I think I
have settled down here in Anam rather well. Naturally the daily life is very
different compared to living in Finland but I knew that before coming here.
Apparently, my attitude is correct. :D
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| On my way to dormitory |
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| Coffee break <3 |
One of the
first important purchases was a Korean sim-card. I want to be able to contact
others also when I’m not able to use free wifi. So I bought a Korean prepaid
plan. The plan is for six months and it cost 30 000 won, so about 25
euros. Though it only covers certain amount of phone calls and text messages.
I can add data for my sim-card for a
month. The month starts from the day the data is bought and added to my
sim-card. For the first month I got 2 gigabytes (about 20 000 won =
roughly 17 euros) which seems to be too much because you can find free wifi
connections all across Seoul. In addition, on the campus area I can use the
university wifi. Next time I will know that for me one gigabyte per month will
be enough.
Another important purchase was the local
“travel card”. As in the capital area in Finland here also people use “travel
card” to pay their tickets while using public transportation. It is a bit
different to the one I am used to back in Finland and it is much more
convenient. First of all you can buy this card in any convenience store (Mine
cost 5 000 won so about 4-4,50 euros). After that you can load money on it
in any store selling them and also automats located in the subway stations. To
pay your ticket the only thing you need to do is to show your “travel card” to
the card reader that charges your card this certain sum. If/when you show the
card to the reader again, when getting off the vehicle or the subway line etc.,
your card might be charged a little bit more but you will get certain time to
change lines for free or a much cheaper price.
Secondly, this “travel card” can also be
used in many other situations as a mean of payment. For example I can use it
while buying from a vending machine. I have also heard/read that you can even
pay your taxi with it. Basically it is a rechargeable smart card rather than
just a “travel card”.
I probably can’t call this a “purchase”
but every non Korean citizen must apply for Alien registration card when
staying in the country longer than three months. It is your ID here. To be able
to apply you must reserve an appointment from the immigration office and gather
all the necessary documents. Otherwise the procedure is simple: You go to the
office for your appointment, pay 30 000 won and hand over all the
documents. After this you’ll receive a certificate of leaving your application.
The certificate includes a date to pick up your card.
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| My "travel card" |
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| You can find vending machines everywhere |
The first full
week (Sep 5-9) was so crazy at least to us exchange students. We aren’t used to
having this Add & Drop period that is in the beginning of the term.
Like the name says Add & Drop period
offers students a chance to try out and add various courses or drop courses
they chose during the actual course registration. In other words the period
gives an opportunity to change your schedule formed during the course
registration. For example I was put on waiting list for couple courses and in
the end I got rejected. So after course registration I got in only two courses
which was not enough as KU requires students to take courses worth of 12 KU
credits at least (most of the courses are 3 credit courses).
Like many other exchange students I also
was afraid that I wouldn’t get in the courses I wanted to during the Add &
Drop period. Most of the courses were already full or didn’t fit my schedule.
Luckily I finally got in altogether 5 courses. I had to compromise and my schedule
is ridiculous. Basically my classes are divided so that I have the first class
in the morning starting at 9am and the next in the afternoon at 2pm or 5pm.
Well, at least I will have lots of time study since there are such huge gaps
between my classes.
REMEMBER NEXT TIME: During the course
registration try to get in as many courses as possible! It is much easier to
drop courses than add them during the Add & Drop period.
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| Studying... |
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| "Western" food. Pork cutlet and "mozzarella cutlet" |
Otherwise
my life here has had a great start. I still have difficulties trying to
communicate in Korean but there some improvement every day. :) I registered in
rather challenging Korean class but I believe that I can catch up now that Add
& Drop fuss is over.
Despite all the hurry I have met so many
new people. Special thanks to our lovely Korean “buddies”. They are always
there to help whatever the problem is. I think that could partly be the reason
why getting used to living here has felt difficult at all. Our “buddies” have
been so helpful and active. 앞으로도 잘 부탁드립니다!
I think many of you are interested in
getting used to Korean food. Before coming here, I had tried Korean food so I
had some sort of idea what to expect. And so far I’ve had no problems when it comes
to food: It is delicious. Of course so dishes are spicy but it hasn’t bothered
me. For now I haven’t missed Finnish food. Except pea soup. We talked about it
on Sopung’s (Finnish Student’s Association in Korea) picnic…^^’
Like in many other countries here also you
shouldn’t drink tap water so you either have to buy it or get water from water
purifiers that often offer both hot and cold water. You can find water
purifiers everywhere. At least in our campus you can find those everywhere so
simply carrying around a water bottle is enough. I have also seen purifiers
department stores and for example in Lotte World around the amusement park.
One thing I surely miss is regular
exercising. But on the other hand… I live in a dormitory that is located up on
a high hill. Climbing up the hill is basically hiking. Everyone living here
knows how much of an workout it is to get up here. Also the Anam campus in big
and I always walk everywhere here. At least the daily exercise is assured. :)
There is a gym in the dormitory but because of my crazy schedule it is a bit
difficult to find time to go there… We will see how things work out as I get
used to my daily life in here.
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| Yeouido Park on the Han river |
Here’s what
I’ve been up to lately. Next post will be about Chuseok that was celebrated
this week and also up-coming Korea-Yonsei match.
xxx
