My Grades

I've been nervously checking the KHUIS website every day to see whether my grades have been set or not. Finally, this morning, all my grades are reviled and I'm more than satisfied. There is one grade below A, which would make a Korean cry, but in my case, I'm so happy.

With all my grades, that I am really happy with, I can enjoy the rest of my holiday with my friend and mother, who will arrive next week.

Bukchon Hanok Village

The day started with a visit to the Bukchon Hanok Village close to Anguk Station. This village is a home to hundreds of traditional houses that today operates as guesthouses, restaurants and tea houses. While being in the area, we decided to eat Japanese styled pork and seafood soup. Very delicious and these restaurants are found all around Seoul. From the village, we continued to Insadong to find some souvenirs. We also had to go through Myeongdong to by some clothes. Tomorrow, we will explore more places in Seoul. Myself, before today I have not visited the Hanok Village so finally I got the time to see that, and tomorrow it's time to see the palaces. Pictures from today!

Christmas Eve in Seoul

Most of my christmas holidays has been spent at my mothers place with my family. Once, I visited my father for Christmas but this year, this holiday is completely different. This christmas holiday is meant for people in a relationship and it's the time for all the couples to buy each other cute gifts and spend time with their loved one. Still, a lot of Koreans are single and a lot of exchange students are lonely for christmas, so we all decided to celebrate together. After asking my korean friend how single people in Korea celebrate christmas, his answer was simple: "Eat, Party and drink until you die". So that was our plan. Since all the restaurants around Seoul was packed, Vapiano was the only restaurant with enough space for all of us. We had pizza, pasta, mojito cocktails and cake for christmas dinner, and it was delicious. Our evening continued to Itaewon and a pub where we had drinks before hitting the club. It was a crazy night and we had a lot of fun. Here is the evening in pictures. With this post, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas to y'all around the world. 

Trick Eye Museum

During the semester I have envied my friends who have all been and uploaded pictures from the Trick Eye Museum located in Hongdae. Finally, I got the opportunity to go there myself with my friends and we had so much fun! We took hundreds of pictures and we also visited the Ice Museum. The pictures below will explain how great our day was.

Seoul - Christmas Paradise

Since half of Koreas population are atheists, I never thought that Christmas would be such a big thing here. This holiday is mainly meant for couples, and it also seems like just another excuse to force people to buy a lot of stuff. Anyways, christmas songs are played all over the city and the christmas lights here are something unbelievable. Seoul looks like a dream and I have never seen the city so beautiful. 

Josie came to Town

After a long day with moving my things to the apartment I'm renting, the next day was not gonna get any better. The morning started with an early wake up and 2 hours in the subway to Inceon International Airport. The person who was waiting there, was all worth it. My best friend Josie arrived to Seoul and she really saved my winter break and will lighten my days up during this christmas holiday. She even brought me candy that you can't get from Korea, so I'm so happy! 

As tired as she was, we brought her luggage to the apartment and head out for lunch. After a heave lunch, it was time for a nap. After that, we had a dinner and a long evening in front of us. We met up with my classmates from International Manners for Korean bbq. Even though Josie had some difficulties with the chopsticks, she managed to eat something at least. Im curious to see how my mom will survive this challenge. 

Anyways, after the dinner we decided to sing some karaoke and drink soju (what else?). I must say that we had so much fun singing and just enjoying each others company. I'm so extremely lucky to have met these people from all around the world. Everyone is special in their own way and even though we are from different countries, we are all friends and get along so well. As far as I know, I have a few more countries on my list where I have to go next to visit some friends!

Winter Break

When I first found out that the winter break in South Korea is 2 and a half months, I first got a bit worried. Why such a long break? But then again, it will be a great opportunity for me to travel around Asia and see new places. Studying Tourism and Hospitality Management, I feel that it's extremely important to have a wide view of the world, cultural experiences and able to understand people from different religions and backgrounds. Personally I was chocked about the fact that just a few of my classmates decided to study abroad. Sure, tourism doesn't always mean that you have to travel around, there is tourism in Finland aswell, but in my home university, it's really appreciated to study abroad and I feel that many of my classmates at home are missing out on an amazing opportunity. 

Anyways, I wanted to tell you about my winter break plans. First of all, I will be living in an apartment I rented in Hoegi, the area I'm living in at the moment. How awesome isn't that? It feels like I am moving out from my parents house once again, moving away from all restrictions and rules. 

19th of December: This week right after my final exams, my best friend Josie will visit me here in Seoul. We will celebrate christmas together and I will show her all the crazy things South Korea has to offer. 

