Class Has Never Felt So Long

Today was my second day of class at Hanyang.  Six hours of college courses a day is pretty rough and I was dying to get out of there after two.  It's just that, well, I'm in Seoul!  I want to go see things.  My Contemporary Korean Society class is very interesting, but in International Marketing, we're talking about topics completely unrelated to marketing.  I'm hoping it'll turn around, but I'm not so sure.  I wish I could drop it and take North Korean Politics instead.


The highlight of today was a visit to Sindang for some ddokbokki, which is what I ate on my first night here - exactly a week ago!  This time, I felt much better prepared for the restaurant style and the meal, and even had a 500 mL Cass beer to drink:

Sharing the community-style ddokbokki.

Now, Hong and I are back in the room.  Time to do homework and get some rest.  Tomorrow is Friday and I feel jet-lag-free, so I'm ready to go out and experience Seoul's nightlife!   

First Day of Class!

I feel like a freshman again, celebrating my triumph over the first day of class.  I wasn't late, I didn't get lost, and I didn't spill my lunch.  I participated at a moderate level that suggests both eagerness to learn and control over that eagerness.  My first class, International Marketing, begins at 1 p.m., so I have the morning wide open.  For what, you may ask?  Certainly not sleeping, as my body's alarm clock once again beat the mechanical one on my desk.  Why, my morning work out, of course!  It's been exactly a week since I have completed what I consider to be an effective work out.  Around 9 a.m., I located the weight room in the basement of the guys' dormitory - a hot, non-air conditioned, sticky room with no windows, a few treadmills, and 3 or 4 weight machines.  I ran 3.018 kilometers on a Samsung treadmill.  Also, I weigh 55 kilograms, according to the scale.  Thursday, when I exercise again, I will run along the cool, shaded path beside the Han River, instead.  Running in the basement just won't do, unfortunately.  


Before class at 1, I located the cafeteria and mini-shop in the basement of the business building.  For much of my meal, I was the only foreign student eating.  I didn't feel too strange about it, to be honest.  I'm sure people were talking about me, but it doesn't bother me, really.  I wasn't doing anything weird or outlandish - just simply eating my instant noodles and banana and sipping on my tiny cold coffee drink (that I could have chugged in two gulps).  Maybe my chopstick-form was a little unorthodox, but I'm trying my best!


Class went well today - the classroom environment was jovial and interesting, much like my classes at ONU.  My classmates are from all over the globe - Malaysia, Japan, Poland, and Australia, to name a few.  My professor for International Marketing is from Finland.  I don't know anything about Finland, but our professor had us get into groups and write down our notions of her country.  One Korean student mentioned that she thought the people were exceptionally hairy, which I found hilarious.  When meeting some students in my International Marketing class, I mentioned that I was 21 years old.  A Korean student asked if 21 is my international age or Korean age.  That completely took me by surprise!  A Korean age?!  I asked how that was determined.  Through somewhat broken English, I gathered that Koreans count the time a fetus is in the womb as part of a person's years, so when a child is born, he/she is already 1 year old.  Additionally, Koreans turn a year not only on their birthdays but also on New Year's Day.  Technically, I think, my Korean age is 23 (I turned "22" on October 17, 2010, and "23" on January 1st, 2011).  The student said my Korean age is 19, which I don't quite understand, since time is added, not subtracted.  I will need to investigate this a little more thoroughly, but nonetheless, it's intriguing stuff!


Contemporary Korean Society runs from 4-7 p.m., but today, we ended class (after a vote, which would, in any circumstance, result in a landslide) early at 5:15 p.m.  The professor for this class is the definition of energetic, bouncing around the room like a tennis ball.  He talks quickly in somewhat-understandable English, releasing directed questions when we least expect them.  He was absolutely adorable in his pink shirt, buying us drinks (non-alcoholic) during our break, and explaining that the cans are so small because Korean stomachs are smaller than European stomachs, which are smaller than American stomachs.  The joke is always on us!


Today was the first time I've seen sunny-Seoul.  It is a truly beautiful city, framed with tall mountains fading into the cloudy haze.  Tomorrow, we venture to Everland/Caribbean Bay - the amusement park & water park.  Of course, there is a 100% chance of rain tomorrow.

When in Rome...Eat Korean BBQ!

