The Seoul adventure begins...

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So I arrived in Incheon after a million hours of traveling which was hard enough, but then we (as in me and my friend Mike) had to go searching for some food in a a little town where English speaking restaurants were very sparse. I hadn't experienced this in years. For the last few years I'd either have a guide or been with someone who spoke the language i.e when I visited Sam, my Japanese speaking boyfriend, in Osaka.

We ordered beer and chicken, a very traditional Korean meal obviously (or not). It was pretty spicy, which IS traditional of the Koreans I must admit. After a good night's sleep we headed to Seoul National University where I'll be spending the next 5 weeks studying. I met people from Harvard, Princeton, St Andrews in Scotland and many other prestigious Universities, which intimidated me greatly, but hopefully I'll excess my own goals for myself. I'm not here to impress Harvard, I'm here to improve my own study skills and just do as much as I can. SNU ISI (Seoul National University Internation Student Insitute) is a great way to visit Korea whilst getting some real culture inside you at the same time- a real experience of Korean life as a young student.

One thing I've learned about Korea is that when it rains, IT RAINS. Monsoon season means that my only pair of shoes have been ruined, and my umbrella is constantly up. This is currently the only downside to the country as I've really been enjoying the beautiful scenery that I'm blessed to be surrounded by. I'm on the 9th floor of my dorm and can see for miles out into Seoul city, and most importantly onto the lush mountain side that the campus is built on.

Now the food. I've been trying to eat the traditional food that's being served in the canteens and it's pretty nice. It's very different to most Asian cuisine I've had and unfortunately I'm not the biggest fan of Kimchi- the pickles cabbage that comes with EVERYTHING. So far it seems to be the case that with any meal, regardless of what time of the day it is, it'll come with 3 or 4 side dishes consisting of pickled veg, eggs, fish, seaweed and soup. Mostly vegetarian, and very healthy. No wonder the girls are all super skinny. The carbs are very little and there is a lot of emphasis on the whole little and often. I went to a restaurant with a few friends and we shared A LOT of chicken. Also, as they were Korean American, they showed my the customs of Korean culture, like never pouring your own drink, sharing food, the obsession with K- POP and Korean celebrities. It was really nice discussing a culture I'd known nothing about before I got here. Also, Koreans are super nice, and they're always going out their way to help. I'm loving this!

I also went out with some ISI (International Summer Institute) to a club in the centre of Seoul on the first night. It was pretty surreal, the club was called Eden, and was full of International Students but also a lot of Koreans. They were incredibly well dressed and behaved very politely which is a rather large change from the loud-mouthed, stumbling English that trawl through the streets of Manchester. And not from the food, or the language barrier, but from this club I feel the culture shock, the upperclass, well behaved people in the club. I felt very out of place and tired so we headed home!

I'm currently recovering from lots of walking, and lots of thinking. I took the classes 'East Asia: Past and Present' and 'History of Chinese Political Thought' - the reading for the classes consist of two VERY LARGE BOOKS. Please see the pictures and feel sorry for me. 5 weeks I'm here for! It really shows how much work I SHOULD be doing. Hopefully the next couple of blog entries will be more exciting. The last few days have really been about sleeping, eating and getting into the swing of Korean life.

PLEASE NOTE: if you're thinking of entering Seoul in the next few days/weeks:

BRING AN UMBRELLA.

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