Sniffs

Alright, gonna head out for the day! May it be a warm and happy day! :) (the doggy smell will still greet me when I return gahh)

I need.. sleep

Hmm I realise that I haven't been taking enough photographs here as compared to some of my friends on exchange (the photos in their albums count by the hundreds just one week into exchange!).. I usually love to take photographs on holidays but somehow, I don't feel that inspired to take photos now, whether in school or when with friends. Taking photographs is my personal way of remembering and immortalizing beautiful moments and feelings so I guess the lack of motivation must mean that.. no such moment has occurred yet. Haha it's tough - I mean, these are people I've met for like what, 2 days? The natural environment's not helping either; the streets in Seoul look largely similar, the trees and shrubs paint a bleak picture of grey and dirty-white and it's just so cold, it's difficult to hold my camera. (You can totally tell from my previous posts that I'm soooo afraid of the cold. I used to think that icy cold weather is one of the most fantastic things around and I was really looking forward to the low temperatures but now that I'm here, shivering my toes off, I think the heat in Singapore must have drove me crazy and delirious to have wanted sub-zero temperatures.)

I'll try make a conscious effort to take more photographs though! :D

 Bibimbap (비빔밥)

Tofu stew (순두부찌개)

Quirky bag designs

  

Market at Gwangjang Market (광장시장)

Cute bench designs at Sinchon station (the other side's a cat in a hat!)

 

Me at my favourite bubble tea outlet - Bubblee PONG! 

(Personal recommendation: Ice blended citron juice with pearlsss, nyamnyamm :P)

Anyway, some things I've learnt about Korea during the Orientation speeches yesterday:

1. Koreans dislike eye contact on public transport. (no wonder... few people looked back at me on trains... ahahaha I love to people-watch on trains so they just have to learn to deal with it :P)
2. Koreans are not very helpful in public (ie. if you trip and fall, it isn't strange to find out that no one comes forward to help you out) because they think it's better to ignore you, save you from the shame and just hurry along on their path. (which I think is a really inconsiderate and peculiar norm- if an old lady falls, I think 'face' or her ego will be the last thing on her mind. If she falls, that simply means that she needs help. Period. Nothing else. Help her or I'll trip you too.)
3. Koreans' walking pace is usually really fast and along the way, knocks and bumps are perfectly normal. (see earlier post for my thoughts on this)
4. In other countries, it's usually pedestrians first, then cars. However, in Korea, it's cars first, then... more cars... and nothing else. Haha they don't really care about pedestrians here - it almost seems as if cars have the right of way everywhere. It also doesn't help how cars seem to materialise out of every street and alley because it just makes walking on the roads so difficult (they don't have very good pavements here) and more importantly, dangerous. Walking on the streets in Seoul is a challenge in itself (few flat roads, loads of bumpy, rocky, treacherous lanes and pebble streets) and as if that weren't enough, they decided to throw in cars driving everywhere!
5. Skinship is quite ordinary between friends of the same gender (think: hand-holding during karaoke sessions)
6. Looking good (makeup, newest gadgets, branded goods) is important here (oh wells- coughs- my makeup-nil face... ahaha)
7. Koreans really love drinking. Korea has the highest alcohol consumption in the world.

Some people I've met yesterday: (lest I forget)

• Yan Ru from NTU, Singapore
• Jamaica from Australia, born in Singapore
• Jack from Australia (vegetarian)
• Guo Min from China
• Jose (pronounced as Hose?) from America
• Lewis from Australia, born in Thailand (majors in Korean and Economics)
• Kevin from Hawaii (oooh pineapples and coconut trees!)
• Olivia from America, born in Indonesia
• Casey from America, Korean-American
• Beatrice from America, born in Hongkong(?)
• Tammy from Hongkong (does not like chicken)

I don't think I've talked so much in a long time. I think this is almost 4 times the amount of speaking (to non-familiar people) I do in school. It's good that I'm stepping out of my comfort zone, talking to new people and pushing myself to initiate conversations (: but I do admit that it gets very tiring at times. Sometimes, all I wanna do is walk along the street in silence comfortably, not awkwardly and not have to feel any obligation to fill the void with conversation.

