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Published: April 19th 2006
Thursday Afternoon:
I have just had the most traumatic last few hours. Two to be exact, and they were spent in the Woorie Bank. I first had to exchange the rest of my USA currency. Then I went to go open my account. I gave the teller my money order and she stood up and hurriedly escorted me back to the currency exchange speaking to me in Korean the whole way. This was after she had asked me if I spoke Korean and I told her that I did not. So I waited in line again at the currency exchange (after waiting in line at the bank). When it was finally my turn, the lady told me that the money order (which contained all of my money other than what I carried over on the plane) would take a month to clear.
So I went back over to where my friend Ein Chai was setting up an account. None of the tellers speak English. Ein Chai is from Singapore and doesn't speak Korean. There were six of us together. Four Japanese girls: Yoki, Yoka, Yoku (talk about confusing), and Yooska, plus Ein Chai and I. Only one of us spoke Korean, Yooska, but she doesn't speak English. So in order for Ein Chai to open an account, Yooska would translate the Korean to Japanese and Yoku would then translate the Japanese to English. It was a mess, but it worked. So after she was finished they helped me. I opened up a check card account where they gave me the card immediately (with the $100 I had). Hopefully I can cancel the Money order and wire transfer it to my new account.
Another bonus: They told us that it was highly recommended for students to bring their own lap top computers, but they didn't bother to tell us that no one uses or knows how to use Macintosh. So I will probably not be able to get the Internet to work in my room at all.
That morning we had orientation, where we watched videos had speakers and learned about different activities. After that we went for lunch, which was odd, but really tasty.
After Lunch, Hasan a fairly quiet international business major from Turkey, and I walked around Yonsei for about 3 hours. We explored the different buildings that interested us and tried to become familiar with the campus. The campus was alive and thriving, because they were having freshman orientation. There were groups of people running around singing and playing games. The campus is amazing and so beautiful. Despite the fact that it is in the middle of Seoul, there are a lot of trees and gardens and green areas. I would even dare to say that it is more beautiful that MC. The buildings are magnificent and I know when the spring comes it will just take my breath away.
Friday morning.
Last night was exciting. The RA's took us, the international students, into the city so we could get the things we needed and become acquainted with the bus system. After the shopping, I met Koreen who is a student from Holland and we had dinner. After, we decided we would go into the city and get some drinks. It is wild because you can’t tell where Yonsei ends and the City begins. As we were walking, we ran into some other Yonsei International Students who were out for the same thing, so we went to a bar and had "a drink." We had such a great time talking about Korean Culture and our plans during our stay. Six pitchers later, we decided we would go No Dae Bong (SP?), which is their Karaoke. It was really fun with the 9 of us in a single room. We took a taxi back, bu usually we walk EVERWHERE. I am really enjoying how much slower things are here compared to American lifestyle in general.
I haven't had a hard time at all adjusting to the new time zone. I actually wake up at a descent hour ready to start the day. Tonight we are planning on going to dinner and then to explore the night life.
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spencer
non-member comment
keep it up
the blogs are great and i am so happy to read about all your experiences. i'll continue to live vicariously through you if that's cool?