Out in the Gangnam District

Before I begin, please refrain from thinking about Gangnam Style, I swear...

I didn't plan on going out to Seoul, at all, but I ended up doing so and didn't really regret it either. I was great. The bus we wanted to take that went straight to Gangnam was full so we took a different one that went to Seoul Station and then hopped on the subway for about four stops.

Operating the buses and subway is really easy, actually.

A transportation card! It was really simple to get, just go to a convenience store. The one I went to I think had it at the checkout counter. I can't remember, someone else got it for me. I can't remember exactly because all of this happened yesterday (I was too tired to type this essay last night), but I believe it was 5,000W? Again, I'm not exactly sure. But I also put like 5,000W on it. When you get onto the bus, place you card onto the little Cash Bee monitor and then go sit down.

After a long, hot bus ride where several of us started to feel a little bit nauseous, we finally arrived at Sandak Station (산닥역). When you get off of the bus, you need to put your card to the Cash Bee again so you can pay for your ride. I didn't get to see but someone told me it was like 400W which is utterly cheap compared to Milwaukee's $2.25. It's roughly 40 cents.

After the long bus ride, we went to the subway where we all split up. Half of the group went to Mapo for a music library tour and the rest of us went to Gangnam for some shopping and sightseeing. So after putting more cash on our cards, we took line 2 to Gangnam, You have to use your card to get into the station and also to get out of the station.

Inside the station though, is basically a department store underground. There was a lot of people and a lot of shops. Also, people here do not care at all, they will push you, they will walk far to close to you. An old lady pushed a girl out of the way on the subway with force. She's got an arm on her.

And so, we exited the station and began to take pictures like the group of tourists we very much are.

I'm such an awkward photo taker omg

BTS played on that screen for their new commercial and I about lost it...

We went to lots of (girly) stores, makeup and clothes of the sorts. The guys were definitely not all that fond of it, but like we care? We're in Gangnam! We stopped into Etude House, finally! And I bought a bottle of lip tint and I AM EXCITED TO USE IT!!!

One clothing store had a coffee shop on the second floor where here was one (really handsome) guy working the counter by himself and then a hoard of us ordering drinks. And of course, the one I ordered took 5 years to make. I felt so bad... But it was so good! A honey latte. I don't really like hot drinks, but this one was good and cooled down to a nice temperature really fast. Like, if I see it on anyone else's menu, guess what I'm getting.

And after mobbing the poor guy, we decided to get food next.After much debating along some side streets and going to places that turned out to be closed, we finally decided (or rather the waitresses outside decided for us) that we'd go to a place called Jeju Black Belly Pork.

Oh it was so good.

The tables were so full of food. One table was 40,000W so it was pricey but divided up it was only 13,000W for each person (we had three at our table). The white stuff in the black pot was super good. I asked what it was but she said it too fast for me to understand. But I think it was tofu. Or eggs. It had a similar consistency. The meat was so good. You're supposed to make lettuce wraps with meat, rice, and other sides, but to be honest it was beautiful with just the meat by itself. The restaurant gave us bag to put our coats and scarves in so it wouldn't smell like meat. So thoughtful.

After chowing down and then dealing with the hassle of dividing money between 14 people and four tables, the group split up once more. One part, like 3 or 4 people, went to see the World Championship Speed Skating competition since one of the girls from Finland knew a competitor. It was also free. But I would rather see figure skating so the rest of us (who almost all seemed to speak German except lil' ol' me) continued to go around and shop. We also met up with another AGA who lives in Gangnam and we decided to show us around. 

At one of the stores, 8 Seconds, there was this priceless artifact.

Work it.

And then the sun started setting and all the lights started to come on and that's when I feel the happiest.

We actually lost someone at one point. Talk about scary. I would probably cry if I got lost, but I mean, if people are leaving, you bet I'm following. It also helps that I'm tall and can see over the crowd to find a blond or a foreigner. Sweet.