2nd of January: The time for my mother to experience Seoul and South Korea.

12th of January: My mother is my biggest inspiration. She started traveling around Africa when she was my age and that has made me develop a huge interest in discovering the world. So, Philippines, is the first destination of our adventure together. Happy to get away from the country obsessed with Internet and Wifi and get to spend the whole day lying on the beach, not worrying about anything. 

13-18th of January: In Philippines, we will spend our time at the island Puerto Princesa with sight seeing and relaxing. Since my mother is a hardcore diver, I will spend five intense days by take my diving certificate. 

19-24th of January: Still no specific plans for these days. Our last days will be spent in the capital Manila.   

25-27th of January: Time for our next destination, my choice - Cambodia. So why Cambodia? I feel that it's an untouched country with beautiful nature, an interesting history and many eye opening attractions. First flight in the morning from Manila to Saigon, Vietnam and then we will arrive to Siem Reap, Ankor Wat.  

28-30th of January: By bus, we will travel to our next destination - Phnon Penh, Cambodia. 

31th of January: Bye Cambodia, Hello Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I will spend approximately one week in Malaysia with my mother and her husband. 

6-16th of February: Now it's the time for me to travel by myself. From the beginning, I was planning to travel around by myself, but since my mother is a bit jealous of me being in South Korea, she couldn't let me do it by myself. So around these date, I will be spending my time in Indonesia. A specific destination is not set yet, but I'm open for suggestions. Also, if there is any friend of mine who is interested joining me, give me a call. 

16-20th of February: Flights from Indonesia was quite cheap, but the choice of destination was easy. I have made a lot of friends during my stay in South Korea, so I have to pay my friend in Singapore visit, even though she wants it or not. She also told me, since Singapore is a small country, many days are not needed for seeing the most important attractions. 

So, the outline for my winter break trip is basically like this: South Korea - Philippines - Cambodia - Malaysia - Indonesia - Singapore - South Korea 

Team Problems

When it comes to team projects, I have learned a lot. Not only about the specific subject we are researching about, but about people from other countries. A few things that I have found out are very interesting and also, sometimes a bit annoying.

First of all, I have always heard that Chinese people are very, very hard working. I can't speak about every single Chinese student, but at least from my experience and from all my friends experience here in Korea, this is true. The Chinese students here, don't speak english and they are pretty lazy to be honest. This was something that surprised me, because of what I've heard, this is the complete opposite.  The Chinese students here has a certain nickname: "The free-riders". At team meetings, they will chat with their friends on their phones, and when I have asked for their student number, their english skills are not enough to tell me a few numbers. How weird is that? Also, something I found interesting is their way of working in teams. If there is a dominant person in the team, or a team leader, the Chinese students won't express their opinions or barely talk to this person. What I have heard, this behavior is also common at business meetings. They will rather speak to their team mate than talking straight to the "boss".

What I have found out, when it comes to Koreans, they are working really hard when they are doing individual assignments. When it comes to doing team projects, and especially with a non-korean, they feel like they don't have to do anything and rely on a exchange student who anyway has better english skills. Also, Koreans won't tell their problems or opinions face to face. When they are unsatisfied, their anger and opinions will explode on Facebook. This is just from my own experience, but I find this very sad.

One example. When working in teams in Finland, we have a thick skin. We do, we give feedback, and we correct to get the best result as possible. I warn you, don't do that here. I did, and my Facebook is exploding with messages "We are tired of you complains …". I never wanted to complain, I just didn't feel like the project was at a university standard and gave feedback, so my team mates could learn something new and also, so we could achieve as good result as possible.

But I must say, all Koreans are not like this, there is different people. I have had a team project with a Korean girl, Gina, and we have even become very good friends. She has been giving me feedback, said straight away "I don't like this, can we do it like this instead". Her behavior has surprised me, in a positive way. I have also  said my opinions straight, without any arguments. And what was the result of this? What we figured out, our project was high standard and will get a high mark. Even though it wouldn't, we are all proud of what we have done. From this project, I didn't only get the job done, in time and achieved a brilliant result, but the most important thing I got out of it, was a friend for life.

Now all the team projects are over and I must say that I won't miss them at all. I actually love working in teams, but with my experiences here, I rather work on my own. So team projects, see you next semester!

Snowy Morning

It has been a few stressful weeks and it's soon over for this year. I have managed to finnish all my assignments, team projects and presentations. Now, the finals are coming up. I have not been able to sleep for many reasons, so hopefully I will have energy enough to study. 

