First week at Ewha

So I've been in Korea for more than a week now and so much has happened.  I'm going to try to remember as much as I can and I'll include the pictures but for more pictures, visit my facebook album...I'm in the process of uploading it right now.

Oh and before I start, I just realized that I have taken a lot of pictures but none of Ewha or my dorm...I will do so once I clean up my room and the weather gets better here...it's far too humid and rains too much for me to want to take pictures of the campus.

So on Monday morning, Amy's father drove me to Ewha where I checked in to the Graduate Dorm.  I met my roommate, Ai who is from Japan but has been studying Korean for 2 years now...she is placed in the highest level of the Korean language class....I'm so amazed!

Ai and I - First dinner together :)

I went to get my cellphone with my PEACE (Professional Ewhaians at Cultural Exchange) buddy and other international students.  I got the cheapest phone (for 30,000 ₩) and my number is 010-4972-1171.  I have to put in money to use it if I run out of minutes...ah it's getting pricey!  After that, I had lunch with other PEACe buddies and I met 2 Austrian guys..they were very cool.  I went back to my dorm and had dinner and dessert around Ewha with my roommate and friends.

That's Sidney on the left, She's from Washington.  What an awesome dessert we had!  There was watermelon, pineapple, kiwi, red bean, ice cream, shaved ice, and more!

Tuesday was orientation day for all international and exchange students.  It was really nice to see a lot of international students and to know what I'll be doing for the rest of the semester. 

She's Chinese but majoring in Korean music.  The music she played was so beautiful.

Afterwards, there was a party for the international students at Sinchon at a bar call Bar Fly.  It was a lot of fun, I met more international students and it really made me feel like I was at home.  They played both American and Korean music and everyone was just dancing and having fun!

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Classes haven't began yet officially, Wednesday was the first day of class but from 9/1 to 9/8 we just go to class to see if we like it or not.  If we like the class, we need to get the professor's signature.  So far I've been to three of my classes and I enjoy it a lot.  I have a Korean language class that's very intensive, it's 5 days a week from 8:10am to 10:50!  I'm trying to memorize the vowels and consonants right now so that once I know the Korean alphabet, everything will be a lot easier.  The other class I signed up for Religion and Culture of Modern Korea and I absolutely love it!  The professor is hilarious and the class is not only fun and interesting but also very easy.  We only have one exam which is a take home essay for the final and he said he wants us to write a maximum of 5 pages!!  I also went to my Public Speaking class which is funny because it's also for people who want to improve their English...We're learning American English and I'm the only American in the class....muahahahahah

I have one more class to go to, it's called Documentary Production.  I got approved to take it for my Communication major but I'm not sure if I can take it here because I saw on the syllabus that we will converse in Korean even though the class is taught in English...I will check it out on Tuesday.

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Let's see on Thursday night, I went to a bar where they were playing Korean rock music.  My friend knows someone who plays in the band so we went to check it out.  It was so amazing!  I don't know what they were saying but it was so exciting and I love hearing different kind of music!

This singer is hilarious!

haha group pic with the band :)

On Friday, I went to get a haircut with my roommate!  It was so cheap here!  We went to a pretty upscale place.  I'm glad my roommate can speak Korean because the lady couldn't speak English at all so my roommate told her exactly what I want.  The whole thing cost 18,000₩ which is extremely cheap!

Ai and I after we got our haircut!

 Afterward I went out with some friends(this seems to be the norm here) and on Saturday morning I went sightseeing.  It was so much fun!  First we went to the Han River and it is just so gorgeous there.  It was very peaceful and there were many people riding bikes...man I wish I can ride a bike!

Han River - so beautiful

jumping pic!

Then we went to the Fish Market and omg...I will post some pics here but there are more pictures on facebook.  It was very cool!

oh gosh!

shark!

Later we went to Sayukshin Park where we saw tombs from the 17th century:

Later that night  I met with some friends and met more Korean people.  I grabbed a bite at McDonald to try their Bulgogi burger and it was so delicious!  I love international McDonalds!  Later we went to another bar where they played more Korean rock music.  Oh what a fun night!

McDonald's Bulgogi burger!

On Sunday, my roommate, and my friends Tringa and Claudio (they are from Switzerland) and I went to Myeongdong which is a big shopping place.  I bought two shirts for only 20,000₩!  It is so cheap here!  Now it's rainy heavy out so I'm staying in right now to write this blog, sort out the pictures to upload on Facebook and doing my laundry :)