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Yesterday was a good day :). It felt like summer with temperatures - at least if I can rely on Wunderground - rocking the 22°C... The sky was clear, the three blossoms were blooming... perfect.
Of course, I had my class in the morning till 1pm. And I must say, second impressions are better than first ones. Maybe I expected something else of my class of being more international in stead of only Chinese, Japanese and one Ukrainian, but eventually maybe it doesn't matter that much. I still don't know the people of my class very well yet, because they tend to cluster together, the Japanese and the Chinese. And I am a single case of not really Chinese and also not really Belgian, Dutch or American. I sometimes get confused when I have to explain, where I come from. I just say I am European Chinese or something.
I really enjoy taking the classes, if time flies, that's a good thing, isn't it? I especially like the teacher of the last 2 hours, who is so cheerful and enthusiastic. Maybe because we tend to be more active in stead of just learning grammar during the first 2 hours.The teacher is cute and pretty too.... I should take some pictures some day for my male readers ;p.
After class I went to the University bookshop and bought myself some notebooks - the paper versions of course - and did some local shopping for garbage bags. In Seoul we have to recycle. I got a folder at the tourist information office few days ago about recycling and read it through. I am glad they recycle here, just like in Belgium. Back in the States, we do have some garbage cans for recycling paper and plastics and cans, but not many people of our apartment complex are doing that, which I think is very sad. I am not a eco freak, but still, keeping the environment clean and try to recycle to spear our mother earth's resources is good attitude.
Cherry blossoms at Yeouido 여의도
In the afternoon I took the sub to Yeouido, known as the 'Manhattan' of Seoul with it's high rise buildings. It's a small island located in the middle of the Hangang that runs through Seoul. The river is decorated with many bridges that are lit up by night and gives the City it's famous and most beautiful night views.
For the Korean drama fans, here are also the main Korean broadcast stations located like KBS and MBC.
Speaking about drama, on my way to the Yeouido park, I say two people having a word fight in the middle of the road because of a car accident. A good looking young lady in a nice car bumped into the taxi driver and of course both blamed each other which gave great spectator's view :p. They were shouting to each other, I tried to listen but didn't really understand. Yeah, I always like to pick up conversations around me, trying to improve my listening skills. I don't walk around with my mp3 earplugs anymore, maybe because I want to absorb as much of the city's sounds as much as I can.
I asked the way to the 'Spring Flower Festival'. I knew that Japanese are crazy about 'sakura' cherry trees and there blossoms, but it seems Korean like that as well. I must admit, I have never seen so much blossoming cherry trees all together...
It was very crowded yesterday, because of the nice warm weather. There were a lot of couples walking through that tunnel of blossoming flowers, quite romantic. Too bad I missed one person next to me... But I enjoyed it very much. Along the road there were vendors selling small streets snacks or artists taking or drawing pictures.
On my way back to the subway station, I stopped along the Han River where I could watch the late afternoon sun and observing couples riding bicycles, picnicking, kissing - although it was hidden for public I caught a young couple hidden in the high grass along the river bank .... aaaah .... lovely spring vibes in Seoul with a beautiful city scene... Koreans are very romantic people :))
Silk worms
From romantic cherry blossoms to something else now....HORROR. That day I saw at least 20 stands where they sell some kind of cooked 'cocoons' of some kind of butterfly. Beondegi 번데기. I couldn't look at it for too long or my stomach would turn upside down and it didn't really smell nice.
But I heard, it does taste very good so I have decided I have to try this once in a lifetime and to overcome my fear of worms. And it's a good source of proteins, dixit Bear Grylls. And it's not really meat. I have been afraid of worms all my life or everything that crawls like a worm or maggot. I am not afraid of spiders though. So I am going to eat this one day, with my eyes closed of course. Hope I will be mentally prepared by then, within a few weeks or so... hehehe, but as for now, not yet ;p.
Dinner with three
I had dinner again with Heli and Yeong Hon 영헌 at one of Yeong Hon's favorite eateries near our campus. The boss of the eatery was very kind and we ordered three kind of 'soups' like 참치찌개 with bibimbap 비빔밥.
This bibimbap was slightly different than the ones I already had : we got a metal bowl of rice and it was mixed by the owner at the table with some lettuce, seaweed, dressing and hot sauce. It was delicious :).
