FOB ?

I told everyone that when I came back to the States that I would not come back as a FOB (fresh off the boat).
Recently I went shopping. Guess what I bought? A pair of ... skinny jeans... Yes.. Skinny jeans hahah MUAHAHHA! My friends said it looked good on me so I just bought it. I might as well embrace this Korea fashion hahahaha!

But really these jeans give you no space to breathe. I put on some shorts after my whole day and I never felt so relieved! LOL!

A few days ago, I also went to the Han River. It was a sight to see. It was very beautiful and that day happen to have the most perfect weather.

random beaver :)

O.M.G

Yesterday after church I decided to tag along with my friends and go watch the Cinderella movie. We took the subway to Gangnam. We decided that after the movies we would go to Coex Mall. So we go watch the Cinderella movie which was really great in my opinion. Disney never fails to satisfy my expectations. Afterwards, we decide to go eat some Italian food which was sorta pricey for me. I don't remember what I got exactly but let's just say it was a seafood dish. When we all finish eating and decide to leave I look outside the see-through glass of the restaurant and see a women. She starts slowing down... She then brings her hand up to her ear and signaled for me to call her. I was like OH NO with a very surprised face. She starts making her way around into the restaurant and I panic. I tell me friends what happened and one of my friends said I'll pretend to be your girlfriend. So we links arms as we are about to leave. When she arrives inside the restaurant and sees us she stood in front of us for like a good moment in disappointment. She then left in disappointment. Cannot explain how shocked I was. unbelievable... But all in all, I had a good time today. It was fun. I only just met these friends a few days ago. Glad I did, they are so lively, funny, and soooo spontaneous hahaha. I'll post a picture of them later :)

I'm thinking of making instagram posts of my good friends I met on IG. Sorry for no pictures in this blogpost. I actually am writing the last half of this blogpost in my class. This physiology class is really hard cuz she speaks half of it in Korean. It's supposed to be a class only taught in English. I took anatomy and physiology 1 and 2 but this class is nothing like what I took back at home. I wonder what the prereq for this class was because my teacher always says, "you guys should remember this from organic chemistry, or microbiology, or biochem and etc....." 

Anyways, I'm doing well. I can't believe it's already been 3 months in Korea. I'm actually starting to wonder if I have to serve military because my dad registered me as a Korean citizen. I also missed my best friends b-day: Peter. Wish I coulda been there bro. 

Hope everyone at home is doing well :) <3<3<3

Homesick

Lately, I have been feeling homesick. I miss having deep conversations with guys. Staying up till the AM's for no reason at all. I miss my little cat Pepper. She would always rest on my chest while I sleep and sit her paw on my face to wake me up while nibbling on my ear.
This trip is really teaching me how to become independant. It's a very good experience. I might as well make the best of my time here because I probably will miss this place too when I go back to America. Sorry guys, I don't have pictures too show this time. It's finals week so I haven't taken many pictures this week. Unless you guys wanna see what I'm studying haaha. I'm not going to lie, it has been sorta lonely living here by myself. But I'm managing myself. *Tear*..... <(^-^<)

classes and fun plans

Lately, people have been asking me how are my classes.

Since I am taking classes in Korea, many people wonder if it is taught in English. It in fact is taught in English. But since it is taught by Korean professors it is not perfect English. For example: my physiology professor continues to say "we made a promise". I suddenly wake up during class and wonder OMG! I made a promise? No... actually I didn't make a promise. It is actually the professor trying to say that there is a law made to explain some sort of phenomenon... Law = promise. 

On the side note, I'm glad I remembered my mom saying be careful when you cross streets in Korea. Why? There aren't stop signs like America. There are usually cross guards for very busy intersections, and maybe the pedestrian crossing signal. So, if you plan to visit Korea just remember to let the cars go first. 

Next week I'm hoping to visit Hongdae and go to the trick eye museum. If you don't know what that is here is a link for ya. 

http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&m=0004003002006&p=en&art_id=46360&lang=en 

Like every other blog post, I will provide pictures :D

two days ago I finally got to eat a burger... omg.. I miss this

My aunt restocked my cabinet with a bunch of ramen. Not gonna be good for me hahha.

My aunt also got me new glasses. If you go to the right place in Korea frames can be really cheap. Also, depending on what kind of lens you want, the total price will also come out really cheap. My glasses only costed me 20 bucks with a free eye exam. I wonder how they even make money like that... Additionally, the service in Korea is amazing. Whether I'm getting a haircut or getting my glasses they usually serve drinks. When I got my glasses they had a drink bar where you can order beverages. Seriously, service in Korea is like WOOOOOOW. 

And more food. Tteokboki with calamari :DD

OH AND mom and dad if your reading this. I'm doing fine. My room isn't too messy and I do my dishes. Well... depends on what you define messy as... In my standards this is neat heheh. Anywho... I'm doing great. I went grocery shopping today. I bought this nice toothpaste that taste minty peaches. Random... but that's me hahahha. 

