Just some random thoughts that i have , it feels surreal that i have been away from home for close to 4 months, living by myself in a tiny goshiwon in Korea. I had to be very independent, settle everything on my own. Through this sep, i had the chance to forge many friendships and close friends.
Im glad that i got to know my very close friends whom i met through SNU buddy programme, Yuni, Jenessa and Julie , thank you guys for being there for me, when i was down, thanks for consoling me. Thank you guys for cheering me on when i was up too. Both up and down (:
I enjoyed the busan trip with you guys alot, and thanks to awesome Jen who helped to plan our itinerary to ensure we get to visit as many places as possible. Noraebangs til 3am was crazily fun with you guys, though we didnt manage to go as foursome. I still remember me and Yuni dancing like lunatics when Julie sang Titanic’s theme song. ‘ Near far, where ever you are ~’ , especially at this lyrics, it was damn joke when we danced to it.
It was a great pleasure to make new friends through my animal classes, Yiyi and Janey ,
through Gyeongju trip: Sin lee
through temple stay: Yanbo
through SNU Buddy Programme: Shirley , Nadya, Kaela , Minho , Becci, Aoi ,
through dance lessons: Margaux , Jennie
through skiing: Jomaine, Gina’s sis and friends
through friends of friends: Joyce, Amigo , Janice , Patricia, Grace , Ericka , Chopin , Yinghui , Konrad, Teckpoh , Hazel , George
okayys too many to list, anyway, you guys know who you are, each of you has made my SEP enjoyable
I feel very thankful that i was given a chance to go on SEP to korea as Korea was a popular SEP choice among the SDE students. Till now, i still suspect that it was because of my KCIG commitments that boosted my application as my CAP was average and not above average at all. So, just an advice, if your grades isnt very good, use your cca commitments to help you in your sep application!
As i did not have any 21st birthday party, sometime when i see my friends’ 21st birthday parties, i do feel a bit regretful. But now i feel that this sep was the best birthday present for me as i managed to try many new stuff. It was a lot of first times for me, first time of hiking, jimjilbang, skiing , noraebang , having my own room , being independent, taking solo flight, going Busan , going Jeonju , Gyeongju , and many more! Indeed , 2013 was a very eventful year.
Living in Korea also made me understand more about their culture. What we see in dramas arent always what we see in real life. Just some observations, please take it with a pinch of salt , i dont quite like it when i see people spitting in the streets, the young and old. I was disgusted by it. Not all guys in Korea are gentlemen, when taking the shuttle bus, i thought that they would give way to ladies but unfortunately, not many does that. I saw guys who didnt give way to the ladies. Korean guys look oh so handsome in dramas, in real life, yes in general, they are indeed more handsome and more vain too. And who knows, their handsomeness maybe also from plastic surgery? I see a lot of plastic surgery ads in subways. Their dress sense are very good. Frankly speaking, i seldom see poorly dressed koreans. As for ladies, yes korean ladies are very pretty but plastic. Sometime i just dont get it, why go plastic when in the long run, when you get older, your face become sunken and its scary when you age. Perhaps they only think of short term and outer appearance. #justsayingmyopinions
I do see ladies putting on makeup on subways like pro . My makeup? Oh , just lipbalm cum lipstick. Before i came korea, i told myself to put on makeup daily, but when i was here, i gave up. Just bare face everywhere. Heck care. Ill just stand out as a foreigner. Even with just a lipstick, Sinlin asked,’ wah u go sogaeting ah?’ LOL!
And the interesting thing is about sogaeting. I was quite amused that it is common in Korea to go for blind dates. Ive heard that going for 3 blind dates was average. I wanted to try one but didnt cos i didnt want to have any long distance relationship.
i dislike seeing couples dressed similarly from head to toe. Sometime i will mistake it as twins. Then i see them holding hands and ill be like, ‘ ohh, its a couple.’ To me, c’mon youre a guy, dont you have your own taste? i rather they dressed differently and maybe just 1 couple item at the most. Cos i thought what if they breakup, imagine you have couple handphone, shoes, bags, beanie, jacket, top , bottoms. Then one day you break up, it will be depressing when you are reminded of your ex bf/gf when you wanna wear your clothes which are unfortunately, mostly couple items that you shared with him/her. #justsayingandpleasedontbashme #peacebewithyou
Somehow i was immune to all the couples i see in Korea. My friends remarked that when they keep seeing couples in Korea , they felt lonely and sad. I dont know why, i felt free and happy. Not saying that i dont wanna be in a relationship but more like, im still enjoying singlehood. And i dont really notice about couples around me. Maybe cos i was busy on my phone all the time. Cant survive without my whatsapp, LINE, kakao, Facebook.
Glad i managed to clear most of my checklist:
slip and fall and roll down slope in my winter jacket and laugh at myself after the fall *checked*
go to petit france *checked*
go to Nami island *checked*
visit SM, JYP , FNC bldgs *checked*
going for dance classes in seoul *checked*
visiting the Noryanjin fish market *checked*
watching a baseball game even though i dont understand the game at all* sheepish look* *checked*
visiting trick eye museum *checked*
partying at hongdae *checked*
visit my dramas filming sites *checked*
My only regret is that, i shouldnt have waited till the end of my exams then i start contacting my korean friends whom i met in NUS . I didnt know that our exam timing differs so much, like when my exams ended, theirs just started. so it was a great pity that i couldnt meet up with any of them. And also, i was surprised that in Korea, Kpop was only popular among high schoolers and middle schoolers. University students arent interested in it at all . Initially i planned to ask my peers on how to get on music shows but i was surprised that they werent interested in kpop and didnt know how to get on music shows, hence i had to seek help else where, but unfortunately i had no time and was unable to attend any music shows. I had difficulties signing up with the broadcasting stations in the first place, so in the end i just gave up on music shows.
All in all, this SEP was highly enjoyable for me even though i did not get to go for any music shows. I got the chance to immerse more in the culture and less of Kpop. Staying in Korea made me realised that i love Korea a lot. For now, i given up on studying korean on my own. I decided to take outside Korean Language Classes, master it, then go Korea to stay and live and work in korea. Maybe, that shall be my next goal in Life.
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