The Downsides to Korea…

I realised I don’t really blog much (or never) about the downsides or bad experiences I’ve had with the culture or society. Well, I didn’t really experience anything bad personally until the last time when I had stayed in Seoul for 3 months, albeit not long but longer than a normal tourist would stay, I had realised some societal problems. I’ve been wanting to blog about this during my stay in Korea (Nov-Feb), but thanks to severe procrastination and lack of motivation, this post is finally churned out 2 months after ending the awesome stay I had in Seoul.

Smoking and the very bad traffic regulations in S. Korea (in particularly, Seoul) are the two particular thorns that I’ve experienced during my stay. Perhaps the fact that I’m from Singapore where traffic rules and regulations are strict and drivers, most of the time, would adhere to them compliantly has made me quite sensitive to the audacious traffic in Seoul.

In Korea, I always had to put on an extra guard when crossing the road because even when the traffic light is red and the green man is on, a lot of the cars would just zoom by! Alright, so I’m talking about a small one-way road with one traffic light and I believe that the drivers think that it’s not necessary to stop to allow pedestrians to cross. But certainly, that is no excuse! Of course, on bigger roads, drivers tend to comply to the traffic lights but with the amount of reckless drivers in Seoul, a pedestrian always has to be extra extra careful when crossing any roads.

It’s not just the dangerous interaction between pedestrians and drivers but it includes the absence of driving etiquette between drivers as well. It is very common to see drivers cut lanes abruptly, without giving signals or some drivers would signal but the other drivers wouldn’t allow the drivers to change lane by dangerously tail-gating the front car. I supposed this might stem from the Koreans’ competitive attitudes, especially in the capital city where everyone seems to be in a hurry, even when they’re walking on the streets and in the subways.

Once, I was lost in the subway for about a few minutes because that station had so many escalators leading to different lines. So I was kind of walking slowly, unsure of which escalator to take and suddenly in a split second, a large crowd of commuters rushed past me. A middle-aged man almost ran into me but he prevented the collision by swerving past me expertly. It was kind of scary being lost in a crowd of seemingly unfeeling, hoggish strangers.

Some of these strangers can be rather inconsiderate, which brings me to the thing about smoking in Korea. It is widely known that Koreans smoke a lot and this is also frequently depicted in their media outlets, from movies to photo shoots.

Son Ye-Jin, being portrayed as a sexy smoker in a photo shoot for Singles magazine

Kim Hye-su in movie, ‘타짜’ / 'The War of Flower’

Why is Won Bin so hot even with a poison stick?

Sometimes media tend to blow things up a little and I didn’t think that the situation would be even more serious in reality than movies, dramas and photo shoots. I was taken quite aback to realise that there are so many restaurants and cafes where they allow smoking indoors. Majority of the cafes have a small separate smoking room for smokers to kick back and relax but there are SOME that allow smokers to smoke everywhere they like. I’ve encountered a couple of such places and it was just horrible. It was excruciating to sit there, trying to swallow a cup of caramel latte while staring at the white streaks of smoke surrounding me in an enclosed place where there is no where else the smoke has to go except into my lungs! Such cafes are definitely not for non-smokers to hang out, chit-chat and enjoy a cuppa. Honestly, I was completely astonished when I had such an experience for the first time in Korea.

Restaurants have an even worse record. I cannot count on my fingers, how many of the Korean restaurants I’ve been to allow smoking indoors without separated areas. Bf said that most 술집 (bars ; literally “alcohol house”) allow smoking indoors and so do some restaurants that serve alcohol, so that’s probably more than 80% of the restaurants in Korea. It was always such a huge downer to see white streaks of smoke floating in front of me when enjoying my BBQ pork ribs meal, and realising the people at the table next to ours were smoking. That means I was not only filling up my stomach with food but my lungs with poisonous gas throughout the entire meal.

It also seem like there are a lot of instances when people smoke anywhere they like even though certain places are forbidden, such as in the cabin of a subway train:

  

I personally think that certain rules, which may face heavy criticisms by the Korean public, such as prohibiting smoking indoors (EVERYWHERE) and decreasing the amount of smoking-areas around the country need to be implemented by the government unless they want this VERY disturbing trend to proliferate even more. And, what about the non-smokers who don’t want to be second-hand smokers but cannot help it?

