The Subway

The Seoul subway is super easy to use, and it is a wonderful form of transportation that can get you just about anywhere in Seoul. The entire map of the subway is in each station both in Korean and in English, so it’s easy to navigate. Once you have paid, there are more detailed maps where the subway cars arrive. These maps will let you know where to transfer and what car is best to get in when transferring.

To get a ticket for the subway, there are ticket machines inside of each station. All machines have an English language option available, so it’s easy to use and get a ticket for where you need to go. Simply click on One-Way Ticket and select the station that you want to go, and then insert your money. If staying long-term in Seoul though, getting a T-Money card is recommended. With a T-Money card, riding the subway is cheaper and way easier because you don’t have to stand in line every time you want to ride the train. A T-Money card can be bought at most 7-11’s and can be bought at several subway stations. A T-Money card dispenser is different from a ticket dispenser. It will usually advertise that it’s a T-Money card dispenser. The cost of a T-Money card is 3000 원 (“won” pronounced ‘wahn’) and it also comes with a coupon pack exclusively for foreigners. You’ll have to recharge your T-Money card every once and a while though. To recharge your card, simply go to one of the ticket dispensing machines and put your card in the big spot that says “T-Money”, click the English language, select card recharge and the amount that you want to put on your T-Money card, and then insert the amount selected. Wait for the machine to prompt you that the card has recharged and you’re ready to go! Another great thing about T-money cards is that they not only can be used in the subway, but that can be used on buses, taxis, and even some convenience stores and department stores as well. It’s a must have for transportation in Seoul.

The cost of one subway ticket is 1000 won (or roughly $1) for the first 30 minutes and 100 won for each additional 10 minutes. A ticket machine is available at each station and will cost 1500 won or more depending on the length of your trip. After leaving the subway, there will be machine where you can return you ticket for a 500 won refund. With a T-Money card, it’s 900 won for the first 30 minutes on the train and 100 won for each additional 10 minutes, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of retuning your ticket every time.

To get around the subway though, you will have to do some transferring. Transferring is fairly simple with Seoul’s grid-like structure. When transferring to a different line, look out for that line’s color on the wall. For example, if you’re transferring to line 6 heading towards Korea University Station, you’ll want to look out for the burnt orange line that runs across the wall. Follow the arrows in the line, and it will take you to the line that you need. But be careful! Most of the time, the cars for a particular line are in the same spot, but sometimes, they are on other ends of the station so to speak. Also, each line has two cars running in opposite directions, so watch out for both of these or you’ll end up going in the opposite direction that you want to go. So, when transferring, look for the last subway stop on each side of the line, and then remember the last station for the direction that you want to go in. This works best when the subway line is separated, but when the subway cars are together, the last station isn’t listed and you have to look at the subway line’s map to know which direction you want to go to. It’s sounds hard, but after two or three times on the subway, it’ll become super easy to navigate.

Here are some things to look out for though in the Seoul subway:

The subway is jam packed during rush hours which are 7:30-9:00 a.m. and 5-6:30 p.m. so try to avoid those hours if possible, just for comfort reasons. Last train is from about 12:00-12:30 a.m. Mon.-Thu. and 11:30-12:00 a.m. Fri.-Sun. varying from station to station. Last train is always crowded but if intoxicated or if you don’t want to spend money on a taxi, try to make last train. First train is 5:30-6:00, so if after a late night, you decide you don’t want to pay for a cab, just wait around the station until the train arrives (a favorite is going to McDonald’s or Burger King for most, but others enjoy going inside the station and sleeping on the benches until the train arrives).

Another subway warning is the older people. The last six seats on each end of each car are reserved specifically for the elderly, so do not sit in these seats. It is also polite that if all those reserved seats are taken to give up your spot for an elder person (as well as a pregnant woman, small children, or someone who is disabled). The elderly can also be quite rough on the subway when it comes to getting a seat on the crowded cars. Old women are known for their deadly elbows: when someone is in their way on the subway, some will elbow you to get you to move out of the way. Since Korean women are quite short and the older women hunch over to boot, the elder women’s elbow are quite literally on par with the groin area for many westerners. I have had quite a good jab or two to the baby-maker to make me keel over and gasp for breath. Old women can also be very violent when it comes to getting on and off the subway. They will have their elbows locked, ready to jab anyone who gets in their way of entering of leaving the subway car, so beware. Older men are not as “violent” as the women, but they are known to take their thumbs and jam it into the spines of the men who get in their way. Thankfully I am a woman so I have never experienced this, but a quite a few of my male friends have.

