Archive for August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

300812

e is for 8, turn 8 sideways and you measure God's love for you.

another quiet day... woke up to the sound of my Japanese roommate (Motomasa-san) packing up ready to leave for the airport... i felt sorry for him because it was a very wet day - raining for most of the day and it didn't stop until late in the evening. for that reason, i didn't go out at all, watching running man all day in my cold dorm room.

at around lunch time, i decided to venture to my cafeteria and purchased my first meal... the meals at the cafeteria are significantly cheaper than eating out - a meal costs me 2000 won/$2 and the portions are just right. BUT the ticket machine stole my 10000 note so i lost $10 right there. LOL. o well... 

it wasn't until around 5pm that my other room mate entered, his name is Seong-Yun and he is a very nice guy; except he doesn't speak much English.. so i am forced to speak Korean with him.. which is okay because it is good practice, but unfortunately it will be hard to communicate and hence, building a relationship will be a very steep hill.

at around 7.30, a group from the exchange students program decided to meet up and go for dinner... my friend and i thought it would only be around 5 people so that was kool.... but when i got there.... 20+ people showed up.. LOL.
but it was okay in the end, one of the guy's room mates came along and he's a Korean local student (Han). he's a really nice guy who genuinely wanted to know more about Western cultures and the language. he tried very hard to communicate with us and to teach us a bit about Korean culture.. 99% of the time, it seemed like it was only me who understood what he was saying/explaining.. haha!

we had a very nice bulgogi.. i think it's beef short ribs... but it was called bulgogi.. either way.. it was REALLY well done... we talked a lot and ate a lot... and the Europeans drank a lot LOL.
funny thing is... we found that if it's really obvious that you are a foreigner (i.e. you have blonde hair, blue eyes, etc..), Korean locals tend to be a lot nicer to you. my European friends were telling me stories that they were on the train and almost every Korean local around them asked them in English if they needed help and one of them even gave them his business card + contact details should any of them need help.... if i ever looked lost in public, all i get is weird looks... LOL. o well..



after dinner, we went our separate ways... the Europeans went to a bar and drank some more while i decided it was time to go home.......

which is when the homesickness kicked in....


i was walking uphill to the street where my dorm is... and looking at the bright lights, people walking on the streets and feeling the unusually cool breeze reminded me of Sydney... it's been 8 days already and i feel like one year will be a torturous amount of time... i know that my flight home will most likely be at night as well and looking at the city lights of Seoul is only making me more excited to be on that plane home and flying over the same lights.

i miss the comfort of family, joy in friends, freedom in language + transport and a lot more...

it is the same feeling that i had last week maybe because i have just moved into my new dorm/housing...

i envy Jo because her room mate is an Aussie and they're both new to this experience... on top of that, it's only one person whereas i have two room mates who, not only have lived here for half a year, but also cannot communicate with me as well as i want them to... it just means my experience curve here in Korea will be significantly steeper than i had first thought it would be...

my European friends who are staying for 4 months are lucky.. sometimes i envy them because they only have to be here for 4 months... not sure if its the homesickness talking, but i do wish my time here was shorter...


im listening to Maroon 5's Beautiful Goodbye again... the song that reminds me of pre-departure days... and MYC... sigh... all of those times associated with feelings of comfort and tranquility.
as opposed to now, when i am on the edge of my seat constantly wondering if i will survive one year.

i have to be strong. 


i still can't believe i wasted all my credit in two days just from data/3G.......... wut the.

Thankful: My room mates are nice and willing to help anytime they can... After getting over that language barrier.

Prayerful: Strength as I am feeling very homesick + lonely. 

Dangers: If I am not careful, I can be in very inconvenient situations... the European guys are very hard party-goers and their moral code isn't as... in-tune with what I am used to..

