laughing and yelling. At one point she pulled out a box of some sort of cookies for her and her friends, and then turned to offer me one, smiling. I thanked her, but said no, too consumed with looking out the window in half-awake epiphanous wonder. When we pulled into the train station I struggled to drag my gigantic suitcase onto the platform, and once I succeeded, pulled it behind me amidst the crowds of Koreans, then attempted to roll it down the long stairs. It twisted and got stuck, and while I balanced my carry-on and attempted to readjust it without it falling, a Korean girl came and helped me and then asked if I was Elizabeth, and that her name was June and she was there from the university to pick me up. She helped me carry my things outside of the station and we took a taxi to my new dorm.

The dorm rooms are fairly small, and certainly not as modern as Anam, but the more I adjust, the more I like it. There are three bunkbeds, with the bottom bunk a desk, and three closets. There's a sink by the door, and two wooden doors that look like closets but are actually a toilet and a shower. I live on the fourth floor out of nine, but there is an elevator. I have to use a keycard to get in and out of the dorm building, but an actual key to get into my room. As in Anam, there is a boys' side and a girls' side, and there are guards to prevent the two from mixing. Nobody who doesn't live in the dorm is allowed in and there is a turnstile sort of thing you have to swipe your card through to even get into the building. There's a curfew at midnight, and the doors lock students both in and out of the dorm building every night until 5am. I don't think I'll ever stop finding the strict dorm rules strange here, as much as I'm used to having friends in and out of my dorm back home, and leaving at any hour.

After dropping off my stuff, I immediately went back downstairs to go with June and another foreigner student, Kaitie, to breakfast. Breakfast is from 7-9 every (weekday) morning, and one of the two meals included in our meal plan, the other being dinner. We have to provide our own lunch and weekend food (fortunately ramyeon is cheap and tasty!). Most of the rest of the exchange students were there, as I was the last person to arrive to the campus and orientation had started the day before (which means I missed the tour!). Afterwards, I finally changed out of my three day old clothes, and we had day two of orientation. We started by picking classes, which was supposed to be from 10-12, followed by a one hour break before our trip to the bank. However, after 30 minutes I was finished picking my classes, and rather than have me stick around for some of the informative stuff, the director told me to go back to my dorm and sleep until the next session at 1, as I looked tired (I guess my two days of no sleep were showing). I didn't want to mess up my adjustment to jetlag however, so instead I went back and showered. My roommate was in the room, but fast asleep so I tried hard not to wake her. At one point she woke up though, and introduced herself to me as Sophia (though her Korean name is SeulGi). Unfortunately, she was very sick that day, so she needed to sleep a lot. I went back to orientation at one, realizing that everyone else had split into groups and eaten lunch, which made me regret missing out on the bonding, since I'd also missed the first day of orientation, tour, and going to eat and the bar the nights before, and nobody knew who I was. During the presentation, I dozed off, then we went to the bus stop to take the bus to the bank, and I dozed off some more on the bus and in the bank. We opened up Korean bank accounts (the school is providing us with a scholarship to provide for airfare that must be placed in a Korean account), then were told we could either take the last bus back to campus, or walk around and do what we want. I ended up splitting off with a group who wanted to buy some essentials, since I desperately needed hangers to remedy the explosion of clothes from my suitcase onto the floor. We had been told there was a Daiso in Jochiwon, which is similar to a dollar store in the US, but with more options/quality, so we walked around looking for that. We asked many people for directions, and finally, someone just took us there. We all headed back to campus to get dinner before the cafeteria closed at 7pm, which was good because I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was quite hungry. Afterwards, I wanted nothing more than to get my well deserved night's sleep, but it was only 7:30 pm. I decided to unpack both of my bags, and make my bed, which killed enough time until it was 9pm, which I decided was a reasonable hour to sleep at. I slept like a rock until my alarm went off at 7:30, and have since then slept every night perfectly well, effectively beating jetlag with my "stay up for three straight days then pass out" method.

