Thursday

So, I've been having trouble with my classes. That lead to more trouble which lead to more trouble. But I think I've got it now. I have to go back to the OIA office, yet again, but I think I've got my classes settled. Today I had 3 classes. One of my classes was Korean 2. I tried to get into Korean 1 just so I'd have an easy class but I guess that's what everyone else was trying to take so they bumped me into Korean 2. I would be taking a much higher level of Korean if the teacher spoke at least a little English during class. The teacher I have only uses Korean and half of the class doesn't understand her because she uses a much less formal way of speaking than everyone in the class was taught. So, that class will be really hard. I'm sure I'll have more about that class, as well as my other classes, later on.

After class I got some food in the cafeteria and went to a friends club meeting. The Ajou Friends Club is set up to be a club that consists of Koreans that will help the exchange students and show them around Korea. In reality, it's pretty much just a drinking club with college sponsorship. They do have trips planned and the people are nice but most of the events deal with or are sure to end with drinking. So, everyone went out drinking tonight (last night for all you sticklers that notice that it's past 00:00 on Friday).

It was a nice time getting to know a lot of people. I should know most of the exchange students by name, but I don't. As most of you know, remembering names isn't my strong suit but I'm trying. It's just that when you meet a bunch of new people with new names (most of which are so foreign that you've never heard them before) and faces, it's hard to keep them straight. Anyway, everyone's really nice. I talked to a lot of people tonight and had a good time. I don't want all my complaining to make people think I'm not enjoying myself. Like all things in life, it has it's ups and downs.

The bar we went to couldn't hold everyone so some of the exchange students, probably half, went to a different bar with half of the friends club. I started the night with the group that has kind of become the core group, at least for me (Jay, Austin, Steven, and Anders). We also sat with another American named Alex. They're all nice and seem to work well together. Anywho, after a couple of drinks everyone loosened up and started mingling. I spoke with a lot of people from different countries but the majority or the night was spent talking to a large group of Chinese exchange students. They, as most of the Chinese exchange students do, thought I was Chinese at first. After I corrected them, they were impressed that I could speak, all be it very little, Mandarin.

Out of the group of Chinese exchange students, I probably talked with a girl, Grace, the most. She's very smart and pretty. I've seen her before and we've exchanged greetings but this was the first time we really talked to each other. When she spoke I was interested and when I spoke she seemed genuinely interested as well. Sadly, I had to use the restroom and when I returned someone else had taken my seat next to her. Oh well. On the bright side, she had asked for my phone number (but I don't have a phone) and she took down my e-mail and name to find me on facebook. I'd look for her but since she's Chinese she has a Chinese name that I don't know and probably couldn't spell correctly anyway. So, I kind of expect to hear from her.

Like I said before, it's past 00:00 (12 am) and the dorms lock then. If we had student IDs we could get back in anytime but the OIA office said that place that makes them ran out of material so we'll get them next week. I walked back with Alex, Grace was already gone, but before I left I told the others that it was 23:30 and that we should leave. They wanted to stay another 15 min so I left (better early in than locked out). When I got to the dorms there was maybe 8 min left. It's almost 01:00 now and I haven't heard any of them come in. I hope they're not locked out and if they are, no one has a cell phone to call for someone to let them in. Knowing them, they'll probably just stay out drinking till 06:00 or whenever the dorm re-opens. Some of them have classes tomorrow, some of which are at 09:00. I'll probably go down and check the lobby after I post this, just to make sure they're not outside.

I know I should add pictures and I have been taking some but tonight I'm tired and don't really feel like messing with it right now. Maybe the next post will have some pictures but it will be hard to pick just a few.