Santos in Seoul, finally!

I just registered for the classes I will be taking at Yonsei. If all goes according to plan, I will be taking Korea through Ethnography, Korean Social Welfare, Intercultural Communication, and Beginning Korean Language I. Classes start on September 1st and I am anxious to begin!

I arrived in Korea August 17 and was about an hour late meeting the CIEE people. When I first stepped out into the arrival gate I panicked since I did not see a yellow sign. I walked around clearly lost for about 15 minutes and was about to risk using a public pay phone (with a handy instruction manual in English) when I decided to check one last time. Thankfully the assistant program director and her friend were there! Crisis averted. I met three other people on the program and we all rode a taxi to our 'home,' the DMC Complex. I discovered that we all had problems getting our student visa and that we were all super excited to be in Korea. We went to 7/11 for dinner (yay instant ramyun!). The area I am in seems to have a lot of 7/11's ...

The next day was our orientation. Suzanne, the program director, threw a bunch of information at us that I still need to sort out but I anticipate that this semester will be a great learning experience for me. The other students in the program (most of them are Korean and know the language) seem pretty awesome so I can't wait to get to know them better. One thing I have in common with some of the girls is our mutual love for k-pop! Hopefully we can attend the 2009 Asia Song Festival (and I can see Super Junior live!). We went to Yonsei's campus, which is HUGE, and were shown where most of our classes will be and the student lounge with a conveniently located bank.

After the orientation some of the girls and I took about an hour trip to Itaewon via walking and the subway, where there are foreigners everywhere. We ate at a little Korean place with delicious ddeokbokki (쫄볶이) and I got to discover just how large the subway system is. Must learn how to navigate!