A minor change in plans...

Unbelievable that my last post was already 1 1/2 months ago... I really wanted to write more regularly, it just didn't happen. The longer I seem to be here, the faster time seems to pass. It's like you wake up Monday morning, and the next thing you realize it's Thursday night, and that happens to be weekend in this particular case. And, regardless of the fact that my weekend is longer than usual ones, it passes too quickly of course. But time that's passing fast means either you're busy, which is still better than being bored , or you're having a good time. In my case it's both and in three weeks the semester will be over, something I find hard to believe (but also don't object to).

Remember how my last post dealt with the fact that it was half-time? At the time, I was writing to my best information and belief, but now there are some small inaccuracies. It wasn't really half time, more like 1/6th of the time. If you read carefully, you might have guessed that I quite like it here. It would be hard to pin down what excactly I like, I just do, and therefore wanted to stay as long as possible. In my head I've been weighing the options for a while and was leaning very much towards coming back next fall, after graduation, to study Korean some more.

However, one sleepless night some 4 weeks ago, I had an idea. Why not take a little break from my home school and enroll in the full-time Korean language program at KU? First, I was amazed at the sheer brilliance of that thought, but since my plans lately had been characterized by a certain extent of changeability and spontaneity, I remained skeptical and spent the rest of the night trying to figure out where the problem with that idea was. I didn't find it, so I enrolled to become a regular KU student of Korean language from January onwards.

Even though not finishing business-school in the minimum time had always been a major no-no to me, I somehow managed to convince myself that graduating being 22 instead of 21, while being able to speak a language that is not in the repertoire of the average Austrian, is not the worst of all things to do.

So much on the studying front. When it comes to living (I know, these shouldn't be separate and it shows I haven't fully immersed myself into Korean culture yet) there's been some progress too: Again, the Livingtel is getting some negative attention here, as in almost any entry before. But it'll be the last time, because complaining is one thing, changing the situation is something else. Also, my name, at least the Isa-part means "move" in Korean, which I took as a sign. So, I started a search, and at the time being, the shoe-box is a thing of the past. This week, I moved into a new place, in Itaewon, a multicultural and fun place in the center of Seoul. I have a room 2x as big, for a bit more than half the price. I live in a charming little neighborhood of old-style Korean houses, and have a view onto the Han River. And the best thing about it, I share the apartment with a really nice Korean couple, who's English-skills are somewhat limited, to put it nicely, forcing me to use all my (also somewhat limited) Korean.

It is a challenge indeed, as it means stepping outside your comfort zone as soon as you open your mouth, but you get used to it. Above all, I appreciate the open-mindedness of my roomies, who probably never had too much contact with weiguks, but welcomed and included me at once.

Studying, planning and the move have taken the lion's share of my time lately, so there's not too much else to talk about. I want to write more about Korean life, and devote an entry to eumshik (food), possibly next time. For now, I'll just close by quoting some words (not my own, unfortunately) to keep in mind. They work fine to justify most unconventional decisions, and more than that, are worth being lived by:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
(Mark Twain)

Lanterns at Cheonggyecheon stream

Midterms... MIDTERMS?! We're already halfway?

It's not the best time to sit in the library (still without own computer), trying to spill more wisdom over the world wide web.


That's because, it's midterms-time, and after having completed already 4 exams earlier this week, there's still one more to go tomorrow. Marketing, which is usually my thing. Not so this time. Not that it's hard, I'm simply astonished by the extent to which all these smart people, of whom most probably never actually had to bring a product to market, manage to squeeze common wisdom into countless tables & models. These can then be learned by heart and reproduced in the exam by the aspiring marketing managers of the future. Awesome. I still don't believe that Marketing is a science, and even if i score an A+ tomorrow (which I consider unlikely) it won't make me a better Marketer in the "real world".



This being said, I feel much better, and because I don't want to bore you with school stuff, I will quickly switch topics and try to give a summary of what has been going on the past month that I have been too busy (too lazy?) to write:





First, there was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. That was awesome, and consumed 2 entire days. We (this time that's 2 American friends & me) went to visit "halmoni", that's Grandma, of one of these friends. At her place in the far south of Seoul, we spent the whole friday making traditional pancakes, and ground-pork-stuffed peppers (yummy! spicy!) and sesame leaves and a multitude of other traditional dishes, which we ate in total 5 times, in a row.