We went to another coffee shop after finding our lost friend. It's called A Twosome Place and there's actually one right across from campus. I thought it would be a good idea to get an Iced Chocolate. Turns out that no, I did not like it. It was basically hot cocoa powder with a little bit of milk. It was thick with chunks because hot cocoa powder does not dissolve in cold liquids, I should know, I've tried... So I ended up giving it to someone else. I should just stay away from chocolate. And coffee.

Our AGA led us to probably the most shady destination I've ever been to. A hookah bar called the Rainbow Lounge. Like. It smelled kinda like a mildewy basement and you had to have ID and no shoes on their equally shady floor.

We were here for like two hours and for me it was boring because I don't do that kind of stuff and I didn't feel like getting up to get a drink or anything (though I was tempted to get an apple martini, sounds good). But here was live music that was deafening but alright.

When we decided it was time to head back to Suwon (it was like 11pm), we went out and had to wait for our AGA to come back with the people who went to the speed skating competition. Now this. This was entertaining. First of all, the streets are packed with couples and girls wearing short skirts in below freezing temps and heels too high for them to walk in. And then there are the drunks. The Korean drunks and the foreign drunks. We had our share of both. 

But the funniest was this one guy. We had seen him while he was walking by us, head down and definitely struggling to walk. Good lord. He dropped his phone and just stared down at it. We all started laughing and he looked over at us with a weird smile when he picked up and while he was still looking at us, he practically threw his phone down again and we lost it. It was so funny. I'm laughing even know as I remember it. Probably the best part of my night. We all mutually agreed that he's going to hate life in the morning.

After some more standing around and waiting, our AGA finally came back and then we stood around some more deciding what to do until we finally agreed to head back to Suwon.

Well then we got distracted by street food, which I regret not buying but I was tired and wanted to just go. But I mean, I was tired way back when we entered A Twosome Place, it was too warm... After watching someone eat a really big delicious looking and amazing smelling hot down on a stick (essentially, it's a more amazing corn dog), we finally, finally left.

We took the bus in Gangnam that we were supposed to take earlier and went back to Suwon. 

Most of the group went to a bar for some nightcaps, but three of us went home, including me. And let me tell you, it's such a hassle to get some off campus to the dorm. Too many hills, so far away. I need a taxi basically.

And that was my unplanned adventure to Gangnam. Today I basically don't have much planned. I need to clean so my roommate doesn't hate me when she finally comes. And I finally get to meet my Korean buddy this afternoon. Yay.

A Day Out in the Town

My day started with the first of two orientations for exchange students. It wasn't too long, just loads of talking and the information given wasn't all too clear. What I mainly got out of it was that I have a lot of crap to submit to offices left and right.

But hey, free lunch.

It was like a buffet style. Fried food to sandwiches to salad to rice cakes. It was yummy and filling.

Afterwards, me and the other guy from UWM went out to go find Ajou's symbolic statue of The Pioneer, otherwise known as The Pathfinder. Turns out I'd walked by it several times already.

Afterwards, I finally engaged in group chatting, asking if anyone wanted to go off campus and explore. These three girls invited me along to their trip and so began what evolved into a long day of being out in the town.

The four of us went to a store called Daiso, which is reminiscent of like a Family Dollar or basically a really cheap place with lots of stuff you need in everyday life. They had a pack of chopsticks for only 1,000W. Sad face.

I bought two sets of four coat hangers, 1,000W each. I also bought a little portable green bag for only 2,000W. Which is great because I guess I left the one my mom gave me elsewhere and I don't like being charged for bags.

I like that store a lot. Because they played a BTS song and I couldn't help myself from singing...

Suwon!

After Daiso, we went down some back streets, ones I had not been on before. We stopped at a veggie and fruit shop where we debated reasonable prices for fruits. Three of us split the price for a bunch of bananas. It was 3,000W. Afterwards, I was literally dying of thirst so we hoped into.... Hi Mart! I've heard about this place since it was in my Korean books for school. One of the girls knew what I was talking about. She and I were the only ones in the group that could read and speak Korean.

