Here We Go Again

We have been back in Korea for almost 3 weeks! We would of updated sooner but we had been having problems with our laptop until now and it has finally been fixed! A lot has happened in the 3 weeks we've been back, many things have also changed. For some reason we didn't expect for things to be so different, but they are and in a sense it feels like starting all over again! I think it has to do with all our friends being gone. Sure we have some friends in Korea, but all of our close friends from last semester have gone back to their home countries and so it's been hard for us to adjust to all the changes. On the bright side although many of our friends are gone  we've met many new people and made many new friends. This semester we're taking more classes, we also volunteered to teach again and have been busy with many school activities! A lot of things have happened in three weeks so we'll post the highlights!

 

We flew with Korean Air once again. It was much easier getting through the airport this time, but the flight still felt so long. I didn't get to sleep much and neither did my sister, so we arrived extremely jet lagged. The food was pretty good and the flight attendants always look so beautiful! We wanted to take a picture of them, but it was kind of hard!

Since we couldn't sleep much we spent a lot of time playing video games! Yes Korean Air has video games! There were so many to choose from! Our favorites were of course PacMan and Street Fighter! I couldn't get a better picture of the screen, but time went by a little faster while we were playing. 

Once we arrived to the airport our program adviser Jaehoon was waiting for us ! He got us a cab and off we went to the university. We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon and there was so much traffic it took us over 2 hours to reach the school! Above is a picture of our dorm, the traffic and the view from our dorms! Last semester we failed to post a picture of our dorm, but this is what it pretty much looks like! They're actually spacious with a lot of closet space and our very own private bathroom.

This was actually our first meal in Korea. Not quiet sure what it was called, but it was spicy sea food and really tasty too. This was also the first meal we had with our exchange group! Even though we've already been in Korea for a while we have the habit of taking pictures of everything we eat! Sort of like a food diary. 

The first week of September was our birthday and some of the guys from our exchange group bought us a birthday cake and celebrated our birthday with us! We celebrated our birthday for 2 days! We had cake, Korean BBQ and of course Soju. This has definitely been one of our favorite moments in Korea so far ! 

We have yet to take pictures of our new middle school students this semester! Although the first day we met we weren't told that we were suppose to teach ! It was a lot of fun though. A lot of our students from the past semester also signed up again and we were happy to see all of them. 

This is not the end

It's been almost a week since we arrived back in the states. Our last days in Korea were filled with packing, finals, goodbyes and many other things that we hardly had any spare time. Even though the semester is over and we're back in Texas it does not mean it's the end of our blog! There are still many things we did not get a chance to post about while in Korea so we will still be posting, but most importantly, WE'RE GOING BACK TO KOREA for one more semester! Originally we had only planned to study abroad for a semester, but the opportunity arose and we decided to extend our stay. Studying abroad in Korea has been such an amazing experience that we decided to stay a little longer. We will be spending the summer in Texas and returning to Seoul in August. Although we would have liked to stay in Seoul during the summer changing our flight was too expensive so our only option was to return home.

                                                            The Trip Back Home

The last picture we took of the view from our dorms. It had been raining for the past couple of days. 

The flight back home was much shorter than the flight to Seoul; it was about 13 hours from Seoul to Dallas and from there another 1.5 hour flight from Dallas to our hometown.  Our flight left to Dallas at 11:00am, but we left to the airport about a quarter to 7:00am  and this was because it took about an hour from Konkuk University to reach the airport not including traffic. The cab driver was really nice! Rather than calling an international cab one of our Korean friends called a regular cab for us and it was much cheaper. We paid about $30 each while others had to pay $40 each or more for the international cab. The cab driver gave us candy and had this television in the middle of the cab that played K-pop videos throughout the whole ride. We found ourselves singing to 2NE1 and other kpop artists which was really cool! Also the seats were so comfortable that we took a short nap. Once we were at the airport we searched for Korean Air so we could check in. Navigating Incheon International Airport was so easy and the employees were so nice! Going through security, customs and check in all took less than half an hour. We're not even kidding! After that we spent time with our friends  before boarding our flights and said our goodbyes. We made so many great friends in Seoul, we're really grateful to have met such wonderful people.  Once we reached Dallas we felt really overwhelmed. This is the part where reverse culture shock comes in. Many of our friends spoke about it, our study abroad advisor even tried to prepare us for it, and yet we were not. It must have been a mix of restlessness, stress, jet lag, and lack of sleep that made us feel so out of touch with what was going on, but I think reverse culture shock deserves it's own post because it's something no student who studies abroad can get away from. Adjusting back to life in the U.S.  has proven to be more challenging than adjusting to life in a different country. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our last days in Seoul.  