What's up

It's the fourth week of school and I am still learning more about Korea. Since this is my first time being in another country by myself I get nervous when going somewhere alone. Luckily, I made some good friends so I usually follow them around.

For those of you thinking about visiting Korea and wanting to attend Yonsei. There is a nice cafeteria here where they serve some good tasting noodles. They have many kinds of spaghetti in this one specific cafeteria. I forgot the name of the building, but I will get back to you on that. Anywho, here are some pictures :)) 

I signed up for a gym in Sinchon. I have to walk around 10 minutes to get there.

I also joined a baseball club for Yonsei called "Ironbat". I think I will become their pitcher. They were pretty amazed when they saw my fastball.

 I got me some Honey Butter chips. These things are like rare Pokemons. They are so hard to find!

Sandwhich was like 2 bucks. Honeybutter chips was like 1.5 bucks each. Korea also has this neat thing when you buy certain items you also get something free (maybe a drink?).

Seafood cream noodles. (seriously this cafeteria is the bomb.com). Noodles in this cafeteria usually don't go over 5 bucks. The amount they give you is great too! Garlic bread is 500won each.

My view at Namsam Tower :)) Was kinda cold when I went but it was still pretty awesome.

My gym shoes.

 

 

 

 

Things I find interesting

1. Most gyms in Korea require you have to new/clean shoes used only at/for the gym.

2. Korean debit cards can be used also as a metro card. (it'd be cool if America adopted this idea)

 

 What I am learning

Because I live by myself I have to budget my money and learn how to say no sometimes when I am invited to fun events and hangouts. It's hard for me to say no when people invite me out to eat because I am ALWAYS hungry! I still have a very fast metabolism. My stomach is growling now as I write this blog post.

 

 

Note to people back at home:

Thanks everyone for keeping me in your prayers. I appreciate it, and I really see God providing for me in everyway. I do feel homesick, and I miss all of you guys!

 

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Does anyone have any ideas of what I should post about? :)) please tell me if you do!

 

First day

This Monday has got to be one of the worst first day of school. I wouldn't even call it a first day because I didn't even go to class. Why? Apparently, I registered four out of five of my classes in the wrong campus. I didn't even know that was possible! I was supposed to register my classes at the Sinchon campus instead of Incheon campus. So instead of going to class I just hung out with a friend that I met named Cody. Later, Cody's girlfriend tagged along and the three of us just hung out. We ate ribs with cheese at a place with my name in Korean, played pool, went bowling, then we ate again...  I felt guilty for doing this, but I didn't really have many options. So how did my week go? I'll let the pictures explain!

Where we ate

Ribs and cheese

Bapingsoooooo ~ 

Ate again after bowling

My friends. They cute I guess.

She can speak three languages. She speaks Spanish, English, and Korean... I feel like all the people I've met so far can speak at least three languages.

Me. Reppin. Yonsei.

 

What I learned

I learned that Koreans don't drink during their meals because they said its bad for digestion. I also learned that Korean people are really touchy. Everytime I see koreans talking I see them linking or grabbing their friends arm. I also noticed this when my dad was here in Korea while meeting all his friends.

Back in Seoul

Since I haven't posted in a long time, I wrote a bit more for ya peepz! :3



On 02-23-2015, I arrived in Sinchon. Shortly after arriving, I met up with Luke so we could find my place that I will be staying for the next five months in Korea. As we arrived at the Gosiwon (small room usually for students) our expectation was pretty low because the entrance didn't look to great. We were guided to my room and upon arrival more than disappointed from the rooms size. I literally thought I was living in a closet. A closet with a bathroom, mini fridge, bed, and desk. I cannot exaggerate enough how small this room was. The picture of the room size was so misguiding from the picture posted online. Luke suggested that I should stay over his place during the time I figure out where I stay for the next five months. So, I stayed over his place for a few days. After moving all my luggage into Luke's house the Jeong's treated us out to Galbi barbeque! The food was great! We ate till we were full.

Galbi was cooked with hot coals

Luke

Galbeeeeehhhhhh !

On the 24th, was the international orientation. I attended the orientation but left early. Around 5pm I came back to the same location for the buddy meeting. Yonsei University has this neat program called the buddy program where an international student is grouped with a Korean local to become more familiar with the culture and environment. From 5pm - 7pm I bought a shirt, got free refreshments from the orientation and learned the Yonsei cheer. We danced for around an hour learning the Yonsei cheer. After the orientation ended, I met up with Luke and went to Lotte. Just for those who might come to Korea and want to estimate how much money you might need. I took pictures of a few item's prices so you can get an idea of how much money you might need to bring.

