How sad, the last day in the Sogang Korean Immersion Program. The schedule for the day consisted of a written exam and an interview assessment. The exam was quite brief actually, I'm guessing this was done to make for easy and quick grading by the teachers. In fact, our teacher had all of ours graded by the next morning. We had reviewed and practiced heavily before the written test so I wasn't actually too nervous about taking it. I was more nervous about forgetting a key vocabulary word or verb conjugation. For me, the only thing that got me points off was spelling...
The interview was another story. I was extremely nervous about this part. We were told our normal teachers were not going to interview us (which was kind of expected). They said that we would probably feel a little too comfortable and it wouldn't seem like a real assessment (something to that tune as they explained it in Korean). Fair enough.
I had practiced a lot with my classmates and the upper level students before hand. I also had a fairly large break between the written exam and when the interview was. Regardless of how many times I went over the interview questions, I still felt I might completely choke during the actual assessment. My classmates and I joked that we should make some funny comments or answer in humorous ways. But, honestly, I was too nervous when I stepped into the interview room to try any of those antics.
The final interview went very similarly to the placement interview...except I spoke a lot more Korean during the final, which felt really good. I had never seen my interview teacher before so, the feeling I got was very similar to the initial placement interview.
I sat down and the teacher asked me what my name was and then we jumped right into the questions. After about 12-13 minutes I guess I had talked enough. The next student was ushered in and I was DONE!
It kind of felt surreal after being in language class for a month now at 4 hours a day...
I've been told our actual letter grades would be sent in the mail.
~
Friday, August 9, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 29 - IKAA Closing Ceremony and Brunch
[IKAA Closing Ceremony & Brunch]
You could say this was the final final event of the IKAA (save for the after party/concert) Gathering 2013. At the Lotte Hotel a buffet-style brunch was served (Korean food) along with some closing remarks from the IKAA leadership. As I am one of the representatives for an IKAA member organization, I said a few words thanking all those parties involved with the planning and execution. I hope to see another gathering in the year 2016 in Korea. I think it still boggles people's mind when they see a bunch of Korean people speaking a ton of different languages...sometimes even I am surprised :)
The winner of the scavenger hunt that took place during the week was also announced. It was done amazing race style where the team's time and tasks counted towards the criteria for winning. The winning team completed the most tasks within the time given.
I later had some meetings with the IKAA leadership up on a high floor of the Lotte Hotel. To me, we looked like a "real" board of directors all sitting around a huge table with our iPads/Laptops and such. We looked professional/official to say the least ^^
I believe it is great that so many organizations across the globe can come together and collaborate as we did for this Gathering. Some of our organizations are having some very big anniversaries this coming year as well!
Below are some photos of the view from the conference room (built-in miniature mode was used for the color photos):
~
You could say this was the final final event of the IKAA (save for the after party/concert) Gathering 2013. At the Lotte Hotel a buffet-style brunch was served (Korean food) along with some closing remarks from the IKAA leadership. As I am one of the representatives for an IKAA member organization, I said a few words thanking all those parties involved with the planning and execution. I hope to see another gathering in the year 2016 in Korea. I think it still boggles people's mind when they see a bunch of Korean people speaking a ton of different languages...sometimes even I am surprised :)
The winner of the scavenger hunt that took place during the week was also announced. It was done amazing race style where the team's time and tasks counted towards the criteria for winning. The winning team completed the most tasks within the time given.
I later had some meetings with the IKAA leadership up on a high floor of the Lotte Hotel. To me, we looked like a "real" board of directors all sitting around a huge table with our iPads/Laptops and such. We looked professional/official to say the least ^^
I believe it is great that so many organizations across the globe can come together and collaborate as we did for this Gathering. Some of our organizations are having some very big anniversaries this coming year as well!
Below are some photos of the view from the conference room (built-in miniature mode was used for the color photos):
~
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 28 - IKAA Gala Dinner
[IKAA Gala Dinner]
While I did not get to attend much of the actual IKAA Gathering due to language school, I did go to the closing ceremony/gala dinner hosted at the Grand Hyatt and sponsored by Samsung. Yes, the same Samsung that made your Galaxy S4 and flat-screen TV. IKAA and Samsung go way back (10+ years) and they put on a great gala this year.
While I did not get to attend much of the actual IKAA Gathering due to language school, I did go to the closing ceremony/gala dinner hosted at the Grand Hyatt and sponsored by Samsung. Yes, the same Samsung that made your Galaxy S4 and flat-screen TV. IKAA and Samsung go way back (10+ years) and they put on a great gala this year.
They even had an ice sculpture made!!!