I got a Coke. It was beautiful. It was 800W.

When we were done inside, we took a moment in our little group outside of the shop and talked about where to go next and getting a taxi for the way home since fruit bags are heavy. But then, a woman came up to the outskirts of our group and stared. One of the girls greeted her and she greeted back, but continued to just stand there and look between us. One of the girls thought that it might be because all of us were speaking English but we all looked and sounded different, accents and stuff. After that weird moment was over, we went to a  traditional market!!

The smells in that place are amazing. Between veggies and spices and fish, it was actually really lovely. Two girls ended up buying eggs, which were like 2,000W for a think it was a dozen, which is reasonable, especially compared to Homeplus. I was really close to buying some rice cakes. The guy who sold the eggs started saying that me and another girl, who's Finnish, are really tall and curvy. His stall neighbor started laughing and then he made fun of her for being short. It was all really funny and he was a really friendly dude.

Afterwards, we continue through the market and onto another street. One girl went into a shop for a fleece blanket but there were no price tags so she had called me (I was across the street with someone else looking at meat) and I had to ask how much it was in Korean. Finally, a phrase I'm confident in.

Further down the street, there was a food vendor selling fish shaped Hodeok. The vendor was trying to explain what kind of cream was in the middle of one of the fish and I helped him along by providing the Korean modified version of Vanilla. He was excited to agree with that. Even gave me two extra fishies. Red bean and vanilla, 8 for 2,000W (plus two free).

Finally, we went to Homeplus Express, the tinier version as you can guess. There, I bought banana milk and shrimp flavored chips. On my way out the door, I didn't realize you had to push a button so I got confused and waited until the guy behind me left so I ran out after him...

I finally got to try legitimate Korean Banana Milk and I'm happy now.

One of the girls had to quickly run into a store and buy some salt, so me and another girl stood outside the tiny little shop. There was music coming from the speakers and suddenly, I broke out into a dance because Psy's song came on and even if the lyrics are kinda weird, I can still dance to a grown man saying he got his body from his daddy.

After a nice taxi ride with a nice driver who surprised us with his English, we decided dinner was in order and that we should include other people to make a huge group. So one girl texted our huge exchange group chat in Kakao Talk (100+ people in it) and it suddenly became a huge event.

One of Global Ambassadors joined us for the meal and decided Jjigae was in store for our large group. It proved to be a great idea because Jjigae is meant for sharing. It's basically a hot pot sort of thing. 

I don't know which one this is exactly because our Ambassador ordered all of us our food. And the ladies and one sir were nice to us too. She saw I had no spoon for my rice and even apologized. The side dish you see in the bottom left is flaming hot and I don't know exactly what it is but I will NEVER eat it again...

I tried Soju for the first time. It was lemon flavored and honestly not as bad as some other alcohol I've tried in the past. I only had about one shot all together and immediately felt like sleeping. Even now, my lids are heavy and stinging but I need to finish this or I'll forget. But man am I a wimp for getting sleepy on one shot. I met several new people while eating with them and we all hung out together for the rest of the night's festivities.

Of course, those festivities included a bar. My very first legitimate bar visit. I didn't order a drink or anything because I really don't feel like paying for something I don't like. And not to mention I seriously want to know why people name drinks in very sexual manners. Like, for example, an Orgasm Cocktail. No?

But it was bumpin' and I was trying to liven up our little table posse by dancing around to every American song that played.

In the beginning, I was dancing to a song and at the time our Ajou Global Ambassador (AGA) had been sitting by himself until he made his way to the bar. He noticed me crazy dance moves and I shot him arrow and he shot back and then came to join our table. 

And so began my realization of how utterly adorable this man is. Like, I kid you not, he dances like a grandpa and it's so cute. And we have similar music tastes so that's great. He said that he's worried about me going clubbing because from the way I was dancing there he figured I might get addicted. He also warned me about flirty guys so I asked him to go with me then. I might go to my first club next week or something. I'm actually really excited about it. I don't need alcohol, just water while I'm there. Lord knows I'll be sweating so horribly bad... I better wear black.