I suppose this angst in me to the two issues I faced in Korea stems from the fact that I am from Singapore, where the strict country rules have pretty much regulated a smoking-free environment and cultivated relatively decent driving etiquettes in drivers.

Lastly, here’s an old clip of DB5K singing the ‘Stop Smoking Song’ back in 2008, with a strong focus on second-hand smoking (간접흡연).

떡볶이 Ddeok Boggi/ Spicy Rice Cakes: Recipe (Translated!)

떡볶이 Ddeok Boggi/ Spicy Rice Cake

For people who are interested in making authentic Korean dishes, I believe that learning from the Korean themselves is the best way of making them. So I decided to translate this recipe from the blog of a published Korean cook for those who are keen on the attempt of making a good ddeok boggi dish from scratch, i.e. no instant sauces! In addition, this recipe is aimed at making home-made ddeok boggi to taste as good as ddeok boggi sold in cart stalls on the streets of Korea (usually a feat that is difficult to achieve at home as claimed by the author). Unfortunately, I cannot copy and paste the wonderful HD photos, taken for each step, from her blog. The photos are very helpful and perhaps, one can even cook up a dish JUST by looking at the photos! Click here for the original blog post!!

Ingredients:
20 pieces of rice cakes
3 pieces of fish cake
¼  white onion
1/3 carrot
7 pieces of sesame leaves
½ stalk of spring onion
a pinch of sesame seeds

Anchovy Kelp Broth:
A handful of anchovies
1 piece of white radish (100g)
1 piece of kelp (10 by 10cm)
1 piece of dried chilli
7 pieces of raw garlic
5 cups of water

Seasoning Sauce:
4 tbsp Korean hot pepper paste
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp starch syrup
½ tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp minced garlic

Instructions:

1) Anchovy Kelp Broth

Brew the soup stock according to the ingredients listed above. Once the water starts boiling, reduce to medium heat and boil for 20 minutes. Although most of the time kelp is removed from the water in the middle (of the boiling process), it is better to keep it boiling until the end for a strong and thick flavour of the ddeok boggi’s broth. This strong flavour is what makes the street food ddeok boggi. As condiments (T/N: MSG, etc) are not used, a strong flavoured soup stock is needed.

2) Seasoning Sauce

Make the seasoning sauce by mixing the ingredients listed above. The amount of hot pepper paste has to be more than the chilli flakes, and the amount of starch water has to be more than sugar. This will bring about the thick flavour of the sauce found in street food ddeok boggi.

3)  Cut the fish cakes into triangular shapes. Slice the onions, carrot and sesame leaves into strips, and chop up the spring onions.

4) Soak the stiff rice cakes in warm water before cooking them. There is no need to parboil the rice cakes. As the rice cakes will be boiled down in the sauce, there is no need for the rice cakes to be soft (before cooking). You can use ddeok boggi rice cakes or cut up the long bar rice cakes into fine slices.

5)  Once the broth has been well brewed, remove the broth ingredients and set the cloudy broth aside.

6) Pour the prepared seasoning sauce into the broth and start boiling.

7) Once the water starts to boil, add the rice cakes in.

8) Add the fish cakes, spring onions, carrots and onions as well. Boil until the sauce thickens. Use high heat and gradually reduce to medium heat while boiling until sauce thickens. As the sauce boil, stir to prevent the rice cakes from adhering to each other. The sauce of street food ddeok boggi is quite watery. Adjust the boiling time according to your preference for the thickness of the sauce.

9) Once the sauce thickens, sprinkle sesame seeds.

10) Serve with sesame leaves on top. Add sesame oil according to your preference... but without it, the taste of street food ddeok boggi can still be achieved.

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I made ddeok boggi twice within two weeks with the same recipe because the first attempt was quite a failure. I had added too much water the first time and the taste was too bland. I learnt from my mistake and was quite successful the second time! The photos will show the difference between the two:

Left Photo: Failed attempt / Right Photo: Successful attempt

Actually making ddeok boggi isn’t new to me. I had make this dish a couple of times last year but with instant ddeok boggi sauce which is what anyone can do. Thus, I’m glad to be able to whip up this dish from scratch with the simple recipe above! The sauce of the ddeok boggi is the most important element. The taste, colour and texture of the sauce is what determines the overall taste of the ddeok boggi. Remember not to overestimate the water amount when you’re making this! I also recommend adding sesame oil because in my opinion, it really adds to the flavour of the dish.

