눈의 사진

The pictures of snow were taken in the vicinity of Icheon Pottery Village. It was snowing since Wednesday late afternoon. By Thursday morning, enough snow had fallen to give that winter feel. 춥지만 좋아요.

눈이 오는날

Today started with another 4 hours of lessons from 9am to 1pm. Mr Yun Sang Cheol took us for the first two hours. We had some listening comprehension followed by lesson on the correct usage of ~느라고. Subsequently, Ms Cheon Eun Jeong (천은정) took over and taught us on the use of ~(ㄴ)지...되다 and ~게 되다. As it is, we have three teachers for this course. Mr Yun will teach us daily while Ms Jo and Ms Cheon will alternate. Ms Jo will take us for lesson on Tuesday and Friday and Ms Cheon on Monday and Wednesday.

Since there was a Korean culture class starting at 2pm, we decided to have a quick lunch in the student canteen at basement two of Cheong-un Gwan (청운관-靑雲館). I ordered "Tangsuyuk Deopbap" (탕수육덮밥) or sweet and sour pork rice. Tangsuyuk, like Jjajangmyeon, is one of those Chinese dishes which has since become popular in Korea. The Tangsuyuk tasted quite similar to the Singapore's version of the dish. However, I found that the sweet and sour pork tasted slightly sweeter in Korea.

Tangsuyuk Deopbap cost 2,500won. It came with a bowl of soup not shown.

We had our first Korean culture class which was Korean songs. The teacher who took us for the class was Ms Kim Hyeon Jin (김현진). Secretly, I called her the "noraebang queen" because she was having so much fun in the singing lesson as if she was in a noraebang (kara-oke). Of course, we too were having a lot of fun. She was so full of actions and that had sort of influenced us to open up and sing aloud. She sang, danced and she simply "rocked". She taught us two songs. One was 마리아 (Maria) by Kim A-Jung (김아중) the other was 풍선 (Balloon) by TVQX (동방신기-東方神起)



"Maria" is the OST of the Korean movie "미녀는 괴로워" (200 pounds beauty). We were told that the song was currently one of the hottest noraebang songs among the Koreans. An ultimate stress-reliever. As we were singing along with the music, Ms Kim was going around telling students "가수처럼, 가수처럼" (sing like a singer) as she rocked and sang "Maria Ave Maria" in her loudest possible voice. I have never before seen anyone getting so high in a singing lesson. She really ROCKS!



풍선 (Balloon) was another "fun" song. Ms Kim was dancing along with TVQX in the music video as we were watching it. We were all then made to move to the front of class to sing and dance along with the song. We had so much fun singing and dancing that we kept asking to repeat the music video. 풍선 has a bright and cheerful tempo and that really lifted my mood. The lyrics though a bit lengthy were not too difficult to understand (with the help of e-dictionary of course).

It started snowing heavily in the late afternoon. Finally, we could see some snow accumulating on the roof and street. Within minutes of snowfall, the street quickly lost its gloom and took on a clean white smile. We must have been very fortunate to witness snowing in the month of March in Seoul. First of all, due to global warming, it rarely snows during winter in Seoul these days. Furthermore, March is already Spring and temperature during this month is usually too high for snow to fall. But we managed to catch one of those rarest opportunity and for that our trip would probably have been worthed it. According to weather forecast, there will be more snow coming.

The scene of the small road, at which Osvill is located, after snowing.

In the evening, we went back to Kyung Hee to take picture of the snow. Most of the pictures turned out blurry. Probably it was because it was so cold that my exposed hand kept shivering while holding the camera. As a result I have hardly any good picture to post. Following that, we had our dinner at a Korean restaurant near the campus. I had Odeng (오뎅) for dinner. Odeng is "imported" from Japan and is something very much like our fishcake in Singapore. However, it tasted more like crabstick to me with a lot of flour and little fish meat in it.

A snow scene inside Kyung Hee University .

My dinner - Odeng, which is something like fishcake.

