My Korean Life #4: First Day of School - Sogang Unversity Korean Level 2!

Tuesday was day 1 of my return to Sogang University's Korean Language Education Center. I will be in Level 2 for the summer term which goes until late August. Here's a quick rundown:

Day 1 was all supposed to be review of Level 1 material but as with any classroom, all the students are at different individual levels and most likely excel at different aspects of language learning (reading, speaking, etc). Sogang's program is focused on verbal communication and speaking so that's what is emphasized with every lesson.

We got lists of verbs, nouns, phrases, and such that we should already be familiar with and also played a game to review. It is still really difficult to explain a word to another person in a foreign language (at least for me). The game was similar to CatchPhrase...one student would sit with their back to the displayed word and then their team had to describe the word to them...in Korean.

After the word review and game there was a quiz on Level 1 grammar. Basically they said if you don't do well on it you should consider dropping down but I doubt anyone would do that since almost every student in my class had studied at Sogang previously.

We were instructed to preview the next day's lesson the night before so we would be able to use and converse about it within class. Also during orientation, the staff member said we should set aside 2-3 hours per night to review, study, and preview material. The program pace is fairly quick and intensive, sometimes covering a whole chapter of material in one day. I hope as the term continues I can become close with my classmates so we can all comfortably speak more Korean together.

On a side note - it rained cats and dogs all day which made for a very humid and wet first day of school...

~

My Korean Life #3: Real Korean Life Help - UPS Notification

Within this blog series I want to give some real world, everyday advice to folks that may live here in Korea. While I don't admit to knowing everything about Seoul or Korea for that matter, I rarely see highly publicized blogs/videos regarding actual life in Korea (that is the day-to-day logistics of living). The information is out there but it takes quite a bit more searching. Anyway...

So you may get a UPS package from someone...but then you get a sticker like this on your door:

Uh-oh...that's a lot of Korean...and that's a lot of handwriting you're not used to reading...and now they want you to call a number and find out where your package is...

If you don't read Korean well or if you're in short supply of someone who reads/speaks Korean...I would not panic. At the building I live in, the guard station also acts as an auxiliary mail room. Any packages that are not delivered direct to the apartment units are dropped at the guard room. If you live in a similar building, chances are UPS dropped your package there if you were not at home to receive it. 

If for some reason UPS held your package (say they need your signature confirmation, etc.) chances are you will have to take the plunge and call the number left on the sticker notification. Luckily, I was able to consult a friend who knows Korean a lot better than myself and they called the number to double check the package had been left with the guard station. As I continue to learn Korean over the next year or so, I hope to update this post with what you could say to the UPS contact left on the sticker so you would know if it was left at your building or at a distribution center for pick up. I can tell you "경비실" is guardroom.

Honestly, I didn't really even notice the sticker when it was first left on my door since I wasn't expecting any packages...also, I wasn't familiar with a lot of Korean they used on the sticker itself. If you have any tricks or tips in regards to this in Korea, please leave a comment below!

~

My Korean Life #2 : Back to School

Today I took my placement test for the Korean language program I'm enrolled in. I had a rough idea of what to expect but heard it was different than the placement test I took last summer. The program I'm taking part in this time is what is considered the regular morning class as opposed to the summer Korean Immersion program. The Korean language education center was buzzing with activity as all the new students were taking placement tests and then subsequently placed into appropriate levels. I met the student assistant, took my test and was out in about 30 minutes or so. Specifics into an orientation were not hammered out yet but I was told to expect an email this coming week.

I'm excited to restart my Korean language education. I'm sure I'll post more regarding class and such very soon.

~

My Korean Life #1: Welcome Home

It is the first morning since arriving in the motherland to start my new life abroad. I woke up around 5AM due to severe jet lag and will probably have to resort to an afternoon nap later.

I flew in late last night and was lucky enough to have my landlords meet me at the airport with a car. I say lucky because I flew with no less than 3 checked bags and two backpacks all bulging at the seems. The checked bags alone probably weighed as much as I do in total. My two backpacks were not the wisest choice of carry-ons but I made due. After a brief introduction we were off to the parking lot to load up and take me to my new digs!

I would consider the place that I landed a Korean 'office-tel'...my landlords left most of their furnishings including a bed, refrigerator, washing machine, TV with IPTV, couch, tables, kitchen utensils, etc. The 15th floor gives me quite a nice morning view. The office-tel is a loft style with a low roof loft used mainly for storage overlooking the living area (and yes I've already bumped my head once going up there). The kitchenette is open to the living area with the bedroom and bathroom on your right as you enter. A lot of nice storage closets flank the left of the entry way across from the entrance to the bed and bathroom.

After dropping all my bags, we headed out for an (almost) midnight snack at the local Kimbap Heaven (yes that is the literal translation). We ordered cheese kimbap, tuna kimbap, rakbokki, and mandu ramyeon. It was all delicious, deliciously cheap. This is one reason I like being back in the motherland (eating out for Korean food is so affordable). My ramyeon dish was only $3.50. I think total it was under $15 for 3 people.