As much as I like Gimchi (by now I even am on friendly terms with Korean breakfast) , that was a little intense.

Well, back to Chuseok-Friday. Chuseok is absolutely dedicated to family. But there wasn't much family, so there also wasn't that much to do. We watched some korean cook-shows on TV, and all were about making dokk , the traditional rice-cake, or Gimchi (surprise!) . Even though I still find it a tad bit hard to follow what they're saying, that was entertaining. So are korean TV commercials. These are usually very loud, colourful and giggly.


A smiling face, a product and two thumbs up. If that works, why go to Marketing class at all?!


It was an early night, because we were about to have an early day on Saturday, the actual Chuseok, as well. And when it was bedtime, I got another fix of korean culture. Because I was the only girl in our small group of 3, I got my own private sleepover with halmoni, who'se small house only has 2 rooms. God forbid a girl sleeps in the same room as the boys! 유럽 안이에요! (This isn't Europe!)


The next day, we had the aforementioned dishes for breakfast, met up with some more family, and drove for about 2 hrs to the graveyard, which is the thing to do at Chuseok, very much like Austrian Allerheiligen. They look rather like parks, with the graves just being small hills with a stone. There, the Koreans among us had a little prayer and paid their respects to the ancestors. Then we had a picnic, right next to the grave. After that, the whole day was spent pretty much just laying in the grass, taking short walks on the beautiful countryside and eating.





What else happened since my last entry.... ? Oh, Jeju of course. This island is located South of South Koreaa and is the biggest of all the Korean Islands.
It's famous for it's tangerines, sex-museums and Grandfather-sculptures, which do look a little bit like grandfathers, but if you have a vivid imagination, you might have other associations as well. Jeju Island is also where all the korean honeymooners go.
But this was not the reason of my Austrian friend Nicole and my visit. Instead, we were attempting to stretch summer (which was slowly coming to an end by the middle of october in Seoul) a little further. We were quite successful in doing so, I guess:

The first day we arrived in Jeju-si, the capital, we weren't too thrilled by the sights there. Maybe that was due to actual lack thereof (except Yongduam, the dragon head rock, in front of which every, every korean person has to have their picture taken at least once in their lifetime), or due to us being a bit tired from a fun night out in Itaewon the day before.

Nevermind, the next morning, spirits were up high again and we decided to rent a scooter for 3 days, which doesn't cost shit there. On this supercool scooter, we surrounded the island on the beautiful coastal road. Nicole was driving, and I was sitting in the back, taking pictures of the amazingly blue water, ricefields which are surrounded by walls of volcanic rock to shield them from wind, and the women who were collecting kim (seaweed) and spread it out on the streets to dry.

By sunset, we arrived in Seogwipo, a town in Southern Jeju, where we spent the following two days, which were beyond awesome. Our wonderful host took us to the main sights (mostly waterfalls), snorkling in a bay formed by volcanic rock, a nocturnal bikeride and even a night swim at one of the beautiful beaches.

Having accustumed to the laidback lifestyle of the islanders really fast,we found it terribly hard to leave this place, and return to busy Seoul on Monday.

Before we did so, another fun thing happened. I guess I mentioned before, that the friendlyness of Koreans towards foreigners is sometimes outstanding. So, when we were walking through Jeju-si trying to find the airport bus, a car pulled up, opended the window and the driver handed us some candy. We laughed so hard it hurt after he left.

Speaking about friendlyness, just a couple of other anecdotes that occurred to me in the past month:

When we had trouble finding the Rent-a-scooter-place, a friendly local whom we had asked for directions told us to hop in his car and took us there.

Another one, who spoke English , invited us to the temple at which he lived and gave us a small, free guided tour.

Also in Seoul, stuff like that happens:

When I broke the heel of my shoe one day, I took it to the little shoeshop which is right on campus. The old guy who fixes shoes there is usually very busy, since all the girls wear high heels and these break all the time. I asked him whether he could fix my shoe and how long it would take. He said "3000 won, but it'll take a long time". That in itself is contradictory, cause somethingg that takes long shouldn't cost as little as 3000 won, which equals about EUR 1,70. Still, I left him my shoe and picked it up after class the same day. As I handed him the 3000, he looks at me, unbelievingly, and gives me back 2 notes. So, I got my shoe fixed for 55 cents, and he could easily have taken 3 times the money, cause I'm an ignorant weiguk, but he didn't.

