Bargaining Success!

If you want to buy clothing the best places to go are the "shi-jangs." because you can bargain anything! They have them mostly in Dongdaemun and Namdaemun. On Saturday, I went to Dongdaemun to the "Hello aPM" building. There are about 6 floors of clothes for men/women, jewelry, hair accessories, shoes, and bags. I really needed a large bag to fit my laptop and books and so I picked out this blue side bag that also converts into a shoulder bag. I kept looking at it and the girl said it's normally 55,000 won but since it was slow today, she'll give it to me for 45,000. She went down to 40,000 after a while and finally I asked her to give it to me for 35,000 won.

Now I would say that is a shopping success! Obviously she knew I was foreign too. So don't be scared to bargain. Only places you can't bargain are obviously the stores. But other than that carry around cash and try to break a deal!

Also, a huge fashion difference from Seoul and from California is that everyone here LOVES to dress up..especially, alot of college student girls. I realized Seoul reminds me of New York. Girls here will wear heels all day even when they have no cars and have to walk and use public transportation. I see a lot of girls here wearing blazers/coats too so they always look dressed up. It's so different because in Cali, I would only wear heels at night when I would go out. But here, they where them ALL day. I can't wear jeans and a hooded sweatshirt without feeling somewhat awkward.

And no joke....shopping here is NOT cheap. I could find good, quality clothes on sale in the US but I feel like clothes here start at about $30ish and average to $40ish for a top but if you go to a somewhat nicer store they will start at $50 for a nice top. I would NOT buy a $40 shirt that I could easily get for $20 at Forever 21 or on sale at Nordys. So bring your clothes...shopping for clothes here is not that great. If you want to blend in with the crowd, bring enough of your "nicer" clothes that are somewhat dressy. And a few casuals.

First Night Out at Hongdae

If you're in Korea and are looking to have a good time, everyone will always tell you to go to Hongdae. It's a really popular, young area...which pretty much sums up college life in Korea. Instead of going out to Sinchon, which I have been doing lately, I went to Hongdae. I met up Cathy, a friend from Berkeley who is teaching English, and her friend Helen. We went to a 3 story bar called Ho Bar. It was a very westernized bar with the usual type of liquors we see at bar in home. Had a really good time! We bought a table for about 69,000 won (like $69) for a bottle of Absolute (probably the best vodka here...there is no grey goose here) with some OJ, cranberry juice, and cut up fruit to munch on. Splitting that with a group is pretty affordable. I even learned how to play darts.

Food Galore!

One of the greatest things about Korea is the wonderful food. I love Korean food and can eat it all day everyday. Luckily there are also non-Korean food options as well.

When out on a date with Christine and Yuri to Garosukil in Apgujeong. It's an area with a lot of restaurants, cafes, and boutique stores. We ate at the Flying Pan which serves brunch type food. I chose the dinner option and got Seafood Tomato Risotto which came out quite delicious. We ended it with chocolate pancakes with ice cream which ended up more like thank slices of chocolate cake...but it was delightful, nonetheless.

Stopped by a cafe to buy some desserts for Yuri and Christine's family members.

These are some awesome cupcakes handmade from scratch my Yuri's cousin who is studying to open up her own bakery one day. Too pretty to eat.

Interviewing from the other Side

Sunday night I went to drink cocktail makali with my cousins. I tried strawberry, kiwi, and pineapple. Makali is a milky white Korean traditional drink made out of wine. By itself, it tastes okay.. The cocktail ones are delicious! I didn't bring my camera to take pictures but next time I definitely will....Because of course, I'm going to go back.

Monday I had to wake up at 6:45AM in order to get ready and subway ride for an hour and half to the Seoul Immigration office. It was so inefficient and disorganized as I mentioned in a previous post but since Yuri and I got there early, we were able to get out of there within an hour, even though we didn't have an appointment.

So while I'm waiting for my number to be called at the immigration office, I get a call from my boss asking if I wanted to come into work today. Mind you, I was exhausted from the morning commute and so all I was thinking about was going to sleep before I had class again at 4pm. But, he hold me they were conducting interviews for part-time and full-time positions and that it would be a good opportunity to see what it was like on the other side.