Pubbing at Crimson's roof
Afterwards we ended up on the roof of Crimson House to have some drinks that we bought at the night shop. The evening view was splendid and we could see Seoul Tower from our place. We could see and hear university students hanging out in the grass fields of the campus, probably also enjoying the nice warm spring evening with some liquids as well. Jen - an Australian exchange student like Heli - and two other Korean ladies joined us. We had some very interesting talks and listened to some music. There was even a small introduction to Austrian Waltz. Aaaaah.... spring vibes in Seoul.... I really felt like going back in time living a student's life. Wish it could last forever :))
Toch een keertje terug in het Nederlands voor de insiders. Beetje makkelijker te schrijven en bovendien god weet wie dat allemaal nog leest... mensen van mijn klas misschien... Het was een druk weekend geweest en veel nieuwe mensen leren kennen. Maar het blijft bij 'eerste keer' leren kennen. De meesten zitten allemaal op een andere universiteit in de buurt en zijn uitwisselingsstudenten. Ik moet dringend mijn blog eens updaten vanaf donderdag. Ondertussen weer andere delen van Seoul gezien. De laatste dagen is het prachtig weer hier. Het is net zomer, ik loop soms met korte mouwen rond, maar zoals gewoonlijk dragen meeste Koreanan of Aziaten lange mouwen en bedekken ze hun gezicht om toch maar wit te blijven....
Net terug van mijn eerste ochtendles. Kan nog niet echt zeggen wat ik ervan moet vinden, ik wacht een beetje af. Het resultaat van de plaatsingstest ben ik pas zaterdag teweten gekomen, ik zit niet in level 2, maar ook niet in level 1. Level 1 is te makkelijk en level 2 te moeilijk. Dus zit ik in een intermediate klas 1.5 en het resultaat is dat we richting 2.5 gaan. Gek he?
De leerkrachten vallen goed mee. De leerkracht voor de eerste twee uren is midden tot eind 20 denk ik en geeft grammatica en schrijven. De leerkracht voor de laatste twee uren is ook van die leeftijd en begeleidt vooral het luisteren en spreken. Deze laatste is meer een spring in het veld en krijgt de klas goed mee met haar zonnig karakter en enthousiasme. Beiden zijn vrouwen en beiden zijn best wel mooi, vooral de laatste is heel schattig en energiek.
Ik dacht eerst dat we met minder leerlingen in een klas gingen zitten, maar ik was mis. Qua nationaliteit zitten we met 12 mensen in een klas, waarvan de helft Japanners, de andere helft Chinezen uit China, ik en nog een jonge kerel uit Oekraïne. Misschien moet ik niet afgaan op eerste indrukken, maar ik vind die kerel net een beetje te arrogant op eerste indruk. Bweeek. Mijn maag keert om van arrogante mensen.
Qua geslacht 2 mannen en 12 vrouwen. Qua leeftijd allemaal begin 20 en student, ik 30 en nog een oudere Japanse vrouw die ergens eind van haar 50 zit. Blij dat er ook een oudere vrouw bij is. Zij is leerkracht Engels en heeft twee zonen van ongeveer mijn leeftijd.
De jonge Chinese meisjes kwetteren nogal veel tijdens de les wat me eigenlijk best wel stoort, omdat ik gewoon wil opletten. De Japanse meisjes daarentegen zijn heel rustig en aandachtig. De meeste meisjes vinden de aanwezigheid van de jonge rebelse gast wiens identiteit ik niet nog eens ga vernoemen, wie weet dat hij ooit mijn blog doorbladert en zijn 'thuisland' en 'arrogant' leest... enfin, de meeste meisjes vinden hem wel leuk. De leeftijd zeker. Ik vond hem maar niets. Een overjarige puber met lang haar, staart en dunne snor, denkt dat hij Don Juan is en die voortdurend om aandacht vroeg en denkt dat hij het IS en nochtans zooooooOOO jong.... Roddelen over mensen is niet goed he? Zo denken over mensen is niet goed he? Nochtans ben ik redelijk tolerant, alleen zijn er sommige types mensen die ik echt niet moet.... Waarschijnlijk andersom ook niet. Des te beter, hehe ;p
Pffft, begin ik echt al als een oud wijf te klinken? Maar hoe dan ook ben ik wel vriendelijk genoeg geweest om even met hem naar de boekenwinkel van de universiteit te gaan om hem de cursussen te tonen en dan heb ik me maar uit de voeten gemaakt. Ik heb gemengde gevoelens bij deze klas, maar misschien zeggen eerste indrukken niet echt veel. Het is anders. Met de Oostenrijkse kerel van mijn kot die ik net heb leren kennen, klikte het meteen. Voorlopig voel ik het nog niet met mijn klasgenoten. Misschien komt het nog wel. Anders ga ik een 'eenzame' periode in de klas tegemoet.
