Orientation

Hi followers,

So alot has happend from the last time I had written a post. Finding the university was a task. While carrying my luggage during the busiest time in Seoul is a task all in itself, the process of actually finding my residence when I arrived at the front gates of the university was of equal difficulty. Yonsei University, a private school of ~30,000 students leaves a student like myself, new and interested, in complete ecstacy for wondering around obliviously. As I walked through the gates that looked out to the Sinchon area, I found a map. I looked a the map, found a super easy way to get to my dorm. Instead I decided to take a route I was unsure of that would guide me through more of what I wanted to see within the campus. Needless to say, it was a bad decision. Yonsei is built on a slant. I walked through the main street of campus, did a few turns, climbed a few hills, and finally found myself to be lost. So instead of continuing I turened around, and headed back for the easier route. It took me approxiamtely 1 hr to find my residence. It should have only taken me 15 min. at most.

Yonsei at front gates 

First buildings developed back in 1885

My first night was not anything too interesting, just the same old awkward conversations with people you have no idea about that are in the exact situation as yourself. Tuesday was the start of orientaion. After learning about everything I needed to know before coming here, I had gone out for lunch with a few new friends. I had some nice times with the group, ate some Kimbop (Korean style sushi) and headed back for round two of the non-informative, informative orientation. Next up was the orientaion to mentors club. Mentors club is a student organization within the campus which focuses on creating bonds between Yonsei students and foreign exchange students (pretty much a eating/drinking club) After the orientaion, we went out with our cells (little groups) for some nice cultural food and then to a party. It was a fun night. Getting a chance to unwind from a busy day and meet students in a less formal environment is where friendships begin.

The next morning was a little difficult for me. Waking up with a little headache is never a good thing in the morning. Anyways, I continued on. Next up was the into to Hanguel (the Korean native language) which I had missed do to my misunderstanding of when the class started :(.
I had a Seoul City Tour scheduled at 2pm. This I did go too!!

Though it was fast-paced, I had a chance to learn much about Korea ranging from governemental powers in Korea to how valentines day is celebrated. It was an interesting experience no doubt. 

Palace built during the Joseon Dynasty (1330-1910), a Korean sovereign state which lasted 5 centuries

Me infront of the Blue House (a residence built for the South korean President -- Lee Myung-bak)

Me making Kimchi (a traditional Korean side dish served with every meal)

Dressing up in Korean traditional clothes

Proper table settings

National Assembly of South Korea

Traditional Hanok Village during the Joseon Dynasty

Cheonggyecheon; a large river which runs across Seoul dividing the city into two, the north side and south side

Me downtown

After such a long day, me and somothers decided to head out for some dinner and then call it a night.

Wednesday consisted of two classes. One being a traditional Korean instrument class an the other being a traditional Korean cuisine class. Both classes were absolutely amazing (especially the cuisine class). 

Today, me and some friends decided to go and get our ALIEN registration cards. Since I had gone in last week, I was ready to pick mine up. They had to register for theirs. On out way back, we did a little side touring.

Jam packed escalator ride from the subway station

EWHA Women's University



Next up was a cheering orientation with AKARAKA. Yonsei University's cheering squad.

They taught us all the cheers. It was pretty fun. Then a group of us went out for some dinz.

Dinner with some friends. The place was called Chicken and Beer, very straight to the point



 Well that is about it for now. I dont really know what the itinerary is for tomorrow is but whatever, im sure it will be amazing! Deffs gym in the morning though. I need to be workin on ma fitness

The Next Step

Hey all,
So it has been an interesting 3 days. I have toured a massive market (Naemandun), met with some of the locals, walked around the area, had some really great tasting food, walked around some more, drank some Soju (korean Vodka) and beer (mixed), visited the 1988 Olympic Stadium, shot a gun, walked around some more, smoked in a Hooka Bar, visited the 2002 World Cup Stadium, and just had an awsome time with my new mates. Sadly, I have got to head to Yonsei University today which was first constructed in 1885 (is that awsome or what!!)
As promised, I have figured out how to upload some photos. Here are my favorites. For the rest go to my pictures on Facebook.

 Bye Canada!

 First Meal (Bibimbap)

 Naedaemun Market

 Random chinese guy

 Austin: USA, Yvette: AUS, Tri: USA

 Seafood Soup

2002 World Cup Stadium

Yvette, Tri, Myself

Shooting a Magnum

Olympic Peace Gate

Tri, Myself, Austin, Yvette

Seoul 1988 Olympiad

And So it Begins!