Friday, August 2, 2013
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 26 - National Palace Museum of Korea (PHOTO POST)
Hi everyone! We had a guided tour of about 25% of the National Palace Museum of Korea. We only had about an hour or so of class time during this day. I snapped a couple of pictures within the museum. The story is that most of the relics, treasures, and documents from all the palaces in Korea are preserved and kept in this facility. This is why most of the palaces you see in Korea are mostly empty save for some key furniture and decorations. Anyway, enjoy the photos:
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 24 - Sogang KIP Cooking Class!
Korean food is delicious and if you ever get the opportunity, please try it. My culture class traveled to a training kitchen to make some delicious and fairly well known Korean dishes. I'll write the Hangul and romanized versions for you, we made...the English descriptions are very generalized just to give you an idea of ingredients:
- Bulgogi (불고기) - thinly sliced marinated beef
- Japchae (잡채) - noodles with mixed vegetables
- Kimbab (김밥) - rice, vegetables, fish and/or meat products rolled up in seaweed
I won't bore you with the details but I will mention one of my classmates tasted a lot of stations food and said we had the best bulgogi. The chef also complemented my cutting of the carrot in the dishes :) Here are some more pictures:
Many people say kimbap is like Korean sushi...even though kimbap looks very much liked sushi rolls, the taste is completely different. They are seasoned differently and the ingredients don't always overlap. Many times in Korea you can come across some interesting things included in kimbap (spam, fish cake, cheese, potato, lettuce, mayonnaise, etc). Even on campus we have a kimbap called something like "Ugly but Tasty Kimbap".
Bulgogi and japchae are safe bets for people trying Korean food for the first time. I mean, who doesn't like beef and a pasta-like dish :) The chef assistants even gave us some kimchi to eat as a side with our main dishes we made!
~
Bulgogi and japchae are safe bets for people trying Korean food for the first time. I mean, who doesn't like beef and a pasta-like dish :) The chef assistants even gave us some kimchi to eat as a side with our main dishes we made!
~
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 20 - Doosan Bears VS LG Twins Baseball Game
[Baseball]
I have been to a number of baseball games in the USA and frankly, I can't remember any of them being as exciting as the game I saw here in Korea. Sogang university arranged for us to attend a Friday night game at Jamsil baseball stadium. It actually acts as the home stadium for both the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins. This game had the Bears as the home team.
After arriving, we grabbed a quick bit to eat outside the stadium. The prices were very reasonable...they even had a small convenience store to buy all sorts of beverages and snacks. All the food we bought we were able to bring into the stadium, all bags we had were allowed into the stadium...there was no real bag check that I saw. Also, no one asked up to lift up our shirts and our pants cuffs to check for weapons. I don't think it's that they had a lack of security; I think it is that they don't really have to worry too much about violence at these large public venues.
Our seats were very close to what I will call 'the stage'. The stage area was for cheerleaders and now I need to explain how cheerleading works in Korea because it's completely different from what I have experienced in the USA.
[Cheerleading]
There was a team of 6 female cheerleaders that had choreographed dances to many songs. They included pop songs and the fan chant songs. Almost every player had a fan chant. I'm still bad at Korean but I imagine they mention hitting home runs and winning.
BUT the thing that seemed drastically different was the one male cheerleader that was dressed in full baseball garb. Besides the female team of cheerleaders, he would get up and coordinate all the cheers, fan chants, applause, etc. He had an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm. It was also in the 80s in regards to temperature so I don't know how he didn't have a heart attack during the game. (He even did small golf-claps if the batter got a strike like saying "No worries, you'll hit next time").
[The Game]
When your team is at bat, you are on your feet fan chanting at the top of your lungs while the pitcher warms up and then as he winds up we all get quite to (hopefully) watch a hit. While the team is fielding it's not quite as crazy but there was still huge cheers for ever out. In general, it was nuts, and the crowd when completely bananas if there was a home run.
The teams' battering averages ranged from abysmal to actually quite good. The game we saw was almost all offense with the final score being 15-12. The field had the measurements in meters but it looked about the same size as an American baseball stadium...save for the amount of seats. I'm sure American stadiums cram more boxes and seats in (there were only two club boxes at Jamsil).
[Food/Drink]
Again, like the movie theater, all prices were reasonable. One of the best things I saw in the stadium was the vendor with the beer backpack (price for a glass was only KRW 3000!):
All the rest of the food and drink seemed like a much better deal than any American baseball stadium.
[Conclusion]
If you can, go to a baseball game in Korea. I was with a lot of other people from countries that don't really have baseball and they still had a fun time. The stadium is accessible by the Jamsil subway stop (at least I'm pretty sure ^^).
If I think of anything else I'll update.
~
I have been to a number of baseball games in the USA and frankly, I can't remember any of them being as exciting as the game I saw here in Korea. Sogang university arranged for us to attend a Friday night game at Jamsil baseball stadium. It actually acts as the home stadium for both the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins. This game had the Bears as the home team.
