Heavy rain in Seoul

Third day in Seoul and I've learned the true meaning of heavy rain. Though, the rain makes the heat more bearable.

So far, it's been really pleasant here, though I had a little change of plans at the last minute on Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I got an email from my hostel telling that my reservation had been changed to another hostel because of leakages caused by the heavy rains. Still. my arrival to the new hostel went very smoothly. They arranged me a transportation from the original hostel to the new one. Koreans are really helpfull and friendly; I'd been in the city for like 15 minutes and already someone offered to take me where I needed to be. I took a KAL limousine bus from the airport to the city, which was really easy.

First day and night here was pretty odd for the jet lag and poorly slept night flight. Still I managed to eat my first korean dinner, bulgogi at a small restaurant in Jongno Gu, near my hostel. It took a little time to find a place where they had name of the dish on the list in english. The best way to have dinner here, is in groups of two or more. One dish, in my opinion, is enough for two people.

Yesterday I explored the area near SKKU, the uni where my friends are studying for the semester. It was more western than Jogno Gu with all the american chain restaurants. The area had many shops, so I think I'll head back during this weekend before leaving to Daegu on Monday.

The rain has stopped and it's time to explore another side of the city.

Bye Bye Finland

Well, though it seems impossible, the summer is passed, and it's time to head to the airport. I'm feeling really excited and at the same time a little sad for leaving Finland. But only for few seconds, then I remember what an amazing four months I have ahead of me. I've been stressing myself to the edge, and now it's time to enjoy :)

To all lovely friends at LUT and around Finland: enjoy the autumn and its events to the fullest! Miss you already!

Till next time,

Hanna

Stressed

Now I know what they mean when talking about travel fever. I wish I could just step in a plane without planning and arranging. Bored with waiting and stressed with all the things to be done in two weeks!

I've been also a little bit worried since I realized that they speak Korean in South-Korea :) I would guess that knowing how to count to ten in Korean doesn't help that much..

Relief

I finally booked flights to Seoul and back to Finland! A sip of cold cider after sauna and I can finally take it easy with preparations. Almost everything has been taken care of except for travel insurance and one final e-mail to KMU international services informing them of my arrival schedule. And of course planning trips around South-Korea and Bali where I'll be heading for christmas with my good friend Sonja who'll be spending the autumn in New Zealand.

When the final admission certificate arrived from Keimyung just before midsummer I felt extremely stressed due to all the paper work that had to be done. Two weeks and the paperwork is done, and I still had time to enjoy traditional midsummer at summer cottage in Central Finland and a superb weekend in extreme heat in the extremely beautiful Savonlinna.

Basically the most difficult thing with preparations is the visa applications. The Visa can be applied via traditional mail, but is quite complicated with all the annexes: original admission certificate from the receiving university (with your signature!), original student certificate from home university, visa handling fee, passport, and registered mail envelope for returning the passport. My brain capacity just felt too small to remember all this.

I've also sent confirmation and medical self-evaluation forms to Keimyung, and visited the occupational healtcare for getting a medical certificate from a licensed health professional stating that I don't have pulmonary tuberculosis and hepatitis B :). I've also been wondering about my finances during the trip. Jut for precaution I've given my mother rights to my bank accounts.

Now, I'm just going to concentrate on my Lonely Planet -guide, and plan my first holiday (five whole days!) since 2005 which I'll be spending in Seoul before heading to Daegu on the 29th of August.

H

Decisions, decisions

I've been lately filling out the application form to Keimyung. Selecting courses is really easy, but I'm having huge problems in choosing between two halls of residence.

There are several halls of residence near the campus, but the two most likely for an exchange student are Keli-house and International Learning and Residence hall. In Keli-house you'll be living in the same room with a korean student and english is the only spoken language allowed. The thing that matters to me the most is the size of the room and facilities. In Keli-room you can find a bunk bed, one desk and bookshelf.. For two persons!!!!! It's about 400 euros cheaper per semester than the International hall, but still! And of course shared showers and bathrooms in each floor...

In the International hall you will share the room with another student, but you'll have your own bed and desk, and for me, the most important thing: every room has a shower and bathroom with warm water throughout the whole day. I think in this case paying 400 euros more is justified :)

Back to bed! Too early for more sensible thoughts...

H

We're on!

This is it! Confirmation of my semester abroad has arrived and I couldn't be more excited. This August I'll be heading to South-Korea, Keimyung University.

For a long time, I've wanted to visit Korea, the motherland of Taekwondo, a dear hobby of mine since the mid 90's. So, when the opportunity occured how could I have resisted? My friends' and family's reactions have so far been "whaaaat? are you kidding? of all the places in the world? there must be something wrong with you..."

I hope this blog will answer why I chose South-Korea, while I write about my preparations for the exchange and of course, most importantly, my adventure in the other side of the world.

Tataa!