수업이 시작했어

The second day of school started with the checking of the placement test results. We were placed together in the Intermediate Level 1 class. Intermediate Level 1 can be considered as level 3 of the IIE's six-level Korean language course for foreigners. Upon knowing our language level and classroom, we went to the bookstore at Cheong-un Gwan (청운관-靑雲館) and paid 35,000won (S$58.50) each for our textbook and workbook.

The building at the back is Cheong-un Gwan.

Our class comprised only Singaporeans and Japaneses and there were 15 of us. The teacher, who took us for the first two hours, was Mr Yun Sang Cheol (윤상철-尹相喆). An interesting teacher who was good at cracking jokes. He spoke fast but in simple Korean words which we could understand. As usual, the first lesson was about introduction. We were made to find out things about our new classmates by asking them five questions each. Subsequently, we made a presentation of one of our classmates. Here was what I have to say about my classmate, Takahashi Mika (高橋美香).

제 옆에 있는 미카 씨를 소개하갰습니다. 미카 씨는 한국 친국 많아서 한국말을 공부해요. 심심할 때는 혼자나 가족이나 친구과 과자를 먹어요. 미카 씨는 가장 좋아하는 계절이 가을이에요. 오늘 점심 때 비빔밥을 먹을 거예요. 이번 주말에 친구하고 같이 술집에 가서 술을 마실 거예요.

The second half of the morning was taken by Ms Jo Seon Gyeong (조선경). She was very conscious of not speaking too fast and kept checking with us if her pace was alright. She explained each word in detail and with clarity. Her lesson covered the first few pages of the textbook. In between her lesson, we, as in the NEX students, were asked to meet up with the Director of Institute of International Education, Professor Kim Jung Sup, for a short tea session. I guess it was sort of a gesture for him to show the importance he placed in establishing the educational linkup with the Singapore universities. He will be meeting our teacher, Ms Ebony Bae in Singapore in the next few days. Probably we will be one of their topics of conversation during mealtime.

Our lesson ended at 10 minutes to 1pm. We had our lunch at the student canteen in Cheong-un Gwan before going back to dormitory to rest and do our homework. We went out for dinner at a Korean restaurant, Eun Seong Kalguksu (은성칼국수) near KHU. Kalguksu is something like "ban-mian" sold in Singapore. The restaurant prided itself for serving 20 years of traditional taste and was highly recommended by teacher Chi for its Kalguksu. However, I ordered Manduguk (만두국 or dumpling soup) instead for 4,000won. The mandu and soup were delicious.

Twenty years of traditional taste - Eun Seong Kalguksu.

My dinner - Manduguk or dumpling soup served in a basin.

너무 춥다

As predicted in the weather forecast, the temperature dropped suddenly on Monday morning to below zero degree Celsius. It was snowing as we walked to the Kyung Hee University. The weather was freezing cold but we were still excited about seeing snow. We arrived at the Institute of International Education about 15 minutes to 10 for course briefing. There were already 2 ladies from the United Kingdom sitting in the room. We were later joined by a Hongkonger of Canadian nationality. The teacher-in-charge subsequently gave us a run-through of our 3-week programme. The programme that was prepared for us is as follow:

Korean Language Class : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. 9am - 1pm. There is an additional class on Mar 22 (Thursday). Discounting one day each for opening and closing ceremony, there is still about 44 hours of classroom lesson.

Korean Culture Class : Monday and Wednesday. 2pm - 4pm. We shall be learning Korean songs, movies, games and Taekwondo.

Field Trip : Thursday (Mar 8 and 15). 9am - 6pm. We will be visitng Icheon Ceramic Village, Kyung Hee University's Suwon Campus, traditional Korean village, National Museum of Korea and Deoksugung. We will also be watching the performance "Nanta".

The auditorium was almost filled to the brink at the Opening Ceremony.

After the programme brief, we were ushered into the auditorium for the opening ceremony. The ceremony was meant for students taking part in the 3-week and the 16-week Korean language course. There were over hundred of students in the auditorium and without surprise, Japanese formed the largest group.

Director of IIE, Prof Kim Jung Sup, addressing the students.