My landlords walked me back and bid me farewell for the night. All I wanted to do was try to sleep but not before washing off the airplane funk (17 hours of traveling...ewww). I hopped into bed and slept on and off for about 6 hours.

Here at present time, I've managed to unpack one suitcase fully and have been chipping away at the others. I'm debating about heading downstairs to the convenience store to pick up some drinks and snacks to have on hand...later today my landlords will be back to explain things about the place...hopefully the washing machine and small oven which are completely in Korean....

~

Doha, Qatar - A business trip

A lot of people I spoke with before this trip had no idea where Doha is. I did my best to explain the location and also mention Qatar it is where the FIFA 2022 World Cup will take place. Personally, I think there is value in knowing geography and being able to read a map. In fact, when car GPS units started to hit mainstream years ago - I met people who really struggled to read a road map.

Anyway - work sent me to Doha, Qatar for... you guessed it...a trade show. While my flight itinerary actually showed IAD -> DOH, there was a very short stop off in Dubai. This was my first time the the gulf region and never have I ever been through so much security. Besides the normal protocol in USA airports, upon stopping in DXB we had to disembark, go through another security station, wait for our gate to open, go through another security screening (palms, waist, ankles tested for explosives residue) plus a bag check. After getting to Doha I waited quite a long time for immigration processing and then grabbed my bag to head to customs. In the customs area, even if you had nothing to declare they had tables and more x-ray machines set up so they could randomly pick passersby for more screening.

I finally made it out into Qatar proper after what seemed like forever.

Upon arrival to my hotel, I was quite impressed. I stayed at the W Doha hotel and it was very trendy looking. It was like stepping into a night club rather than a hotel lobby. The doormen were quite helpful and friendly and assisted us from arrival to getting our bags to our room and helping us find all the proper light switches and such. Below is a room tour:

That night I barely slept, waking up at all hours due to jet lag. It was expected but for once I wish I could just instantly adjust.

The next two days were spent inspecting the exhibition venue and the build of our stand. The venue was very nice. It was clean, well lit, properly laid out, and had sufficient facilities for the size of the event. I've been to many of these exhibition venues and often times they suffer in a few categories but this venue seemed top notch. There was quite a bit of construction happening around the venue but nothing that really disturbed the function.

Set up went smoothly and the event got underway - I won't bore you with the details of the trade show but basically this show was focused on maritime defense and security. Many, many exhibitors were present to show off their wares and services. Others were there to focus on B2B (business-to-business) ventures.

Overall, I did not really know what to expect going to the gulf region. There is a lot of new construction and development currently occurring. There is also a high influx of imported labor from surrounding nations and Asia. I hear that only about 30% of the Qatari population is native Qatari people and that the other 70% are ex-pats and workers.

My flight back was uneventful and I actually slept most of it which I thought would help with the jet lag battle but around 2PM local time I was already feeling tired.

Until next time...

~

A break from the snowy cold weather...

This past week I finally got a respite from the cold, snowy weather of the mid-Atlantic. Work had me travel down south to hot and sunny Florida. I left home in a jacket, sweater, and long pants and could have easily gotten away with a T-shirt and shorts when I got off the plane.

The actually plane ride down to Florida was quite cramped as I was the middle seat on an old Boeing 717 run by AirTran. I can see why travelers (including myself) are frustrated with how long Southwest Airlines is taking to integrate AirTran into one brand. Believe it or not, I've heard these old 717s are going to be given to Delta Airlines once the integration is complete. (FYI-Southwest only uses 737s).

Anyway - as usual, I did a little walk around of my hotel room. It was an Embassy Suites which I hear is going to get a major overhaul within the next year or so. The furnishings weren't that old looking but the hotel could use an update. The lobby smelled of chlorine from the pool area. The breakfast was pretty good and I didn't partake in the manager's reception in the evening due to work obligations.

~

Happy New Year! First trip of the year completed!

Greetings and a very late Happy New Year to you all!

I just returned from my first business trip of the year. The show was located at Nellis AFB which if you don't know, is situated very close to Las Vegas. My only experience with Las Vegas previously was by playing Fallout: New Vegas. I must say the game designers got a lot of the geography spot on. I even had the urge to visit Primm to see if ED-E was waiting for me to return...

With every business trip comes...a hotel room tour! I was not directly on the strip...just a block off:

The refrigerator in the room was quite loud and looked somewhat old but the rest of the room was updated and very nice. I did have one gripe besides the refrigerator and that was no desk/workstation. As I travel mostly for business this is an essential for me (oversight while booking I suppose). Both of these things are very minor in the grand scheme of things. Also the parking desk and pool were under construction.

On a side note - I'd also like to thank all my blog visitors looking for information regarding Sogang's KIP program! It was a blast!
~