That day, my third roommate SooMin moved in. She was very friendly and immediately started talking to me. She told me about herself and where she was from, she said that she was happy to meet me and hoped we could be good friends. She also told me her family would love to meet me and that she wants me and our thrid roommate to go to her hometown (near Busan, by the coast) and go fishing with her and her family. Sophia was feeling better that morning too and joined in, and I was very happy to meet and learn more about them both.

I returned to orientation, where we finalized our classes. I am taking three classes on North Korea (Art & Literature, Propaganda & Mobilization, and Elites), and Korean Culture (mandatory for all exchange students). I am also taking a Korean language class, but I found out the book used for advanced, the highest level they offer, is a book I finished 6 months ago, then I found out that I'm the only student who signed up for advanced, and at least 5 need to be signed up. So I still don't know what's happening there. We also met with our roommates to work on planning our tutoring sessions. Part of the exchange program agreement is that we tutor our roommates each 4 hours a week in English, and in return the university pays for our room and board. Afterwards, I got lunch in the cafeteria with my roommates. That evening, there was a welcoming party for us all. There was lots of good food, both Korean and American, and also drinks, alcoholic and not. The welcome party that was hosted during the summer by the main KU also served alcohol, and it was strange to drink soju in a university building with other students and faculty, but at the same time I think illuminates how strictness can breed notoriety, and when things are treated in a more lax manner they become seen as less dangerous (because seriously what's the harm in drinking a little at a welcome party). Though also, public transportation is more common in Korea, so perhaps that's why it's okay to drink more, and especially in a university setting, when you don't have to worry about people driving back home intoxicated. Anyways, I'm getting carried away. The welcome party was great, there were games and music and I got to learn more about my roommates and other exchange and KU students. It ended with all of the exchange students' Korean roommates painting our faces in KU crimson and gold, to initiate us as official students of the university.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went to a beer and chicken place just outside of town. I walked there with my roommates and Teresa, another exchange student. Once at the bar, we were separated as we were told more foreigners were needed at a table that only had Koreans at it. Teresa and I sat with four Korean students, three boys and a girl, and all introduced ourselves. Teresa's stomach was a little upset, so she didn't want to drink, but some things don't change across countries and the boys still tried to convince her to. We played a lot of drinking games, too difficult to explain through text, and one of the boys told her that if she lost, he'd drink for her, but in turn she owed him a favor he would decide later. She decided at that point just to drink instead. Korean drinking culture is huge, and I forgot just how fun it was. There are certain rules I've yet to firmly understand, such as not pouring your own drink, holding your cup with both hands when somebody is pouring you a drink, turning your head and looking away as you drink, etc. It's one of the moments where I'm glad I stand out so I can get away with making mistakes because it's obvious I'm not from here. But the whole place was alive and loud and fun, and it was so great to hear and see all of the talking, games, singing, and just fun going on around us. At around 10, everyone decided to go to a Noraebang (karaoke), but I was getting pretty tired, and considering I'm not much of a singer anyways decided to head back to campus with Tara, a fellow IUP student who has been at KU since last semester.

The next day, I woke up to SooMin leaving for Seoul for the weekend. I lounged around in the morning, and then went to GS25 (a convenience store) to get ramyeon for lunch with Sophia. That evening, I studied Korean and talked with Tara in one of the dorm study lounges, and we made plans to go into town together in the morning, so she could show me around.