With the completion of the ceremony, we had our group photo taken before proceeding for the welcome lunch at Myeong Seong Gwan (명성관), courtesy of IIE. The Korean restaurant was located about a street away from the main entrance of KHU.

Myeong Seong Gwan, the Korean restaurant where we have our lunch.

The kimchi and radish were in large chunks and needed to be cut by scissors.

These scissors and tong were used to cut the kimchi and radish.

This tofu is part of the side dishes. Doesn't it look appetising?

My lunch - dolsot bibimpab and soup. Delicious but I couldn't finish it.

My neighbour's lunch but I don't know what it is called

Lunch together with students from Japan and UK at Myeong Seong Gwan.

Our lunch finished with this sweet-tasting cinnamon tea.

We had our campus tour right after the lunch. It was then that the snowing got more intense. Cold wind was blowing and the snow could be seen flying all over us. It was a wonderful feeling for someone like me who have not seen snow before. The tour was a brief one and soon we were back in the auditorium to take our placement test.

Our campus tour began at this banner board in front of Cheong-un Gwan.

At the entrance of the Central Library of KHU during the campus tour.

Inside the Central Library. It was just a look and we were out soon.

Can you see the snow? It was snowing during our campus tour.

The placement test was meant to stream us into appropriate language level to facilitate teaching and learning. The test comprises 25 questions on listening, 40 questions on reading and an oral test. I was not too sure if the test was similar to the one I took a year ago but I did know I could listen and understand the Korean better this time.

During the placement test. The test looks difficult doesn't it?

Before the day ended, we were introduced to our dowoomi (student helper). We are supposed to practice Korean language and culture with our dowoomi. As a guide, dowoomi and us should meet each other for more than 4 hours per week. My dowoomi did not turn up. Instead he sent a representative who passed me his contact information. I will probably contact him sometimes later this week to meet up. It was still snowing when I left the campus at 4:30pm. The snowing might have turned lighter but the weather was still chilly. In the evening, I went for a walk in Apgujeong but found nothing interesting.

Somewhere in Apgujeong but I am not too sure where was I.

시장에 가자

The weather was fine on Sunday morning. We walked our way from dormitory to the Cheongnyangni market. The cold morning air made the walk so much more enjoyable or should I say "no sweat". There wasn't anything that we wanted to buy in particular. It was more of a sight-seeing at a typical Korean market. When we reached the market, the dog lover among us was very conscious of not walking pass those stalls selling dog meat. So when she saw the handwritten sign "개고기" (dog meat) from a afar, she quickly diverted us to walk another direction.

A good way to experience life of the locals is to visit their market place.

At one of the stalls which we stopped by, the stall owner was interested in knowing where we came from as we were not conversing in Korean.

"일본사람 (Japanese)?"
"아니요 (No)."
"한국사람 (Korean)?"
"아니요 (No)."
"외국사람 (foreigner)?"
"네, 싱가포르에서 왔어요 (Yes, we came from Singapore)."

Not too bad. I never thought our Korean was good enough to handle simple market conversation like that. But I am not too sure how we would fare if we have to buy something. Anyway, we started from Cheongnyangi but ended at Jegi-dong. I thought it was a good "educational" walk as we got to practise the Korean terms for the different food stuff we saw along the way.

Interesting foodstuff like beondegi and dried stingray can be found.

At Jegi-dong, we went looking for Homeplus, a Korean equivalent of Carrefour. Things were generally cheaper at Homeplus as compared to the neighbourhood stores. If only Homeplus was nearer to our dormitory, it would have been our default destination for daily necessities and grocery.

Packets of "gochu garu" or chilli powder selling at Homeplus.

It started to rain again in the afternoon. We stay inside our dormitory for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, the rain stopped and we went out for dinner at 죽&김밥 (Porridge&Kimbap), a Korean eating house located beside Hoegi station. We encountered some problem ordering our food initially as the ajumma in the eating house had problem understanding our poorly-spoken Korean. However, she managed to get one of her customers, who understood English, to interpret for her. Through the "interpreter", we managed to get the ajumma to understand our order.