After several more songs and continued talking between me my group and the AGA (who added me to his Kakao, yes I am crying tears of joy), we decided it was time to head out. Which was great because I needed to use the bathroom and there is no way I am entering a public one knowing that it could be a whole in the ground. No thanks.

So me and a German girl, followed me three other guys, all head out. We were going to go home but she needed cereal and milk to we went back to the Homeplus Express. On our way though, we stopped into The Face Shop, a makeup store, much to the guy's visible dismay. One of the guys asked me if the orange lipstick actually tasted like oranges. I wish.

After the Homeplus store, we made our journey back to the College of Hills. On theway, we passed like four makeup stores and pretended to go into those as well. The groans we got for that though. One of the shops was playing a B1A4 song and I started singing because yes I know the lyrics! Someone walking by did a double take.

It was raining too. Not too bad though.

Finally, I'm done. SLEEP. Breakfast in the morning with my new group of beautiful friends. Today started off a bit rough but when I finally pushed myself to initiate contact, it got much better. (AND CUTER GOSH)

First Real Shopping Experience

The trip to the Homeplus store was indeed at 8pm, not 8am.

He took a bus, the whole mob of us that went. It was kinda bad. I accidentally half-sat on this poor old guy. I felt so bad... I'm took tall for the back of the bus. I stood up and had to bend like 90 degrees.

The Homeplus store does not look like much on the outside or even on the first floor. But when you take the escalator down through the first and second basement floors, it's like a whole new world.

I didn't take any pictures, again I know bad me, but it was magical. A bit on the expensive side, but magical indeed. I was able to purchase a pillow and some breakfast food. As well as silverware, because I tried to eat cup noodles like two hours before only to realize while I'm back in my room that I didn't have eating utensils.

The pillow was a reasonable price, 13,500W, couldn't find a pillowcase, not like I need one. I got two sets of chopsticks and two spoons for 4,000W. Kinda pricey. My food (three rice bowls and some Hodeok stuffed with honey) came up to be like 5,980W together. And I had to pay 100W for a paper bag.

When I entered the second basement floor of Homeplus, one of the worker ladies stated yelling. Now, I actually would have been more surprised at this if I hadn't seen something just like it on a drama over my break. It was one of those quick sales. She was shouting 'Quickly, quickly' and 'SAAAAALE.' She had an impressive vocal range.

A few things about American products that I've heard rumors about and now I see that they are true or relatively true.

Deodorant. It's like 8,000W for a stick of deodorant.

Peanut Butter, they have Skippy. It's like 7,000W or something like that.

Milk is expensive as well, like 8,000W for something doesn't look like a full gallon.

They sell Frosted Flakes, even though it's not the name on the box. And Special K as well. They have a Sweet Potato and Banana flavored Special K. Not sure if I am willing to try that. Plus they only come in big boxes.

I don't think anything too exciting happened with the shopping trip. I didn't buy any weird snacks, like the banana flavored puffy chips. Those will be interesting, the day I decide I'll buy them.

Well, that was all for that.

A Trip to the Store

So this morning, I woke up at 4am. Actually, I think that was pretty good since I went to sleep at 9 and was asleep on the plane as well. Not mention, I got a lot done this morning and watch the city light up so I could see it for the first time. It was nice. Just me and my music and the cold breeze through my window.

It's still beyond hot in here.

My roommate has not showed up yet either and I'm really curious to know who she is and what she's like. Also, it'd be cool to get dinner with at least someone tonight. Though it seems like ramen will be my meal of choice. I don't mind too much though. I like Shin Ramen.

I also found out my desk has plug on it and that might be old news, but for me that's amazing and I got really excited, okay? Okay.

I got ready for the international student trip to the home goods store called Homeplus. I got into contact with the other student from UWM that came to Ajou as well and when we got downstairs, well, there was no one there. We later found out that it is, in fact, tonight at 8pm. Whoops.