Another warning is something that you won’t be able to do anything about it. If you’re a westerner (with no Asian looks), you will be stared at wherever you go. This can sometimes get uncomfortable on the subway when Korean purist (i.e. a Korean who thinks Korea should only be for Koreans) gets on. Usually, they’ll just mutter mean things under their breath, or menacingly glare at you. Occasionally though, as I’ve experienced, you’ll get one that wants to turn it into a fight. One night my friends and I were coming home from a movie and an old, drunk, Korean man got on the train. He instantly came up to our tall, American friend and started yelling at him. The old man even went to the point of knocking off our friend’s hat. The best thing to do in this situation is simply to walk away and go to another car. The worst thing to do is to get into a full-on confrontation. If a foreigner gets into a fight with a Korean, no matter who started it, the foreigner runs a high risk of getting deported. Keep that in mind when a Korean tries to fight you.

Other than extremists, you also have to think about people who are just, well, crazy. The other day I was on my way home from school when an old woman got on. Her eyes got really wide, and she started pointing at me. I looked around to see if I was doing anything wrong, like standing in the aisle or blocking her or someone else’s way, but I wasn’t. The woman slowly walked around me, pointing and staring at me the whole time. As she did, it caught the whole train car’s attention and now I have 30+ people staring at me. I take out my earphones to try and hear if she’s saying anything to me, but she’s not. Eventually, everyone realizes that I’m doing nothing wrong and they ignore the woman who is very obviously mentally unstable. The woman continues to stare and point at me for two stops until she gets off, but she makes sure that her eyes and her finger are pointed at me until I finally leave her line of site. Honestly, it was the weirdest experience I’ve ever had on the subway, and though I don’t think that this is something that would be a common occurrence, just be aware that things like that could happen.

Though it can be confusing at first, the subway is great tool to get around Seoul, so utilize it. After a week or two, using the subway will be like second nature, and very little confusion will remain.

A great site to use though, if confusion arises is: http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/TR/TR_EN_5_1_4.jsp

This site lists all of the Seoul Subway stops and the time it takes to get from one station to another. It makes a wonderful tool for getting around, and I found myself using it on a near daily basis.

Classes Begin

Classes have now begun! With my first two days of classes out of the way, it is now time to predetermine what my classes will be like (whee?).

First up, comes Operations Management. The class seems interesting and will certainly give me new perspectives on how the interworking of a business goes, but I’m a little worried because the professor speaks very softly. Thankfully, I’m sitting at the front of the class, so I should be able to hear most of what he says.

Next comes Financial Management. Now this is the class that I am most worried about. Even coming 30 minutes early to class, I was forced to sit 5 rows back (I’m a first 2 rows kind of person), and I can see why. I could barely hear the professor! I am immediately intimidated because the classroom, which is only supposed to for 50, is filled with 70 people, and I’m only 1 of 2 foreigners! While it will give me the chance to practice my Korean, it’s still intimidating. To add to the stress, the teacher announced just how hard the class will be—she expects us to fail!! She expects us to fail so much, that she’ll pass us almost no matter what. The only way to actually fail the class is to be in the bottom 5% of the class AND have below a 50. So if I had a 35, but am not in the bottom 5%, I still pass. While this gives me some comfort, I now know that I will need to do some serious studying for this class. I’m thankful that one of my roommates is studying for her CPA exam, because I have a feeling that I’ll be asking her a lot of questions.

After Financial Management comes Marketing Strategy. One of my passions is marketing, so I know that I’ll enjoy the class just because of that. I’m also excited because the professor is engaging, and we’ll get to design 2 products throughout the course of the class (always my favorite kind of project).