From that I conclude, that Korean shoemakers are more honest than taxidrivers. These overcharge you all the time, or take you for unnecessarily long rides around the city, trusting that their foreign customer is not going to make use of the free interpretation that is offered in these taxis to do anything about it. Strangely, with Chinese taxidrivers I didn't have these experiences as much. Or maybe it's just harder to notice the fraud, cause it's much cheaper anyway.

Another time, I was on a bus, having just done some grocery shopping. I was standing, holding my 2 heavy bags. Suddenly, an ajuma or middle-aged-woman, gets up and offers me her seat. I refuse. She urges me to sit down, and I do, feeling slightly awkward, cause it's not common in this culture that elders stand up for young people. Either I look really old, or she was just very friendly, to not just take my bags on her lap, which apparently is a korean custom, but to make me sit down, and mutter friendly-sounding words at me.

There have been many more of alike incidences, but I don't have the time right now to further elaborate. I'll try to take up the habit to write once a week again, so this is to be continued - next week.

Hangukil aju joahaeyo!

Before you know it, it's weekend again. By mere coincidence, I don't have class on Fridays. So, on my 3 day weekend, I fully focus on studying culture.

Last weekend, a sino-german-austrian delegation headed to Sokcho, a peaceful, sleepy city on the East Coast. Compared to Seoul, it's empty, and the cuttlefish, that are hung up on outdoor stalls to dry and turn into a yummy snack, outnumber the cities inhabitants for sure.

It's way beyond peak season, but still nice, so after a delicious lunch of all sorts of seafood, we went straight to the water. Even though we didn't choose the exact best day for it, we went swimming. Again, we had an ocean and a beach pretty much for ourselves, except for a bunch of middle-aged ladies, many of them nuns, who were running around at the beach, playing games. Old people in Asia are so much more active than the folks at home.

Despite being really tough monkey's (by Korean standards) we all felt a bit chilly after the dip.
And it would certainly be a bad idea to catch a cold right now, with almost everybody being ill alraeady, and swineflu spreading across the dormitory that rejected me (I knew it! - I'm a bit exaggerating though. But there were cases) . Even a slightly weakened immune system could tremendously increase the risk of any kind of infection, (right Mum?). But it wouldn't be Korea if there wasn't a solution right around the corner. (I guess I've mentioned before that this country is so convenient, in almost every way).
This time, the solution came in the shape of a Jinjilbang, or Korean Sauna. These are best compared to a thermal spa at home, exept that they are open 24/7 and you can spend the night there (you could basically live there if you decide never to leave - and you don't have to, cause everything you need is there, everything, meaning also restaurant, Pub, PC-Bang, cinema, gym,...).
And, if you are a thrifty student-NIP (no-income-parent-supported) like me, you will also appreciate, that the whole package comes for KWON 7000, equalling € 4 (that's not a typo).
The other thing that's different is that there are strictly separated female and male sections.
This is still Korea, not Europe (to fuel some American biases here).
"Is it awkward to be naked around all these Koreans?", I was asked. No it's not. Full stop.

After spending a night in the sleeping room of the Jinjilbang, we took the bus to Seoraksan (Mt. Seorak) Nationalpark on Saturday. A pity it had started raining, but the hike was still breathtakingly beautiful, and the fog-enshrouded peaks appeared particularly gorgeous and mysterious. All that beauty and otherworldlyness left us tired, and on the bus back to Seoul we needed to take a nap. And that is one thing you can do on Korean buses. They are the most spacious and comfy vehicles I've ever been on. It's like first class on the plane, which I only know from walking through, full of envy and that particular kind of secret cockiness that "real" travellers allow themselves sometimes to make-up for the inconvenience they're about to face.

Anyway, public transport is awesome here, and so is the toilet-situation (it can't be said often enough). Contrary to China, where you should be happy if your "public restroom", which is usually a squatter, has a door, you'll probably be listening to classical music when using one here.

I know I should maybe stop comparing these two countries, but I just can't help it. It might make China look bad sometimes, but that's not what I'm trying to say. I keep on comparing, cause I know how sometimes people back home have no clue that there even is a difference.
Before I took off, I often heard questions like "So you're gonna study somewhere, like China?!" or "...and then, do you have to learn Chinese?".
I'd like to, but right now I don't have to, cause Korean is NOT the same as Chinese. It's not even similar, exept for a couple of words.
Instead, it has an alphabet (no characters!), and is the easiest of all Asian languages. (Which doesn't make it easy, trust me. But it would be easy, if it weren't so... so... different)
And to me, neither one of the countries is better. From a travellers perspective, they're both amazing, with China being probably more diverse and exiting, and Korea being better for that kind of people who like a certain level of predictability with their fun (which can be nice sometimes, for example after one month of not knowing in the morning, where you're gonna end up in the evening).