Assuming that it wasn't going to happen, we decided to go find food and a store. As we were just about to leave, we met up with a Finnish exchange student who was the one that told us the trip is tonight. So we went about our quest for food, the three of us.

When we got to the cafeteria, the extremely helpful lady behind the counter had directed us to the machine where we purchase meal tickets. Breakfast was only 2,500W which is pretty decent compared to the price of UWM's... The machine though, decided my money wasn't good enough for it. The older women who had helped us before came over and tried to help, but, well, the machine hates me. Thankfully, one of the guys exchanged my 10,000 bill for his 10,000 bill. And of course, it worked. Great. I really hope it doesn't happen again because I would have to go hungry!! No I wouldn't. There's plenty of restaurants just outside of the campus.

Breakfast consisted of several things I don't know, but they were good. Especially when all you had eaten in the past 18 hours was a protein bar. I got rice, soup, beans, and something fried. Small portions, but it was all very satisfying and light. Korea has breakfast right, I think. America's breakfast is too sweet and really fatty.

After breakfast and the kind lady showing us how to deposit our dirty dishes, we decided to go off campus for the first time. It's really busy here. People running, cars honking, not like Milwaukee or Racine. Maybe more like Chicago, I suppose. I've only been to Chicago a handful of times, I don't know much about how it is.

We popped into a Starbucks for some coffee. Sad news, no Oprah Cinnamon Chai Lattes. But let me tell you this, lots of interesting flavors of drinks and several kinds of cakes in the case. They even sold Strawberry Juice in bottles. The guy there was nice, even speaking in English for the two guys. I didn't get anything because coffee and Casey don't really mix. But I'll probably get some once school starts. When we entered the Starbucks, it totally reminded me of America. I'm sure coffee places always smell like that no matter where you go, but it was comforting. I'll probably go there more often.

After that, we strolled over to a shop by our Camus Plaza building, called the Dream Depo. They have everything there. From school supplies to booze to plastic food containers. I'll be visint that store far more often than I probably should. They have a tooooon of pens and highlighters. Sheets and sheets of cute stickers and other really cute items. I'm a total sucker for cute things and I already know that it's going to be my downfall here in Korea.

All three of us bought a huge two liter bottle of water for only 900W, roughly 90cents I believe. Which is great for me because now I don't have to waddle on over to the kitchen everything I need liquids and sorry, but tap water isn't trustworthy no matter where I go. I realize though, that with a bottle that big, I should have gotten cups... Oh well. The guy at the store was friendly as well, he managed to say nine hundred to me in English, which was really thoughtful of him, even though I think I'm pretty confident with numbers. I thanked him in Korean though!

I was surprised to see that I could read and understand a lot of store names. But that might be because most of them are English words written in Korean, but shh we'll just say I'm smart.

Once our exploration of a few more side streets was over and we had our fill of tasty scents, we headed back towards the dorm, taking some roads we hadn't been on. We went into the Student Union, one of the two, and found the bank and another cafeteria that's only open on weekdays for lunch and dinner.

I think I'll need to head back out sometime before classes start so I can find the two buildings I'll be visiting daily.

I have to say though, Tuesdays are going to be fun for me. I don't have class on Tuesdays and since the weekends will probably be trip oriented, I'll be able to roam around the area and find new things. It'll also be a good day to just rest, too.

So here are the pictures I did take when I got back from my journey. I didn't take any while out because I feel self conscious with my camera and my tablet is far too large for me to casually whip out.

I really love this view.

My next challenge: how to shower in the dorms.................. Sounds simple, but uh, it isn't.

Getting to Ajou

This experience was so unpleasant for me.

I got off of the plane and waded through immigration where they took a nasty picture of me and my fingerprints. Locating my bags wasn't difficult. Finding a cart to hold them proved otherwise. But that's mainly because I walked past the huge line of them on the way to baggage claim. I was watching all these people come out with them and I was so jealous. Until I wheeled my belongings over to an opening and spotted the huge line of carts. It was fabulous.