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

290812

settling down on the seventh day
so today was another big day... the day i found out what kind of people i will be living with for a considerable amount of time during my exchange. mmm....

 at 8.30am, i woke up, took a shower and BAM walked out the door to check-in at the residence hall... i found out my accom. is just next to where we checked in (there are 3 residence halls) so i thought -  WOOHOO!!! so close!... WRONG. i had to trek it back to my old housing and grab my stuff and what-not.

 SOOOO we went back to grab our suitcases.. all 25kg+ of it. the 25kg that i had to haul up the hills on the way to my new housing and *$(#%)*$#()%

 for your perspective's sake...
the blue circle and the arrow is the direction of my old housing (approx another 200m from the arrow) and the red circle is my new housing.. all the way at the end of the campus. GREAT.

 anyway, so i managed to get there okay, legs were tired as and i felt like i did a month's worth of gym in one seating. KOOL.

 NOT.

 i walked into my dorm and BAM. it was messy as. the other two people that 'live' there have not cleaned probably for like a year and there was hair and black stuff on the ground. we chatted and it was kool; i have one Japanese guy and a Korean guy who lived in Japan.. the Japanese guy is a nice guy, willing to help whenever and wherever possible.. but cleaning isn't on the agenda for them it seems....

 i also found out the guy that just left before i came was a Spanish guy who never washed his hair and was generally very dirty.... and i inherited his bed, desk and cupboard space.

 - found an unfinished bottle of soju in the cupboard
- mattress was yellow on his side, white on the other side
- blankets smelt like .. dirty blankets
- bed sheets had yellow stains
- pillow case was yellow
- pillow was yellow

 THREW THEM ALL AWAY.


my new desk

top bunk is mine (Spanish guy's old stuff on it)

kitchen sink
and headed to E-mart to get new ones =]

 i didn't think about this well at all - especially carrying all that stuff BACK to the housing... almost as bad as that 25kg suitcase trip with just as many stares from the public.

 BUT IT'S OKAY. sacrifices were needed.

 when i got back, i also did some cleaning (didn't take proper pictures because i am not finished.. need to do another trip to e-mart for more cleaning supplies). guys.. you really do begin to appreciate your parents and their maintenance of the house when you're living alone like i am... cleaning the dirty stuff that no one else will is a brave job.. (thanks Hemi for always cleaning the big bathroom and mom & dad for cleaning the rest of the house up).
after shot of sink.

my new table and wall.

just when i got settled in and ready to crash of exhaustion.. Jo calls me out for dinner.. WOOHOO!!! i trekked it out anyway =].

a good thing about my new accomm is that i am right in front of a bridge and the river... and it's got quite a nice view! great for morning runs or afternoon jogs (not that i'll do them.. LAWL).






so the station on the right of the bridge is Yongdap and i was heading to Shindang to meet Jo to have dinner at Itaewon. Itaewon is quite a foreigner's suburb.. a lot of English speaker locals and a lot more foreign ppl.. it was kool though! we had hand-made noodle soup and home-made Mandu (Korean dumplings).. SOOO GOOD. $15 altogether for both of us.




it is quite a hot night tonight... but gladly my dorm has two aircons =]
things are looking brighter already... had a shower and it was okay... i can survive for a year.

Jo also made me buy face wash and what-not (well it was my decision.. but she convinced me that i should take care of my skin).



here is my new blanket, bed sheet, pillow, waterproof pillow case and pillow case !

and turned over mattress.... =]


had a good chat with Jo tonight about important things... reminded me why i chose to guard my heart from the very beginning.. it'll be a tough year.... but i am looking forward to finishing it and seeing everyone when i am back.

Thankful: Settled into the new dorm that I'll be staying for a year in okay and things are looking better. 

Prayerful: Patience with my dorm mates because they don't speak English very well and independence without the comfort of family members and friends.

Dangers: Fear of judgement when reading the Bible or doing quiet times in front of my dorm mates and/or being silent when there is gospel opportunity.


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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

280812

day 6
another adventurous day today.... not.

today was the predicted typhoon day! STAY INDOORS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE.
kinda...