Porridge and Kimbap outlet at Hoegi

While having our dinner, we spoke about our day in Mandarin and people at the other tables were thinking that we were Chinese students. Our conversation soon caught the attention of an old man. He was listening attentively to our conversation for quite a while before coming up to speak to us. He told us that his hometown was in Jilin Province. Though once living in China, he was of the Joseon ethnicity. Many years back he migrated to Korean but had since regretted giving up his Chinese nationality. He analysed that China is getting better and stronger each day and will soon become one of the great powerhouse of the world. He further added that he had no choice but to remain in Korea now as his children had since become Korean nationals.

I could feel that the old man was homesick. It kinda set me off thinking about the meaning of home, ethnicity and nationality. The three things are not necessarily the same. Home, to me. is a place where my heart wants to go back to regardless of ethnicity and nationality. I am of Han ethnic group but with a Singapore nationality and my home is in Singapore. Actually I used to be a stateless Permanent Resident of Singapore in the earlier part of my life. I did not receive my Singapore nationality until I started paying income tax. So it seems like I am a bit of something. I would think that there will be more people like me in the future as the world becomes more globalised and people become more mobile. As it is now, the line around home, ethnicity and nationality is already becoming blur.

지산 스키장

I woke up at 6am on March 2, Saturday. I have to be early as I need to catch the tour bus leaving for Jisan Ski Resort. According to the instructions provided by the tour agency, the bus will be waiting in front of Dunkin' Donuts outlet at Gwanghwamun at 7:50am. We found the outlet as described after exiting from Exit 7 of Gwanghwamun station at 7:30am. I bought two donuts at Dunkin' Donuts for my breakfast while waiting for the bus. The tour bus arrived as scheduled. The trip to Jisan, which is located southeast of Suwon, took about 2 hours.

We waited outside Dunkin' Donuts near Gwanghwamun station for our bus.

When we arrived at Jisan, the mountains were still shrouded in thick morning mist just like what you see below. The ski slopes were not visible from afar. Though it was already 10am, the outdoor temperature remained chilly.

It was as cold as it looked. But the mist disappeared later in the day.

The first thing we did after alighting from the bus was to find our way to "Board Box" to get our skiing equipment. Again, we referred to the instructions given by the tour agency. We were told us to turn around after alighting from the bus and cross a bridge. There was indeed a bridge and so we crossed it. After crossing, we were told to turn right and walk down a road until we could see the "Board Box" sign. The instructions provided sufficient information and pictures for us to find our way but it stopped short of telling us that "Board Box" is actually about 1 km down the road. I would not have mind if it was just a walk down the road. But the problem was, we would have to walk back the same road later with our ski equipment. Before I even started skiing, I was almost worn-out carrying those ski equipment from "Board Box" up to the ski slope. When we finally got changed and were ready for some skiing action, it was already midday.

We have to walk up this flight of stairs to get to the ski slope.

My skiing equipment on loan from "Board Box".

Jisan Ski Resort is an outdoor ski resort. The snow on the ski slopes was not actually genuine snow on the day we were there. The snow had to be made from snow machines since it was already Spring in March. Then again, the snow was more like ice and that made the ski slope extra slippery. The resort has five ski slopes of different gradient to cater to Junior, Beginner, Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced and Advanced skiers and snowboarders. We were of course skiing at the junior slope. Even that, I still did not manage to keep my balance well. I suffered multiple falls though none of these was hurting. Falling down was perhaps part of the fun or pain in trying out something new. Skiing was a rather tiring activity. I was perspiring profusely even when the outdoor temperature was near zero.

Look at the ski slope, it was ice and not snow we were skiing on.

Snow-making machine.

Intermediate snow-skiers. The intermediate slope was too steep for me.

The vehicle seen here is a snow-laying machine.