So I went through customs, real easy peasy, just give the the slip and you're good. And that's when I had issues. I was at exit 4, my target was exit 7. I only found out the exit number after five minutes of freaking out since I didn't see any Ajou signs. Talk about scary. I thought I was stranded at the airport. I would've cried. Sat down in the middle of the airport and cried. But I practically mowed people over to rush towards exit 7. I found the Ajou signs, approached them like the awkward giraffe I am, and finally said "Hey, Ajou?" like the 3.9 GPA student I am. I'm so smart, please.

So they check me off their list and we go to buy a bus ticket. I find out then that I am taking it by myself. It's not so bad. Buses are generally the same. It helped that my destination had an English name, Hotel Castle. I think the ride was about 1:30-2 hours (which does not bode well for my return trip to the airport) for roughly $12, next to an older women who spent a lot of her time staring at me. But I stared out the window. We went over honestly the longest bridge ever,

Now. Let me talk about traffic. I honestly don't think there are speed limits. Well, according to Google they do, like 50-60 mph in most places. But it sure didn't feel like it, oh my goodness. And not to mention that lane changing is basically a religion well practiced here. So many horns blared, so many times we were almost in an accident. I never want to drive here. I'll take public transportation thanks.

Well, I clambered off the bus at the last stop and my name was said and it was good. But cold. It didn't help that my nerves were everywhere, making my trembling even more prominent. At the airport, when the sun was still out it was about 32F, which felt really good since my nerves made me sweat entirely too much (I really hate that). But it was night now and the wind was up and I was cold. The guides were like "do you have a coat" and I laughed sadly. I've been colder though and spring is (hopefully) on it's way.

After waiting for a taxi, we load my bags and my guide tells the driver where to and leaves me. Just closes the door after saying goodbye. I...wasn't expecting that. Especially when the driver asks me where to go when we're within Ajou gates. And I'm just sitting there like, dude, beats me. Thankfully there was a girl outside he asked.

After maybe 2 and half hours of driving around Korea, I made it to Ajou and stood outside the dorm building displaying my smartness by looking lost and confused. To my defense, the doors said not use them or not to use your hand so I was like "what?" Thank fully someone let me in. I wouldn't have been able to enter with all my stupid luggage anyway (I came to really resent everything I brought).

I created my punch in code, got told that yes indeed I did bring too much, and escorted to my room. To be completely honest, I don't know if this is the fifth or sixth floor...

I was left awkwardly and alone in my little password protected room (that's so cool for me okay). I hastily threw everything out of my bags to deal with tomorrow (which is now today). I went to use the bathroom and well. I ran into some problems. Do I flush toilet paper? The waste basket is telling me no, don't. But there are no signs saying otherwise, just telling me to "please flush well." Another dilemma, nothing in the bathroom to dry your hands with? Lesson learned. Every bathroom trip will be made with my little bathroom bag (best idea ever) which will also now include a washcloth to dry my hands.

After fleeing the bathroom, embarrassed yet again (starting to get used to that feeling), I went back to my room, wet hands and all, and laid on the heated floor to wither away into nothing.

Looking out of the window, I realize how large this campus is. Like, there is a building in the distance that says Ajou University and I'm like, goodness that far out there. Not to mention, hills and winding roads. I'm really in for a workout. But that's alright. It's nearing 6am right now, I have a beautiful migraine, and in an hour I will get ready to go out into Korea for the first time without luggage and less stress. I am praying that today will be much better, for me and for those who talk to me. I will be less shy (yeah right) and my appearance will be much better than yesterday.

For now, here's my room!

I get to push a button to leave my room.

I'm so messy right now, please dismiss it.

This dorm is on a hill by the way. I struggled with three suitcases. Up a hill. Like a pro.

Here's to hoping my day turns out better. And the days after this as well. I think it should. The worst is over and then I don't have to worry about it again for another 4 months (it's going to be actual Hell, I can already tell you that). 

I'm finally in Korea and you bet I'm going to make the best out of it.

Now, to figure out the food situation...