And I'd rather not dig any deeper on that topic but go back to stuff that I actually do here.
This weekend, Chuseok, the Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving is coming up. I'll have the privilege to spend it with a real Korean family, and am really exited about it. So, I'd better stop at this point, and try to get some useful phrases down til then.

Oh, and if you haven't yet guessed what the title was about... it's "I like Korea very much" in probably incorrect Beginners Korean.

2 Months of "Scratching Itchy Feet"

Again, I'm a bit late writing my weekly entry. Get used to it, dear readers, time's flying here, one week really is nothing for me. Yesterday it's been excactly 2 months that I left (or should I say switched) home. Since Andi already touched on the delicate subject of homesickness, I'm thinking I could pick it up too on that occasion.

What do I miss from Austria, or Europe?

First thing, there's family and friends, of course. It would be nice to see them some time, or have a chat, but I must admit that their absence isn't heartbreaking. Anyone who knows Asia a little will understand that it's difficult to feel alone here, cause you simply never are. Even in my Livingtel I'm not, cause the walls, thin as paper, are forcing me to eavesdrop on my neighbours every conversation.

There's a difference between being alone and being lonely, though. But also here, the answer is negative. Unsurprisingly, among a few 100 exchange students, there are some I really get on with very well, and I also have a couple of Korean friends by now and keep making more (so I hope).

Another thing that could possibly be missed when abroad is food. Could be, but doesn't have to be, as in my case. Back home, I used to practice the What's-in-the-fridge-School of Cooking (I can teach you) and this relatively seldom produces a Brat'l in da Rein or Wiener Schnitzel. I'm fine eating the latter every half a year, and since I did before leaving, I'll be o.k. having one again when I go back. Should I have a really weak moment, there's first, an Austrian butcher in Itaewon, the "foreigners-district" of Seoul, second, a dish called Dongkass that strongly resembles the Austrian Schnitzel, except that instead of potatoes, or fries, it comes with Kimchi, of course.
Yet, I'd rather not dwell on the thought of Grandma's Apfelstrudel for too long, but even a sweet tooth as me is more than taken care of in Korea.

More than I miss Austrian food now, I will definitely miss Asian food when I'm back in Europe. (I mean real Asian food. After my first stay in China, I never went to a Chinese restaurant again back home, cause I dreaded the disappointing experience it would have been.) I love Chinese food for it's incredible variety, and whatever I have tried in Korea, whether it's Korean barbequeue, or something as simple as Mulmandu (dumpling soup, or literally, water-dumplings) it was also always fuckin' mashissoyo (take your guess).

I can do without Austrian cuisine, and also very well without Austria, and most of its people. Salzburg is a lovely little town, and I'm happy about having had it as my Lebensabschnittsheimat (temporary hometown) for as long as 2 years. It was nice while it lasted, but after my degree, there'll not be too much that could make me go back.
What I do miss a little from there though is my "spacious apartment". Anybody who's ever seen it, knows now how my standards, regarding the definition of "spacious", have been lowered here. I'm currently writing in the library, and part of the reason why is that I don't want to spend more time than absolutely necessary in my Livingcell (The other part is that my computer is broken. I hate Windows, it just needs to be yelled out loud).

Another thing that I like about Europe, is 음악, eumak,(live) music. Not that they don't have it here, I find the traditional Korean drums particularly cool, but when it comes to non-mainstream music of today, I have a feeling as if Seoul can't keep up with Salzburg. That sounds weird. So, I guess it'll just take me some more time figuring out where to find it (or find more of it, there's definitely some exiting stuff around here). In particular, my weakness for Eastern European music that is danceable is a little underserved. But, even there's a spark of hope. I heard Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar in several Bars already, now somebody needs to convince them to come over and play one of their amazing shows (the same is true for all the other great bands in the field. I can't make a list due to lack of time, space and, sorry, priority).

