So.. I should be studying for midterms, but instead I'm blogging. And of course it has nothing to do with not wanting to put my nose in the books.. but more because I care about everyone who's interested in "all things, me and korea." So here goes.

First, I had a chance to go to 용산 (Yong-san) a few weeks ago. It's a huge 8 story mall (of sorts) that specializes in everything electronic. I picked up an HP printer for $48 while my housemate - Hiro picked up a new cell phone. You'll also see that there was a car display in the court of the mall. YES that's a DAEWOO sign.. and YES, the red car is a DAEWOO... (hmmm, never seen that in the states)







Here are some pictures of my Korean Language Institute class... There are 14 of us, when everyone shows up... It's always a good time.





I mom and grandma are in town this week... so we visited a bunch of family in 강릉 (Gang-neung) which is my mom's hometown. My grandmother's oldest brother's widow was there (86) with her son (who's youngest son is getting married in two weeks), my grandmother's youngest brother (65ish?) and his wife, her youngest sister (74ish?) her next younger brother (78ish), his wife (68ish?) and then my grandmother (81) my mother and I were all there... We ate a lot, drank a lot, and I sat around clapping while all the older folk sang traditional songs from their childhood.. All in all it was a good time.



On a side note... my grandmother was pretty upset about my attempt to grow some facial hair.. and barely spoke to me on the 2 hour drive from Suwon to Gang-neung. (except to tell me I looked like a homeless old man). When we got to her younger brother's house (where we stayed) first thing she told her brother was to grab me a razor... So much for attempting facial hair for the next 3 weeks... Oh well... I'll just look like I'm 12...


Until next time...

Thought I would post a semi-brief general update about some goings on. I spent part of the weekend back in Suwon (about an hour and half by subway from my house) I met my uncle (my mom's mom's late-brother's son) and his youngest son and fiance. It was a great meeting, we met up for dinner at a So-Kalbi restaurant (marinated beef short-ribs). The beef from Suwon is legendary and holds the title as some of the best beef in Korea. Afterwards my cousin and his fiance took me to a local bar that he enjoys and we chatted over drinks for a couple of hours. My cousin works for SK Telecom as a Sales Manager and bride-to-be works at a local high school teaching english grammar.

An interesting topic of conversation was the university my cousin graduated from: Korea University. If you will recall my last post, Korea and Yonsei are huge national rivals. I could see that he held on to the rivalry when I mentioned that I had attended the Yon-Ko games recently. He paused and then corrected me, "You mean the Ko-Yon games!" ;)

Regarding my intensive Korean class... it's going well, It is definitely going to be some work. 20 hours a week (four hours a day) is longer than it sounds! I sent an email to ASU requesting to have the credit transfer re-evaluated from 6 credits for the class to 12 credits. My current exchange structure stipulates that I take at least 12 credit hours from Yonsei. Unfortunately, if I really want to excel in this course and attempt to skip level 2, I think it'd be best for me to be able to focus solely on the course. I'll keep you posted.


On the law school front I've just updated my lawschoolnumbers.com account with the recent emails from Columbia, Yale and Harvard. Columbia sent me an email stating that I had forgotten to attache a resume, I have forwarded it to them in .pdf form via email. Yale has my completed application and advised me not to contact them, but that they would contact me when they have reached a decision. I just received an email from Harvard stating that they had my preliminary information from lsac, and would let me know when my application package was complete.

Well that's about it for now... until next time

Just wanted to take a quick moment to update you all on my brief encounter with the Korean medical system, specifically Severance Hospital. First, I'll note that Yonsei's Severance Hospital was recently internationally accredited as a medical school and training center, Severance has also been responsible for assisting the White House Physician during several recent US Presidential visits, I know this because there were certificates of appreciation on the walls!. (just an FYI).

So on to my experience. For one reason or another, I found myself needing the services of the hospital for an x-ray of my hand. (I won't go into the boring details surrounding the incident that caused the need for the x-ray). So I head into the International Clinic at about 1:30PM and fill out the preliminary paper work and notified the staff that I DID NOT have any Korean insurance. They told me that walk in hours began at 2:00PM and I could wait or grab something to eat, I chose the latter. I came back in about thirty minuets later and was promptly taken to have my blood pressure and temperature read. Moments later I was in an examination room meeting with an intern who said the lead Dr. would be in shortly. Within minutes the head Dr. came in and after pressing on my hand thought I might have a "boxer's fracture" and sent me to radiology. The clinic provided me with a translator and guide to help me on my journey.