We stopped skiing at 2pm and had some afternoon snacks at the cafeteria. While biting on my food, I was looking up the slopes in awe. The snowboarders at the intermediate and advanced slopes just made snowboarding looked so easy. It seemed that skiing is a past fad these day. The in-thing is snowboarding. I could hardly find any skiers at the slopes but snowboarders were everywhere. Skiing is difficult enough. I am not sure if I will ever want to try snowboarding.

Intermediate ski slope as seen from the cafeteria.

Advanced ski slope as seen from the cafeteria.

Snowboarding is the fad now. Snow skiing sounds so yesterday.

The Jisan Ski Resort closed at 4:30pm but we left the place at 4pm to return our skiing equipment. We boarded the same bus that took us to Jisan and it arrived back at Gwanghwamun station at about 7pm. We managed to get some good nap along the way. To me, skiing is like scuba-diving. There are many things to bring along like attire and equipment which can be rather cumbersome. I had a good workout for the day by carrying those ski attire and equipment to and from "Board Box". This workout was in addition to the two hours of skiing which I had at the ski slopes. Ouch, my muscle was aching at the end of the day. A sure sign that I have not been exercising regularly in the recent months. Nevertheless, it was a fun-filled day.

Snow scene of the resort - Left-hand side.

Snow scene of the resort - Right-hand side.

잘 도착했어

I have arrived in Seoul well and safe on March 2, Friday. The plane was delayed for 2 hours from taking off in Singapore due to some electrical fault. It was almost 1:45am (Singapore Time) when it took off. The plane arrived at the Incheon International Airport six hours later. It was raining heavily and and there was no aerobridge to connect. We have to brave the rain and make our way down the steps into a waiting bus. When we finally boarded the limousine bus 602 (8000 won) bound for Cheongnyangni, it was already 9:45am (Korea time).

It was raining in Seoul and traffic was slow.

The bus ride took 2 hours. When we alighted at Cheongnyangni it was still raining. Lugging our luggage, we flagged down a taxi to Osvill dormitory in the rain. The taxi ride took 5 minutes and cost 2,200 won. By the time we left the dormitory for Kyung Hee University, it was 12:30pm. We had our lunch at the student canteen and the the Donkatsu meal (pork cutlet) cost me 2,400 won. After that, we made our way to Institute of International Education to made payment for the dormitory fee. A single room and 3-week stay at Osvill cost 550,000 won. No meal is provided though. I paid an additional 100,000 won as deposit which can be redeemed on the last day of course.

An Isaac Toast outlet found near Osvill. A favourite stop for my breakfast.

Thinking that there was a placement test at 2pm, we went around asking the staff at IIE on the test location. We met teacher Kim Minjae along the way. When we asked her about the test she said she was still "confused" because it was her first day at work after returning. Anyway, she assisted us to confirm that our placement test is at 10am next Monday. With nothing else to do, I went back to the dormitory to rest. I was supposed to meet up with the rest to go Yongsan to buy electronics dictionary at 6pm but overslept. When I woke up it was already 8pm. I think I must be really tired.

I saw these 2 umbrellas while looking out the window from Loveice

It was still raining when I went out for dinner. I had mushroom and oyster porridge for 8,000 won at "Bonjuk" - a traditional Korean porridge chain. It was expensive for me considering that I left the oysters in the porridge untouched. It was dessert time after dinner. I had yogurt fruit at "Lovice" located just above "Bonjuk" at the second level. The yogurt set me back by 4,500 won. Eating the yogurt while looking out onto the street was not too bad a way to end a gloomy and tiring day. For the first day, the bill came up to 25,100 won (S$42), less dormitory fee and deposit. I am starting to feel what is it to be like living in the most expensive city in Asia.

Yogurt and shaved ice with strawberry, kiwi, banana and pineapple.

안녕 갈게

오늘 싱가포르에서 하루종일 비가 내렸어요.

오늘 나는 가는날이에요. 이따가 공항에 갈 거예요. 또 한국에서 한국말을 공부할 수 있으니까 신나요.

지난 일주일동안 너무 바빴어요. 지금 푹 쉴 수 있으면 행복하겠어요.

삼 주 후에 싱가포르에서 만납시다.

안녕 갈게