Speaking of people, I only have two pictures taken with friends. (furrows brows) Haha I'm not as trigger-happy with people I don't really know so here's hoping that more pictures will come in due course!

This is Deannie, my fellow law schoolmate.

This is Jamaica, who very interestingy, only has a faint Australian accent and who has also retained her mandarin-speaking abilities. She's either a 93 or 94-liner but either way, she feels like a xiao mei mei (who um, drinks) to me haha

And this is.. my roommate, Zenn! Haha super enthusiastic Shinee fan who will travel to the ends of the world for her Jonghyun oppa X)

It's getting late and I'm gonna sleep now (way past the intended 11.45pm sleeping time ><) so I shall just leave you with a video of Korean dancers! I don't like how all the dances (didn't record the rest) sexualised females but.. you gotta admit that these girls got skills! Be amazed!

...

...

There was an error uploading the video D:

which means...

you guys can't see the awesome and sexy dancers

hahaha

If you're interested, just whatsapp me or something and I'll share the video with you via dropbox! (:

GOODNIGHT!

잘자요!

Reminder:

I still need to post about Yisze's "mission"! (EXCITING much)

I have stuff to say about Darryl's parting words to do things out of the ordinary! (I've been doing a lot of that!)

Time to Move In!

And so.. the day to move into the dormitory (SK Global House) has finally arrived!

It was an exhausting journey to the dormitory because the baggage count has increased over the past week >.< haha I know have 1 luggage and 3 handheld bags (crazy, I know- stop judging! ahahah) The new bag was acquired yesterday to store my new clothes and existing coats/sweaters which I had to transfer from my mum's luggage. The purple luggage with the black bag (sitting atop) probably weighs in at 23-25kg so that was enough to keep one or even both hands busy. So that left our 3 free hands with 2 other bags, 2 plastic bags (not mine) and 1 laptop bag. All I can say is that my arm almost fell off from all the pulling-dragging-pushing-holding-lifting.

After all that drama on the streets of Dongdaemum, we successfully arrived at our dormitory - I still feel very surprised that the cabbie didn't get lost (thumbs up) - and as we later found out, yes, our dormitory is super ulu. It's a 25-30 minutes walk to the university's entrance (where all the good food and stores are) and depending on the route taken, a 20 or 40-minute walk to the Sinchon Subway station. If that isn't a good enough deterrent to going out, I don't know what is. Apparently, they have shuttle bus services but when I asked about it, I was directed to take the public bus to the university's entrance instead (around 10-minute walk). *facepalms*

Anyway, here are some pictures of my dorm! It's a double room so you're only seeing one-half of the 19 square metres room.

My wonderful table and shelves (: Level 2 is practically a mini supermarket heh

(and you spy piglet's butt!)

Left Level 3 for textbooks or files!

(ascending levels but in descending importance hehe)

My Minnie Mouse bed! hahaha and of course, my globetrotting piglet! <3

We have orientation at 9am tomorrow so I guess I'm gonna go to bed after checking with the sister if my mother has arrived in Singapore! <3 Till then!

GOODNIGHT and SWEET DREAMS! 

Sobs.

It's too soon to say (a temporary) goodbye again

It's kinda worrying how the fire alarm goes off in the train station and yet, no one gives a hoot about it. Worse still, there was an announcement being made (prolly in Korean) but.. no one could hear it over the blaring of the siren. I don't even know if a fire has broken out for real and whether we should run before the entire herd comes trampling after.. They really should consider erecting a huge flashing LED sign that spells out "RUN" in various languages- that would better ensure the safety of foreigners in Korea (if they care enough, that is).