Anyway, ik geef niet op. Ik ga goed studeren en er het beste van maken en nog boeken bijkopen om ook zelfstudie te doen. Eigenlijk zou ik nog eens echt moeten leren shoppen, zoals kleren, schoenen en handtassen, THE ITEMS to purchase here, maar ik geraak er gewoon niet toe. Bij momenten voel ik mij beetje underdressed, omdat ik nu eenmaal altijd in jeans rondloop en in mijn favoriete grijze broek die ik al meer dan 10 jaar heb. Hehe, wie weet kom ik wel terug met bloemetjesjurkje en kanten sokjes ;p. Neeeeeih !!!! Never...
Yesterday evening the manager of Crimson House knocked on my door and asked me if I had plans in the evening... So I told her I had nothing special in mind. She asked me if I was interested to go out to have dinner with an Austrian and Korean guy who live on the fifth floor of Crimson, so I said yes. At first, I thought she was coming to, that would be nice, but she was not planning to. I checked the age for sure and the guys were mid twenties. That can work =).
The Austrian guy - let's call him H to begin with because I don't know if he wants his name published - is a 4 months exchange student at Kyunghee University and is in his final year. The Korean guy - let's call him P - studies at Korea University and is a native Korean with hometown in Busan, located at the south east end of South Korea.
P took us out to dinner near the campus, in a street of which I didn't knew the existence of... of course, I just got here. Actually, I already have been there on Monday when I was at the Hana Bank for my bank account, but I didn't leave the building at the main street's side but at the campus' side. So I didn't notice it. And I thought I lived in a quite neighborhood :). In comparison with Sinchon, these few streets were peanuts. But still the presence of shops, bars, eateries and the crowd of students really made this area into a bustling place to hang out in the evening. And it's not even far from my student house. We went to a 'chicken eatery' were we had some .... yeah CHICKEN. Comparable with KFC, but home style-like. Being a non meat eater, I just ate some vegetables.
Afterwards we went to a 'pub' or 'bar' where we had some snacks - Korean non fat 'chips' and dried squid with peanuts - and drinks. There was a neon sign of 'Hoegaarden' and a big poster of 'Stella Artois' hanging on the wall, so I told them that my home town was Leuven, the Stella Artois town. But they didn't have a clue what I was talking about ;p. "Mijn thuis is waar mijn Stella staat."I had my first 'Korean stout' Hite Stout and actually it reminded me a of a Palm... So was it really a stout? Is it a 'non compliment' if I try to compare one of our nation's centuries pride called Palm to a foreign beer? Or have my taste buds become so wasted because of the spicy Korean food ;p. And here comes another question : is 'stout' synonym for 'dark ale' while as Palm is an 'amber ale'? Hmmm... I am not really a beer expert, although I come from the 'country of beers'.
H and P were very nice company to hang out with. We talked about a lot of things, especially about cultural differences between Austria, Belgium / Netherlands, USA and Korea, China / Hong Kong. Sometimes it's not so clear to me and to others what nationality I am and where exactly I came from, being Chinese with Dutch nationality, having lived in Belgium for the greatest part of my life and recently moved to the USA which literally IS the country where I came from before I entered Korea. I am sensing a status of 'placelessness' right now.
It's really nice to meet new people, to talk the whole time and find out about things you never knew before. At least, I go out more often than I did during the past half year in the USA ;p. I like meeting people of other cultures and different backgrounds : it broadens your mind, changes your way of thinking about the world and life in general.
