First day

I've had many "first days" in my life, but this one was probably the most exciting and most nerve-wracking. I woke up super early (for me) again, at about 7:30. I had to pass the time until I left for class. It starts at 1:30, but I wasn't sure of the room number, and I had to buy a text book, and eat lunch, and it was raining, so I left about noon. I was going to buy a samgak (triangle) kimbap at the convenience store, but they didn't have any that I saw, so I ended up getting a glazed donut at Dunkin' Donuts by the bus stop. I arrived at the language building at ~12:30. There's a cafe right outside, so I bought an iced caramel latte for $3. Let me just say... everything else in Korea may be cheap, but coffee and wine are not. It was about 4 sips of coffee. :\ I might have to start buying the instant coffee and bringing my own in a mug.... because 4 sips of coffee at any price isn't going to cut it.

Anyway, my teacher's name is 이희진 (Lee Heejin). She's very nice. There are 10 people in the class... a girl from Ethiopia, a man from Malaysia, another girl from America, a guy from Germany, a guy from China, a girl from Brazil, and 2 girls from somewhere I couldn't understand...and me. The teacher taught us in English with Korean sprinkled in. She said as we go on, she'll use less and less English. I was expecting the class to be entirely in Korean, so it's nice that for now, it is in (mostly) English. Everyone in the class speaks English fluently except for the guy from China. He, of course, ended up being my partner for a couple exercises. Luckily, he had a smartphone with a translator. :)

It turns out that we actually get 3 days off this semester for holidays -- Election Day (Dec 19), Christmas (Dec 25) and New Years (Jan 1). It's interesting that Election Day in Korea is a national holiday, as far as businesses and schools being closed. We also have one Friday where we go on a field trip, and the very last day of the semester is a party/certificate ceremony. We also have 2 days each for a midterm and a final. Other than that, there's class every day from 1:30-5:30.

I bought a set of level 1 books today... It was ~$22 for a textbook and a workbook. After the midterm, I have to buy another set, I assume for the same price. Flipping through the book, it looks like I know most of the information already -- as far as reading or writing. But I chose to go to level 1 instead of level 2 so I could practice my pronunciation and listening. We had lots of practice today.. and because the class is small, she goes around the room and everyone gets to say the sound/word/whatever aloud for her to listen and give feedback on. As expected, I have trouble with soft s's (ᄉ). Also, apparently, like with English, I have trouble with r/l (ᄅ). Ah well. That's what I'm here for -- to practice.


My books for class: textbook, workbook, notebook.

It turns out that the girl from Brazil (Isabella) lives in my building. We ended up going back to Daehakdong together. We got our pictures taken at a photo shop for our SNU student IDs (used to get into the library, student center, fitness center, cafeteria, etc). $14 for 8 passport/ID-sized photos? Geez... those are AAA prices! But unlike AAA, the lady said she photoshops them, and also apparently emails us a soft copy... not that I have a printer here, but there are several FedEx/Kinkos throughout Seoul if I'm desperate. After the photo shop, we ran to the bank. The Global ATMs here charge me $3, and PNCBank charges me $5 per use... so I wised up this time and got $180, rather than $45 like I did at the airport. I'll just stash the extra cash in my room and carry ~$45 at a time. It's interesting, though, that so many places here (especially the small shops) only take cash... in a country that's so high tech (you can use your smartphone as a credit card!). We then went out to a nearby restaurant and got chicken katsu. So, so tasty. And all for $6!


The portion was huge -- 3 pieces of chicken -- and, once again, the side dishes didn't disappoint --
cole slaw, macaroni salad, dumplings, two kinds of radish kimchi, pickles, a large pile of rice covered
in kim (laver) and soup (not pictured).

Time to go do my homework... just 3 writing exercises from the workbook. Then I have a few dramas to catch up on. :) I'm meeting Izza at 11:45 tomorrow to pick up our pictures before class.

edit @9:25pm: The lady wasn't kidding about Photoshopping! It barely looks like me! Also... speedy service! Only a 3 hour turnaround.

It's me... or is it?