I got to squeeze in a 40 minute nap before having to get ready and go to the interviews. In the conference room, it was me and 3 other members of the team on one side of a table and then 3 chairs on the other side. It was apparently a group style interview.

As soon as the first group walked in, I was more nervous because I wasn't sure what to do. He never introduced me as an intern. Instead I looked like a full time consultant interviewing them!! It was pretty intense and quite exciting. Although I could only understand half of what they were saying, I graded them pretty much the same as the other evaluators. He asked questions about what they thought the position was about, how they would rate themselves in knowledge, motivation, personality out of 100%, and some other questions I couldn't really understand.

Part-time interviews were easier. But definitely he said the full time ones were harder because you can't really fire them once they're hired...so they have to be very careful on who they choose. During the full time group interview, there was this recent college graduate and you could tell he was really nervous. The whole time he had his hands in a fist, arms completely stretched out with one on top of each leg and sat up really straight. He was actually really good though. The interviewer asked why he was sitting like that towards the end and he said he had asked a friend for some advice and thats what he told him to do. It was actually really funny and that loosened up the tensity.

I had to leave during the first full time interview group. As I was going to the elevator, I ran into the stiff interviewee and he bowed to me. I felt like a power woman...little did they know I was just an intern LOL

Foreign Registration Card

If you are in Korea for more than 90 days, you need to register for an alien registration card. Let me warn you now....it is a disaster at the Seoul Immigration Office. It is very disorganized and if you don't have someone tell you what to do beforehand, you can be there for hours. So here are some tips:

1. Try to make an appointment online.

2. If not, you can do walk-in but go RIGHT when it opens, preferably a few minutes before. So show up around 8:50am.

3. As you walk in, go to the right, and grab a ticket number (if you have no appointment).

4. Go to level B1 and buy a 10,000 won stamp.

5. If you want to have your card delivered so you don't have to come back, then go to level 2, walk to the right and pay 4,000 won to have your card delivered to your apartment. Obtain a slip and go back to the first floor office. Grab an application, fill it out, and stick the stamp on the bottom, while also sticking a 3x4 cm picture of yourself on the top right corner.

6. Then wait for your number to be called.....GOODLUCK.

Note: if you are an exchange student, you need to bring a certificate of enrollment (this should be given to your by your school or program)

Discovery of Nurikum Square

The night it snowed in March!

The day after. The campus was very pretty. I felt like I was in Narnia. This hill, by the way, is going to be the death of you every day if you take Korean language classes.

Digital Media City (DMC) is a newly built area in Seoul, Korea. A lot of Korean people don't really know about it too much when you say "I live in DMC." But currently there's a lot of investment and construction going on to made this area more populated and an urban digital center of Seoul. Basically, it's kinda quiet here. But the other day, my neighbor Yuri and I adventured out to eat hamburgers because we had a huge craving for it. We heard this place two blocks down from our apartment called Big Bobby was pretty good. It was actually pretty awesome except the fact that I thought it was like a kids meal because it was so small. After eating we decided to walk around the area just to see what was around.

We discovered SOO many restaurants and a food court that we never knew existed. There are about 5 cafes that sell coffee and waffles. Waffles, by the way, are a huge thing in Korea right now. There were a few BBQ places, seafood places, chicken places, and a chinese restaurant. We walked a little further and discovered a cute, little Italian restaurant also. AND most of all, we discovered a cultural museum and historic film center all within 2 blocks from our apartment! There was also a few bars/pubs and a karaoke bar. We were pretty much amazed at all the things we could do in this area.

So last night, I craved soon dubu jjigae (soft tofu soup) and Yuri was craving beef. Beef in Korea is pricey because it is imported. Therefore, eating a steak or some kalbi (bbq beef) can be pretty expensive compared to eating pork or chicken. We went to nurikum square and discovered a bbq and soon dubu jjigae restaurant. We came out to be 31,000 won ($31) for 2 servings of bbq beef and a beef soon dubu. Words could not express how happy we were to finally eat some beef! 15,500 won ($15) per person is pretty expensive considering you can get meals for about 5,000 won ($5) average. Good thing is that there is no tip and tax is always included so the price you see is always the price you pay!