Speaking of music, this Saturday, we, meaning 2 friends from Lithuania and the US and I, went to the Asia Song Festival, a huge event that was hold in the World Cup Stadium, featuring everything that's crappy and big in Asia right now when it comes to Pop. I guess, when I say Pop, I don't even have to add "crappy" and "big". That's just my personal opinion, no offence to all these approx. 40 000 kids who were waving neon sticks and screaming when Girls Generation, Big Bang, Gackt and the likes entered the stage to lip-sing and do their well practised choreographies.
Needless to say that I did not particularly enjoy myself, but this didn't take me by surprise. It was all about the unique cultural experience (always a good thing to say when a poor decision in a foreign country needs justification).
The facts that this event was sponsored by the Ministery of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Profile Plastic Surgery, and that it was free for foreigners only, are maybe also worth mentioning.

After this slightly bizarre and highly intense experience, we needed a retreat from the city, so on Sunday we headed to Muido, an island near Incheon. The weather was still nice enough for swimming, but when we eventually got to the beach after a hike over the whole island, there was sand, and beach huts, but no water. After initial bafflement, I remembered what I had read about the tides in the West Sea of Korea. It changes by several meters every day, and after some sunbathing, which caused some bewildered stares by Koreans who were hiking the island in their full hiking gear, the water came back and we jumped in. (That caused some more bewildered stares). At this time of the year, Koreans don't go swimming anymore, which left us pretty much alone on the beach. It was nice and this weekend I want to go to Jeju-Do, Korea's biggest island, to stretch summer a little further. Hopefully there's affordable flights out there.

Apart from all that, I'm pretty busy studying. Korean for Beginners got a little more challenging (we started to do stuff) and there's a couple of presentations to prepare. These however are very much like what I was used to do for 2 years at the FH Salzburg. Even though I'm usually rather critical of that institution, it apparently wasn't all a waste of time.

Ko-Yon-Games

Just to give you an idea of an event, that was soo far beyond awesome (and any of my expectations)... for more pics, refer to facebook (if you happen to belong to the elitist circle of my friends there) - in a little bit, nothing's there yet


That's us, cheering our Heart and Seoul out

Some other students, busy doing the same thing

The 3rd week: Celebration and Seoulemnity

In my last post I wasn't telling the entire truth. Not on purpose, but I feel like I should tell you anyway. When I said "Plans to take it easy from now on have been made and will not be shelved as the next weekend comes, I swear.", I wasn't thinking of the upcoming KO-YON GAMES:

My school, Korea University, has this tradition, where we are battling our archrival, Yonsei-University (I don't know why we don't like them, though) once per year, at major disciplines like Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and Rugby. So it happened again this year, the previous weekend.

If you know me, you might be wondering how watching some sport event can get me to do anything other than yawn elaborately, let alone jump and dance. I was also having these worries at first, but I didn't want to appear boring and unsocial ( and had nothing better to do). That's why I went to the former olympic stadium, on Friday around noon, determined to pretend that I wasn't having a bad time.
To my own surprise, I didn't have to pretend much.

When I got there, just in time to watch the baseball game, which is a rather laid-back thing to do elsewhere in the world, or maybe an excuse for drinking beer (so I was told), the party was already fully in progress.

It was simply mindblowing. At noon, people were already being crazy, dancing, cheering and supporting their teams, half the stadium dressed in blue (Yonsei University - or blue monsters) half in red (KU). Even the most consequent adversary of attending social gatherings that involve spectating sporting events (or, in short: I) would get sucked in by the athmosphere there, right away.

As some friends and me were just about to leave the Baseball stadium, to go to a different stadium to watch Basketball, our team won. It was overwhelming... Some of the oftentimes so reserved Korean students just grabbed us, formed a circle and together we sang, and danced one of the various cheers of KU once again.
(Well, they sang. Due to lack of lyrics and the ability to pronounce them, we were just making noise)

We won at Baseball, but for the sake of fairness, I should also mention that we suck at Basketball. Actually, I can't judge, as I still don't have a grasp of the rules of that game (it wasn't about the game at all though, what mattered was the cheering, and the community of KU students at the time) but my American co-spectators couldn't believe the complete lack of strategy and skill that our team stood for.

But their fans deserve an A+ for commitment. Even in the last 7 minutes, when things looked bleak for us, to say the least, the guy next to me was repeating like a mantra "we can still make it, it's possible..." Of course it wasn't but it didn't really matter either. We suffered an epic defeat, but still, chants of "It's ok, it's alright..." accompanied our players, as they were leaving the stadium.