People say, that you are a true Korean when you are able to sleep in a café, in the subway or basically anywhere. Yesterday I wen't with my girl Natalie and did our nails. After my nails were done, I fell asleep and woke up when her nails were done. Doing this in Finland, would be a bit embarrassing I must say, but here it's so normal. After my nap, I was ready for reading and studying for my exams. 

Today waking up was difficult. My eyes were heavy and my legs didn't want to carry me what so ever. I pull up the curtains and what do I see? People outside are getting rid of the snow from the streets. What happened while I slept? It was snowing I assume. When arriving to school, I see these tree fellas smiling at me. As we know, everything in Korea has to be cute and these snowy guys are definitely cute! The whole campus looks so wonderful and bright with snow, but hopefully it won't snow that much, I think this amount is enough!

Farewell Party

What a long, but great day it was yesterday. A lot of tears, laughs and love among the exchange students and IFCC members. Even though I'm such a cry-baby, I managed to not be sad. One thing I can promise, is that I will be devastated next semester when we are having the farewell party again.

My day started with an early wake-up so that I could meet up with Trisha, who desperately needed help with finding and outfit for the party. As I helped her last time and I did pretty well, she trusted me to ask for my advice again. She is actually like my little sister and she is just so sweet! While walking around in Myeongdong, Seoul is becoming a christmas paradise. Even though there is no snow yet, all shops has been decorating their windows and entrances and it looks amazing.

The evening started in Obis hall, where we gathered for some indoor activities. A bunch of post-it sticks where handed out to all of us, so that we could write something nice to the helpful IFCC members or just something fun. These were attached to a big paper on the wall. After that, we all had to fill in a "confession sheet" where we had to admit who is the "best-hottest-whatever" person, the dirtiest, the most talkative, the perfect couple and the heaviest drinker. Can you guess who was the most talkative? The finnish girls, me and Iina. How am I not surprised?! After a lot of laughs, we watched a slideshow or video made by Sejong. He had put together a lot of pictures (also my pictures), from the past semester. With lovely pictures and texts, it brought tears to our eyes but also laughs. Such a wonderful moment!

After the indoor activities we had dinner and then headed to the club. While sitting in the subway, usually you really should be quiet, but since the whole The club, Blue Moon had its opening night and we all got free entrance. All night was pretty much based on taking as many pictures as possible and talking to everyone and a lot of hugs! As this party went on, I got more close to some people, I haven't had the time to actually talk to that much, and I even decided a few destinations in Europe where I have to go so I can meet my friends. Even though, this experience is over for many of us, it' just the beginning of something new and the beginning of many friendships!

   

There is most of my pictures. I guess I have to upload some more whenever I get pictures from that night! I has a good time and I will mis a lot of great people who will be leaving South Korea soon.

Work Done!

We are soon reaching the end of the semester here in Kyung Hee University and I can feel the same kind of atmosphere as I felt before the Midterm exams. This time though, it's worse, especially for the exchange students who will be leaving Korea soon. Arrange time for studying and also time to do and experience as much as possible before departure. In a way, I feel a bit sorry for them but I know, they will have a good time when they get home. Me on the other hand, will be staying here for … 7 more months! I just got started, although I feel that I have been here forever already. No guys, I don't miss Finland (but I miss my friends), but in a short period of time, I have managed to do, learn and experience so much. That's probably the reason why it feels like I have been here for so long.  

Tomorrow there will be a farewell party for all exchange students who are heading home, a great opportunity to say goodbye to everyone and also to create a last memory together. I got a message earlier today from my dear friend and little sister Trisha, asking me for advice what to wear. Funny that my Korean friend wants me to take her shopping in her home country. 

So, since I have been so busy these days, the blog has been pretty quiet as you can see. Team projects, take home exams, assignments and quizzes has been finished and more is to come. I though, that I should share a few of my projects with you guys. 

So, as you can see, this is a project about Iran. Not completely about Iran, but our mission was to compare a country we had a relation to, with South Korea. Even though I am half iranian, I have never in my life as a student done a presentation about Iran. Now I finally got the opportunity to speak about my father's home country. What we found interesting while doing this project, is that Iran and South Korea has a lot in common when it comes to family values and culture values. Also, what we found out was that it seems like Iranians has a better view of South Korea and Koreans in general, than Koreans has about Iranians and Iran. The media shows a negative image of Iran, and barely anything positive. This is the main reason why most Koreans think that Iranians has war and that they are terrorists. 

Another interesting project was to research about a topic we found interesting. All non-Koreans in the class were named the team leaders and also got to choose the topic. At that moment, my brain was out of ideas and inspiration, so Music was the first thing that came to mind. After choosing the topic, three class mates, all Korean, joined me for this project. All of us were completely lost: "Where should we start? What to do?"

