Last post for 2011!!

Yes, this blog is lack of updates but here I am making the last post for 2011 before it ends! Summing up the most significant events that took place in 2011:

1) Graduated with a (regular) Bachelor of Arts.

2) Starting and completed one semester of Honours in Korean.

3) Came to Korea twice, once at the end of 2010 that stretched over to 2011 and right now, at the end of 2011.

4) Met Bf’s family and friends while he met mine in SG (beginning of the year).

5) Embarked on a language course in Korea and leaving the life like a Korean!

There were lots of ups and downs during the past year but these events have made 2011 a memorable year to look back on. I am pretty sure 2012 will be quite a ride be it good or bad because it’s my graduation year. Who knows what lies ahead in 2012?

Oh and remember the movie ‘2012’ and all that prophecies about 2012? I don’t believe them but I can’t wait to laugh at the movie and prophecies… ;p

Have a happy new year and a great 2012 ahead, everyone!

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.

Transit in SG, off to Korea!

My tolerance for the humid tropical weather in Sg has lowered drastically after experiencing almost perfect weather in Aus.

Korea. Tomorrow. Nervous and excited to see him. Scared to go to school. Looking forward to meeting my friends in Korea. Can’t wait!!

I ought to spend more time in Sg… Feeling sad that I can’t spend CNY at home but I’m going to Korea with the aim to improve my Korean by heaps to aid me in my translation thesis!! I need some motivation though… ><; 

The scarf might not work out…

So I sort of wrapped the 3/4 completed scarf around my neck to see how it looks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look very nice because of the colour pattern!! Omg, I don’t even know if it should be worn out… I am distraught and considering not to give him this as an xmas present!

No difference

Yesterday I sat for my one and only exam for this semester and returned all my library books, marking the end of the academic year! Even so, I don’t really feel much of a difference with before and after the end of semester, besides no deadlines to pursue and exams to think about. I still have to continue studying for Korean though, a process that can never be paused (at least for a long period of time) when it comes to acquiring a second language with the intentions of becoming fluent in that language. Adding on the fact that I’m going to Korea for 3 months of “language training” 2 weeks later, that only puts me in a semi-holiday mood.

The revision period for my exam has been a total slack as well, I watched one movie a day one week before the exam while allocating few hours for revision. So I was already in a semi-holiday mood at that time! I also completed 여인의 향기/Scent of a Woman, watched the Big Bang Theory and continued knitting the scarf for bf during revision period. ;p

I’ve already gone pass the light brown colour section as seen in the photo right now. I do hope it’ll pass off as a good looking scarf… so far I’ve never seen such a colour pattern before as usually scarves have either striped or solid colours. But I didn’t have enough yarns due to the yarn sale, so I settled for this colour pattern, i.e. large sections made of different colours.

Anyway, I’ll be going back to SG next Monday! I don’t feel that excited yet… actually I’m just neutral right now. Maybe because there is still a week left or maybe I’ve gotten used to it… 

해피 빼빼로 데이~! Happy Pepero Day!

As you should know, today’s date 11/11/11 is special because of the same number for day, month and year which will happen on one day every 100 years. Some people are even claiming that if you make a wish on 11/11/11 at 11:11pm, it will definitely come true.

For the youths in Korea, 11/11 has always been 빼빼로 데이, Pepero Day for them and this year it seems, the digit for the year has made it even more special. Here is a brief explanation from Wikipedia:

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts. Lotte denies starting the holiday and instead states that they noticed a bump in Pepero sales around November 11th and after continued popularity they decided to then encourage the holiday with special gift boxes and other promotions. Some consider it to be a contrived holiday and some teachers have encouraged children to exchange healthy snacks to help combat obesity. An alternative "Garaetteok Day" (sticks of white tteok) has been proposed.

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1996 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero".

In Japan, a similar Pocky Day was started; however, it has failed to gain traction.

Isn’t it sweet? As some may call Seoul the underdog city of love, I do agree with that in most aspects seeing that they have Pepero Day besides White Day (Valentine’s Day) and a lot of couple matching things, even couple handphones, same brand and ringtone! To the Koreans, Christmas is another special celebratory day with their other half, not with their family as most Westerners do.

On this special day, all the more do I wish to spend it with him, my love. Alas! Our greatest challenge in this relationship has never failed to put me in more agony. But, on a positive note, I am absolutely sure that we will be able to get this through together as I eagerly wait to seeing him again (after 9 monthsㅠ) in two weeks’ time!

To all my lovely family, friends and readers, have a wonderful 11/11/11, Pepero Day~!