So where was I?

Oh, that's right, moving into the dorm.

Well, without dwelling on it too much, it was a major drama.  My door card didn't work and I had no power or heating for the first 12hrs, until I begged someone to flick a switch.  So I had power and heating but my card didn't work till the next day, and as I was worried someone would nick my stuff, I felt I couldn't really go too far for food or anything.  They finally sorted it the next day, but the kitchen (yes, there's only one and it's on B2 level ~ very pseudo considering there's 500 students here) only opened yesterday (haven't bothered checking it out yet, it's cheap to eat out here, so it's only breakfast i'll be making ~ cereal and vegemite on toast), the gym still hasn't opened, the laundry only opened on Thursday, and all the restaurants/cafes/shops etc on the ground floor are slowly opening.  So, it's basically only sort of finished, which really sucks.  And the rooms stink of construction.  It's slowly getting better, but i'm kinda annoyed.
BUT the rooms aren't actually too bad.  It's small, but not that small, and I have my own bathroom and toilet which was essential.  I think this place itself will be good when everything is finished.  Here are some pics...

 

My room

 

 My hallway - with sensor lights and cameras to stop boys sneaking around on the ladies floor! lol

 

  

  

  

So that's a few photos of my room.  Not bad, small but comfortable. 

So anyways, I've been quite busy since moving into the dorm, meeting people and going to a few student organised events.  On Tuesday 23rd we had Orientation, where we were told about general study things and what we need to do for classes and stuff.  Also, sorted out my Korean bank account which was surprisingly easy, considering that most things seem to be difficult to organise here if you're a foreigner.  It's really useful to have Korean friends, as trying to get a phone here is a nightmare unless you're Korean, so a big thank you to Seong Ju for getting me a phone under her name!

On the Wednesday I went to Myeongdong for lunch with my new Singaporean friend Grace and another Singaporean guy named Steven.  And while we were there, we just happened to come across one of Korea's top TV actors at the moment.  He's so hot, take a look at this:

 

 

His name is Oh Jiho, and he makes me say 'God damn!!' hahahahaha.  He's rocking longer hair than usual and a beard which I think makes him look even better.  So hot, and I have to say, it really pays to be tall sometimes, as when I went to take a photo he looked right over at me.  I kinda tower over most people here, there are quite a few tall guys, but the girls don't come anywhere close. So as you can see by the photos, it was crazy.  He was being interviewed by a female reporter, and from what I could hear, it was all about the current success of his drama '추노' (Chuno-Slave Hunters).  People were seriously losing their minds.  In the second picture you can see a girl crying.  It was manic.  And I loved it! 

After Myeongdong, headed back to school as we had a Buddy/Mentor night out.  It's where foreign students get matched up with Korean students, mostly to party and language exchange.  Though, all the Koreans I met speak English really well, so I doubt there's much language exchange.  We were put into groups on the first night as they haven't matched people up yet, and i'm in group 6.  After everyone joined their groups we all went into Sinchon for dinner (we had Samgyeopsal - which is literally 3 layered meat=Korean BBQ bacon).  It's very delicious, bt makes your clothes smell like bacon.  We then headed to a bar called 'Barfly' where I learnt a lot of Korean drinking games, but I didn't actually take any photos.  I had fun, though I have to say, I do feel a little bit older than a lot of the other students.  Even though i'm only 28! bahahahahahaha

 

So the rest of the week was spent doing bits a pieces of running around and getting stuff for my room.  I actually had to go to the hospital as well, as I was advised when I got here (*can you hear the irritation in my typing?) that I needed a chest x-ray and Hep B test for the dorm.  So I went to Severance Hospital's International Clinic where it cost me $200 bucks! So pissed, I can't even think about it.  I will say though, Severance is amazing.  It's almost like a 5 star hotel.  I have to go back on Thursday to get my results so i'll take some pics.  There's even an art gallery there.  Very fancy, and so efficient!  I had to get blood taken, and it's just like going to a bank.  You take a number, walk into a room where there's 20 nurses sitting down taking blood from people at a desk.  Very strange.  Privacy here is different to at home.  I guess with such a large number of people in such a small area, it's bound to be different.

On Saturday night there was a party held by the International Yonsei Committee (IYC).  I was in two minds about going, but I met a few Americans the day before who were going so I went with them.  And I have to say, it was a really strange evening.  It was held in a private house/mansion that can be rented.  It's 3 floors high, second floor was a dining room, 3rd floor was a dancing/event room.  It was only a 15min walk from the dorm, but it was all UPHILL.  Like, steep uphill. I felt a bit bad for the Yonsei students who organised the night, as more people came than they were expecting so they ran out of food and had to order stuff in, and during dinner, people started boozing big time and it became a little rowdy.  After dinner, we went back upstairs for 'dancing'.  They had choreographed 'dancers'.  It was quite interesting, and I have to give props to the people who danced, because they were very entertaining.  Here are some pics:

 

 

  

I'm not sure, but I'm getting the vibe that Koreans really love to show off and entertain people.  I think 'fame' is something a lot of people want here, as their actors and actresses also have to sing/dance/do sports/be funny here as well to make it big.  There's a really big focus on image here too.  God help you if you are unattractive or fat, because people are quite forward here too.  And plastic surgery is huge here, especially for women to get eyelids.  I'm serious, so many women here want creased eyelids, and all the pop stars and actresses must go to the same surgeon because some them all have the same eyes and noses!  It's strange to me, because I think they're attractive as they are.  But I guess it's just a cultural difference and people always want what they don't have I guess.

Ah, so it's snowing a lot today.  Beautiful, though it doesn't seem to be sticking, it's just wet. I'm trying to motivate myself to leave my room as it's gotten really cold, but I think i'll head into Edae later.  I need to buy Melba a birthday present!!