Yuri and I went out with a few friends in Sinchon (Yonsei University area). We started out at IPub which had a lot of international people and then ended at Barfly. IPub was cool because we were able to sit down, talk and drink. I'm still not very fond of Barfly though because it seems like I'm just in a frat party and everyone is wasted and hooking up. But it's a pretty popular place for all the Yonsei exchange kids.

I think the one thing I really hate about Korea is you spend a lot of your time on a bus or subway to get around and it almost always takes about an hour to get anywhere because of the wait time, travel time, and walking time.

Last Thursday I decided to try the bus in the morning to go to my internship instead of the subway. The subway is soooo crazy and packed during rush hours. Little did I know, there was insane traffic during rush hour too so it took me abut 90 minutes to get to work in the morning. I had to call my boss to tell him I was going to be late. Never taking the bus to work again...

Hello!
This is me on my downtime at work =D

HUGE UPDATE

It's snowing in Korea right now. It's the first time I've seen it snow since I've gotten here! They say March is supposed to be pretty cold and then it'll start warming up in April.

Okay, so I haven't updated in a while and I feel like so much happens to me in one week. So to make things simpler, I'll outline it out.

• Internship
• Failed Night Out
• DMC Ville
• Korean Language Class

INTERNSHIP

I had my first day of internship last Thursday. My cousin and I went to the office through public transportation last Wednesday so that I wouldn't get lost or be late to work on the first day. I was really nervous the first day. When I first met the director I was very intimated by him. As soon as he came in, I sat down with him and he handed me a 100+ page publication and told me he wanted me to read it and eventually translate it into Korean. He also wanted me to strategize how to utilize the publication to our advantage and to make a presentation in Korean to the entire staff.

Within the first hour, I literally was thinking of ways on how I could quit. I freaked out. I didn't want to stress myself out during my time abroad. But after lunch, we went to Starbucks and I confronted him about my feelings and how I wasn't sure about doing this internship. He was very nice and told me he didn't expect that much performance from me. He assured me this was an opportunity for me to learn more than to work. He was quite convincing. So I decided to stay. At first I was supposed to work Tues-Friday 8:30-3pm but I was able to get some Fridays off so that I have more free time to explore Seoul. Last Friday I was able to go to the headquarters of a VERY large company in Seoul. I was able to sit in during the meeting and learn more about the Global Reporting Initiative. (By the way, the division I work under is the Sustainability Management Center which provides assurance and consulting services in sustainability strategy and management)

Going to Korean class by 4pm is a struggle every time I work! I have to leave work by 3pm in order to get to class by 4pm. It's actually only about 30 minutes away but it takes about 15 minutes to walk up the hill to the Korean Language Institute building and the crosswalks in Korea take about 4 minutes for the light to turn green to walk.

FAILED NIGHT OUT

So Friday night my roommates and I decided to go out for our first night in Seoul. We heard about a really popular, upscale club called Eden at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. However, the Ritz is in Kangnam and so it took a little more than an hour to get there from DMC. From the subway, we had to walk like 5 blocks to get to the hotel..When we finally got there, we showed our IDs but me and one of my roommates only brought our Yonsei school ID. We assumed you had to be of age if you were a college student so we thought it would be okay. However, the guy literally would not let us in after much hassle. So we ended up taxi-ing it back home and hanging out at our apartment.

NOTE TO FUTURE KOREA ABROAD STUDENTS: Korea is not that strict but they will be at nightclubs. Therefore, bring an ID with your birthdate on it or else you're not getting in!!!

DMC VILLE

I'm loving DMC Ville more and more. For those applying for housing under the Yonsei program, I highly recommend DMC Ville (S-house/off campus) option. Compared to a dorm room, we get a fully furnished luxury apartment with kitchen and laundry. There's also maid service once a week which is a lifesaver. She makes our bed, wipes the floor, and cleans the bathroom. We also get a GYM with a lap pool, jacuzzi, and sauna!! They also have a virtual golf driving range and a squash court. My roommates and I decided to make Monday nights our sauna spa days. The only con is that you have to take a 20 minute bus ride to go onto campus, which can be pretty inconvenient if you have gaps in your schedule. But I literally never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a bus because they come so often. The advantage of having your own "home" to come back to is worth the amount your have to pay plus it comes with amazing amenities.

