Korea: the Beginning

About 26 hours and 8400 miles from door to door, I wearily flew to Korea via San Francisco (my first time to California!) For the past week and a half I have been in orientation, which has been good as jet lag really got to me (it took me from Tuesday until Sunday to acclimate). In the mean time, my program orientation has kept me busy (we've only had one official day off) with excursions, site seeing, new foods, and culture lectures. We have another week of orientation (for a total of 2.5 weeks) before we start classes, too. Why such a long orientation? According to the program director, students feel it is beneficial to have more time to acclimate at the beginning especially since there is no mid-semester break here. It's also been a good chance to get to know the other students on the program (we have about 25 this semester). So here's what I've been up to since arrival about a week and a half ago:

Yonsei

There seems to be a lot of propaganda here in Korea (take note friends from South Africa!). We have seen a number of informational videos, and regardless of what they are showing, there is dramatic music in the background, a dramatic voice over, and everything has some kind of catch phrase. Here at Yonsei University, the university I will be studying at for the semester, that phrase is: "The first and the best". Yonsei was the first Korean university, and is regarded as the top in Korea. I started hearing the propaganda before arriving from Asian friends telling me Yonsei is "the Harvard of Korea"...well, what child didn't, at some point, want to go to Harvard? (According to the most recent QS World University Rankings, Yonsei is above the likes of Vanderbilt, Tufts, Stellenbosch University, HK Baptist University, Brandeis, Boston College, UConn, and Northeastern, which also ranked in the top 500).

It's a large university (over 25,000 under grad. and 11,000 graduate students, about 300 of whom are international semester students). I have yet to start classes, but regardless, this is the largest, highest ranking university I have studied at. That certainly counts for something. It is also the first school I have studied at that has a religious affliation (Presbyterian, with the motto: "the truth will set you free" from John 8:32)

Exploring Seoul

Yonsei is conveniently situated right in the heart of Seoul, in the Sinchon-dong neighborhood, with all of its bustling nightlife perfect for any young college student to have within walking distance. During the day the streets (and side walks) are filled with cars, motorcycles, and, where they fit in between, people. Actually, it's not as bad as it could be. The city has such wide roads that much of what could be a real MAJOR traffic problem is lessened. That being said, there is still a lot of traffic, especially during rush hour, and drivers aren't as considerate as in other cities like Boston or New York (jokes...but not really. The roads are pretty dangerous here, motorcycles really do drive on the sidewalks). But traffic aside, here's what I've found of Korea:

It's an impressive country. The technological advancements here are in many regards ahead of the U.S. Here, you can send a text message to unlock your house, most cell phones have tv streamed to them, among other advancements. This advanced technology is not new, either. Korea, contrary to popular belief, actually had a printing system 200 years before Gutenberg invented the printing press. No big deal, Korea, no big deal.

The writing system here, hangul, is also unique. It was invented methodologically. The consonants were created based on the shape of the mouth during pronunciation, while vowels are based on yin and yang (to see the full alphabet, as well as the Japanese, English, Greek, and a few other alphabets, go to: http://www.alphabetglobal.com/korean-alphabet.php).

War torn, Seoul has overcome a lot. During the Korean war Seoul was captured and recaptured, and then captured and recaptured again. It's amazing to look around this city and understand that this city is as advanced as it is considering all that it has gone through. There are about 25 million people here, which is the same as the entire population of North Korea, about 3 times that of NYC, 4x Boston and 8x Cape Town. Most of the advancements in Korea have come in the past 50 years.

Korea (like everyone else for in popular culture, though not so much politically) loves America. Granted, the U.S. played a major role in supporting South Korea during the Korean War, and continues to act as a major ally. On virtually every street corner here there is a Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks, or both. Baskin Robin, Outback Steak House, On the Border, Subway, Caribou Coffee, among others, are also popular. Naturally Apple and McDonalds are here. I even saw Gap a few days ago. It's quite common to see Koreans sporting Red Sox hats as they walk down the streets. And I definitely saw a dog sweatshirt today that said "I <3 NY" but hey, even your dog has to keep up with the trends, right? Then there's the music. While K-Pop is big, there is also more than enough American music to go around, and Hollywood has a hold on the silver screen.