Today, we had the Hanyang University welcoming ceremony and orientation.  High up on the 7th floor of the business building, 600 international students representing 385 universities sat in the auditorium and listened to the many exciting aspects of the Hanyang International Summer School.  

HISS Welcoming Ceremony

I thought this only happened in Ada.

After the welcoming ceremony, we took a campus tour in the wind and rain.  After the orientation, several students and I navigated our way through Seongdong to E-Mart, unveiling an entire community nestled behind the university dorms that I knew nothing about:

Seongdong

These tiny cultural districts are so overwhelming!  Ohioans, there is nothing like this back in our state.  There are restaurants, bars, stores, and homes stacked and crammed into the smallest alleyways imaginable.  It is a sensory overload of smells (both good & bad), sights, and sounds.  Turn around and a car may be inching along quietly behind you, ready to quite literally nudge you out of the way.  Places like this demand attention that is impossible to maintain.


Tonight, we tried Korean BBQ for the first time.  My preconception of this reputable Korean experience included an upscale, Western-looking restaurant with menus and exotic fish in fish tanks.  Instead, a group of us ventured back into Seongdong, down a quiet street, and into one of the dozens of tiny BBQ joints in the area.

Trying Korean BBQ for the first time.

At this restaurant, customers sit on pillows after leaving their shoes at the door.  This idea was much more appealing to me than it turned out to be in reality, as my long appendages did not fare well underneath a table standing a foot high.  In order to eat Korean BBQ, the Lonely Planet Seoul City Guide notes that customers "take a leaf in one hand, and with the other hand, use chopsticks to load it with meat, side dish flavorings, garlic, and sauces.  Then roll it up into a little package and eat it in one go" (95).  My friends, this is exactly what you do - with extreme emphasis on the "eat it in one go" part (which was hard!)  

I, Abbie Sterling, hater of most things meat-related, ate BBQ pork wrapped in lettuce filled with spicy sauces, mushrooms, bean sprouts, rice, onions, and kimchi.

The meat, onion, and garlic is barbecued on grills set into the table.

The grills are set into the tables.

Little, naive me, unsure about the meat. 

I had told myself (and everyone else) that I was going to stick to the vegetables and rice. However, as I sat at the foot-high table, my legs cramped in a very flat Indian-style pose, I wondered when I would ever get another chance (outside of this trip) to eat authentic Korean BBQ.  As the pork sizzled on the grill, I realized that the logical option would be to consume it in mass quantities.  Now I'm paying for it, full of BBQ and rice up to my uvula.  I may never eat again. 

A Myriad of Topics

Since our plans to go out to Hongdae tonight were foiled by rain and jet lag (some students just woke up at 10:30 p.m.), Hong and I decided to venture a short ways from campus in the Seongdong-gu area (I think!) to find some dinner with Tiffany, another ONU student.  I have noticed that a sulfer /egg-water-like smell is somewhat common in some areas of Seoul.  This smell in combination with the many different smells coming from the tiny restaurants is not altogether pleasant.  It actually makes me feel ill.  I'm sure there are many smells in the U.S. that is unpleasant for visitors - things we don't even notice anymore.  Surely, Koreans are used to this smell, but it is hard on my nose.

Anyway, we found a small Korean restaurant to try along with Tiffany's roommate, Aigerim, a girl from Kazakhstan.  She and her two friends, also from Kazakhstan, can understand some Korean, which was helpful.  I'm so jealous of the many international students that are bi-,tri-, and multi- lingual!  It's just not stressed enough in the U.S., which is sad. 

Now, we are back in the room.  The ten day forecast looks a tad bleak:

It looks like rain. 

Oh well, it is rainy season here, so I suppose a ten day forecast of 100% change of thunderstorms isn't unusual.  However, this is the first time I've seen a forecast like that! 


After returning to the dorm, Hong and I applied our facial masks we purchased today - a very popular trend in Korea. 

Trying out our face masks

Indeed, it has not been a particularly eventful evening.  It has been fun, though!


Now, I will conclude with some more photos of the Hanyang.

The business school, where my classes are held. 

The business school, where my classes are held. 

My dorm room

Using the drying rack will be an adventure.

To the right, the door leads to our bathroom.  The left-side doors are closets.  Also, note the drying rack on the ceiling.  I'm sure using that will be an adventure!