The manager told us to stay indoors as it could get quite dangerous outside with 80km/h winds and what-not. 2 of my friends decided to go out anyway and said they almost got blown away. LAWL.

so what did i do today? today was laundry day =]
first time ever that i've done laundry and let me say it is a lot easier than i thought... do your parents a favour one day; do laundry for a day and see for yourself!



apart from laundry, i just watched Running Man or Family Outing 2 all day.. LOL. 
my dorm mate left to get a phone from the techno market ($300 for a used mint galaxy s2 that he's quite happy with). i thought about going with him, but ceebs and too scared LOL.

i ate onigiri and a big bag of chips for breakfast, and gimbab again for dinner (SORRY TIFF). LOL. there weren't any other choices for food, and we don't have a kitchen here =[ 


the weather today was quite horrid as i mentioned before... the clouds were forming circles above us and they moved quite fast... this is an attempted picture of the gray skies that haunted the day.

my buddy/mentor said that a window was broken earlier in the day from the winds... =X


also tried to figure out international banking to get some of my australian mullah into my new korean bank account =D but it's a lot harder than i thought... my australian bank doesn't seem to want to convert my aud into krw and so i have to check with the local bank if they accept australian currency and will convert it to krw when i need the money... either way i hope there won't be any problems.......


moving into my dormitory tomorrow!! I hope i don't get a lousy roommate.... -_-



Thankful: Safe from the aggressive weather.

Prayerful: Bank issue is sorted out okay and there won't be any issues transferring money.

Dangers: Still struggling with quiet times.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

270812

day five? HOT HOT DAYYY

guy next door is making weird noises in his room. he's probably doing pushups or situps, or being a spastic.

ANYWAY. Today was an exhausting day. woke up at 9.22 to the sound of my dorm mate asking where i was because we agreed to leave the dorm at 9.15 to sort out immigration/enrolment stuff. OOPS. so yeah... i took one of the quickest showers i've ever done in my life and left the dorm as soon as i could - 9.40pm (quite an achievement because i managed to squeeze in brushing my teeth and eating onigiri for brekkie... and spending 20 seconds on hair).

SOOOoo when i got to the off-campus dorms to see if he went there to find me, i realised i had forgotten my documents that i need to enrol AND to get my Alien Registration Card (a card i will need if i am staying for over 90 days in Korea)... so i went back to my housing and came back at 9.55 to the meeting spot. yeah by this time, it was out of the question that my friend Eero would still be waiting for me, so i gave it 2 more minutes to meet up with some others before i would go to look for him at the campus... and BAM he popped up out of nowhere and so did the others... so off we went to the campus (my first time seeing it!)

we popped by the bank to open an account and got these shots along the way.

awesome walkway.. trees arching over the road.

pretty isn't it!?!?! my phone camera is pretty decent!


this is supposedly where SNSD performed last year at my University festival. i wonder who we will get this time?

So after we got our enrolment done, we headed to the Seoul Immigration Office to get our ARC (Alien Registration Card) application sorted.. the destination: Omokgyo station; a few minutes past 30 to get there. =]
we waited for a while at the office (over 80 people waiting at one given time) and decided to eat Mandu (korean-style dumplings) while we waited... authentic stuff. mmm... the ahjumma's thought we wouldn't eat the Gimchi so she just gave us one plate until she saw me eating it like crazy... LOL. 
Bus!! 


Omokgyo streets


helipads!


after that, we decided to go to Myeongdong (my second time) to show my friends the shopping and LOTTE Department store (sorry, didn't take pictures... but I'll be back again!). they bought a few things, but i was too busy not looking suspicious cos i was wearing the typical aussie surfer attire (shorts, thin shirt.. yeah) whilst other shoppers were quite dressy in suits and what-not. I GOT MY KOREAN NUMBER!!! WOO! the guy at the phone shop was very patient with us and tried his best to get us the sim cards... it worked! but... i don't seem to have 3G data... mite need to check with them again but this time, i'll take a Korean local with me perhaps =X.
EDIT: after tinkering with my phone and browsing for fixes on the internet.. i have stumbled across the solution to my 3G data connectivity issue. WOO!!! i am a genius. thank you guys for the applause.
BUT SERIOUSLY. you have to manually add KT Olleh's APN and all this junk and your 3G will work after. >=D.
WOOOOOOO. 