Introduction of KLCC
Got back from my placement test around 1pm. First thing I wanted to do was calling Li Jen. I didn't really feel sure about the result. Actually the placement test wasn't difficult at all. The whole happening was well organized by the Korean Language and Culture Center of Korea University, the institute that is responsible for the Korean Language teaching to foreigners. Before entering the auditorium the participants all got a nice transparent portable briefcase with the necessary information and the test sheets of course. There were a lot of Asian people, most among them where Chinese from China and some Japanese as well. I only noticed a hand full of non Asian people and a hand full of people possibly somewhere in their 30's or older. Most students were early tweeners.
Actually, the placement test was not that difficult. The first part of the test wasn't exactly a test but the introduction of the Korea University and the KLCC and what was to be expected during this term. The introduction was held in Korean, English, Mandarin and Japanese. Funny that I understood just the bits and pieces of those three Asian languages.
The program looked very interesting with a lot of outside of class activities like field trips to Buddhist temples, hiking in the nature, but you can also join a 'culture', 'Korean traditional dance' or 'movie' club. I also signed in for a 'buddy's program' which means I will get a Korean student volunteering to help me out during my stay here in Korea and to practice the language with. Condition is that I have to meet him or her at least twice a week... I hope I do get a more 'mature' 'buddy' and not a 18-year young one who's in a totally different life stage than I am. Even my younger brother is maturing in his early twenties now ;p. But even then, still have to keep my mind open to that scenario.
The classes last 10 weeks, every weekday from 9am to 1pm. In the afternoon, we can join various activities. We will start on next Monday. Tests are held on every Monday and we will have mid-terms in May and graduation in June. Of course, everything will be graded so I hope I will do fine.
The test
The whole introduction took about one hour of the orientation. The real 'test' part of it consisted in two parts and was actually not that hard : a writing test and speaking test. The writing part was to write a self introduction, which I have done a few times already during my time at Adroit College, so I was well prepared. After the writing, the ones who already had some experience in Korean had to go to another classroom to do the interview. I had to wait for about half an hour or three quarters in a row of at least 30 people. While waiting I had a conversation with a Chinese guy, somewhere from the western part of China. We talked a bit in English and Mandarin. I got a bit confused while talking when using Mandarin and English and some Korean words at the same time. The guy was accompanying his friend who had to take the test and who's been here for already one year. But that guy didn't speak English that well and I couldn't understand his Mandarin dialect that well. There was another young girl sitting next to me, who couldn't understand his dialect, so I was a bit relieved. Still, I have to fresh up my Mandarin a bit. I might be a good opportunity here.
All of them were 20 years old, so I felt a bit weird amongst them. Most of them were amazed that I already hit the 30's, being married and have worked for a while. But hey, life can turn out in a funny way. Hahaha, they told me I am a funny woman. I take that as a compliment. Maybe I have that stuck to the ground Belgium humor ;p. Hahaha. Having worked in the construction business for more than 5 years, as a woman, you should have some guts, humor and sense of relativity in a mainly men's world ;p.
I actually wasn't nervous at all during the speaking test. I just did the best I could and hoped I can get into level 2, because level 1 is really at the beginner's bottom, having to learn reading and writing all over again. I could answer almost all of the teacher's question, about my life, my family, my reason to study here, but of course, I might not be as fluent as a level 1 student who has graduated after an intensive 10 weeks course at this school. So the teacher told me that I was actually too advanced to start at level 1 but maybe level 2 will be difficult for me, because I might not have covered all the grammar of a level 1 student. Luckily during my stay in the USA, I bought myself a grammar book of Yonsei University where I studied on myself a bit and I finished my book at Adroit College on myself. If not, I would certainly end up in level 1. So they still have to decide on this. Maybe they are holding some kind of 1.5 level class. But she also told me if level 2 was too hard I can always change to 1. So, let's hope for the best. I really didn't go all the way to here to learn the Korean alphabet all over again.
Hmmmm... I feel worried though. We will get the test results on Friday April 4, at 6pm. Thumbs all up!!
Shopping on the campus
In the afternoon, I went out for shopping for some books on the campus. Whether I end up in level 1 or 2, I still like to have some tutoring books on languages. The campus has a lot of student facilities like coffee shops - not the Dutch ones of course - bookstores, banks, eateries, bookshops, study rooms, ... Some of them are located below ground level and have a bit the atmosphere of a small scale underground shopping mall. I still feel a bit strange being a student again, but I think I will get used to it once the classes are getting started. Just really can't wait to begin :).