Ddeok Boggi has always been one of my favourite Korean dishes. I absolutely love the tender texture of rice cakes accompanied with the bright red sauce which is both spicy and sweet at the same time. Having spent a period of time in Korea, I have tasted really delicious rice cakes sold along the streets of Seoul. If some of you didn’t know, ddeok boggi is the street food icons in Korea, loved by people of all ages. It can be eaten lightly as a snack in between meals or part of a  meal accompanied with other street food such as fish cakes (오댕), intestinal sausages (순대) or ramyeon!

Boyfriend and I have had lots of meals like that when I was in Korea because they are not only delicious, they are convenient and can be found almost everywhere. One won’t go hungry on the streets of Seoul. And very fortunately for us, there was a small and modest stall in Sillim, the area where I stayed at, that sold really delicious ddeok boggi. The sauce was really rich in flavour. Bf was immediately hooked when we had our first snack there. For a few days, he kept having ddeok boggi from that stall, even the ahjumma there could recognize him. He even asked me to practice making it until I can achieve a result that is as delicious as the ddeok boggi sold there. Maybe that’s one of my motivation for making this dish. ;p

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos, especially those of the Korean ingredients (fish cake, hot pepper paste, etc). If in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask me about the kinds of ingredients used!

Koreans: Addicted to Coffee or Cafes?

I don’t know if an average tourist spending a 1 or 2-weeks vacation in Seoul or other major cities such as Busan and Daegu would realise this but these cities are flooded with cafes. I began realising this after a few weeks into my stay in Seoul and there are cafes EVERYWHERE in the cities. Be it large or small, commercially or privately owned, simply or beautifully decorated… you can find an abundance of cafes with different concepts and ambience.

Well, I actually began noticing the cafes when I stumbled across a Charlie Brown cafe in Sillim, the area where I stayed. People following my facebook closely might remember the photos of a Charlie Brown cafe I uploaded while I was in Korea. The cafe was too cute that I told bf we have to go there for a date even if we don’t feel like drinking coffee. :p

Comparing the number of cafes I’ve seen in all the countries I had visited, Korea has got to be the country with the most. With random cafes along the streets, I find myself hanging out with friends in the cafes very often.

There are certainly many reasons as to why so many cafes line the streets of the large cities in Korea. A reason is probably to get away from the freezing weather outside, or having a good break from the pressure of the competitive society, but I believe that a bigger reason for Koreans to visit cafes so often is because of socialising. Hanging out, chatting, meetings, and even studying. I get this idea from their concept of DRINKING, yes beer and soju. Koreans are good at drinking, they go drinking very often because they think that chatting over a meal and sharing drinks would make them feel closer. It’s their way of socialising. I suppose that it is the same as going to a cafe. Some Koreans don’t drink or can’t drink, so perhaps a better way to get close with say, a colleague or a date is to go to a cafe!

What a name to give to a cafe. Exorcist Coffee.
If I remember correctly, the drink in the right photo is an orange peel tea. The taste was really strong, both very sweet and sour. I’m not an orange lover so it wasn’t much to my liking. I only picked that tea because it was the only tea left and I didn’t feel like drinking coffee.

I’ve seen a good amount of cafes with stocked-up bookshelves as shown in the photo above. There is the risk of people stealing them but it would great if cafes in Singapore could have free books for anyone to read!

AND THEN, there is the evolution of cafes in Korea: Dog and Cat cafes. These are where dogs and cats roam freely around the cafe while you enjoy a cup of latte. Dog-owners tend to bring their own dogs to these cafes and let their dogs socialise as well! So it’s a place for both human and pets to socialise! It is also definitely a great place for dog/cat lovers, just like me, to hang out and play with the animals.

I have actually been to the dog and cat cafes in Seoul and Daegu, and I’m sure Busan has one or two of such cafes. For people who are interested, the best dog cafe I’ve been to is called Bau House located at HongDae station in Seoul. As compared to the other dog cafes, for one it has great seats as can be seen below, and they sell treats for the dogs so it’s easy to attract them. In the other cafes, it’s difficult to play with the dogs when you don’t have any treats for them. As for cat cafes, they are not as active as dogs and they’re not as noisy as dogs, so it’s a little more quiet, for the more reserved people? ^^

Anyway, I have realised one special drink that could be found in almost every cafes in Korea but not that commonly seen in Australia and Singapore (only countries I’m familiar with). That’s the GREEN TEA LATTE! They can most definitely be found in large commercialised cafes in Korea but most of the privately-owned cafes do sell them as well. Indeed, cafes in Korea have a wider range of drinks available, besides the normal drinks that contain caffeine.

