End of the semester

Hard to believe I've been here over two months already! My final exam is Wednesday (Speaking) and Thursday (Reading, Writing, Listening). After that, there are three weeks until the next semester starts on March 3. During that time (Feb 13 and 14), I'm moving to a new place.. equally as close to school, just on the other side of the main gate, closer to the subway station. I think this will be a good thing when it finally gets warm here -- I won't have to spend 20-25 minutes walking and riding a bus to the subway -- it will just be a quick 5 minute walk away. And from there, well, everywhere else in the city is accessible. I'm looking forward to finally getting out and seeing things. When I was here in September 2011, Han River Park was my favorite spot. This time, I went there in late November, but it was really too cold to stay there for more than an hour (and that was on a warm day!). It was 50 degrees last Thursday, but other than that, it's been 30 or below for the last month. I hear it's really hot and humid here in July and August. Maybe I'll be looking forward to the cold again then, like I'm looking forward to the heat now. :)

Aside from that, Iza and I decided to go to Japan during break. She entered Korea on a (waived) tourist visa, and, as a Brazilian, she's only allowed to stay 90 days before she has to leave the country (though you can immediately come back)**. It turns out we actually came to Korea on the same flight but didn't know it (we were both on the same final leg from Detroit to Seoul on November 26th), so her 90 days are up Feb 24th. So we're flying out of Seoul and going to Japan Feb. 15 and returning Feb. 20, so she'll have until ~May 20th to leave again, but I think her flight back to Brazil is in March. :( Anyway, we were debating between going to Tokyo, Osaka, or both... and finally decided just go to to Osaka and the surrounding area (Kyoto and Kobe). I think Tokyo would be interesting, but it's a big city, and I'm looking forward to getting away from the city for a few days. We thought about taking the train between Tokyo and Osaka.. it's only 6 hours, but costs about $280 (which is nearly as much a RT flight to Osaka and more than a RT flight to Tokyo)... no thanks. Iza studied Japanese a while ago, and I don't know any at all, so it's going to be interesting. ^^ After Korean class ends this week, I plan to at least learn the alphabets and some basic phrases. Ideally I'd like to buy a travel book (like the nice Lonely Planet one I have for Korea), but the English section at the two book stores I've seen in Korea are super small. I've seen guidebooks for Korea in English there, but I doubt they have any on Japan in English. Still, I'll look after class ends, and depending on price, buy a book in Korean (as I've gotten good at translating what I don't know, heh).



Left: Seoul on the left (west) and Osaka (right). It's about a 2 hour direct flight between them. Seoul's airport is actually
in Incheon (an hour west of Seoul, a little to the left on the map). Right: We're staying 3 minutes (walking) from the
Shin-Osaka subway station (upper middle on the map) and Osaka's airport is 50 minutes away by subway.

Finally, Iza's birthday was the 30th. Iza, Ines, Joana, Hera and I (plus 4 of Iza's friends) went to a Japanese restaurant called Inakaya in Hongdae. It was tasty but a little expensive, especially considering we ordered mostly Korean food, hah. But we got our own private room (with sliding door). And there's something to be said about eating in your socks (most fancy or traditional restaurants make you remove your shoes when you enter). :)


Another delicious cake (Strawberry Tiramisu) from Paris Baguette!

** When you leave Korea and immediately return (just to get a refreshed stamp in your passport) or leave to go to the nearest Korean consulate outside Korea (to get a new visa), this is called a "visa run" -- it's quite common in Korea, for foreigners that need to change their status and get unlucky at the immigration office (supposedly you have to leave Korea to change from "tourist" to "student," but I've read it's possible to get it done with some luck and a friendly attendant at the immi office), or for people who just continually stay on tourist visas. There's actually a ferry from Busan (southern South Korea, about 3-4 hours from Seoul) to Fukuoka, Japan that costs about $180 RT (plus the $100 RT from Seoul to Busan) that is a popular way to get it done. There's an embassy in Fukuoka, or, if you're not changing status, you can just hop on the next ferry back to get the new stamp in your passport allowing you to stay another 90 days (180 days for Canadians). Luckily, I entered Korea on a D-4 language student visa initially, which means I don't have to change status (because I was never a "tourist") or get a new visa for 18 months (the maximum duration of the D-4 visa before you have to reapply). And with my D-4 (which proves I'm staying in Korea longer than the 90 day tourist visa), I was able to get my Alien Registration Card, which enabled me to get a bank account/debit card, health insurance, cellphone plan, etc. You can get lesser/limited versions of these things (except insurance) without an ARC, but it's nice to just have everything in place.