When I just got to Korea I was at Incheon international airport. That's about one and a half hours from Suwon by bus. The plane ride was long (12 hours and 20min). Everyone warns you that the ride will be long and that you'll need entertainment and should try sleeping but nobody told me that if you leave your feet on the ground the vibrations of the plane will start to irritate them. I found that out after a couple of hours passed and I tried walking.
Anywho, I found my way through the airport that had surprisingly little English. There were a few Ajou students there to meet me and put me on a bus. After the bus ride I got in a taxi and made it to the university. I ended up tipping the taxi driver but later found out that's a weird thing to do here. So, I didn't feel bad that it wasn't a big tip. The first night was a little rough and involved a lot of waking up and checking the time.
The first full day (Friday), we had a very long orientation that started at 9:30 and ended around 6:00 (18:00). But I started to meet the other exchange students and we all went out to a bar that night. It was going to be about 8 people but ended up being closer to 25 once word got around. The bar was nice and the total cost was around 200,000 won. Current exchange rates are $1.00US = 1500won so it was less than $200.00 for 25 people to drink for a night. We did need to get back to the dorms before 12:00 (00:00) or we'd be locked out.
Saturday, everyone kind of did their own thing. Most of the people have friends from their schools that they came with. So they all paired off and went places (mostly to Seoul). I ended up walking around Suwon on my own. It's interesting to note that I can do that and not get hassled. The others (not as native looking) tell stories of people walking up to them and touching them and trying to sell them things for more than it's priced. I, in typical asian fashion, bought manga (comic books). My two years of college level Korean helped me buy and, to some extent, read the books. I'll still have to buy a Korean - English dictionary at some point... but I think the Korean class I'll be taking (classes start March 2nd) will have a text book with a dictionary in the back. I had two of my new friends pick me up some outlet converters while they were in Seoul. I still need something that'll convert 220 to 110 but at least I can use my computer now.
Thanks Erica for the blog site info. ^__^
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Great entry! Where I studied in Shanghai, they have the same midnight rule for the Chinese students, but for some reason the international student dorm was different. We could come and go whenever.
ReplyDeleteGlad you started blogging! I think you'll look back and be glad that you captured the memories! You should add photos to future posts so we can see what you're up to! Make sure you share this with your family!
Hey BJ. I agree with Erica..... nice Blog ! And you should keep this active/on-going so everyone (including the family) can see what you are doing while in Korea. It will probably be better then emailing all the time. This way you can cut down on the duplicacy of typing. Adding pixs will be great too.
ReplyDeleteHave a great time with your first day of classes. Hope you get the classes you want. If nothing else, sign up for Home Ec or Wood working classes. Or "How to become financially independent by 25 so you can support your parents !"
Love, Dad
lol, great class suggestion on financial independence! I was thinking that more colleges should offer "How to do your taxes" courses too. Because I just filed my taxes for the first time on my own... grueling!
ReplyDeleteExcited for a new post!