Another grouse I have is public spitting. Oh. My. God. To think that I was skipping around my apartment in my shoes. Time to disinfect the entire floor hahah. It's damn gross (although I recognise that it's entirely in accordance with societal norms for them, I guess) to watch them spit on the road and walk/pedal away. Fine much? The government would grow very rich if they decided to fine every act of public spitting. It's a pretty good source of revenue (: They should think about it!

(Today, I was standing on the sidewalk at Myeongdong when this lady who paused in front of me rudely spat something out onto the ground. I can't even describe the disgust I felt as the unknown object flew into my line of sight; it was like, 5cm away from me. Watching the unknown object's trajectory was more than repulsive. GO AWAY GAHHH.)

Moving on, I don't think I can ever get used to being shoved around unceremoniously on trains either. Unlike Singapore where personal space is highly valued, they will have none of that here. Having people walk into my bagpack and knock me off my path (my centre of gravity shifts backwards due to my heavy bag and thus, I move when it moves) is a very common phenomenon. It happens on the train (even when there's loads of walking space behind), on the streets (every single, @3$%*#@ moment) and even when I'm sitting down on a bench for breakfast. I get that it may be crowded at times but I would appreciate VERY MUCH if people could just be more conscious about the fact that they're hitting someone indirectly and at the very least, make a conscious effort to reduce the impact upon contact. That would make a world of a difference. An apology would be like a hundred cherries on top! Meanwhile, I would also prefer less body contact, thank you very much! Rants aside, I doubt this will change very much so till I get used to it, it's time to learn some nasty-but-effective skill of elbow-pushing-and-shoving! (I don't think I can ever be that rude, sigh)

Enough of ranting.

Time to talk a little about more serious stuff.. like, the fact that my mother is going back to Singapore tomorrow evening. 

(BAWLS)

(TEARS CASCADE DOWN MA PINK ROSY CHEEKS)

(SOBS)

(curls up in a ball)

I've been so happy to have her with me for the past week (at least there's someone to talk to, to care about, to eat with, to hug and to be cared for by) so I guess it's normal for me to feel upset now that she's going back home. As always, it's a very surreal feeling knowing that I will be quite alone for the next few months after tomorrow. Hah.

You might ask, "Why? Don't you have a roommate?".. but I'll leave that story for another day.

I'll be moving into hostel tomorrow and then sending my mother off at the airport so I guess posts will have to wait till tomorrow night! Bye for now and amazing pictures will be up once I transfer them from my phone/camera to the computer!

1am in Seoul

I'm freezing.

That pretty sums up my day (or days) here haha Today was especially cold because temperatures dropped to an all-time low of -5 degrees this morning and since we travelled out of Seoul to Gyeonggi-do, it was even more chilly! It was -5 degrees when we reached Cheongpyeong station at 4pm and although the temperature did rise slightly in the evening according to my Weather app, we hardly noticed a difference. The temperature probably wasn't an accurate reflection in any case because we were headed to the Gardens of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원), which sits at the middle of a mountain. That simply translates into SUPER C.O.L.D air/temperature/garden/me/mum. It's the painful sort of coldddd if you're trying to imagine what we were experiencing- I was wearing winter gloves (the thick wooly type you can wear when playing with snow) but I guessed the cold blatantly waltzed through the tiny gaps in the glove before proceeding to freeze my fingers. The end result? Cold and pinkish hands- I'm not sure what the gloves actually achieved during my time at the garden.. Since it failed to keep me warm, perhaps its function was to interfere with my photo-taking and annoy me by sending wool fibres flying into my mouth. (rawrs)

That said, Gardens of Morning Calm was an amazingly wonderful place- I don't have any pictures on my phone right now (so those enchanting shots will come later) but you can check it out at: http://morningcalm.co.kr/?module=History&action=SiteHistoryEng&sMode=VIEW_FORM&iHistoryNo=2&iHistorySeqNo=1! It looks exactly the same- a mesmerising and dreamy landscape! If you're too lazy to check out the link, just admire the background of my blog - it's a picture of the Gardens!

I have lots more to blog about (a lil voice in my head actually narrated an awesome review of today's schedule) but because it's getting late, I'm going to stop here for now! Lest my mum wakes up and starts nagging to get me to go to bed heh.

Some stuff I could blog about next time:
- How fitting in been has been like; things I like and things I don't
- Visiting Hyehwa again
- Visiting Yonsei University
- Music

Till we meet again! (:

Arrival

Some pictures from today:

Saying (a temporary) Goodbye 

Dinner! We visit this place once every trip!

Migliore - Donald for the sister!

Taking Flight

I'm finally here in kimchi land!

After all that (expensive) trouble with the baggage, all those precious tears and a somewhat miserable takeoff from Singapore, I have arrived safely in Seoul with my mum!

Takeoff was more difficult than I expected because it dragged on for far too long; the queue must have been pretty long for the plane was inching forward at a snail's pace. It took exactly 20 minutes before takeoff and there was (more than) ample time for me to reflect, think and of course, slip back into the emo state. The feeling of leaving home and my family behind for 5 whole months is heartbreaking and the thought that once the plane lifted off into the air, it would be more than a hundred days till I would come back to Singapore was difficult to stomach. Naturally, tears welled up in my eyes and before long, there I was in the dark, tears rolling down my cheeks. I swear the air stewardess sitting across the aisle thought I was crazy, depressed or going through some rough patch because I kept staring out of the window and wiping my tears away silently (I knew she was looking but of course, I refused to establish any eye contact with her and concentrated on the blinking lights along the airstrip). If she was so interested in watching me, I don't get why she didn't.. just approach me and offer me some happy chocolates (yes, I was secretly wishing for chocolates then ahaha), fruits or something to cheer me up (a toy would be fantabulous).

Airlines, please take note! Give sad passengers some chocolates - that would make it a more pleasant flight and increase the chances of a returning customer :P Speaking of which, I doubt I am ever going to take Korea Airlines for long-haul trips/trips of a long duration anymore. I have had enough of the baggage nightmare and trauma.. RAWRS /(TAT)\ KA's baggage policy has changed such that SEA flyers are only entitled to one 23kg piece of luggage each (that makes two for my mum and myself) but the somewhat-unknowing me/us brought 2 pieces of luggage (the rolly kind) and 3 hand-carry bags. We intended to check in 4 bags in total since 2 hand-carry bags were insanely heavy so just imagine our shock when we were told that we could only check in 2 bags! What was going to happen to the 3 hand-carry bags?!

I did read somewhere in the Terms & Conditions that every passenger is entitled to one piece luggage (23kg) but I honestly thought that it wasn't an inflexible policy - that perhaps any leftover weight could be 'used' to check in another bag. Unfortunately, as the story goes (as those who watched it unfold in front of their eyes know), that does not happen. My mum's luggage weighed only 17kg but it didn't make a difference. >:( At that point in time, I was already determined to use my superman powers and lug the heavy bags all by myself (and obviously not let the airline take advantage of my predicament by charging me an excessive USD100 for each extra bag checked in) only to realise that not only good things happen in pairs... My hand-carry bags were full of bottles filled with liquids, lotions, semi-liquids and whatever you can think of which is disallowed in hand-carry baggage (read: shampoo, body soap, mosquito repellent, medical oil, cream etc.)!!!!!!!!! (SCREAMS) Yeah, so ultimately, we had to compromise and stuff all the liquidish stuff into one bag to be checked in.

For USD100.

SGD130.

.
.
.

