donderdag 27 oktober 2011

IT TAKES TWO... MONTHS

Two months since I left my beloved Belgium and so far so good! Without really realizing it, my days over here are passing by so quickly. Sometimes I still cannot believe it... that I will be in S-Korea for three (more) years!

I have settled down and found a good rythm to spend my days. Besides that I have a roommate since last week! Her name is Seung-Ju and she's nice. She's a graduate student of molecular biology or something like that, which means her schedule is REALLY busy! She sleeps about four or five hours a night. Her (snooze) alarm goes off every morning at 6:30 with a really loud tune... So basically... while she's still asleep in a very deep coma, I feel like I have been waken up by the alarms of hell and then I wonder whether she's still alive or why she doesn't wake up, so last morning I woke her up but without any success. Anyhow she seems like a nice  person, and I feel glad... Because a lot of your mood depends on your roommate, as you have to live together in one room and share some common facilities.

The passed four weeks were full of actions. I really have to dig deep into my memory to still remember what I have been doing lately. Fortunately I have pictures to help me doing this. First of all I was invited to a Vietnamese lunchparty, which was fun! We made Korean style pho cuon, ofcourse with KIMCHI, or what did you expect? I'm in KOREA! ;)... I also won a bottle of makgeoli (Korean style sweet milky rice alcohol drink) by showing off my limbo skills. We have been hanging around in Seoul... playing pool, bowling, cooking food... making spaghetti and pancakes, dining together, studying Korean, practicing role plays, shopping for warmer clothes, drinking tea, watching Indian movies on the Kitchen TV,...

On a beautiful autumn day we tried to climb the mountain/hill Gwanaksan, located on our campus. The weather was hot and the view worth the trip. Autumn hasn't been this beautiful for me, with the many and colourful trees. I am glad to be here!

... Although last week, first signs of some homesickness appeared, but gladly they didn't linger for too long (only one day to be honest!;)). I think the reason was and still is the fact that Korean students at SNU are not the most sociable people around town... One day I felt so fed up with their ways of being concentrated on studying all the time and sometimes pretending not to see you (even though you see them everyday on your floor, kitchen or elevator). It made me upset and this was mainly the reason why I missed my family and friends so hard that moment. But luckily, this mood didn't last for long and I'm feeling relaxed and cheerful again. :)

My Korean language skills are steadily getting better. We have just finished chapter 24 of our 30 chapters textbook. Every day of the week, from Monday to Friday, I'm supposed to attend our Korean language class from 9am to 1pm. The content of the chapters is getting more complicated, especially the Korean grammar is NOT something to make fun of. Actually it's even quite confusing, as many forms have many similar or overlapping functions. I'm glad I brought some of my Japanese and Chinese skills, otherwise I would be really confused by now! ;)

I decorated my room, the wall is still white. So don't hesitate to send me some funky fanmail! :D


***


View from my building! I'm STILL enjoying this sunset every evening!




A wall of good memories


Mi hermana Julieta and me! I'm eating bibimbap and she's Eating the BLOB!

Pinktitude

Just look around and you can feel home wherever you go!


I was the only one who could go down like that! And win a bottle of makgeoli!


Still doing roleplays in class! (I even got married last time! ;))


iWant and uGive!
SNU main gate! Entrance of our University and Campus


Mi hermana, la guapa!




Seafood spaghetti! :P


Eating Vietnamese Pho in Seoul...


Tylie, he should be promoting this Obama perfume...










Not really


Fotoshoots in the streets


OMG! maandverband van 41 cm!! :O


I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this









Painting nails, our own / Korean style




Penthouse! ;)


Koreaanse spaghetti


Ozakkyo, mijn favoriete drama!




Vietnamese lunchparty






my new Vietnamese friends




Korean style pho cuon








On the back of the motorbike, feels so much like HANOI!!!




Autumn is trully beautiful over here!






Red trees everywhere


typical Korean middle aged woman haha


With my Korean buddy Jaeran


When I still didn't have a roommate, I used her bed to fold my laundry :)


Making Korean pancakes


Belgian represent












Wangwei my Chinese classmate, lives on the eighth floor as well




Korean style pancakes


my kitchenaids


tribute to Steve Jobs


Smoggy Seoul

Asian pose/ Cheezy smile + V

Climbing Gwanaksan


Hunting down some goat

Do a little dance on a rock 





two brownies on a mountain











Korean style hiking




International Food Festival on our campus

Busy lunchbreak on SNU campus

Going to the market / my favorite store: cheap!

Cheap cucumberz


my buddy Jaeran making Belgian pancakes


Billiard at shilimdong

at Umer's place having brunch in the afternoon :D


Kiyong, he can speak French very well

Umer's cheering me up when I felt a little bit moody/homesick

taking a walk after lunch

eating icecream

my faovorite foodshop


Some typical Korean dish, but I forgot the name


STRIKE!



Play pool on our campus

autumn days

at the teahouse, with my classmates and teacher O sonsengnim

preparing tea during a tea ceremony



My classmates, KOREAN LEVEL 1 KGSP Students