Yonsei Exchange 2010

Way back in 2010, when I was still a university student #feelsold, I got the most awesome opportunity to go on exchange! Actually, it's a mandatory part of my university program and was a huge deciding factor for me when I chose this program. Since day 1 I thought I'd be so clever and use this exchange to go back to Hong Kong and chill out... back when I was all.. I love HK, I'm going to shop at Fa Yuen Street and be all cool and hipster at Sogo ... ok no. Yes I shopped at Fa Yuen Street but now that their shops would spontaneously combust, not so interested. As for being cool and hipster at Sogo... UHH all I can say is, "I ate my cannelloni before it was cool! ..and burnt my taste buds!" (true story.)

So anyway.. 2nd year rolled along and I took a Korean class with some friends and absolutely loved it (my korean skills can be comparable to that of a 2 year old Korean child ... enough to survive but not enough to be more intelligent than a 2 year old) When it came time to apply for exchange, I was 100% set on going to Korea, and low and behold!! I got chosen to go to Yonsei University, with one of my good friends Becky!

Anyway.. so I decided to finally blog about my exchange :) For anyone who is reading this and considering an exchange, whether to Korea or not, you should do it! Without a doubt! It was the single happiest experience I ever had. If I could be on exchange for life, I would. lol but okay real-life is bitterly slapping me in the face constantly.

Becky (right) & I (left)

I was really happy that Becky and I got to go together.. living in a foreign place with a familiar face made adjusting to things a lot easier. But at the same time, it was a lot of fun to meet new friends, friends who came from all over the world! I came home proudly declaring how cultured I was LOL let me pretend little bit thanks :)

They always warned us about culture shock and stuff in school, but seriously, I don't think I ever experienced this. Maybe one or two nights it almost hit me... First time Becky and I ate out we got massive stomachache and seriously fought for the toilet.. LOL Stomach Shock ...no gory details ... spare you all this time.

I guess I'll blog about my exchange in series. And ok I promise I will actually do this (Nat questioned where the rest of my reflection blogs are ... oops)

This first post will be about how to prepare for Korea! I feel like I'm writing a school report but I enjoyed Korea so much that I'm actually super excited to share all the great things about the country. Seriously. Korea, if you are listening. Please hire me as a tour guide :)

Language
It's always good to know a little bit of the language before you go! I studied Korean for a year before my exchange and uhh... I took none of that knowledge along with me LOL. joking! It was very helpful that I knew how to READ. Even if I had no idea what it meant, it made it easier for me to get around and take public transportation! At first, everything is hard, but things seemed to get easier and the language more familiar the longer I stayed there.

Food
THIS. Was the best part of Korea. I loved every dingy BBQ place we went to. All the little huts and stalls!! If you are an adventurous eater then you will have absolutely no problem in Korea! Seafood selection was very different from Canada but it was all freaking awesome! I ate raw octopus which continued to squirm and suck until it was chewed to oblivion! Ok, that sounds gross but it is already dead!! Don't worry..and it's been cut up, but somehow still moving!!
OK CHECK OUT ALL THESE FOODS AND TELL ME YOU DON'T WANT TO NOM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

해물파전 - seafood pancake

Forgot what this is but looks damn good!

For the not-so-adventurous eaters, not to worry! Italian food, steakhouses, McDees and BK are around every corner 

EVEN RAMEN LOOKS GOOD - cheese ramen

A random place in 홍대. Again, amazing

Some spicy chicken pot

EVEN CORN SALAD LOOKS GOOD!!

Rotating sushi

불고기 떡볶이, 해물 볶음밥, 보쌈 - bulgogi with rice cakes,
seafood fried rice (spicy), pork and raw oyster wrapped in lettuce

RAW SEA URCHIN

AND OFCOURSE ...BBQ!!! 

AURRRR.... this is making me hungry!! So as you can clearly SEE, food in Korea was absolutely amazing. I wasn't able to eat spicy food in Canada, but I had to learn to adapt! Lots of food in Korea are spicy. Yes, there are those that aren't but I mean, if you didn't eat spicy you would be missing out on 70% of the best foods they have to offer!! So i manned up and took it one step at a time! Now I'm pretty good with spicy foods.. And okay I am cheating, a lot of the pictures are not from my exchange, but from visits after. But whatever, I'm trying to sell Korea to you, and I think these pictures are pretty damn effective...Yeah?!! Amirite?!

Activities
There are MANY things to do in Korea but I'd have to say that DRINKING is a huge thing in this culture. I think I might have gone out for drinks 6 nights out of 7!! I came back a friggin TANK but now no I am Thomas the Train again. However, there are other things to do than drinking! There are lots of historical sites to see! Many provinces outside of Seoul have lots of history as well! There are mountains to climb, trails to hike, places for noraebang (Karaoke and noraebang are VERY different in Korea...), cafes for hanging out, specialty rooms with Wiis or whatever, snooker and 4ball rooms everywhere you go, and just about all the shopping you could dream of!

Cafe 74 @ Apgujeong Rodeo Drive

I think I'll have to make another post showing all the activities I did so for now, let's end this here! I want to talk about something aside from Korea!!! It makes me want to go back!!