I personally love going to cafes even though I’m not a fan of coffee. I just love the idea of enjoying a cup of drink in a relaxed environment and having a good chat with friends. ^^

Clubbing in Korea

 

Photo taken from Google.

One of the most unforgettable experiences I had in Seoul was going to a club for the first time ever in my life! I have never gone clubbing before, not in Singapore, not in Australia so going to the club in Seoul was a real eye-opener and unexpectedly awesome.

I have always had the conception that clubs were sleazy places for people to hook people up or get hooked, and that it will be dirty, filled with smoke (from the smoking) and crazy drunken people. I guess clubs are more or less like that, but the club I went to was a little less like that though it was still rather smoky in some areas.

I went clubbing with bf and three of my classmates (a Chinese girl, and two other Koreans who were born in US and Brazil). SS (Chinese girl) was three years younger than me so she has never been to a club before and she was really curious as to how “clubbing” was like. That was the same for me. I was curious too. And since we had a classmate (the Brazilian Korean) who frequently went clubbing few times a week, why not join him for a night and experience it for ourselves?

I actually thought that people are supposed to drink tons when they go clubbing. But of course, the choice is up to the individual. That night, bf and I only had one bottle of beer which was actually a free drink that was part of the very expensive club entrance fee, 30-freaking bucks (apparently it was a special night for that particular club we went to). We only drank that and danced the rest of the night away!

I do not really know how the clubs in other countries are like but in Korea, MOST of the guys (not all) are really GUTSY and they throw out their conservatism completely out of the club’s door once they enter. On the dance floor, when a girl is dancing alone, she is most likely to be grabbed by a guy or crept up upon from behind while dancing. Those are from my own observations and personal stories told by my classmates. My Chinese friend actually experienced both grabbing and being crept up on while we were there! It was probably because she was dancing alone… my bf was always beside me so thankfully I did not experience that (or maybe I’m not hot enough? haha). A lot of times, if the girl allows it, the guy can get really touchy feely…! I’ve seen a few of such cases while I was dancing and it gave me the creeps.

What I really enjoyed while clubbing was dancing on the dance floor however you want! I mean you don’t have to be a great dancer to enjoy club dancing. Just move to the music and dance your stress/worries away! I also got the opportunity to flaunt my shuffle dance moves when Party Rock Anthem started playing! Not that I’m a pro but I actually tried dancing while at home because it seemed so easy when you see so many people doing the dance. But it was surprisingly difficult at first and it took me a few practices before I got the hang of it. Anyway, I love how HIGH the atmosphere was while on the dance floor. Even if you’re not a dancer, you would get pulled in by your surroundings (the people and music) then eventually move to the groove!

However, the downside was dancing too much made me rather tired and it was way past bedtime so for me, I cannot really stay the entire night or for a veeeeery long time like how most would do when they go clubbing. I actually got tired at around 2+am (we went there at around 12+), rested and pulled through until 3am when I finally admitted defeat and asked to go home.

I did enjoy the overall experience but I am not the kind who can go clubbing regularly. Too much smoking and too late into the night.

Living in an ice box…

Actually the weather these days may well be colder than an ice box. Today’s weather is presumably the coldest this season, with the lowest temperature at –17dc in Seoul. Fortunately, having lived here for more than a month I have learned to dress warm so I don’t feel that frozen when I’m outside wrapped up in warm clothes. I have a great Fubu padding coat, a pair of cute ear muffs, gloves and mufflers to keep me warm!

Two days ago, it snowed really heavily. Although the aftermath of a snowfall isn’t pretty, I still find snowfall beautiful and enticing. My bf is sick of snow due to his snow-clearing duties while serving in the S.Korean army. He had to spend hours clearing piles and piles of snow in kangwon-do, the province that experiences the most snowfall in S.Korea. He added that snow causes accidents around the country too. Yes it ain’t all that pretty when you’re around to experience the aftermath of a snowfall especially when the melted snow on the ground freeze into ice, making it hard to walk on slippery areas that has the potential to make you fall and break your bones. Thus, the past two days has been quite a chore for me while travelling to school especially when the snow doesn’t melt that quickly since SNU is located in the mountains where it’s colder than the other areas in the city. Besides the caution I have to take while travelling to school, I still love walking on (non-slippery) snow and I still love snowfall. It’s still beautiful no matter how awful the aftermath may be. Perhaps people from tropical countries (Singapore, other SEA countries) may share the same sentiments as me!

