Author Archives: sjk5181

Hello!

I’m 3 weeks into my semester here at Sogang University.

Time has definitely flown by.
Right now, I’m in my dorm. And it’s really, really nice (compared to Penn State’s).
Sogang’s dorms are relatively new (built in 2008 or 09). So everything is really, well.. new! And clean~
Sogang does, though, have some borderline-annoying policies to maintain this cleanliness (RA’s come in every two weeks into each room and check to see if everything (mostly the bathrooms) is clean. And I heard it’s got to be SUPER clean).

Gonzaga Halls (name of the dormitory) has your typical 2-students-per-dorm style.
It consists of two tall buildings with the ground and basement floors connected.
As you could’ve guessed, one building is for guys and the other for girls.
Forewarning, if you get caught in the opposite gender’s building, your housing contract is immediately terminated!

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Gonzaga has a modern but interesting technique to enter either building.
You take your dorm ID card and scan it and a pair of gates will open to give you access. (You also got to scan when you leave your dorm building)
So, the system keeps track of when you’re in the building or not.
It may seem like a lot but it’s their strict way of maintaining safety, I guess.
Even more, there’s a curfew between midnight and 5am. (Shorter curfew on the weekends, though)
You lose points whenever you enter or leave the dorms during that time. Buuuuuut, for foreigners (like me!), we’re given ONE free one-way pass any given night of the week. So we can stay out late and come home during the curfew, and it’ll be granted without losing points.
Oh, the points. If you lose enough points, your contract is void lol! There’s many ways to lose points (get caught smoking, drinking, cooking, damaging, etc in the dorms). But, there ARE ways to receive points, though, but it’s not easy.

Anyways, you also got to receive permission if you’re going to stay out “overnight,” which means coming in past 5am.
This type of behavior is common, such as having to study all night for an exam.
Now, if you don’t get permission (btw, it’s pretty easy to get it. You just got to ask) AND you stay out overnight, they’ll know, alright.
How? Because the gate system knows you’re out of the dorms! MUHAHA!
There’s a lot more technical stuff to this dorming lifestyle at Sogang, but I won’t get into it all.

My roommate is really nice.
He’s 26 years old (Korean age). Old, huh?
He’s graduating this semester. And with the combination of serving in the military & double majoring (Ch E and Law), he’s where he is now.
I definitely look up to him as a hyung, and I hope to learn a lot about Korea from him.
He’s really considerate and treats me well, so my fears of getting an incompatible roommate are gone~
He bought us Papa John’s pizza a few nights ago. Awesome!

Now, I guess it’s time to show you around my dorm room!
You’ll notice pictures of a room with a toilet/sink and another with a shower! Yeahhhhh. Personal (or I guess bi-personal?) toilet and shower :)!


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I’m currently taking a Korean language class and an Eastern Asian History class.
The Korean class is an astounding 12 credits! But it IS 20 hours a week.

Anyways, I gotta go get dinner, so I’ll update again later!


Location: Seoul, South Korea

ARRIVED!

I am currently at my aunt’s apartment writing this entry.

But oh boy, the amount of time travelling and waiting was too much to bear..

-2 hour bus ride from Philadelphia to JFK airport in NY
-3 hour wait in the resting area for the plane
-14 hour airplane trip
-1 hour from the airport to aunt’s apartment

I don’t know quite how I managed to endure the (endless) journey, so don’t ask. lol

This was my first time going through the airport process for travelling internationally so I was a bit nervous.
I didn’t want to mess up and cause any complications. I was nervous enough that I’d miss the bus or plane and have to deal with that!

I did like Korean Airlines though. The stewardess were very polite, the food was more than decent, and the entertainment system had a good selection of movies.

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Airline ticket included headphones, pillow, blanket, toothbrush/paste, disposable slippers.

What I found myself mainly looking at was its channel for pinpointing the airplane on a map at all times.
The option showed you information like altitude, how many more miles until Incheon, how much more time, etc.
Constantly viewing that, I found that time went a lot slower. But as soon as I flipped the monitor to something else, I felt this urge to go back and check.
Sigh.. that’s how I spent the majority of the trip (besides sleeping and watching “Little Fockers”).

But yeah, I’m pretty anxious and excited to check out Seoul.
It should, though, take me a while to get used to everything NOT being in English!

It’s raining (booo!) so I might not be able to do much today but it’s alright.

In the next few days, I should have located some kind of housing for me that’s closer to Sogang University.

So yeah, until then.. cyaa!


Location: Seoul, South Korea

Leaving soon.

Hi. My name is Sam Kim.
I will be studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea (Sogang Univ) during the summer and fall semesters.

I’m South Korea but have never been to my “homeland” before, so I’m sure many things will seem very foreign to me.

I’m pretty excited but also nervous because I know I’ll be learning a lot on my own.
My overall goals are to learn and dive into the Korean culture as well as learning as much as I can the language.
I sound too robotic right now, don’t I?
Hopefully that’ll change as I write more!
Cyaaaaaaa 🙂
P.S. I’ll be leaving the States on May 20th w/ Korean Air!
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Location: Lansdale, PA 19446