Kai's students at their farewell party enjoying potato pizza! 

My students at our farewell party! They were adorable! They got me some farewell snacks and wrote the cutest things on the board. I'll miss them a lot. :c

Me (Ro) on the left with my friend Sen on the morning of our departure. We were so sad not only because we were leaving a place we had called home for the past four months, but because this would be the last time we would see each other since we live in different states.

Hello Kitty Cafe inside Incheon Intl' Airport! It was right next to our waiting area. ^^

Korean Universities Spring Festivals

Every Spring semester universities all over Korea hold school festivals.  The festivals usually last 2 to 3 days or in some cases the whole week. My university's festival is held every year on the day of its foundation. This year Konkuk University was celebrating 82 years! The festival started early in the morning and while generally classes are cancelled during these days professors had the option of still holding class which we unfortunately had to attend. There were booths all around campus that served different purposes. The booths were organized by many different student organizations.  Many of these booths sold food, alcohol, games and many other things. They had food from different parts of the world including Chinese, Turkish, and of course Korean. At night after student performances came the celebrity performances and this year at Konkuk University we had performances by Epik High, Beenzino, Girls Day, K. Will and other artists. Our favorites and the ones we anticipated the most were K.Will, Epik High and Beenzino! If you're ever in Korea during the Spring we highly suggest you go to one of these festivals because they really are something else. I can't think of anything back in the U.S. that is similar to this. You get to eat good food, meet new people, and see your favorite Kpop idols perform for free.

The day before the main event a party was held in front of the student dorms. It started early in the morning and went on late into the night. There were many student performances and at the end there was a dj set where everybody pretty much went crazy. By this time many of the students had been consuming 2 dollar jagerbombs and many cans of 70 cent beer throughout the day!

 During the day there were many activities held by the students. Our favorite booths were the cocktail booths and food! We tried a chicken kebab and it was so delicious! 

This was one of the many cocktail booths at the festival. Apparently they have just recently become a popular thing at school festivals. 

Us with our mentor at the International Program's Booth in which we volunteered for a few hours and had not only nachos and beer but also different games where you could win free stuff. 

Our favorite part of the festival was Korean rapper Beenzino's performance with Beat Box DG. We waited hours in advanced just so we could make it to the front of the crowd and even so it was still a struggle. There were so many people that were pushing there was a point where Beenzino cstopped the performance because they were stepping over people, but we made it close enough and we were so happy! At one point before his performance the MC noticed my friends and I as the only foreigners in the crowd and asked us to send Beenzino a message! 

At the end of the festival there were many fireworks but I didn't get a chance to take pictures. The festival was so much fun I definitely recommend attending one if you're ever in Korea around in the Spring! 

Midterms and Volunteering

It's Spring in Korea and you know what that means! CHERRY BLOSSOMS and most importantly.... MIDTERMS.

It's been difficult to update recently and we wish we had more time to update, but for the past week we have been preparing for midterms! Midterms are always a stressful, but here in South Korea students start preparing weeks before and spend their nights in the library getting little sleep. It's amazing to see how dedicated Korean students are! We've seen so many students holding all night study group sessions all around campus. They practically live in the library! Luckily for us, some of our professors decided midterms weren't necessary and so we only have a few, but we've run into some difficulties. The difficulties of living in a country where English is not their first language.

 While all our classes are held in English it does not necessarily mean our professors speak perfect English, in fact some may speak very little while others speak it well and others are in between. At times some of our professors choose to switch from English to Korean, but I believe this happens in many countries. The problem with this and at least for us at the moment is that sometimes we get lost in translation. For us at least it has led to more stress. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what our professors are trying to convey and  we just simply can't understand their questions. This is definitely the case at the moment, but aside from that we also have news to share ! We recently volunteered to teach English to Middle school children!

Last week we met with the staff and tomorrow (Monday) we will begin teaching! We're definitely nervous, but also really excited for this experience. When we met with the middle school staff we also met some of the children participating in the program. We were told that the kids were really looking forward to the program and when we met them we realized it was true! Many of them we're yelling "TEACHER, HI ! IT'S SO NICE TO MEET YOU! YOU'RE SO PRETTY!"  This definitely made us less nervous, but now we're working on our lesson plans for tomorrow and we will definitely keep you updated on our teaching!