Today, Sophia woke up early to leave for Seoul to volunteer, but surprisingly I was able to easily fall back asleep after and slept until almost 11am, further convincing me that I've beaten Jetlag. Tara and I met up at noon and made our way out. Though the weather had been warm the day of the welcome party two days prior, it was starting to get more and more cold. Though content to leave our jackets unzipped when first leaving, by time we finished lunch it was bitter cold and we zipped and bundled up. Tara first showed me around campus, then we headed out into Jochiwon. When you first leave campus, it's just fields and shacks and trash, then standalone sorts of stores and stripmalls, a highway to cross, with more stores on the other side, then a bridge to cross over a small stream. After the bridge, the buildings start to become more condensed, until you reach a series of apartment complexes. Apartments here baffle me, they're all just overwhelmingly tall, and look the exact same. I have no idea how these people don't get lost wandering past building after building after building of apartments, towering over them, and manage to find their own. It's one of the many things I found overwhelming while viewing the commuter cities from the train. After you get through the apartments, there's one more bridge, the "bridge of death" as Alex, a woman from Russia who is one of the people in charge of handling the exchange students, called it when taking us across it to the bank earlier, which has two flights of stairs then goes over train tracks and back down. After that, you're officially "in town". Though still smaller than Seoul, the general atmosphere is more familiar in this area, which has buildings and shops crammed together without a field or dilapidated shack in sight. Tara took me to a hotdog restaurant she likes, called New York Hot Dog. It is adorned with pictures of NYC and serves that I think Koreans believe to be the two most American things in existence; hotdogs and coffee. Having been in Korea for 6 months and not a huge fan of Korean food, she was understandably in the mood for American, but I got one of the Koreanized hotdogs to make up for it, a dak-galbi hotdog, which had pickles, onions, sesame seeds, and dak-galbi (a spicy Korean chicken dish) on it. Afterwards, she showed me all around Jochiwon. We went into a few stores, including one where I bought a binder for classes with some great Engrish on it. A lot of the stationary had cutesy things and nonsensical English words and quotes on them. Mine says "Fragrance of Romantic Poetry" on it, followed by a poem. To quote it "even death, encluragees others and in it's defat, stirs". It included four notebooks, which say "WHAT COUNTRY DO YOU WANT TO VISIT" on them, each with a different flag; Norway, Belgium, Canada, and UK. It really all makes no sense. We looked around the market, which had many clothing and food stalls, and I bought two scarves (since I packed no scarves or gloves when coming here!). After four hours, we came back to the dorms, though I made sure to stop at a Paris Baguette on the way to buy some of the delicious, albeit strange, breads I'd fallen in love with over the summer (including a curry croquette and tapioca stick!). On our way back, we walked by this open garden place and first one, then four huge chickens came out. I was cracking up watching them strut around and attempt to cross the street. The leader eventually hopped across to wear we were as a Korean man was walking past us, and got right next to him. He shooed it with the bag he was holding, which made me start laughing. When he turned around and saw me, he laughed to, then continued shooing the chickens and making chicken noises (which, in Korea, are apparently "ko ko ko ko").

I'd planned to just eat ramyeon for dinner that night, but Kaitie messaged me asking if I had gone to Seoul with the rest of the American students. I said no, and she said she hadn't either and wanted to know if we could get dinner together. So we headed back out to town, along the way running into another exchange student, James, who was on his way back from Seoul, who then joined us on our search for dinner. I pointed out a bunch of restaurants, and while casually making a comment about a porridge restaurant I had also tried in Seoul as we passed by, James said he wanted to try it, so we went there. The restaurant was warm and the water was warm and the food was warm, since in Korea it's usually considered to be a health food sort of place, but it felt amazing after the cold outside. I ordered a spicy seafood porridge, and the man told me in Korean that it was too spicy, but I told him it was okay, so he shrugged and took my money. It was spicy, but not overly so (for me at least), and I love spicy food. We all talked and ate for a while, then headed back to campus. On the way back, Kaitie practiced reading Korean, after having been teaching herself the alphabet over the last couple of days, and it was definitely impressive to see how far she'd gotten. Eventually I think James got tired of us stopping every few minutes for her to read a sign while I checked and corrected her, and he split off and said he'd see us later. I returned to my dorm, settled in, and began writing this blog post.

So far, I love it here, and I really think this semester will be an amazing experience. I can't wait to see what happens!