My transcripts (98% average), certificate of completion, certificate of
excellence (grade >90%), certificate of perfect attendance (100%).
One semester down, 3-5 more to go! To become a full-time student in Korea, you need level 4 proficiency on the Korean language standardized test (TOPIK), or, if you're only applying to SNU, you need to finish level 5 of their Korean courses. My hope is to do the latter, but SNU is extremely hard to get into, so I'm probably going to take the TOPIK. Still, they only offer TOPIK exams in April and September, so hopefully I can take the Intermediate test this fall. It is going to require a lot of solo prep work. I knew enough vocab coming in that the teacher usually glanced expectantly at me when she asked for the definition of a word, and still, just now, looking back at the Word document I updated with all the vocab I didn't know... it's 16 pages! Some lines are spent on the dates or important phrases, but still.... 16 pages is a lot more than I was expecting to not know, heh. Anyway, like any test, I just need to learn the format and go from there. In a previous post I mentioned I bought a few books with test grammar and sample tests with, most importantly, answer explanations (you can see all the old tests with answers but no explanations on the TOPIK website). That will be my starting point, hopefully beginning this week. I've already taken some sample Beginner level tests, and I definitely know enough to get Level 2 TOPIK, but Levels 3 and 4 are a whole different...level. :) So I plan to start by reviewing the Beginner level books then moving on to Intermediate level books by late spring, leaving me 3-4 months for Intermediate prep.
Sadly, due to visa issues, the Japan trip has been canceled. :( The US has tourist visa waivers with many countries, so Americans can travel most places in the world without needing to apply for a visa at the destination country's consulate (China is the only notable exception I know of). So without doing anything I am able to go to Japan as a tourist for up to 30 days. My traveling companion, however, is Brazilian and Brazilians need a visa from the Japanese consulate. We went to the one in Seoul last week, and they told her she was unable to apply for a Japanese tourist visa as a person on a tourist visa in Korea (permanent residents like myself can apply, though). She had asked at the Japanese consulate in Brazil if this situation would be a problem and they said no, but it was. :( It sucks, because you need a return plane ticket to get a visa, but then, if you can't get a visa, you've bought a possibly nonrefundable ticket for nothing. Luckily, with a great deal of patience, most of the trip was refunded by Travelocity. However, it was enough of a pain that I hope to never use them again, heh. Their main hours are 8am-5pm CST, which is 11pm-8am KST... so I called the 24-hour line the first time during off hours, and was promptly put on hold for 3 hours. I eventually hung up. After some Googling, this seems to be a common tactic.^^ I then called back during regular hours, and the lady said the hotel would be fully refunded in 2-3 days, but the flights would require a $90 cancellation fee per person, and the remainder would be refunded in 6-8 weeks! I wanted to talk it over with Iza, and by that point, she was sleeping, so I called back the next day. The lady I finally ended up cancelling with only charged a $46 cancellation fee per person, and she said the same thing -- 6-8 week wait time... but 2 days later, all my money (minus the $92 fee) was credited to my credit card. I'm glad I didn't have to pay off the trip and hope for a refund in 1-2 billing cycles, heh. But Iza still has to leave Korea by Feb 24th. We're kind of debating Macau (a place neither of us need a visa for), but the nonstop flights are expensive, and transiting through China is messy. Usually you need a tourist visa to even have a layover in a foreign country, but supposedly China waived the visa requirements for layovers in Beijing and Shanghai for 24-48 hours (depending on nationality), as long as you don't leave the airport. Still, I can't find an official source (say, the Chinese embassy website, which is entirely in Chinese), so I'm not sure I want to risk it, heh. So our next step is to go to the Immigration office and ask for an extension for her without leaving the country. It worked for my Portuguese friends. Hopefully with some tears and/or desperate pleas, they'll give it to her, then we can just go somewhere in Korea for a few days. I'd like to see Busan in southern South Korea, or Jeju, the volcanic island off the southern coast.
Jeju's currently in the 50s. Seoul yesterday was -11, and snow has been on the ground for a week.
There's a TON of English in Korea, and a lot of it is nonsensical. For example, I bought a microwavable hot pack that says if I use it I'll have a "happy and lone life." The happy part is cool, but I'm not sure I want a "lone" life, really... But sometimes the English make sense, but it's still strange and amusing.
If you couldn't tell by my face, Pepsi time is fun time!
Still, I appreciate the effort to translate things, so I can only complain (or laugh) so much, heh.
Finally, I've been looking for an umbrella for a while now. I bought one when I was here in September 2011, but the one spoke broke (heh) and whenever it was windy, the umbrella would turn inside out. There's a Japanese chain store here called Daiso that's kind of like a dollar store, I guess. Most things are a 1000 won (90 cents), but they have bigger items at multiples of 1000 won. They had small umbrellas for 3000 won and bigger ones for 5000. I bought a 5000 won one that is spring loaded, so you only have to push it a little bit, then it pops open the rest of the way. I wonder how long that mechanism will continue to work? :)
Left: My new umbrella. Right: Hidden behind the makeup bag section was a door with Lee Minho's face.
He's a model for the next shop over, so I guess they just put him on all the doors on that side of the 8th floor.
Today is the Lunar New Year. Because it's based on the lunar cycle, its date varies every year (last year was Jan 23). For this holiday and Chuseok (another Lunar holiday, similar to Thanksgiving, that's usually in September or October), Koreans leave Seoul to go back to their ancestral hometowns. We came during Chuseok in 2011, and the city was empty. Lots of stores were closed. It's supposed to be the same thing for the Lunar New Year. I hope a nearby restaurant is open, or at least the mart so I can buy and make ramen here. Off to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment