Hello hello, welcome back to my blog!
Although it’s only been a month since my first post, I have a lot to talk about so let’s dive in!
Firstly, I need to let you all know that the weather has FINALLY gotten cooler, autumn is here! To be honest, I don’t even remember when the weather changed, because all of a sudden I started seeing brown leaves falling and the temperature was a lot cooler. It even got to about 0 degrees the other morning! However I think that was just a random drop, as these days the temperature stays between 5 to 20, which is not too bad! Although I do feel like I may need to start buying some more winter-friendly clothing. The one thing I’m most excited about seeing in Korea is snow, so hopefully by the next time I write a blog post, it will have started to properly snow and i’ll be able to share some beautiful pictures!
Since my last blog post, I’ve managed to survive through midterms! However, it was for sure a new experience for me. As most of you would know, in New Zealand we’re given a 2 week break for inter semester, and at that same time you’re usually able to prepare and study for your midterm exams/ assignments. However in Korea, we’re not given any break at all, and most of the midterms were held within the same week. For me personally, I went from having a closed book exam and a Korean writing test on a Tuesday, to a Korean speaking test on the Wednesday, to another 9am closed book exam and a 5 minute Chinese speech on the Thursday. And it didn’t end there, to top it off I had a report due Friday at 12pm. Safe to say I barely had any sleep or social life that week apart from meeting up with friends to study in places like Maccas, Gongcha and the university library till 1am. I think the biggest issue for me was that at Korea University, lectures aren’t recorded. So whenever I wanted to review some content, I had to fully rely on my own notes, which weren’t the best. However we survived! (Barely), and now i’m able to go back to having fun~
Another update is that I finally received my ARC! ARC stands for Alien Registration Card, it’s basically like an ID card for foreigners living in Korea, and gives you access to heaps of small benefits! For example ordering delivery, most Korean delivery apps require you have your ARC connected to your number. Another example is being able to open a bank account, and although i’m only here for another 2 months or so, I decided to open one as it’s so much easier to get around with a Korean bank card! I’m now able to withdraw cash anywhere with no fee, buy items easily on Korean websites, and best of all, I’m able to use Korean ticketing websites for concerts here 😎 I’m not going to lie, the last point was really the main reason I did it, and actually it was totally worth it! Around 1am the morning after I received my bank card and account, I was able to secure a floor ticket TXT’s Encore concert that was happening 3 days later! This definitely was a special experience for me, I was able to see all the members up close individually, and I know I definitely would’ve struggled to retrieve this ticket on the regular global website.
Recently after the midterm exams, i’ve been spending a lot of time with friends exploring Seoul and doing activities together. I finally had my first “ramen at Hangang” experience, where we bought ramen from a convenience store, cooked it and ate it right by Han river. It’s such a cute experience and I definitely want to do it again, the views from Han river are truly beautiful at night as all the buildings shine over the river. Although it was a little cold and there were bugs trying to bite us the whole time, for me it was worth it, especially as I feel like you can’t have an experience like this in New Zealand. Another thing we did was visit Seongsu to look around as I had never been before. Seongsu tends to have a lot of pop up stores, and actually is a place known for running into K-pop idols who tend to be ambassadors for these events! Luckily for us, as soon as we turned around the first corner from the subway station, we ran into Juyeon from The Boyz at the SPAO popup! It truly was so exciting for us, at first we couldn’t tell who it was, all we saw was a bunch of girls waiting outside a shop with cameras, as well as police. Soon enough we discovered it was Juyeon, and we managed to see him quite close too!
Speaking of popups, I actually haven’t spent nearly enough time going to them. But luckily enough you can run into heaps of random ones wherever you go. For example, I went to go see the TXT pop up yesterday at a mall, and saw the cutest Pingu pop up there too!! There were many popups within this mall~
Of course I can’t also not mention Halloween! Actually for me in my entire 21 years of living, i’ve never dressed up or experienced a proper halloween celebration in New Zealand, but I got roped into it here by my friends because why not! Although I didn’t have a proper costume, my friend did some quick makeup for me which actually turned out well considering she did it in 15 minutes. We spent the evening with our favourite uni club – LECA (Language Exchange), where we had dinner together, and then went to a cocktail bar in Hongdae. This bar was actually super nice, the funny thing is that girls only had to pay 15k won ($18nzd) for unlimited cocktails, whereas guys had to pay 20k won ($24nzd). After making some new friends and conversing for a few hours, we moved over to a pub where we played some cup pong and darts. Finally at around 3am some of us decided to go home, but on our way we walked through the main streets of Hongdae, and there were still heaps of people around! There were so many creative costumes we saw, and the good thing about Seoul is that it’s safe enough to stay out late as a girl, whereas in New Zealand we really have to be wary when going out late.
Lastly, I was able to finally visit a cat cafe as I had been craving for some cat attention, especially since it’s been more than 2 months since i’ve seen my own fur babies! My friend was able to find an abandoned cat cafe where all of the cats were taken in, and the entrance fee was only 10k won ($12nzd!). Here we spent almost two hours, just playing with the cats and feeding them, one even fell asleep on me! It truly was something I needed, and I definitely plan on visiting a few more before I leave. And speaking of cats and kittens, KU has campus cats, and recently one of them had kittens! These kittens live right in front of one of the dorms, so whenever I’m walking up to my dorm or down to my classes, I almost always stop by to see the kittens playing in the deck, they’re absolutely adorable! I can’t wait to watch them get bigger over the next month.
That’s all for my blog this time, and no I still have not gotten around to editing my first vlog, but I promise it’ll be done before my next blog! (Hopefully….)
Also, i’ve decided that I’ll start putting some exchange tips at the end of my blog for people who are looking into exchanging in Korea, as I have already learnt so much from being here and living alone abroad for the first time!
Juli’s exchange tips:
1. Roommate or no roommate?
Originally when I was looking into applying for dorms, I told myself I would 100% go for a shared room and have a roommate, as I always love being with others! I was looking super forward to it, and not that my roommate is bad or anything, however after living with someone in the same space for over two months, I’ve learnt a few things about myself. First of all, I actually do appreciate my own space. I like to talk with my friends from home, and I never want to disturb my roommate so I try to restrict myself a bit. Second of all, sometimes your schedule won’t match with your roommate. There are times where I may have a morning class and she won’t, so I need to be wary of being too loud in the morning so I don’t wake her up, and vice versa. So this is my tip for you guys, really think about if you’ll be able to live with a stranger for 4 months straight. There’s always the risk you guys may not get along the best, luckily for me we get along fine, however if you were to ask me again if I would pick a single room or a double, I would without a doubt pick single, even though it’s more expensive. While on exchange, you have many opportunities and chances to easily spend time with friends every day, so having that personal time is really needed at the end of the day.