We walked over to the pay station where I grabbed a number. About 2 mins later I was asked to pay $121 for my visit, consultation and x-ray charge. Good deal. From there we walked over to radiology where I took another number. My guide told me to wait until I say my number above the x-ray room (mine was #29) and then just go in. About 2 mins later my number popped up so I walked in. I was greeted by 2 x-ray techs who looked the my receipt and took two x-rays. They told me I was done and to report back downstairs to the clinic. When I got back down stairs I was guided back into my examination room. The intern walked in seconds later and typed my information on the computer. My x-rays pulled up along with a comment stating that there were no abnormalities. She said she thought my hand was fine and that I likely bruised my knuckle. I waited for about 15 mins until the head Dr. came in. He agreed with the intern's assessment and prescribed anti-inflammatory. I was taken back out to the front desk where I paid $27 for my prescription and then walked over to the Outpatient Pharmacy where I was told to watch a monitor for my name. 6 minutes later my name popped up, I walked over, handed my receipt and took my pills.

Perhaps the US could learn a thing or two from the Korean health care system?

In total my visit lasted about an hour (including my lunch) and my total bill was $147 INCLUDING the XRAY, without any insurance coverage. Not a bad deal.

*I don't have time to post the play by play pictures.. but I'll try to have them up in the next day or two...*

What can I say... it's probably the biggest sporting event(s) in Seoul.  Tens of thousands of crazed college students, dozens of cheerleaders, pyrotechnics, free beer, free food, choreographed school dances, and 5 sporting events spread across two days.  It's called 연고전. aka. the Yonsei-Korea U. Games.  I'll try to describe the event as best I can so here goes.  

So I've decided to accommodate blogs by request from those interested in reading my thoughts on particular subjects. While BBR's are in their beta phase, I do not plan to charge for them, however, I cannot say with certainty if and when that will change. The first BBR is a courtesy to fellow NSEP'er Alisa. Alisa will be joining me at Yonsei for the Spring term 08 and of course, I offered her my full experiential assistance. I chatted with her the other day and referred to to this blog for info on Korea and my goings on thus far. Her response? Something along the lines of it not being what she was looking for. Hmmm... Fine. Here you go.

First things first. What I miss:
I can't say that I miss many American products, for the most part they're readily available at the local store. I didn't realize until today however, that I missed american chewing gum so much. Most Korean versions of american products are just that, Korean Versions. With chewing gum it is similar. Korean chewing gum is quite fruity, almost like juicy fruit. And while that's good if you're looking for a little snack, if you're looking to freshen the breathe between brushes, not so much. There's a Costco in Seoul, but you need a membership and it's a hike from the subway exit. (Just try to imagine carrying any useful amount of groceries 3 or 4 blocks each way...) Today I found a little convenience store that looks like a Costco reseller. My first thought was that most of the items were over priced, however, when I consider that the store owner is probably going to Costco himself and then selling the items individually instead of in bulk, well, he need to make a buck too. Today I picked up some essentials including Listerine, Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts, walnuts, korean sausages (yea buddy!), and some sweet grain snacks. (Had to stock up for mucho studying starting next week)

School:
I'm enrolled in three classes at Yonsei, all of which are offered directly through Yonsei University and not through Underwood College (the foreign exchange school on campus). Two "traditional" classes I'm taking, Int'l Political Econ and East Asn Int'l Relations are taught in English by Yonsei professors, but are predominately filled with Korean natives. The first challenge to these classes are the broken nature of the professors' english (although they both earned their phds in the US) and secondly the references to issues that can mainly be understood from within the framework of having grown up in Korea. At the same time the teaching style in Korea seems to be much different than in the US, based on my assessment of these two classes. The professors are very much accepting of the fact that there is simply no absolute truth in the social sciences. They stress the importance of recognizing that there are differing perspectives. While I agree that acknowledgement of such differences is important, in my experience, professors in the US seem much more willing to take stances on issues and challenging students to formulate solid, defendable stances as well. This is in contrast to the often heard, "that's an interesting perspective, who else has another interesting perspective?" in my Korean classes. My third class, which begins Monday is an intensive Korean class (intensive = 4hr a day 5 days a week) taught through Yonsei's Korean Language Institute. In an 18 month, 6 semester program one is expected to become academically fluent in the Korean language. I will be enrolled for 3 semesters. There are over 1500 students currently enrolled in the intensive language program spread throughout the 6 levels of proficiency. I'm looking forward to it!

Home: See previous blogs

Nightlife: See previous blogs

I think this covers most of it.. but if there's anything else I left out.. let me know and I'll amend the blog.