Food

Like I mentioned, American food is quite popular. I'm pretty sure I'll actually manage to find pretty much everything I couldn't in South Africa. There's definitely pizza, pasta, burgers, ice cream, donuts, and pancakes (wow, this makes Americans sound really unhealthy...wait, yeahhh. Maybe we should consider not having so much junk food as 'American' food?)

But Korea also has quite a bit of its own food. For now I can't come close to pronouncing or spelling it all, but the big thing is kimchi, which is a spicy, pickled cabbage. There's an abundance of rice based dishes, and lots of meat. Particularly popular is Korean barbecue. Pictured is samgyeopsal, which is essentially Korean bacon eaten for dinner. At a restaurant it is cooked at the table, cut with scissors and then eaten, often in a lettuce wrap.

DMZ & North Korea

I realized I promised pretty much everyone I talked to before I left that I wouldn't stumble accidentally into the DMZ or North Korea. Well, I kept that promise; it wasn't exactly accidental. One of our required orientation excursions was a trip to the DMZ. Such trips have actually become quite popular with tourists. If you think about it, though, it's called the DMZ for a reason. A ceasefire was called, so at this point it is perfectly reasonable to call the excursion safe. We got to see an underground tunnel made by the North Koreans, controversially for access to South Korea (although they claim it was a coal mine, and hey, who am I to say they aren't telling the truth with that one...).

Anyways, after that we went to a military base (seriously, I thought it was the DE-Militarized Zone...jk) from which we were shown the building/room that negotiations between the two sides are held. Our military escort told us some stories of the room, like why the flags shown are in a frame, and not free standing on a shelf (the flags used to be free standing, but the N. Koreans crossed over to the South side, took the flags off of the shelf, and used them to shine there shoes, so then they were replaced by the framed version). Then our guide tells us where we are in comparison to the border of North and South Korea. The table in the middle of the room (pictured) has a South Korean guard straddling the border. Those of us to the left of the guard (as I am in the picture) were standing in North Korea. Unfortunately, there was no customs control in the room so I didn't manage to get my passport stamped as proof, but I legitimately was in North Korea for a few minutes of my life. NBD. Not to worry, though; I have since returned (notice how I am posting this AFTER returning).

From there we continued our tour of the area, with our guide pointing out some major landmarks, such as the North Korean flag, the location of the Korea Axe Murder, and later Operation Paul Bunyan, as well as the Bridge of No Return. So here are the stories:

• Koreans are very proud people, so when South Korea put up a flag that was was higher than the North Korean flag, this was deemed unacceptable.  So North Korea proceeded in building an even higher flag post. This, among other things, caused controversy. There is now system that keeps things even on either side so as not to cause any further controversy. 
• There was a tree standing between two South Korean posts blocking the view from one to the other, so the South Koreans went to to cut it down. While doing so, a group of North Koreans approached them and proceeded to murder the South Koreans.
• After the Axe Murder incident, full military protection was given to the next try at trimming the tree. This included 23 vehicles, a 64 man S. Korean special forces team, trained in Tae Kwon Do, 27 US helicopters, as well as other air force security, and more to ensure the success of the operation. Total cost: roughly $3.5 million.
• After the Korean war, prisoners were taken to the bridge now called "Bridge of No Return" and given the option of which side they would like to be on. Anyone who crossed the bridge was not permitted to go back to the other side (hence the name)

Alright, so that's a lot of information for now, which means it's time for a break from blogging for tonight. More to come soon as continue my adventures here in Seoul.

How to Study Abroad: Part 2-Applying

Flashback to high school when you sat down with your guidance counselor and talked about all of your post high school options. You decided to go on to college, and had to go through the very careful process of crafting the perfect application to get into the college of your dreams. So you work for weeks getting references, writing essays, editing essays, perfecting your resume. It's quite the process.