I doubt the total worth of everything in the bag is even anywhere near $130. (grimaces)

Sigh.Too much drama in a night. (and because my superman powers weren't as super as I thought them to be, I can totally predict that I will wake up with sore muscles tomorrow)

Thankfully, a few of my friends were there with me and it made things feel a little more manageable. I'm really thankful and happy to have been able to see you guys there - thank you and I do appreciate all the little notes from you! I'm saving them till I move into the school hostel so I'll send you guys a proper message again then! <3

Anyway, Seoul has been freezinggggggggg. Experienced a bad bout of brain freeze when we left our apartment this evening - couldn't eat, talk or do anything cos my head hurt so much.. T___T and did I mention, my fingers were freezinggggg! I like the cold... but until I get used to it, I'm just gonna hole up in this warm lil apartment (that I suspect has no air conditioning cos the air ain't moving)! :D

Before I sign off, here's a random fact of the day (which also serves as a reminder to myself):
I have a watch.
I'm wearing a watch.
There's a watch on my wrist.
It's not a cheap watch.
So please,
Do not forget that you're wearing a watch and be careful when you wave your arms around.
Stop knocking the watch on the table.
Do not wear the watch upside down (done this already sigh).
Stop forgetting you have a watch.
Act like you have a watch on!!!!

Hahahah just to clarify, it's not that I dislike watches or that I haven't worn a watch before - I do have quite a few watches! - but I seldom wear them cos I don't really like the feeling on my wrist.

Get used to it. Watch. Right side up. No flapping arms around. Careful.

Note to the sister: I probably won't be uploading posts daily this week since we have to travel around and it's tiring but I'll probably have more time on my hands after orientation and before school starts!

Tonight

My flight's in 24 hours.


Wow.


I'm not really sure what I'm feeling right now but it could possibly be a mixture of anxiety, fear, apprehensiveness, sadness and bittersweet excitement (not sure if I'm feeling the last one correctly). It's not so much the independent living that scares me- it's recognition of the fact that my family will not be with me in the same country and this unsettles me greatly. I know that I am going to miss them so badly - I'm going to miss going grocery shopping with my mum, going to the movies and karaoke with my sister and going for dinners with my dad, just to name a few - and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how I should be dealing with these emotions. It just feels really, really strange (for lack of a better word since I can't describe the feeling) and awkward to have all these different emotions bubbling inside me and I feel.. helpless? I know that it will eventually turn out to be an amazing experience but for now, it feels surreal. It's almost as if I'm in denial. I desire the exchange experience so much and yet, my mind is unwilling to stay apart from my family for 5 months. (takes a deep breath) 5 months is a really, really long time.

Let's just hope that I will not dissolve into a teary mess later tonight. It's certainly not that I'm ashamed of bawling due to me missing my family (I miss my friends too but more on that later) - I actually feel reassured to know that I have such a strong attachment to them - simply that.. it might get quite troublesome to cart a miserable, sobbing self off to the airplane. Then again, it would be extremely odd indeed if I do not display any sign of emotions (which is quite likely to happen). What is thisssss- (flips table) hahah

I'm just.. (shrugs) like this. Since a couple of years ago, I think I've lost the ability to emote properly and on the occasions that I do, it's either very subdued (explains the usual unintentional poker face) or the complete opposite - think gushing river of tears or godzilla-proportioned rage hahaha

On an utterly random note, why does 'polka face' come to  mind when I think of 'poker face'? It's a pretty grotesque mental image.. gah. D:

In any case, know that I will miss you all a lot, bunny!

Skype/Linechat/Whatsapp everyday if we have to (yes, we do!) and I promise- it will almost be as if I haven't left for Korea. Hug the lil Monkey when you miss me, alright? <3

Signing off for now and going to have lunch!

Note: I have no idea how I'm going to split my time among my three blogs yet but at least until school starts, I'll post daily on Spring(ing) in(to) Seoul! So check back daily! *\(^____^)/*

Welcome Message

 

Welcome to Spring(ing) in(to) Seoul!

A tale of one hundred and forty-six days in kimchi land,

A story of growing up,

An adventure of fun and delight,

A marvellous holiday,

and so many more exciting things it could be!

 

Join me as I begin my journey at Yonsei,

and let's have some fun together!

 

출발, Let's GO!