Lunar New Year in Korea

Lunar New Year has always been my favourite holiday of the year as I get to spend a lot of time with my family and relatives. I get to meet the relatives whom I get to see only once a year during that time and we always gathered to play games, make fun of each other and catch up on each others’ lives. This year though, being in Korea, was the first time I spent new year away from home.

I got to experience how Koreans celebrate lunar new year when I made a trip down to Daegu with my bf to visit his family. It was my second time meeting his family so I wasn’t as nervous and I felt much more comfortable while I stayed at his home.

Before LNY, my Korean class actually had two chapters that covered the customs of Koreans when it comes to celebrating LNY. So I basically had the knowledge of their customs but really experiencing it was another thing.

Just like Singapore, Korea has two days of LNY holidays, 23rd and 24th of Jan this year. Bf and I stayed at his home from 20th to 24th Jan but we had to leave for Seoul on 24th Jan so we only celebrated LNY on the very first day.

On the morning of 23rd Jan, the first day of the lunar calendar (설날, new year, 初一) bf’s family and I woke up earlier than usual. The men had to wear formal suits for the ancestor ritual (차례) which is usually done on every major festivals such as New Year and Thanksgiving Day (추석 aka Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival). Thus, in the morning, bf’s family and I headed to his grandparents’ house (5mins walk away from their home) where most of his paternal relatives have gathered. Before having breakfast, the men of the family would pay respects to the ancestors. The altar is a table filled with all kinds of food prepared by the women of the family, along with a tablet with Chinese characters (I assume that represents the ancestors of their family). The ritual lasted for only 5-10mins.

After the ritual, the women got down to preparing breakfast while the men sat together for a drink of the wine they offered to their ancestors. I didn’t have to do anything although I am a woman because I’m not part of the family and was a guest so they kindly offered me a cup of the wine. After that, when breakfast was ready, the men sat around to have breakfast while the women continued with their food preparations. Women of the family are the busiest on such huge festivals as they have to prepare a lot of food for the ancestor ritual and for a large number of family members since they have all gathered. As for the men? They sit around, watching TV, talking and just eat. Such is the life of a conservative Korean family. If I were to marry Bf… I wonder if I can take on such a traditional role of a woman… … …

Anyways after breakfast, the men proceeded to visit another relatives’ house while I stayed behind with the women, who rested, watched TV and napped while waiting for the men to come back. Bf’s grandparents live in a traditional house, a very very humbled version of hanok so I basically sat on the floor the whole day. I watched TV and ate the whole day, all done sitting on the floor. My whole body was aching by the end of the day… ><

Just like Singapore, Koreans have their owns games played during LNY. The most popular Korean card game is called Hwatu. I’ve learnt it from Bf more than a year ago when he was in Australia and have never played it after that so I’ve sort of forgotten most of the rules. However, Bf’s family didn’t play any games at that time so it was quite a quiet new year’s day for me. This compared to the new year spent in Singapore where it’s always crowded and noisy for my family.

Spending LNY the Korean way was a new experience for me and it was good meeting bf’s relatives. However, I still prefer Singapore’s style of celebrating LNY, the noisy way, from the chattering of the aunties/uncles, shouting during gambling and all the RED-ness.

Classes made more interesting

For the last two days we had interesting activities replacing our normal study period. We had a class dedicated to ‘Arirang’, a popular Korean folk song that actually has numerous versions from different provinces around Korea. The most popular one would be the 경기아리랑, Kyeong-gi Arirang, the one which K-pop singers would sing at the end of a major K-pop concert. Well, that’s the only reference I can give based on my own experience with the song… Okay, a video should be way much better:

On that day, KLEI invited a couple of Korean students majoring in Korean traditional music to perform arirang for us during our last period of class. They attempted to teach us but the response was a little lacklustre. All 4 morning classes of level 4 gathered but our voices cannot be compared to the main singer who came to perform for us. Still, it was an interesting experience and after hearing the word ‘arirang’ so many times, I finally learnt more about its origins and meaning.