Applying to study abroad could be a lot like this depending on where you are planning on going. I put about as much effort into deciding to come to Korea (I'm here now, and it is wonderful so far!). But it's different. It's a personal choice, that many of your friends won't go through, so they won't be applying along with you. Just remember: there is a reason you chose to study abroad. There is a reason you chose the program you are applying to. Just let that come through in any application essays or materials you need to submit. If your program has a GPA requirement that you may just barely not meet, explain the reason you don't meet it and why you still deserve to be on the program. If you just let your passion show through, there won't be any issue in you getting in.

At the end of the day, it is most important that you show in your application that you are a worthy candidate for study abroad. Take care in your application, complete all parts, and get it in on time.

Breathe easy; you've survived application processes before, and you'll manage just fine this time too.

Barriers: Part 4

So here is what I learned on the tour:

Our first stop was the noon gun. Every day except Sundays the gun goes off precisely at noon. It has been doing so ever since a settlement was first established at Cape Town. The purpose of it was to alert the sailors as to the time of day so they would be able to reset their watches. It can still be used to set watches, though there aren’t sailors/explorers going by as often who don’t have digital watches. From the noon gun we had an amazing view of all of Cape Town.

As we wound our way down the mountain Bilqees told us the history of Bo Kaap. During apartheid Cape Town had been districted (it is truly the basis of the movie, District 9). The Bo Kaap neighborhood was designated a Cape Malay neighborhood. The Cape Malays are descendent from slaves that originated from the Indonesia/Malaysia region. When they first came as slaves they were able to communicate to each other in a language called Malau, even though this was not their first language. As such, the white Afikaaners proceeded to call these groups of people Malays. They were primarily Muslim in religion, and when they got their freedom in the mid-1800s congregated in the Bo Kaap neighborhood on the side of Signal Hill. They were among the few groups of people who were able to keep their neighborhood during apartheid.

So after Ramadan each family would paint their house. White was by far the least expensive paint, but the families wanted to distinguish their house from their neighbor’s house, so they started to tint the paint. The colors they used were quite vibrant: pinks, yellows, greens, blues, etc. It is an amazing array of colors. My house was a beautiful shade of green.

Back to the 1800’s before freedom, though. As the ships full of slaves arrived their names were registered. On certain days, however, the man tracking the names wouldn’t care what the actual name was and would often give a person a new name, such as “Sara October.” Later, when children were born to enslaved women, they would be baptized under the surname “van der Kaap” (“from the Cape”). As families now try to trace back to where they came from, they often face these roadblocks and so can only go back to the early 1800s. This means that many people of the region do not actually know where they are originally descendent from.

How to Study Abroad: Part 1-Deciding Where to Go

As I leave on my fourth abroad experience in just over a week, I feel as if I'm somewhat qualified to help others navigate the study abroad experience. Whether you are going on a short trip (my first two were Romania for 2 weeks and Malaysia for 1 week) or a semester (South Africa, Fall 2011, South Korea, Spring 2012) you need to be prepared when you leave for the airport.

I suppose I'll start this new blog post series from the very basic: how to decide where to go. There are many factors that go into choosing what program you want to do.

Do you want to go for a week? a summer? a semester? a year? What works for you depends on how long you can stand to be away from home, away from your home school, and in a new environment, as well as what fits into your academic schedule, what you can afford financially, and what else you have going on with other activities, family, sports, jobs, etc. (If your sister is getting married in the fall, you might not want to be gone for the fall semester, for example...or maybe family get-togethers are not your thing and going abroad is the perfect excuse to get out of it). Like I said, I've done two short programs, and the two semesters I'll have done will come together for a year. In between semesters I am home, but that won't always be the case.

What do you want to get out of your experience? Some people know that they absolutely want a home stay experience. Others want to learn a new language. Or perhaps you really want to be in Rome. Essentially, you have to figure out why you are studying abroad. Talk to friends, family and advisers to help find the program that fits with what you want. My trips have had different purposes. Romania was a service trip organized through Rotary. I got a two week home stay and amazing friend ships out of it. Malaysia was a school trip. I got to see what it means to be socially responsible in Malaysia, explore a new country with my best friend, and meet up with a friend from high school who I never thought I would get the chance to visit. South Africa was the "scary choice", which turned out not to be all the scary. I learned so much about what it means to be a developing nation, and (once again) made some absolutely amazing friends. We'll see what I get from Korea.