ANYWAY, the food court on top of the department store was amazing... set meals at quite fancy-looking restaurants costed $10 and a sushi train that served very premium sashimi was the same price you'd find at Sushi Train... will defs be back to eat there >=D.


the shopping alleys at Myeongdong.

UNIQLO WOOO. $5 shirts !

My dinner for today..


The tropical storm is expected to hit tomorrow (Tuesday) so people have advised us to stay inside.. so i have stocked up on food and supplies so that i don't have to go out =D

SMART MOVE!


In other news.. how do i feel?

I feel good.. almost comfortable now.. too comfortable i'd say.. and it can be very dangerous when i am too comfortable because i forget why i'm here and where my boundaries are..

most nights i feel very exhausted and not wanting to do anything... and usually just fall asleep.. this means i don't devote enough time for quiet times... which is taking its toll on me.

if it weren't for this blog that i am writing, i probably wouldn't even be in touch with the more important aspect of my life... where i stand with God.


Thankful: Sorted out my ARC (awaiting pick-up) and got my Korean SIM card without many problems.

Prayerful: Wisdom in time management and priorities.

Dangers: Things are getting fun. Very fun. 

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Monday, August 27, 2012

260812

fourth day

so... it's now the fourth day and how do i feel? i'm not sure exactly, but let's just say things are becoming more and more comfortable.

today i woke up at around 12.30pm .. it was a sunny and hot day.. rather refreshing to see the sun and blue skies for the first time in Seoul. i am still looking for an English speaking church here in Seoul and unfortunately, the church Jo was checking out is a Korean speaking church... i will be checking one out next sunday; a church that a friend recommended. it will be an english speaking church with a strong focus on College and youth ministry (along with general family services).

at around 3 o'clock, my dorm (?) mate and i decided to go out to have a small lunch before meeting another friend at 4pm to check out the E-mart (a Coles equivalent) at the nearby shopping centre. however, when we were about to order at the food court, the guy in charge of the stall told us that we needed to order at a specific spot... heck it was confusing (although it reminded me of Mando Centre in Chatswood). 

so... in our confusion and with only 10 minutes left until the meet up, we decided to just grab some bread from Paris Baguette (kinda like breadtop) and waited for the others. whilst i was waiting, i was approached by a religious elderly couple who kept mentioning the Passover, Heavenly Father and Jesus.. Not too sure what he was trying to explain, but after explaining that i don't speak Korean well, they left.

anyway, 10 minutes or so have passed and we decided to investigate where the others were... turned out they slept in and we picked them up from their housing.... >=|

and THEN we went back to the shopping centre and looked around... shopping is amazing here.. i was very tempted to buy some clothes... but i should probably wait until i sort out my bank issue..

a fountain at the bottom of the shopping centre at the fashion arcade

@ E-mart: i've never seen watermelons like this... they were so red!

the E-mart

after we finished shopping for groceries at E-mart, we decided to eat Gimbab - probably known mostly by 'korean sushi'. we went back to our housing to drop our groceries and headed out!

my neighbourhood (temporary)

that's the traintracks on the other side of the fence

we stopped over at a convenience store to get water (750won).. but soju is only 1.5X more expensive... ($1 soju...)

$2 gimbab!

me eating 60 cent banana chips while spamming Lennox and Jodie. LEWL.


today was a quiet day, didn't do much but got to see a lot... growing even more comfortable with the Korean language - reading Hangeul almost every minute here has proven to be beneficial to the speed at which i read it... and also being able to practice what i've learnt when speaking to restaurant owners and shop assistants.. however, it isn't very helpful when locals think i am Korean... =[


Thankful: How easy it is now for me to meet up with the other exchange students and the growing friendships among us.