We have so much to share from the past weeks so when things calm down and go back to normal we will upload pictures of all our recent adventures and focus on making posts about our daily life in Korea, such as places to eat, the night life in Korea, as well as dating in Korea and our experiences! We''ll leave you with a few pictures we've taken of the Cherry blossom trees on campus !

There are so many cherry blossom trees around campus!

There's a forest on our campus right next to our dorms! We go through it every morning to get to class! 

The DMZ

It is hard to imagine that with everything going on at this moment between North and South Korea it be possible to take a trip to the JSA and to be honest who would ?! The answer might be surprising, but many people would and that includes us! As I discussed in my previous post, life in South Korea has not been affected by the North's threats, not even the DMZ. We found ourselves on an hour long bus ride to the JSA on the very day that North Korea declared a state of war on South Korea. (Take note that tours of the JSA and DMZ are scheduled days in advance.) At that time we had not heard of this until our tour guide informed us that there was a 5% chance that our tour might be cancelled, yes only a 5% chance. He informed us that it was common for tours to be cancelled, but that on this day the chances were a little higher. Before coming to South Korea one of the things we looked forward to the most was going to the DMZ or the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The experience is hard to describe, but we can say that there were a mix of feelings. It was definitely an exciting experience, and at the same time it was serious, but most of all it was fascinating. Throughout the tour we were closely monitored by the soldiers assisting the tour and there were many rules that included things you were not allowed to wear to how to act during the tour. It actually took a long time for us to make it to the actual demilitarized zone because there were so many check points that consisted of soldiers stopping the bus to check your passport and make sure you were wearing appropriate attire for your visit. Also during the tour we were only allowed to take pictures in certain areas and only when they said it was okay to, they are so strict that breaking a rule resulted in the cancellation of the whole tour! Aside from that the tour was an unforgettable experience.

It felt surreal when we finally reached the 38th parallel. There were no North Korean soldiers in sight that day, except one who kept looking at us with his binoculars.

Inside there were two South Korean soldiers and they were like life sizes dolls who did not move whatsoever. While inside we got the opportunity to stand in North Korea for a few minutes! It was awesome!! 

This is known as The Bridge of No Return. At the end of the Korean War,  Koreans were given the opportunity to cross the bridge to which ever side they wanted, but once they did they were never allowed to cross back. 

At the JSA gift shop you can find North Korean money !  

North Korea

Recently the situation between North and South Korea has been escalating and this has caused everybody back home to worry for those of currently abroad in Korea. We've received many emails from family, friends, professors, our study abroad department and so on, and so we thought it was important to create a post regarding the situation at the moment.

We've noticed that the news back home has been bombarding everyone with overly exaggerated stories of the situation. On a daily basis we receive emails from many people with these news stories written in a way that make the situation seem worse than it actually is! In South Korea life is going on as usual and it seems that South Koreans are immune to North Korea's recent actions and statements. Many of our Korean friends and professors have been very open about their feelings towards the current situation and have admitted that they are not worried whatsoever. This is due to the fact that this is nothing new to the Korean peninsula and both Korea's have been in dispute since the end of the Korean war (which has never technically been over.) As a result the majority of us foreigners residing in Korea at the moment feel the same way and we're going about our days normally, but we do want to mention that even though we feel safe we are taking precautions in case anything is to occur and we have not completely dismissed the situation. 

We believe that for anyone studying abroad there are always many risks that we must be prepared for and in our case at the moment it's political unrest. There are many ways of taking precautions and you can do this way before you leave to your destination!
 The first thing we did was sign up to Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). It is a free service for U.S. citizens traveling or living abroad and by entering information about your trip it allows the State Department to be of greater assistance in case of an emergency as well as providing you with information sent by email and other sources from your nearest embassy. For us this has been the best thing we did before coming!  Receiving daily emails about the situation has really kept us informed of how the situation is developing or if there are any precautions we should take.
Here is a link to the website: https://step.state.gov/step/
The next thing we did was create an account with International SOS which provide medical assistance,  international insurance and security services. We created this account because our university has a membership with them, so it would be good to find out if your university does  too or look for similar options!
Thirdly, once you are in the country it is always a good idea to make copies of all your paperwork and this includes passport, visa, insurance, any legal document of importance that could be used in case an accident occurs as well as giving your friends and family an address, and number where they can contact you at all times.
Lastly, KNOW WHERE YOUR NEAREST EMBASSY IS LOCATED. It is so important to know where your embassy is located because if something does occur the first thing you want to do is go to your embassy!  

