Arrival

I arrived in Korea a couple of nights ago.  It took about a total of twelve hours to get from Hawai’i to Japan and finally to Korea.  I remember arriving at the airport in Korea and just hearing a jumble of Korean voices jumping at me from all different directions.  It was a bit overwhelming but also exciting at the same time.  And it was at that moment that I realized how much my language skills would benefit and be stretched from immersing myself in this completely foreign place.  I almost didn’t make it through the customs check point, since I didn’t fill in an address for where I would be staying in Korea (I really didn’t know where I was going to live yet).  But luckily I made it through and made it to the hotel for the night.

            Yesterday morning I met up with HY Chung and Mr. HK Lee who helped me look for the right hasukjib or gosiwon.  I am extremely grateful for the kindness they showed, and really benefited from their guidance this first day roaming around Seoul.  Not only did they help me settle in to the hasukjib that I chose, but they took me to the mart to buy basic necessities, took me to a delicious bulgogi restaurant (where it’s customary to eat and shove a whole roll of lettuce, bulgogi and rice into your mouth in one bite) and helped me become acquainted with the Sogang campus before my first day of school tomorrow.  I was touched and overwhelmed by their generosity, and hope to continue to learn about the city and culture from where they left me.

            The Nuna (older sister) in charge of the hasukjib I am living at cooks breakfast and dinner every day for us!  I had my first homemade dinner last night, and it was spicy and delicious.  I  also got to meet some of  the other students living here—three girls—one from Japan and two from Seoul.  Although I know my Korean is still nowhere near fluent, we conversed with each other only in Korean, since the other students speak little English.  I could tell one of the girls, however, was interested in practicing her English.  Hopefully, there will be more mutual exchange like this, and I was glad that we could keep a conversation in Korean going in spite of my weak vocabulary J. I’ll be practicing on it.  

Today was my first day of class at Sogang.  It was a struggle but I made it through it.  Luckily, there were these nice Japanese girls who helped me when I didn't understand something (about half the time), but we had to communicate through Korean because they did not speak English.  I feel like this first week of classes is going to be tough trying to get a feel for the courses and understand what the professors are saying and trying to communicate to us. I'd say that there was a diversity of students representing many different countries who were enrolled in Korean language classes.  It was cool to see all these different students coming to study Korean.  After class we went to a Korean restaurant and I had bi bim bap for only $4!  What a deal!