Prayerful: That I may find an English speaking church community soon. 

Dangers: Laziness and being too caught up in having fun/going out. 

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

250812

third day

third day of my exchange here in Korea and mm... in summary, i am growing more and more in love with this city. it is a simple yet complicated city in that the lifestyle and accessibility is so simple, yet the culture and experience is still somewhat complicated.

i have encountered many things to be thankful for and although there are few dangers, i feel the scale tipping heavier towards the dangers during my time here..

but firstly, what did i do today?
today was the first time i met up with my fellow exchange students who are staying at the off-campus housing nearby. we met up at the station to go for lunch ($3 bibimbap).. oh it was so good. sometimes i think i am gaining money from this exchange program. 

the nearby main road

subway!!

her name is Ainu, taken at a dessert cafe after lunch

this is Malte, he's from Germany.


after lunch + dessert, we decided to meet some of the other students in Namdaemun; another popular suburb for tourists because of the markets (you will soon see why). we took a train there ($1 fare... gosh. ripoff Sydney) and hung around for a few minutes because we could not find the others haha.... but it was enough for me to take some footage/photos.

i can never get bored of the subway system.

this is the markets... it's like an outdoor Paddy's but with awesome stuff... including kiwis on a stick for $1.

sooo packed...


after this, we went home to relax before heading out together for dinner + karaoke (WOO!). we met up at the student residence hall (off campus housing) and walked together to a nearby korean barbeque place that costed me $15 for HEAPS of food and alcohol... which would've costed $40 for an equivalent in Sydney...

the next 3 pictures are dedicated to Ed Han, Ryan Chung, Vic Au, Hemi and all those who are curious what the car scene is like in Korea.... not impressive.




YEUH.

this is Lauren (French) and the restaurant where we ate.




crazy guy on the right is Eero.. he is one wild guy! but very funny and nice!


on the way to Karaoke (at Hyehwa), we decided to catch a taxi ($6 altogether.. so cheap..) and i managed to snap a few shots of the nightlife in Korea... the pictures don't do it justice.. it is amazing... it reminded me of Jakarta but at the same time, it looked like a new world.







here we are at Karaoke!



Overall a VERY fun day... awesome bunch and definitely very outgoing! they love drinking and i don't think i can keep up with them.. [ONE DANGER].

when i arrived back at my hostel.. i received a message from my mentor who will be taking care of me while i am on exchange... it is a one on one mentorship program.. and it is a girl. i'm not usually comfortable with one on one's with girls and moreso because i must guard my heart during my time here. i am glad however that she plans to ask her friend to come along to our first meeting next week... not sure if it's because i made a bad first impression and she has grown awkward, or because she thinks i'm awesome (pretty sure it's the latter).... but either way, it is better this way. 
she is a Christian, but doesn't go to church often... i've been able to share a little bit of my Christian life with her already, and i hope to keep it up.. not for my sake, but perhaps so she could be encouraged.
to avoid confusion; i do not want to start anything romantic, nor do i intend to with anyone here... i've recently been very careful with one on one situations with girls and i will not make exceptions here in Korea.

it is 3.22am now.. and i am exhausted... i still miss the comfort of Sydney and my friends + family back home... but i am growing more and more comfortable with this city. i have also begun to speak more Korean and not being afraid to speak it.. i am getting my vocabulary back day by day and i hope for more positive experiences.

God has been very good to me the past few days.. and also thank you for your ongoing support, those who are reading this blog. 

Thankful: Meeting a lively but interesting bunch of fellow exchange students and being able to spend time with them.

Prayerful: A careful heart, a straight mindset and ongoing courage.

Dangers: Temptation in BGR's over here due to youthful impulse and peer pressure (I have been warned that very often people get together during exchange).


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