Note: The pictures below aren't good quality cuz I didn't wanna get in the way of the customers.

Lotte Kimchi

milk carton

water (20)

Korean yogurt

Ramen (necessary for every college student)

Soondae & tteokboki (pretty spicy here) 

(By God's grace, I was given a great place to stay. It meets everyone of my needs. Private bathroom, mini fridge, stove, bed, and etc.)

(more food pictures) 

Soondae. I can't tell you how much I love this

Yangyum chicken. Uncle owns a yangyum chicken store. He said I can come get some anytime :)

Opinion of Koreans way of life

When eating at a Korean restaurant people normally take off their shoes and sit on the floor. In America, we keep our shoes on and sit on a chair. Sitting on the floor is a bit discomforting for me but I guess its part of the Korean cultural experience. I guess it's a good experience because immersing oneself into another culture involves sometimes going out of your own comfort zone.

Back to the past

            On 02/17/2015 I went to sonbul (손불) with my dad, cousin, and uncle. There we visited my grandfathers and grandmothers grave (dad's side). My cousin and and uncle paid respect to the dead by giving them fruits and pouring a cup of soju. My uncle would then pour the soju onto the ground where my grandmother and grandfather was buried. 

Afterwards, we tried to find my dad's house in which he lived twenty something years ago... We asked the first person we saw (man below) and he knew my dad's father. Apparently he was a well-known doctor and was known for his very pointy and long eyebrows. The man said I looked like my grandfather and was tall and good looking like him.

Dad's old house

After we met up with my dad's old friend and ate at a restaurant. There weren't many restaurants in the area so we chose one next to the sea because it had a nice view. After we ordered the lady took one of these fishes in the video and served it to us raw. I didn't see that coming (I actually saw it coming). It wasn't too bad I guess. It was definitely different from sushi though. All I can say is, my diet has changed dramatically since I came to Korea. Instead of hamburger, pizza, and fried chicken it has been replaced by lots of healthier dishes.

If there is anything you'd like me to post about tell me :) or if you have any questions that you want answered I'd be more then happy to answer them in my next blog post!

I also post pictures more often if you'd like to follow me and see what I am up to on my IG (instagram): James_o_park

2nd week into Korea


I've done so much, and went to so many places so far. Korea so far has been great. I've met many good people! Everyone has treated me with the utmost respect and generosity. My clumsy self forgot to bring a few things to Korea such as pants, face cleanser, battery charger for my camera, and a lot more. I also thought I'd be financially not well off. But God has completely provided for everyone of my needs. My uncle provided me a jacket that costs 26,000 yen. Which is also equivalent to 218 bucks. My aunt got me shoes because they had holes in them. Basically every one of my needs have been met. I even tried to buy my own coffee but one of my dad's coworkers didn't allow it.

on 02/16/2015, I went to Gwangju to meet my aunt and my three cousins for the first time. My cousins and I went to a buffet and ate so much! The food was great! Usually the desserts in a buffet isn't that great but this place had awesome desserts! After eating we went bowling. The bowling alley was not lighted well but had disco lights. Lastly, we walked around to buy my facial cleanser because I forgot to bring mine from the U.S. Faceshop, Innisfree, and other products like these are so cheap here in Korea. I was so surprised! I'm probably going to stock up and bring lots back to America. I was going to buy my own cleanser but my cousin Hongjin took it to the counter and paid it for me. She absolutely refused that I pay for it. I am being taken care of really well.

More pictures of my place

The first and second picture above shows the hallway to my place, and also my kitchen. 

What I’m packing

The 3rd picture shows what I have packed so far… As you can see I have no idea what I’m packing. I’ve packed a light jacket, dress pants, contact solution, an apple iphone case that contains my SD cards, nail clipper, camera charger, and earplugs. I also have cup ramen, passtachios, a lint roller, facial care products, baseball mitt, binders, notebooks, and a loofa. I will pack at least two weeks worth of clothes the week before my departure. But if anyone has any advice on what I should bring please share :). It would be more than helpful. Or maybe even what I should expect in Korea.

I’ll remember to keep all ya’ll updated on how things are going :)

24 days till Korea

I’ve always wanted to visit the country where my parent are from and now I finally have that opportunity while studying abroad. In exactly 24 days I will be arriving in Korea. I didn’t make too many preparations for Korea yet, but I have found my place of stay! This gosiwon was pretty much the best deal I could find. It includes a mini refrigerator, dresser, private bathroom, mini television, and of course…. a bed. I think the only negative about this place is that it is 25 minutes away from school. I also chose this place because for relatively the same price as a dorm I get this whole room to myself instead of sharing it.

I’m really excited to eat Korean food everyday. My stomach is ready. Bringg eeeeeeet. 

I will try to make a daily updates every few days on this blog so all you peepz can share my adventures. :D