Aside from this, with everything going on we managed to take a trip to the JSA !  I will definitely post about it later.

Mexican Food in Korea

It's been three weeks and we've been craving Mexican food since we arrived. It's hard not to miss homemade food, but luckily today our friend Sangjun took us to EWAK a restaurant that specializes in Mexican cuisine and best of all it's not only located near Konkuk University, the food is also made by a Korean chef who looks to be the one who runs the place by himself although the place is quite small. The moment we entered the smell took us by surprise because it instantly reminded us of home. We could smell cilantro, chile, the meat being sautéed with seasonings from home. The menu consisted of different kinds of Quesadillas, as well as Chile con Carne, Fajitas, and rollies which I did not recognize but the taste was familiar. They also carried different kinds of beers such as Corona and such. We ended up ordering cheese quesadillas and a rolly. Needless to say it was delicious, and it definitely tasted like the food back home although not completely, but we left happy!

Gyeongbok Palace

The last few posts have focused on certain aspects of living as a foreigner in Korea, but I want to focus this post on the different areas I have had the opportunity to visit in the past 10 days that I have been here. I honestly don't think I would have been to these many places if it hadn't been for my program. My sister Kai and I did however visit Hongdae on our own thanks to the help of our friend S who happens to be Korean !

Gyeongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace was such a beautiful place and it was huge! This is where I learned about 'ondol' or the floor heating system. The guards at the entrance were so serious and many people took pictures with them. They barely even blinked it was seriously an amazing place to visit. We also learned that the Gyeongbok Palace is  the largest and main palace out of the five palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. It's one thing to learn about this through books, but to see it is something else. 

Buying a Cellphone in Korea

We did countless research about cellphones before going to Korea and all we found was that it was almost impossible to get a cellphone on your own and to an extent this is true, but what we did not know and what other blogs failed to inform us about were sim cards! Before we bought a cell phone we came with the idea that our phone would not work at all because it's a GSM phone and Korea's phones run on CDMA. Now that we're here we learned that this is not completely true. Everywhere we walked we saw signs that said GSM PHONE and for us this was great except for a minor detail; we did not unlock our phones before coming since the misleading information we found suggested our phones would be useless and so we were forced to buy a phone. When it came to buying a phone we actually had helped from our program manager Jaehoon who did all the talking for us and thankfully got a good deal on phones! What we did was go around different phone shops to find the cheapest one. We bought   used phones because we'll only be here for four months and we were able to find cheap smart phones too! We thought we were going to have to settle for a flip phone, but we really wanted smart phones for the apps that will definitely come in handy such as subway apps and so on. Beware it is important to have someone who speaks Korean with you because most likely people will not speak fluent english and that can be a difficult if not impossible process and sometimes they will try to rip you off. Of course this does not apply to everybody, but we did have some people trying to overcharge us for the phones which we ended up finding cheaper at another place.

Our phones are not CDMA, we bought GSM Korean phones and also bought a prepaid sim card; something we had no idea was available. Other people in the program who had unlocked phones were able to simply buy prepaid sim cards for their phones which was great, but I must add that not everyone was able to use their phone even though they were unlocked. People who had iphones had to get new phones. The sim card was about $20 and as of right now I am not exactly sure how it completely works, but from what I've learned it's best to use wifi and save the phone calls and texts for emergencies as well as making sure that you have nothing running on your phone (apps) so that you don't get overcharged. If you don't mind spending or recharging your card often then it's fine, but this is where apps such as Skype, Line, Whatsapp and Kakao Talk come in. They allow you to make free calls and send messages using wifi which save you a lot of money. Also wifi will only work if you have a Korean phone or sim card because in order to connect to the wifi you must have your passport number, full name and email.  If you're planning to stay in Korea for a few months then buying a used phoneand a sim card is definitely your best option and cheaper than signing a contract or renting a phone. It is also best to pay with cash because Jaehoon informed us that using a debit card/ credit card would add 10% tax.

This is what you will need when getting a phone in Korea:

Passport or copy of your passport
 Cash

That's pretty much it at least when it comes to buying a used phone and getting a sim card. The great thing about our study abroad program is that Jaehoon was nice enough to do all the paper work for us.