It was a pretty exhausting evening, but since there was still a victory to celebrate, (or we openly embrace any excuse to crack a bottle of Soju) Friday night turned into Saturday and after a delicious hangover-breakfast we headed to the stadium again.

Unlike us, the Koreans were showing no signs of slowing down, and again there wasn't much to do, but cheer and dance. By now we had even mastered some of the dances and after everything was over at around 5, and the outcome happened to be a tie, the games culminated in 1000s of students, of both KU and Yonsei University, dancing, singing and waving flags all together in the arena.

Despite our voices and legs being slightly sore already, the best was still to come:
Traditionally, after Ko-Yon-Games are over, the KU alumni (some of whom are really famous, such as South Korea's current president, Lee Myung Bak) give all the KU students FREE FOOD AND BOTTOMLESS BEER! No, I'm not bullshitting you, that's really what they do.

As you might have guessed, Saturday night deserves a paragraph of its own here:
Among the incoming students, the consensus was that there is no place in the world, that could possibly be more fun at that moment. Few things are for sure, but one is, that KU is the party-university # 1 on the planet, at least that night it doubtlessely was. Anam, the district near to the campus was turned into one crazy fiesta. Students were going wild, cheering and dancing on the street, or in the pubs, but instead of having the whole thing shut down by the police, they were photographed, celebrated and frequently had their cups refilled by their predecessors, the amazingly generous KU alummni.

Again, I'm giving you the impression that I'm not actually studying in this place. That is not true. Obviously, I'm focusing on the more exiting stuff in my blog, which are of course not the weekday-mornings, where I get up at 7, to go through my readings (which i finish sometimes late at night) again, or have a look at some of the new korean vocab that I picked up the day before. Neither is it the lectures, where the Sonsaengnim put even more emphasis on punctuality and attendance then at the Fachhochschule at home.

Additionally, I joined the English Language Club. Being from Austria and thus completely unaquainted to after-school activities, this was all new for me, but great fun, 'cause it's all Koreans and we go out to eat (and admittedly drink, but just a little!) after doing our English quizzes and exercises. It also gives me the chance to meet even more great new people, pick up some non-textbook-Korean and get an insight into Korean humour (which is quite different: Occasionally I get a joke, sometimes not, but often the humour probably gets lost in the translation)

Other good news is that I finally have my passport back. It was at the immigration office for longer than I was comfortable with. But now, my Alien Card, yes, that's really what they call this kind of ID, has been issued. Apparently, they still consider us Weiguks (foreigners) otherworldly creatures from somewhere like outer space, but now at least I'm an officially registered alien. T'feels great.

The 2nd week: Getting settled, and eventually educated.

It's Monday already, so I'm late with my updates, sorry for that. It's not the best of all Mondays, even here, where my life's supposed to be exiting, fun and extraordinary (which it is most of the time), Mondays can be bad.

It's raining, and after being deprived of (a reasonable number of hours of) sleep for 3 days, the author isn't feeling 100%. Plans to take it easy from now on have been made and will not be shelved as the next weekend comes, I swear.

On Saturday, we, the exchange students were finally, officially welcomed.
However, despite us being so very welcome, we are considered a health risk. Not only for local's sanity, as we can be very noisy and besiege entire districts when we're being officially welcomed, but first and foremost because we could spread Swineflu. This is why the initial Welcoming-Party has been cancelled. Instead of one massive event, where all the exchange students (almost 500 of us!) would have celebrated their arrival together, we were split up in several smaller groups and scattered over various places nearby KU.

It was fun, the only thing I find a tiny little bit irritating is that whenever we're being welcomed, (a smaller event had taken place for business students at KU Business School earlier this week) they don't even bother trying to introduce us to Korean culture:
At the KUBS party, they served us Krispy Kreme donuts, and Papa John's pizza. At Saturday's welcoming party, we had Bratwurst, Pizza again, and chicken wings. The beer was Korean though, so was "The Unavoidable", Soju.
When I took part in a Chinese Summerschool programme last year, the universities organized huge banquets for us, that featured even the most obscure, local delicacy, be it jellyfish in cold soup, taste-bud-numbing spicy fish-stew, ox-stomach, or deep-fried aloe vera. Not that all of that was lip-smackingly good, but the point is, that the Korean cuisine has more to offer than US junk food imports, and KU could put a bit more effort into showing us so, goddammit!