Finally, my last class in Beginners Korean 2. I’m actually a little upset about this one because I was hoping to place into Intermediate 1 since I studied Korean all summer. I seriously underestimated how hard the placement test was going to be, because I only understood about 10% of what was on the test. So in one sense, I’m sad that I’m a place lower than I want to be, but at the same time, I’m glad that I’m not biting off more than I can chew. The professor for my class though is going to be great. He’s very passionate about helping us learn to speak Korean and wants to make learning the language as fun as possible (because, in his words, “What’s fun about learning a language?”).

I’m very disappointed that I’m taking 12 hours instead of 15, but all of the classes were full by the time exchange students were allowed to register, and unlike previous semesters, they wouldn’t let exchange students into full classes. So, even though I literally had 10 alternative classes lined up, every single one of them was full. Even the extra Korean classes (like colloquial (modern) Korean, speaking Korean, and writing Korean) were full!

On the bright side of the first day of classes is the meeting a Korea University professor (not one of my teaching professors). Korean students dress for class, and since I’m in another country I follow the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” This effort paid off when I met the professor. We talked and he treated me to coffee (Korean tradition for the senior to treat the junior). While drinking our coffee, I practiced my Korean conversation with him, and, impressed, he asked me to meet him and some of his students for dinner next week so that we could all do language exchange. I am very excited for this new contact, as well as meeting new students to do language exchange with.

Despite my disappointment when it came to registering for classes, it seems that I’ll have a fun time this semester. I’m just going to need to study hard and keep my energy up!

The Stigma of Being an Orphan

I was given the chance to volunteer at the Sung Aw Won Orphanage in Busan, and was fully able to grasp the stigma that comes with being an orphan in Korea.

Like in any country, there is a slight stigma against orphans because most would be parents want children of their own blood. That mentality is more severe in Korea—here, blood-line is everything. Because of this, the adoption rates amongst Koreans is very low, and as a consequence, there are many orphans who will never find a loving home.

Many Korean orphans are not adopted by Korean nationals, but rather, are “exported,” in the words of the orphanage director. Every year, 20+ couples from outside of Korea come to visit the orphanage to visit the children and find one to give a loving home.

As we sat listening to the director, he told to please, give the children our love because they have no one else to give it to them. Hug all the children, especially “the ugly ones” who might otherwise not be given attention. Give them candy or food, the Korean way of showing you care. Play with them and teach them, for oppurtunities like this do not happen often for them.

When we were allowed to go upstairs to visit the children, there was an instant air of excitement. The first children I visited were 2-4, and filled with energy. One stole my camera and ran around with, taking picture of his friends and the orphanage. Many came up to us and asked for hugs or for us to pick them up and swing them around.

After playing with the little ones, I went upstairs to the older age group, the 5-7 year-olds. If the younger ones had been energetic, these children had enough excitement to supply Busan all the energy it needed for a year.

They instantly attachted themselves to me, grabbing my camera to take pictures of themselves and the room, and holding onto my back so that I could run them around the room. And run I did until sweat was pouring off my and the children started fanning me. But as soon as they thought I had cooled down enough, they jumped right back onto my back, and I ran all over again.

As our time came to a close, I found myself tearing up, wishing sincerely that I had a few hours more with them. As our final parting gift to them, we gave the orphanage 286,00 won or roughly $286.

To think that just a few hours with, just lending them our cameras to play, just giving them one hug, made all the difference in the world to them. We took one final picture together, and all left with wet eyes, praying for the day that we could come back.

Namsan Folk Village

넘산골 (‘Namsangol’, “Namsan Folk Village”), is a little piece of tradition in the heart of 서울 (‘Seoul’). Though small by the standards of the castles and folk villages outside of Seoul, it is wonderful little piece of history.

I join my friends in what I think is a desperate attempt at immersion (as only one of the Koreans who was with me spoke English). We walk a mile to the village all while talking in broken English and Korean, and upon arrival, we are greeted with the harsh smell street vendors and tour buses. The paths are crowded, flooded with Chinese and Japanese tourists, along with a few westerners and Koreans.

The beauty of the village, though, soon overcomes the smell. We are introduced to a large plaza and pond. It seems that the pond absorbed the stench for as soon as we passed, the smell was gone.

As we stumble down cobblestone paths, my Korean friends attempt to explain the history of the Folk Village to my friend and I, and all laugh my friend Nathalie or I correct them on their history.