(... so as for now, I am going to update my 'Korea University' entry...)
I am having my placement test today. Exactly within 50 minutes. The campus building where I need to be is just 20 minutes walking from my student home. It is pouring rain outside. Just enjoyed my last slice of bread for extra energy. Have to go now. Hope everything will go well. Still a bit nervous though... so thumbs up :)
Hmmm... het is nog net geen half 8 in de morgen. Een deel van Seoul slaapt nog. De morgendzon groet mij in mijn klein kamertje en ik voel mij gezegend. Tussen 6 en iets voor 8 is het in dit deel heel rustig. Geen nachtgeluiden meer van lachende mensen die terugkomen van een bar of het krakend geluid van vuilzakken die door een kot of een mens doorzocht worden. Het is rustig in dit deel van de ochtend. Je hoort Seoul rustig ontwaken. De eerste bromfietsjes voor ochtendleveringen in de verte, de eerst vrachtwagens, rolluiken aan winkeltjes die open gaan... Ik hou van de ochtend. Omdat het telkens een nieuwe dag is, met nieuwe kansen, nieuwe pogingen, je mag telkens opnieuw beginnen om er weer het beste van te maken.
Gisteren ben ik al wakker kunnen blijven tot een uur of 21h, de vorige dagen kreeg ik steevast rond 18 a 19h mijn klop en plofte ik op mijn bed en weg was ik. Volgens mij zat ik nog in Californië tijd te leven.
Vandaag ben ik iets voor 7 opgestaan. Douche gepakt. De diep gele zon schijnt nu op mijn keyboard en begeleidt mijn vingers bij het schrijven. Ik denk even aan thuis, ik heb net een 500 tal foto's bekeken, ik denk aan jullie. Hmmm... dat waren een fijne kleine 2 weken België. Maar ik zal dapper wezen hier. Geen zorgen om mij te maken. Ik stel het goed. Ik zit hier goed. Ik voel me goed :).
In the afternoon I took the sub to Yeouido, known as the 'Manhattan' of Seoul with it's high rise buildings. It's a small island located in the middle of the Hangang that runs through Seoul. The river is decorated with many bridges that are lit up by night and gives the City it's famous and most beautiful night views.
Speaking about drama, on my way to the Yeouido park, I say two people having a word fight in the middle of the road because of a car accident. A good looking young lady in a nice car bumped into the taxi driver and of course both blamed each other which gave great spectator's view :p. They were shouting to each other, I tried to listen but didn't really understand. Yeah, I always like to pick up conversations around me, trying to improve my listening skills. I don't walk around with my mp3 earplugs anymore, maybe because I want to absorb as much of the city's sounds as much as I can.
I asked the way to the 'Spring Flower Festival'. I knew that Japanese are crazy about 'sakura' cherry trees and there blossoms, but it seems Korean like that as well. I must admit, I have never seen so much blossoming cherry trees all together...
It was very crowded yesterday, because of the nice warm weather. There were a lot of couples walking through that tunnel of blossoming flowers, quite romantic. Too bad I missed one person next to me... But I enjoyed it very much. Along the road there were vendors selling small streets snacks or artists taking or drawing pictures.
On my way back to the subway station, I stopped along the Han River where I could watch the late afternoon sun and observing couples riding bicycles, picnicking, kissing - although it was hidden for public I caught a young couple hidden in the high grass along the river bank .... aaaah .... lovely spring vibes in Seoul with a beautiful city scene... Koreans are very romantic people :))
But I heard, it does taste very good so I have decided I have to try this once in a lifetime and to overcome my fear of worms. And it's a good source of proteins, dixit Bear Grylls. And it's not really meat. I have been afraid of worms all my life or everything that crawls like a worm or maggot. I am not afraid of spiders though. So I am going to eat this one day, with my eyes closed of course. Hope I will be mentally prepared by then, within a few weeks or so... hehehe, but as for now, not yet ;p.
This bibimbap was slightly different than the ones I already had : we got a metal bowl of rice and it was mixed by the owner at the table with some lettuce, seaweed, dressing and hot sauce. It was delicious :).
Pubbing at Crimson's roof