In a way though, this sort of behaviour IS very Korean. That's what makes the place so easy for Westerners to feel at home. But I feel I didn't take an airplane to the other side of the world to find myself eating Western fastfood and drinking bad Starbucks coffee way more often than I do at home.

But despite these little annoyances, I'm having a great time.
Seoul is excactly the place where I want to be right now. I got kind of settled the last week, and I caught myself saying "I'm going home", when heading back to my... to my "apartment"? No, that's not the word I'm looking for. Well, I hate to repeat myself, but hole-in-the-wall is still the only expression that fits here. I'm seriously at risk of turning claustrophobic.
Still, it's my own place, and in a city this big and crowded, it's great to have one's own door to shut behind oneself when necessary and as I was going to say, that's nothing that could spoil my enthusiasm about being here at the moment.

Even though I'm not technically "travelling" right now, I still occasionally get this moments, where I just can't believe that I'm actually here, doing what I decided I wanted to do. It's intense, and pretty awesome. Occasionally, I had these moments in China, and the most recent one here made me decide that I'm not going back to Europe. I mean, not asap. I want to to my obligatory internship next semester in South Korea if there's any possibility to do so. There has to be.

My previous blogposts might not have given you the impression, but, surprise, surprise, I'm actually here to study. I'm majoring business, but here I moved away from my "traditional" subjects quite a bit, except for one Marketing- and one Finance course. Instead, I'm taking courses on business, economics, and politics in the region, meaning China and Japan. Classes started last Monday, and after all the introductions were over, it was in fact sometimes quite astonishing. The "typically Asian" top-down approach to teaching, where the Songsaengnim (professor) is sacrosanct, and the students are humble, is not practised here. The level of both the teachers and the students is high, classes are interesting and challenging.

An exception may be "Korean for Beginners I". I am a beginner, yes, but one who doesn't have the patience to spend 5 hours a week repeating the Korean alphabet and being clapped at for being able to say "a-a ya-ya ô-ô yô-yô..."
I'd rather be out there and speak to real people, even though it might scratch my ego a little bit 'cause it's certain that I won't get clapped, but laughed at.

But here, another problem comes about. Being a foreigner in this place seems to magnetically attract other foreigners, which is not bad in itself 'cause you meet tons of nice people, but it is indeed very hard to get in touch with locals. Students are so busy here, so they usually leave right after class, and don't have time for a chat, not even think about one that involves one party trying out very-basic-broken-Korean.
But, where's a will there is a way, and my motivation is unchanged, at a very high level.

To bring this post to an end, and give you some more ideas about what life in this big, shiny place is like, I will just jot down some random observations, in no specific order. If you find an order, that's coincidental, my apologies.

- After Annyonghaseyo! (Hello!) and Kamsahamnida! (Thank you!) , the most frequently used phrase seems to be Palli palli! (Quick quick!). Koreans try to do everything fast. What's quite amazing too is their ability to switch between "modes". Take the subway: On the subway, at least half of the people are fast asleep, but as soon as they have to transfer, they run as if it was for their lifes.

- On public transport, they do not usually speak. If on the phone, they'll talk quietly, and cover their mouth with one hand. The only conversations you'll hear on the subway, are usually in English, held by some ignorant Weiguks.

- These Weiguks however, unlike in China, are not being stared at. Their presence is acknowledged with a shrug, very rarely some elderly ladies appreciate our fair skin (here still a status symbol) with a thumb up, or two.

- It's hard to find proper supermarkets here. Everything's full of convenient stores. If you do however find a supermarket, they have everything, and I mean everything.

- Korean pop-music is superpopular anywhere in Asia, which doesn't mean it's supergood. It's the cheesiest crap I've ever heard and I'm happy I don't understand the lyrics (yet, I'm planning to change that).

- Koreans have excellent manners. There's no public spitting, at least very, very little.

- The essential piece of advice I give to China-travellers "ALWAYS have tissues!", can be abandoned here. Public toilets are simply extraterrestial. Even in places like the subway-station, they have additional features like seat-warmers.

- more random observations are to follow next week...

This is me in the most beautiful place in Seoul I've been so far. High up on a hill near Dongnimmun station, the view is mind-blowing.
Since you get a bird's eye view on the presidents palace, which you're not allowed to photograph, a friendly guard is up there too and he will check your camera.