We wander on gravel paths to the traditional buildings, all trying to get as close to inside as possible without actually entering the buildings. It becomes very clear though as we walk through the houses, just how tiny the Korean people used to be.

We marvel at the elaborate bedrooms,

And coo as we see a cute couple enjoying the view of the pond.

We laugh as we play traditional Korean games,

And goof off for pictures when we can

As the time approaches for the park to close, we pose together for one last picture together.

We all leave, hungry and tired, but excited from our trip into history. We smile and laugh, smelling tasty food as we pass restaurants. The trip was filled with excitement of traditional Korea, and we all vowed to come back together, and next time, with hopefully a little more knowledge of history.

Time to Say Goodbye

At the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, the final show of the night is a water ballet to the opera song “Time to Say Goodbye”. In this song, two lovers sing to each other as they are about to part forever. I’ve always found the song beautiful, and it has gotten me into the habit of seeing goodbyes as some romantic thing. Violins in the background, people crying, a handsome boyfriend with flowers saying, “Please, come back to me!”

Reality is far different from a romantic opera. The Austin airport is crowded, even at 5 a.m. I’m stressed and tired from a night of no sleep and constantly misplacing items. Moments before, I had to run back to the car to get my wallet because I had forgotten it in the fiasco that was unloading the car; half of me thought that my wallet was an hour away at home. Thank God it wasn’t.

I struggle with my heavy luggage as my mom desperately snaps pictures while I check-in to the airline. I find myself getting increasingly frustrated not just from the constant barrage of flashes, but the rude attendants at the airline who refuse to help me when the machine did not dispense my boarding pass. When I am finally all checked in, I let out a huge sigh of relief. The easiest part is done.

As I sit down, my mom lets go another camera flash. I give her playful glare and ask why she is doing that, after all, it isn’t my first time going to Korea. She stifles a sob and hugs me. I turn to my father who as always been a stoic man, and ever stoic does he remain in this situation.

The three of us sit there for a while, letting the beads of sweat dry from our foreheads and savor every moment we are having together. When 6 a.m. rings across the screen, we stand, knowing that it is time to say goodbye.

I give my mother a hug, who had been strong until this point, but is now sobbing on my shoulder as she squeezes me tightly. I hug her in return, her tears making me cry as well. I manage to untangle myself from my mother to hug my father who I can see is trying to be strong, but his façade is somewhat faltering. I hug him hard and stifle a sob.

With hugs over, I walk towards the security line and begin the arduous process of dealing with TSA. Occasionally, I look back and see my mom and my dad smiling and waving. As I take my final steps to where they will no longer be in my sight, I hum my song. Time to Say Goodbye.

We may be parting now, but soon, we will be together again.

To Say Goodbye

It is one day before I leave for Korea, actually 15 hours and 30 minutes to be exact, and it is now crunch time.

I have spent the last week preparing what I need to go. All my clothes are ready to pack, all medications in a bag, all shoes stuffed with socks and other miscellaneous items. All that is left are the little things. In the end though, it’s the little things that are the big things—and the hardest to do.

I start the morning off calling my bank to let them know I’m leaving the country and please for the love of God, do not cancel my card, I can’t handle that again. I send off any remaining papers to Texas Tech and let my advisors know what’s going on and what they will receive. I buy the remaining gifts and trinkets for friends I will meet in Korea, and cross out others like buying deodorant and packing a towel. These are important, but only little things.

Next comes the most important thing—calling my grandfather. It seems late when I call him even though the sun is high in the sky. I am wondering why I put this off to last. When he answers the phone, he doesn’t recognize my voice. It takes me a little bit, making sure my voice is loud and slow, to let him know who I am. Eventually he recognizes me and asks how I am. I use my smiling, salesman voice to tell him about my chores for the day, and how wonderful everything is, but on the outside I am thankful that he cannot see me. My eyes are watering and I am biting my lip, for I hear how sick he is and realize that it might be the last time I talk to him. I try to drag out my time, listening to his voice and think of times where he was spry and I would sit on his lap, laughing at the mooning Santa Clause. I think of burning wood in the fireplace, and his warm smile as he would pull me into his arms. The phone call goes all too fast, exhaustion clear in his voice. I wish him goodbye, say how much I love him, and that I can’t wait to see him when I return. He mumbles, saying he’s holding on and hopes he will see me in December, just in time for Christmas. When he finally hangs up the phone, I look at the time and see that the call has lasted only five minutes—five minutes too fast—five minutes too short. I find myself in tears while I realize that a line that had been on my checklist now needs to be crossed off. It was just a bullet, but my hand trembles as my pen runs through the words. Task done. Completed. It was so quick to do. Why?