The next day, we actually had to put up a play of an old Korean folk tale about ‘흥부와 놀부’ aka the Heung-bu and nol-bu brothers. The story is about how the kind brother received good fortune while the evil brother was punished for his misdeeds. I played Heung-bu’s wife and had to put on a hanbok for it. It was actually more fun than I expected. ^^ Luckily we only had to perform in front of just ONE other class instead of the entire level 4.

I think it’s great that KLEI has such classroom activities that involves a deeper understanding of Korean culture and at the same time, enhances our Korean language ability! I wish UQ’s Korean major could organize such activities when I took Korean classes in UQ. Okay, actually UQ’s Korean major cannot be compared to the Korean classes that I’m having now. In 10 weeks, I can actually learn so much and for that amount it probably will take me a year to learn in UQ. The learning pace in UQ’s Korean major is not only insanely slow, the teaching standard is not that great as well. Okay, maybe I should stop defaming the Korean major in UQ… or leave it for another blog post next time! 

Already halfway through my stay in Korea

5 weeks have past since I began studying at the Korean language education institute in SNU. We have even taken the mid-sem exams last week. I did pretty well for the exams even though I studied last minute… something which I hope won’t happen again during the final exam as I’m going to aim for an even higher score!

From my exams, I realised my weakest point is my Korean listening skills. Somehow my listening skills aren’t always the best even with English and Chinese. I remember that I don’t do very well for my listening tests when I’m in primary school. So from now on, I’m going to make myself listen to Korean radio everyday. I actually have two Korean radio channels i listen to occasionally:

1) Park So Hyun’s Love Game

2) Super Junior’s Kiss the Radio – Has an iphone app which you can listen and watch them live while they’re on air! :)

I am absolutely loving the life I’m living right now in Seoul, enjoying every moment, even when I’m in class, even when I’m studying! The past 5 weeks in Seoul couldn’t beat the 2 and a half years I spent in Aus even though life in Aus has been great fun. Here in Korea, I get to spend a lot of time with bf, Korean lessons are interesting (not always but most of the time), and I get to use Korean everyday and everywhere I go! I feel much more confident using Korean right now.

The only downside is that I’m not making Korean friends in Korea because I’m studying in a Korean language institute so there is minimal chance of meeting other Korean students. Luckily, I made Korean friends while in Aus and have met a couple of them since I came to Korea. One of them, 수빈언니 (Subin unnie) has invited me and bf to her house for dinner tomorrow! She has been so nice to me, providing me places of interest to visit in Seoul, many of which are not the usual tourist spot but she highly recommends them.

The weather in Seoul is freezing but it isn’t as cold as last year. 5 weeks in Winter Seoul, I’ve probably become used to the weather already. Every morning, I make sure to wear enough before stepping out of the house. In the past, even though I know it’s cold I thought I would be able to tolerate the cold, so I wear a knit sweater and a winter coat on the outside. But that’s actually not enough especially when it gets below 0dc. Two layers underneath is the least that one should wear not to feel COLD (like trembling cold) outside.

Right now, I just have to make the best of what Seoul can offer me and spend the next 5 weeks working hard towards improving my Korean even more.

Korean classes so far…

2 weeks have past since the start of my Korean classes in SNU’s KLEI (Korean Language Education Institute). I’m studying at level 4 at the moment, a level that starts to focus more on more difficult grammar that are usually used in news, reports, books, radios and dramas, i.e. not as conversational as the past 3 levels.

My textbook, practice book and notebooks.

Classes start from 9am to 1pm, a schedule that is totally different from my uni timetable in Aus for the past year. Usually 9am or later is my wake-up time in Aus since my earliest classes start only at 10am. However, in Korea, I made it a point to sleep early so that I can wake up early and not feel all sleepy and drowsy during class. I adjusted to the early timings easier than expected!

As mentioned before, we have three teachers teaching our class and I’m still not too fond of this idea. Each teacher has their own style of teaching, that is, while one teacher explains the new vocab words in great details, the other may not, and while one teacher may choose to finish teaching all the grammar points before moving onto the practice book, another may go through each point with the practice book. Of course it’s not that of a big deal, but as a student I prefer one or at most two teachers so that I don’t have to switch “learning modes” almost everyday.

In regards to how well the teachers teach, two out of three teachers can explain vocabs and grammar points pretty well while it takes a bit of an effort to understand what the third teacher is trying to explain. Overall, all the teachers are nice and approachable, one of them knows I’m a DBSK fan while the other likes to put on Korean music during our class breaks!