We came up with the conclusion that we were going to research specifically on the Buying Vs. Stealing behavior of music in South Korea. Deadline came closer and closer and we finally had an idea what to do. We sat down and did some interviews with our Korean friends. Also, we posted a big survey according to our topic, to collect some statistics. What I at least found interesting was the percentage of Buying/Stealing music. In Finland, most people I know downloads music. Some people listen to music through an application called "Spotify" and some people even pay, so that they can get rid of the advertisements. In general, I have a feeling that the most students and young adults are downloading. When it comes to South Korea, most of the young generation is actually paying for the music. 

International Korea?

What I have experienced so far, South Korea is a popular tourist destination for people all around the world. The first image you will get of Korea and especially Seoul is that it's a big city with high skyscrapers, lights and the city is alive 24h. When it comes to the image Seoul gives to the world, I would say that some things doesn't really describe the reality.

One image people has about Seoul is that it's really international. People speak english, everything is translated into english and tourists and non-koreans are the most awesome thing. This is not completely right. When it comes to Seoul being international, they still have a lot to work on. All the advertisements are in Korean, the menu in restaurants are written in Korean, sometimes it's in english or italian, but written with the Hangul characters, which doesn't make it that much easier to understand. The employees barely speak english. If you find someone, with excellent english skills, give them a big hand.

I don't want to be negative, Seoul and Korea in general is a great place with a lot of potential. This is something I have discovered while having class in Marketing communication of a tourists destination. The main issue seems to be, that there's barely any websites written in english about smaller cities, no english advertisements, etc. This is an issue that Korea is desperately working on. This video I posted, is a good example of the change of Korea becoming more international. The last scene, is (of course) shot at Kyung Hee University. Our university might not be in the top 3, but it's definitely number one when it comes to having the most beautiful campus.

European Christmas Market

Something the most of us exchange students miss, is the Christmas. The atmosphere, the music and all Christmas decorations, And also, of course, the Christmas Markets. Me myself, has never (or not for many years) been a fan of Christmas. I have not had a really good feeling about it, or even been a bit excited. Maybe this is something that will come back when I get kids of my own.

This year, I will spend my Christmas in Seoul. Since all of us exchange students are alone, and some Koreans are single, we will celebrate Christmas together. But to start the Christmas holiday and get into the right mood, we decided to visit the European Christmas Market. All my german friends have been talking about Gl üwein for many weeks now, and finally, they will have a chance to get it. The Christmas Market was a bit small, and packed with people. A lot of food, music and happy people made even me feel a bit happy and excited for Christmas.

 And we all found our own Adventskalender! This is something a lot of people has been searching for, but haven't managed to find. Since Christmas and these Adventskalenders are not that popular in Korea, I decided to by 2, one for my roommate and one for my new Korean friend Gina.

Sick in Seoul

After being sick for a month in a new country, I have got a overview how it is to be sick in Seoul. The process of getting an appointment until you actually get better is complicated. You will enter the hospital, register and after take a queuing ticket and wait. You will pay for the appointment and after the payment you will go to the doctor. He will give you advice what to do and after, you need to queue again. Then you will head up to the second floor, get a new ticket and wait to take your X-rays. After that, you will go down to the hospitals pharmacy, tell them that you are there, and you will have to wait for your medicine. So much waiting for someone who is sick. You might be waiting forever to hear that nothing is wrong with you. In one week, I have visited the hospital 4 times and got a lot of different medicine, seen different doctors and always had to have a korean friend with me to translate.

The doctors visit is a bit different. The doctor is usually a male with lack of english skills who has a female nurse to assist. The doctor can basically not touch you, which I thought was a bit funny, since the nurse had to move my hair away from my back and pull up my shirt. The x-rays are taken with a hospital shirt on and the doctors have this nervous feeling all the time. Maybe they feel nervous to deal with foreign patients.

On the other hand, if you visit a pharmacy, their english is brilliant. Also, the atmosphere in the pharmacy is relaxed and you might even hear a few jokes while paying. I got to show my korean skills while the employees got a good laugh and replied in korean. Even though I'm sick, I try to see the positive things about this. I have had the chance to experience how it is to visit a big hospital in South Korea. At the pharmacy I got some more medicine that I have to take for a week. Even though I'mf rom one of the coldest countries in the world, it can be dangerous for me to breathe in this cold air, so believe it or not, I have to wear a mask for one week. This is a pretty normal sight in Korea, but foreigners in Korea would never wear them. Here we go, let's see how many looks and laughs I will get by wearing it.