As I cross out the last item, I look at my mom. We are sitting at lunch where I am enjoying the last salad that I will have in months. She smiles at me and I smile at her. I turn over my checklist and write on the back, “엄마, 사랑해요,” –“Mother, I love you.” As I hand he the card and tell her the meaning in Korean, she cries, grabbing my hand. I can no longer hold back my tears and cry with her, tightly grasp the hand that has held mine for so long.

“Write one for your father,” she says, choked up.

“Ok,” I reply, giving her hand one last squeeze.

I leave for Korea in one day—15 hours and 30 minutes to be exact. I have checked everything off my checklist and am ready to go, yet there are tears in my eyes.

Mission Impossible: One Week to Find an Apartment

I’m about to go on the adventure called finding an apartment. My application for the dormitories got rejected and now I have less than a week to find a place to live. Let the fun begin!

Now there are many off campus housing options for Korea University. There’s Crimson House which many foreigners like, but I wouldn’t be able to stand it because there is no kitchen. The others include Allive Livingtel and a few others with kitchens. Now these would be great, but sadly, their websites are in Korean and I doubt that the landlords, if I call them, speak English. Since I don’t speak enough Korean to reserve a room or have a translator help me, those options are unavailable to me.

This leads me to taking to Google! First I look for One Rooms (원룸), and I find a few but the key deposit (which is not returned) is too high, so it takes those out of the picture.

Next I search expat forums, like iaminkorea.com. I find many people looking for roommates but most of the apartments are too far or I don’t meet the requirements. I even find a few that would be free to me as long as I act as an English tutor to the owner’s children. I find this move to be a little too risky and don’t know how they will treat me or how many hours the father wants me to put in, so these are all out.

I’m beginning to get frustrated because I can’t find anywhere close enough to where I live, but then I remember—craigslist. I go onto craigslist to the South Korean section and find many people looking for roommates. I find a few that are appealing. There are several in the area of Hongdae, which is a great part of Seoul, but the negative is that it’s 40 minutes by subway away from Korea University. Also, if I miss last train, then I would have to pay about $7-$10 to get home. The deals on the rooms though are great, so I’ll keep these apartments on the backburners.

My next mission is goshipages.com, which is usually a pretty great place to find affordable housing near the university, but since I'm so close to school starting, all the goshiwons are full. 

After a few hours of searching though, I finally find a place that is relatively close to Korea University, and has the amenities that I require (bed, kitchen, laundry machine, ect.). The other plus is that I would have a large window and room all to myself. The place is big and I’ll be sharing the apartment with 3-4 other girls. Korea University is only 15 minutes away by bus and subway so it’s out of the way, but close enough. The residents in the apartment also go to Kyung Hee University, a top university in Korea. I figure that this will give me a great experience because not only will I interact with students at Korea University, but at Kyung Hee University as well. The room is a little more than I want to pay, but there are so many positives with this one room, that I’ll just bite the bullet and take it. I don’t think that I’ll find a better place.

Time to Pack Up

To start off, this is not my first time to Korea—it is my second and I could not be more excited. Coming a second time gives me a better chance to know what to bring, what to do and what not to do.

My trip begins even before I get to Korea—with the process of packing. I am fortunate that this is my second time to Korea so I know what I should bring. Korean fashion is a lot different from American fashion and what is considered inappropriate there is not considered inappropriate here and visa versa. Consider shorts; short shorts are usually a little taboo here in the states for they often represent promiscuity, but in Korea, short shorts and mini skirts are all the rave and are actually so short, many westerners find themselves gawking at the lack of length.

This is acceptable.

On the other hand, showing shoulders and too much chest represents a “loose” woman in Korea, so girls, make sure that you shoulders are covered and that you are not showing any cleavage.