My class isn’t the most exciting bunch, I’d say it’s a very quiet class. My classmates don’t really mix around with each other A LOT. We do chat during short breaks, but during the longer break, most of them would look for their friends in the other classes or do their own things. I tend to chat with the classmates sitting beside me, go out and buy food together during breaks, but after class we just go our separate ways. And I’d go for lunch with MK, the only classmate who I’d hang out with after class. The other classmates are JUST classmates because they already have their own circle of friends from the previous levels.

However, I’m enjoying my classes and wish that they could be extended to more than 4 hours! Sometimes, we have interesting learning resources like Korean movies and advertisements shown during class. I heard that the popular sitcom, High Kick 2 will be shown later during the semester! ^^

Greetings from Seoul!

Here’s a brief outline of what I did during my first week in Seoul:

• Spent most of the time with my BF (more later).
• Packed and tidied (just a little since bf did some cleaning before) the studio unit (원룸/ one room) where I’ll be staying for the 2.5months here.
• Went to e-mart to get daily necessities, e.g detergent, toilet rolls, hangers, food, etc…
• Went to FT Island’s Encore Concert in Seoul!

• Met up with Gabby (friend from UQ).
• Find my way to Seoul National Uni (SNU) and the building where I’ll be attending my classes. I’m staying two subway stops away from SNU but there are buses that go to SNU from the area where I’m staying so it only takes me ~25mins in total to get to school, i.e. from my unit’s door step to classroom. ^^
• Did not do much tourist-y stuff, but explored certain areas like Shillim (신림) which is where I’m staying, and around Ehwa Women’s Uni (이대).
• Took my Korean placement test that determined which level I should attend. The test consisted both writing and speaking segments. I was placed in level 4 (6 levels altogether), where I will learn more advanced Korean mostly found in news, radio, novels, etc. I actually predicted that I’ll get into level 4 because I’ve seen SNU’s older version of level 3 textbook and I’ve learnt most of the contents before.
• Went for Korean Wave Concert in Yong Pyong Resort with Gabby!

남친과의 만남~

The first 8 days were well-spent with bf who I haven’t seen for 9 months. So the list above was all done with him. When I first saw him in Incheon airport, I was very happy but at the same time, I felt SOOO awkward. I felt both familiar and foreign at that time… We saw each other quite often through the webcam but it’s still very different when you see each other in person. The awkwardness just engulfed me at that moment! >< But he who is always so easy-going helped me overcome the awkwardness quickly. ^^ Although we haven’t meet for 9 months, I felt that we have definitely become closer. Constant communication throughout the separation period is very important!

His uni term hasn’t ended so he travelled back and fro from Cheon-an to Seoul a couple of days last week. We spent time together doing the usual couple stuff that we couldn’t do when we were separated, like watching movies, going to cafes and going to 노래방(noraebang/ karaoke). To us, these were such valuable moments together… From this week until the next, he will spend most of the time in his Uni due to the exams period, so I will be alone!! 

한국어 수업이 시작했다.

However, Korean classes have started this week, so I don’t feel that lonely! So far, I’m loving my classes because I’m learning more difficult grammar, vocab, and the teachers are nice! I’m not sure how the other Language institutes work, but I find it weird that our teachers change on certain days, so we have 3 teachers teaching our class. Mon/Fri= one teacher, Tues= one teacher, Wed/Thurs= one teacher. That means we have to sort of switch modes to accommodate to each teacher since they have different styles of teaching.

Classmates were distant at first because most of them knew each other before since they advanced from the previous level while I was new in SNU. But I’ve made friends with an American born Korean (named MK) who is attending SNU for the first time as well, and right now gradually with the rest of my classmates. ^^

I’ll blog more about my class next time! Here are some photos to make you salivate!! LOL.

Forgot the name of this dish.

 
쪽발~ ♥ Pig’s leg

닭발~!! Finally I got to eat chicken leg, cooked the Korean way! This was actually delivered to our unit. You can’t imagine the types of food available for delivery! Korean delivery services are 짱~!!

Closer look. It’s veryyyyyyyy spicy! For Korean style chicken leg, you don’t have to eat and spit out the bones. Most of the inedible bones have been removed, so you can eat comfortably without having to spit out the small tiny bones like we have to when we eat chicken legs in Sg.