KOREAN CLASS

I got put into Intermediate Level 1 class for Korean language. There are 3 levels each for beginner, intermediate, and advanced. We get one teacher MWF and another teacher for T/TH. But today we had too many people in our class (20 students) so they split us into 2 classes. I like it much better because the class gets to know each other better and there are more chances to practice speaking. Practicing speaking Korean is VERY crucial. I'm still a little shy in speaking Korean but I'm getting there.

PICTURES!

Here are the links to pictures so far:

February

March

LONG, TIRING WEEKEND

It's been such a tiring weekend. I spent the weekend visiting relatives outside of Seoul. But before I get to that...I have good news!

On Friday morning, I prepared allll morning for what I thought was going to be phone interview in Korean from the Korea Productivity Center. This was the company that I was referred to by the professor I mentioned previously in another post. So when the phone call finally came, I ran into the room for privacy and was so nervous. I was scared that I would fail to express myself in Korean and the interviewer would get a bad impression of me. Little did I know that he spoke almost fluent English!! It wasn't an interview at all. It was more about him telling me things that I would be doing and him wanting to know when I could start =) The professor already had mentioned that I wanted an internship to become fluent in Korean and so they were totally accomodating. The first month, he said, I would be translating so that I can get a feel of the business terminology. Then I will be doing some research and helping develop come of their products. I'll also have to do presentations in front of the rest of the staff...ALL IN KOREAN =X

I'm pretty nervous but I am almost positive that my Korean will improve within a matter of a month. And that's exactly what I wanted. Being put into the real world and being forced to speak Korean was just the type of experience I was searching for. I'll be working Tuesday-Friday from 8:30am - 3pm. Then take Korean language classes at Yonsei University from 4pm-6pm. It'll be really busy and hectic but I hope that having a three day weekend will make things a little easier.

So...back to the weekend. I took a charter-type bus to Jeonju to visit my aunts from my stepmom's side of the family. My aunt's new apartment that she moved into was soooo nice and big!! The underground garage was filled with mostly all foreign car. Usually people in Korea drive Korean cars but if they drive a foreign car, it usually is a sign of some wealth. I found out that the apartment complex that she lived in was full of doctors!

Because my internship requires me to wear a suit for the first week of work, I needed some business clothes. I have a lot at home but didn't think I would find an internship so I brought most of my casual clothes to Korea. At Jeonju, I went to a place called HomePlus which is like another Korean Walmart. The clothes there were pretty expensive though but with the help from my aunts, I was able to get some really good sale clothes for work. We ended up getting one blue skirt suit, an ivory skirt, and some grey slacks. After shopping my aunt and uncle took me to eat Italian food in Korea. The food was actually really good! We ordered it as a set so the meal came with cream of mushroom soup, chicken salad (BOMB!!!), spicy seafood pasta, shrimp pizza, and a dessert of choice.

After Jeonju, I went to Kunsan to visit my dad's side. I have to say, there wasn't much to do there. It was a small town and the most exciting thing to do was walk around E-Mart and drink a latte at McDonalds. It was good though to see my aunts and uncles. At night they took me to eat bbq and roast duck. It was actually really delicious! I couldn't wait to get back to Seoul. I took the charter bus back to Seoul (3 hour drive) and then took the subway from the bus terminal back to my apartment. UGHHH it took me 2 hours to get home from public transportation. The subway and bus system in Korea is very organized, efficient, and easy to understand. But I MISS DRIVING SOOOO MUCH. It just takes me soo long to get from one place to the other and it didn't help that I was carrying around luggage.

After a freakishly long day of traveling, I finally made it home.

Tomorrow's schedule:

2pm-Meet a Yonsei business student which I met on the KLI (Yonsei's Korean Language Institute) website forum

4pm-Take my Korean language placement exam

Pictures to come soon!