This is not acceptable.

As a foreigner, I will have a little wiggle room when it comes to the shoulder department, but I will not get wiggle room when it comes to the cleavage department, people will stare—a lot.

Koreans also dress in very neutral tones: grey, black, and white, is the general color palette so I’m going to dress accordingly. I have found that the one color that Koreans are ok with is pale pink, and as someone who loves color in their wardrobe, I have a feeling that there will be a lot of pink in mine. Also, Koreans dress a lot nicer than we do here in America, so I’m going to pull together the nicest clothes that I have. This is not to say that I’ll be going to class in my Sunday best, but I certainly won’t be going in my pajamas.

Now, what to pack? Nice clothes—name brands would be best, but since that’s not in my budget, I’ll have to make due with what I have. For the summer months, it is hot and humid like Houston so I have to dress accordingly. Shorts and cotton shirts are great when it comes to staying cool in the heat. Skirts, shorts, and dresses are great for girls so I’ll be packing a lot of those. While I’m tempted to pack an umbrella, I’m not going to because I’d rather just get one in Korea since you can find a pretty nice umbrella for a great price. Mosquitoes are a big problem in Korea so I’ll definitely bring some bug spray. The mosquitoes have a nasty habit of getting into rooms at night, so I need to pack some spray that doesn’t feel too gross or smell bad so that I can wear it at night. And of course, the most important thing is shoes. I will be doing a lot of walking in Korea—a lot, and I need to be prepared. So I’m going to bring a few pair of comfortable flats and a pair of tennis shoes. Almost all Korean girls wear heels, but since I’m not comfortable in walking in them for long distances, I think I’ll just bring one pair of shirt heels in case of a formal occasion (Korean men are short relatively speaking and often times feel awkward or offended if a girl is taller them than, though they won’t say it aloud. Since I’m 5'9" and the average Korean man is 5’8”, it’s really not a good idea for me to bring heels for everyday use).

Summer lasts until from May to about mid-October. It is here when it starts to cool down a bit and it’s not so horribly humid. For this, I’m going to pack a light jacket or two and sweater as well as pants for this month.

Autumn does not last long in Korea. At all. It will be winter before I know it, so I’m going to pack a thick, waterproof coat and gloves, thick sweaters, long-sleeve shirts, and a snowcap. I’m also going to pack a pair of boots to keep my legs extra warm in the winter.

The last thing that I’m going to pack is gifts. Giving gifts is a big part of Korean Culture. When you visit someone else's home, it is important to bring a gift such as wine. Wine and other types of alcohol such scotch, whiskey, and cognac make great gifts, especially if they’re foreign brands (but never bring food to someone else’s home unless asked to, because otherwise it’s rude). Also, when visiting your professor for the first time, it also important to give them a small gift like a nice pastry or pen. I’m going to pack simple things, nice, decorated notebooks and earrings for girls, Texas themed shot glasses and t-shirts for boys. For my male teachers, I’m also going to pack some Texas Tech themed golf balls (Korean men love golf), and some American perfume for my female professors. When I get to Korea, I’m going to buy American wine to give as gifts as well (I would buy it here in the states, but I’m under 21, so I can’t do that legally). I have also packed some Texas themed wrapping paper to put the gifts in.

Things that I'll leave out include toilet articles like shampoo and soap. These items are heavy and can easily be purchased on arrival. I'll simply bring a few "plane safe" toilet articles to last me my first few days in Korea. I will be bringing one small towel on my carry-on for the hotel I'll be staying in since hotels in Korea don't provide towels. I'll buy larger towels once I get moved in to my dorm.

Now that I have what I want to pack, it’s important for me to put it into a suitcase that will be easy to transport. My airline allows me to have two check-in bags at 50 pounds each and one carry-on, and I’m going to maximize this. I’ve chosen 1 large suitcase that rolls and a large duffle bag with the idea being that I’ll put the duffle bag on top of the rolling suitcase’s handle bar for easier transportation. I have chosen a large over-the-shoulder bag for my carry-on. For me, it will work great because my carry-on will only be holding a few days worth of clothes and my computer, so I can just sling it over my shoulder and use my other two hands to pull my other heavy suitcases.