All Saints' Church of the Electric Wow

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Today I had to bid farewell to the Hongs. I really enjoyed my two days with their family. But now it's time for the next adventure- dorm life on Yonsei's campus!

Of course, I'm on the top floor. And there's no elevator. Luckily Chairman Hong and his driver carried my bag up the stairs for me. (When it's time to leave I'll just chuck it out the window.) I had trouble opening my door at first, and then it opened itself! I have a Korean roommate! Yay! Her name is Minyoung, and we've spoken maybe 10 sentences to each other so far. I usually have good relations with my roommates- flashbacks to high school and college- so this is the first time the language barrier has really prevented me from being as friendly as I could be. And I feel bad for invading her room. So yeah, I guess we're just trying to stay out of each other's way.

I got settled in and unpacked in 10 minutes what it took me 5 hours to pack. Setting up my internet was a little scary- still don't know what I did to make it work, but I'm not touching it for the rest of the month. My cell phone doesn't work yet, so this is my lifeline to the outside world.

I went for a walk down to the main campus, and realized that there are more hills than should be allowed on this campus. Especially with humidity in the 70%- thank god it's mostly cloudy all the time. If the sun was shining brightly it would be deadly. I found the school supplies store and bought a Yonsei U notebook and folder for class. Also got another pen. And some hangers. All for under 7000 won.

By the time I got back up the hill, because I don't trust myself to know which shuttle to take yet, I was exhausted. So I took a 2 hour nap. When I woke around 6pm I was hungry. Luckily there's a cafeteria in the basement of the dorm where you can get a full meal for 2500 won. Cafeteria food is cafeteria food, no matter the country, but at least it was filling and I didn't feel like a total idiot eating alone (most everyone else was too).

Later, at about 8pm (20:00) I went out again and took a walk in the growing darkness down the hill and out the main gates. I was just going to turn around when I reached the gates, but the lights of Sinchon called me onwards. What a crazy and cool place I'm in! Think Adams Morgan, but with lots of neon and 10 times bigger. Coffee shops, clothing stores, fast food joints, bars, more clothes, jewelry, more clothes, more coffee. It got me wondering, as I walked, how did everybody afford to spend so much money? Or, how did the businesses survive on the diffused revenue of such a district? Were rents low? Just so much more commercialism than even the biggest US shopping center. Stores on top of stores. Where is all the money coming from? All this disposable income? I guess I should read up on my Korean consumer economics.

Now that I'm more or less on my own, I have to get back in the exploring mode of previous trips abroad. For one thing, I need material for this blog. For another thing, I need to stop being scared of my Korean illiteracy and get into a more joyous mindset- this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! So I can't hide out in my dorm room all day, even though I sometimes think that wouldn't be so bad. (Don't judge- Seoul is a little overwhelming at the moment, and if you had to trek up and down that hill you would want to avoid it too!) So I'm going to make a list of all the things I want to see and do and make a pact with myself to do something new each day. Of course, classes from 9am to 1pm limit my available time to explore, but I think I can still get out and about pretty well.

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Photos

All Saints' Church of the Electric Wow
That's not really what it's called, but if I could name it, that's what I'd call it.

Sinchon
Bright lights, big city.

Angel-in-Us Coffee
Is it artistic or just a bad picture? I don't know. All I know is I want an angel in me too!

Comments

[Cori]

How high is it?
..the hill! We need a picture! Is it equal to walking up our road and driveway once, twice, or is from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the rim? I agree with your name for the church and I think you should take credit for the artistic use of motion in photography. Everyone here says "Hi", even Andrew. Daniel wants you to take care of your feet walking those hills (he came back from the Rockies with blisters on top of blisters)

[Philip Howe]

What is a won worth?
Sarah, What is a won worth these days? 20,000 won for a subway ride seems expensive. Thanks for sharing. Daddy

[warpgirl]

Well, I tried to put 20,000 won on my card to have for future trips. A subway ride is only about 900 won, which is less than 90 cents I guess. The exchange rate is about 1200 or 1300 won to the dollar currently.