I have finally reached my destination!
Yes, after a 21 hr flight from Toronto to Detroit to Tokyo and then Seoul I can actually say plane food is not that bad. Time went by quite slow on the plane and because of the time zones, it was always sunny. Nothing too much happend, it was quite boring to say the least. However, I did meet one fella from the U.S. who was going over to South Korea to work on a ship in Busan which is on the south end of South Korea. What kept me busy were the many movies being played, the window and sudoku. Man, it was wild!

Currently, it is saturday the 19th at 10:58am.
My first night in Korea was not too exciting. I played 'Find the Hostel' with myself for an hour before being asked if I needed help. The girl helped me find the hostel and informed me of some neat things around Seoul. She was very helpful and even helped me carry my luggage up the stairs before she departed. After a quick, kind gesture of diving me her business card (a sign of kindness and respect) she left the hostel and continued on with her night. Upon my arrival, I had the opportunity to meet two friends also doing an exchange to South Korea. They are both Americans named Austin and Tree.
The next day, I was feeling fine and so were they. We decided to head out and discover Seoul for the day.
In the morning, we wondered all over, commenting the compact roads, many displays of graffiti and food. We were hungry.
We decided to ask two koreans if they could help us. And, of course, they did. Actually one Korean actually led the way for us to a large department store. We decided to buy her breakfast so she could tell us about different things like language, food, life, etc in Korea. She then lead the way to a subway station and found the route we needed to go on to get back to the hostel before leaving us. We then decided to go get ALIEN registration  done which was then followed by finding a market. Namdaemun, ("Great South Gate") which is the oldest market in Korea, was jam packed. There were an assortment of food and clothing shops for real cheap. Tree decided to buy a coat for 45000 KRW. I was going to buy some shoes. Unfortunatley, my sizes are hard to come by, who knew?
After the market we headed back to the hostel for some downtime before heading out for some food and beer. An Australian, named Ivette joined us for the night. We had some good meat on a stick and alot of cheap beer. It wasn't a wild night, but interesting to say the least. Tree and Austin could not keep up with me and Ivette so they decided to head back. We then continued drinking and found another friend named Marcoli. She was a Japanese student studying english in Korea for a month. After asking her is she wanted to join us in the street, we headed to another bar to continue. We talked about many things throughout the night and had a few laughs about each others life. She then called up her other friends and we headed to yet another bar. I met a few others, had another beer (on them) and then, it was about time to head back to the hostel.  All and all a great introduction to South Korea.

Life here is Seoul is quite different then what I have experienced in Canada. Maybe its just the growing excitement that I have had or the interest Koreans have for foreigners. Whatever it is, I like it and am excited to see more.

P.S. I am unable to load photos right now but as soon as I can, I will. Also, sorry if this post seems a little boring. I could have went into more depth but to tell you the truth I am just a little tired. Future posts will, for sure, be more interesting.
Chow!

Introduction

Hi Everyone, glad you could join me.

So as many of you may have understood from the title, I am heading to South Korea. More specifically, Seoul, the capital and largest city in South Korea. I am heading there as a student, planning to study at Yonsei university. Though my major is Physical Education, I am enrolled in different types of courses that may or may not help my academic situation. Some of these courses include Exploring Culture, Comparative East Asian Studies and Intro to Korean Philosophy. The more physical courses I have enrolled in include Skin Scuba and Evaluation of Sports Injuries. However, these may change. Im sure whatever I will be studying will be interesting and new.

Now, enough with the boring stuff.

I am also heading to South Korea to have an awsome adventure. A time in which I can fully immerse myself into a new culture. From meeting many groups of people, eating new foods, exploring buddhism (One of South Korea's main religions), partying with the locals, relaxing in a jimjilbang (24 hr Korean bath house) and everything else that may come my way, it will no doubt be a interesting ride. I hope to become a more knowledgeable individual that understands the world is larger than just where I have been and what I have done.

All-in-all, I am doing this exchange as a risk. I have never travelled anywhere outside of Ontario (besides the time I went to Alberta) let alone Canada. I am sure whatever happens in the next 5 months is going to be amazing and it will definitely not be a regret.
So, who is excited?
... ME!

I leave Wednesday, February 16th at 9:30am. It is a 21hr flight with two stops. One is Detroit and one in Tokyo