After arriving, we grabbed a quick bit to eat outside the stadium. The prices were very reasonable...they even had a small convenience store to buy all sorts of beverages and snacks. All the food we bought we were able to bring into the stadium, all bags we had were allowed into the stadium...there was no real bag check that I saw. Also, no one asked up to lift up our shirts and our pants cuffs to check for weapons. I don't think it's that they had a lack of security; I think it is that they don't really have to worry too much about violence at these large public venues.
Our seats were very close to what I will call 'the stage'. The stage area was for cheerleaders and now I need to explain how cheerleading works in Korea because it's completely different from what I have experienced in the USA.
[Cheerleading]
There was a team of 6 female cheerleaders that had choreographed dances to many songs. They included pop songs and the fan chant songs. Almost every player had a fan chant. I'm still bad at Korean but I imagine they mention hitting home runs and winning.
BUT the thing that seemed drastically different was the one male cheerleader that was dressed in full baseball garb. Besides the female team of cheerleaders, he would get up and coordinate all the cheers, fan chants, applause, etc. He had an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm. It was also in the 80s in regards to temperature so I don't know how he didn't have a heart attack during the game. (He even did small golf-claps if the batter got a strike like saying "No worries, you'll hit next time").
[The Game]
When your team is at bat, you are on your feet fan chanting at the top of your lungs while the pitcher warms up and then as he winds up we all get quite to (hopefully) watch a hit. While the team is fielding it's not quite as crazy but there was still huge cheers for ever out. In general, it was nuts, and the crowd when completely bananas if there was a home run.
The teams' battering averages ranged from abysmal to actually quite good. The game we saw was almost all offense with the final score being 15-12. The field had the measurements in meters but it looked about the same size as an American baseball stadium...save for the amount of seats. I'm sure American stadiums cram more boxes and seats in (there were only two club boxes at Jamsil).
[Food/Drink]
Again, like the movie theater, all prices were reasonable. One of the best things I saw in the stadium was the vendor with the beer backpack (price for a glass was only KRW 3000!):
All the rest of the food and drink seemed like a much better deal than any American baseball stadium.
[Conclusion]
If you can, go to a baseball game in Korea. I was with a lot of other people from countries that don't really have baseball and they still had a fun time. The stadium is accessible by the Jamsil subway stop (at least I'm pretty sure ^^).
If I think of anything else I'll update.
~
Thursday, July 25, 2013
My Korean Summer 2013: Day 18 - Korean Buddhist Temple Visit
[Over the River and Through the Woods]
This past Wednesday, my culture class visited a Buddhist temple romanized as "Geumseonsa". We met on campus and then headed to the subway for a somewhat long ride to the northern edge of Seoul. Upon arrival, we had a bus ride up the hillside and then a hike up the side of the mountain on a road/stone incline. Check out this house on the walk up:
While the weather had cleared up for us, it was still fairly hot and humid. I was sweating bullets by the time we reached the main gate, but the smell of fresh air was nice.
[The Temple]
The temple had a variety of buildings, the tour guide led us to only a few but we got to walk around most of the other ones. We were shown how to properly bow to the Buddha in one of the halls containing the main Buddha statue. (I apologize as I'm not very well read regarding Buddhism). We also saw another hall where the monks also gather to pray, meditate, and worship. The center entrance is reserved for the monks of the temple while non-monks enter through the sides.
Near the entrance to the temple are some very large instruments. These all have significance when played; see the picture below:
[Chatting with the monk]
We had tea set up for us in one of the buildings and a monk greeted us and let us ask whatever questions we wanted. They said every time someone asks how to become enlightened...we were no stranger to that question either. The monk said you will just "know". Through our teacher who did a lot of translating from Korean, it sounded like once you are enlightened, you see reality as it is - not through your physical eyes, not through any type of filter, just as it exists.
Others asked about life at the temple and how monks interact with the "real world". The response to that question was one of needing to balance wisdom with practice. The way I took it was needing to balance gaining wisdom from life in the temple to practicing a good life with others. The monk said it was a constant...not struggle but maybe challenge for the monks.
We took a few pictures afterwards with the monk and then said our thank yous and goodbyes before heading down the mountain. It was quite a relaxing and serene experience. This may have been because of the streams and small waterfalls and nature all around us but I definitely felt somewhat at peace up at the temple.
[Post-temple]
After returning to Seoul I met up with my friend at the "팔색 삼겹살" restaurant in Sinchon. Their special is 8 different types of pork belly. In addition to all the pork, we got a big seafood soup/stew.
Maybe some of you have met my friend before here (TTMIK).
~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)