Speaking of "programs", there are options. You can go on a program, organized by a study abroad agency such as AIFS or CIEE, which will give you a support system, other students who are studying abroad with you, arrange cultural outings, and so on. Or you could do an exchange program and be pretty much on your own to decide what you do. Some people like the freedom of exchanges, some people like the support of programs. It's up to you. Which one you choose might limit to some extent where you can go. Also, your school might have organized programs. These could be useful because you know your school will be there for support the entire time.

What's more, you need to make sure that you can afford the program. This includes financially, time, credits (will it put you behind schedule? can it get you ahead?). Remember to factor in exchange rates, airfare, room and board, travel and sightseeing, emergency expenses, cell phone, internet (many places do not have free internet) passport, visas...there are a lot of expenses that go into travelling, even for a week!

Now that you are either completely stressed out or very excited about the idea of studying abroad, it is time to choose where you go. Keep in mind everything I've mentioned, and any other factors that play into your decision. Where do you want to go?  Europe and Australia are very westernized. Chances are you'll be able to get all of the first world amenities you are accustomed to, unless you go to eastern Europe. Africa, eastern Europe, and the Middle East/Southern Asia are all part of the developing world. You cannot expect to have the same infrastructure as you are used to. East Asia will often have infrastructure, but the cultures are so very different, that you'll certainly have a significant culture shock. English is fairly prevalent across the globe, although just because you can navigate in English, doesn't mean you can communicate in English. Or perhaps you want to put your second language to use. That's why you learned it, after all, right?

That's all for now. Good luck choosing!!

Barriers: Part 3

Jessica, Whitney, and I then took a walk into town. We went in and out of stores, and even ran into some of our friends from Stellenbosch (who happen to be Americans from a university in Georgia on a Rugby exchange program). It was nice to get the chance to explore town a bit, and distract ourselves from our hunger and thirst. But we had made it over half way through the day at this point and we weren’t going to give up.

By the time we got back we only had a couple more hours before it was time to break the fast. I spent this time watching and learning how some of the food is made. Here’s the approximate recipe I learned (it can be done to taste, and there was no measuring involved):

Chili Bites

Onion

Flour

Water

Turmeric

Salt

Spinach

Chili seasoning

Baking Powder

Other Spices

Oil

(I’m sure you can find a specific recipe online, but this is the basic idea)

Chop the onion pretty well, but not too fine (about ½ cm square). Coat in the flour (there should be enough to fully coat and have some left over. Mix in the turmeric, salt, spinach, chili seasoning, and other seasonings to taste. Stir in water enough to combine the mixture to about the consistency of a thin brownie batter (chunks are okay and expected; just think, there are onions in it after all). Add a dash or two of baking powder. Heat up the oil. When the oil is ready drop a spoonful of the mixture in and fry it until it is golden brown. Taste-test it; it should be about the consistency of a doughnut. Adjust the seasonings to taste, and then continue frying little balls until all of the batter is gone. Serve and enjoy!

Just before dinner the young children in the neighborhood (and Whitney, Jessica, and I from our families) delivered small treats to each of the other families on the street. This is a practice meant to ensure that everyone has food for Ramadan. Finally the fast was over and we sat down to yet an even larger feast, this time with pizza, and tomato on bread, more sweets, dates, soup, chili bites, cookies, and food. The men once again left for mosque, and after we once again had chicken, rice, bread, and salad. As we neared the end of the fast I really noticed how thirsty I was, but I was able to manage the hunger no problem. I am really glad I got to give it a try!

After another night of dominoes it was off to bed. I didn’t fast on Sunday since I was leaving at 3, and my house mom was more than happy to make me breakfast when I got up at 8:30. The girls and I got a tour of the neighborhood that afternoon; then it was time to say our goodbyes and come back to Stellenbosch.