*UPDATE: 
When I first wrote this article iphones were pretty much new in Korea, but as long as it's unlocked, the sim card will also work on it. Also for some reason iphones and other apple products seem to get better service too especially in places like the subway and so on.

E-MART

     Since we arrived we have probably gone to E-mart about 10 times, maybe more. Somehow we always need something else. It's a good thing E-mart and other shops are of walking distance from the dorms. On the first day our program managers took us to E-mart and gave us half an hour to buy anything we needed such as bedding, shampoo and all the things we did not bring with us. We were told E-mart was the Walmart of Korea and it definitely seems that way. At first it was overwhelming and half an hour was not enough time to buy everything we needed. This is because we did not know where anything was and we had a hard time finding things. Now we navigate the store with such ease, but that first day was a blur. It was definitely a good idea for us to buy our own bedding at home because it's so expensive here! The only things we did buy concerning our beds were blankets and pillows which were relatively cheap. One thing I noticed is that there are different sales people located in the different sections of E-mart, something I hadn't seen before. The shampoo section, lotion, kitchen cleaning supplies, you name it, each all have their own sales person who try to get you to buy certain items on sale or are just simply there to help. This one lady even opened different shampoo bottles for us so we could smell them! After finding some of the things we need it we headed for the cashiers and though we didn't know what to expect that first day at E-mart we definitely learned a lot. After paying we noticed that they did not give us any grocery bags and were puzzled by this. We found ourselves carrying our items all the way back that night. Grabbing a shopping cart was also something else; you have to insert a 100 won coin to use it which we did not know. Had it not been for one of the girls we met in the program who told us this goes on back home in her state as well we would of been lost.
        First, in Korea if you want  grocery bags you have to pay for it! Many of the people shopping there did not have any shopping bags instead there's this section where you can pack your things into recycled boxes. We have yet to figure out how this works. Korea is big on recycling ! This might be a reason to why they sell the grocery bags, but I will elaborate about recycling in Korea in another post. We returned to Emart the next day on our own in search for hair dryers, straightners and adapters/ converters for our electronics. From previous research we learned that it was better to buy hair dryers and straightners in Korea than bringing them from home. This is because even if you use a converter it will not work the same, they are pretty much useless. We had trouble finding these items because we thought we could find them in the hair section like back home, but it turns out they're all in the electronics section! The hair dryer and straightner were not expensive at all and work really well. We also had trouble finding the converters, but once we did we even had a more difficult time deciding which to take since everything is written in Korean and though we can read it we don't actually understand all of it. We decided to just risk it and chose one, thankfully it was the right one !

We were concerned about how we were going to communicate with others since we can't speak Korean well especially when it came to paying for our items, but our fears subsided once we actually went through it. At least at E-mart all you have to do is look at the screen for the total and if you want a bag they'll either offer it or you can ask for it by pointing or just saying bag. One thing I do have to mention is that even though it's Seoul you shouldn't expect anyone to speak or understand English. So far we have met very few people who can actually speak it and most of the time they will speak to you in Korean, but not to worry because they will definitely try to help you in anyway they can. People have been so helpful to us it's been great. This first week has definitely come with a lot of firsts, and many challenges, but we're excited of everything that is to come!

Looks like we made it.

It is now Sunday March 3rd and we've been in Seoul for almost a week. To sum up this week I would say it has been exhausting, but AMAZING. In just the few days that we have been here we have been to Insadong, Hongdae, Myeong-dong, Gyeongbok Palace, and many other places as well as boring, but necessary places such as the immigration office. There is so much to talk about, but we'll begin with the flight. We flew from Dallas to Seoul and it sounded pretty scary at first, by this I mean flying for so long especially for two girls who have never been on a flight for that long. Despite our fears, while the flight was long it wasn't too bad. The service was great and the flight attendants would pass by offerring drinks and snacks every 2 hours or so! Also each seat came with a pillow, blanket, toothbrush, toothpaste, slippers, and a water bottle which was great ! We flew Korean Air and we received two meals during the flight which I did not expect. We had the choice of Bibimbap, chicken, and fish; our first meal we decided on bibimbap which was delicious especially for airplane food and then we had bulgogi or beef. They were sort of heavy meals so it would be a good idea to skip one. I was starving so I had both, but not without regret afterwards. They had a good collection of movies and shows both American, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese to choose from. I ended up watching 2 movies, and a Friends episode, but we spent most of the flight sleeping. We have no trouble sleeping during flights, but if you plan on flying for a long period of time (ours was 15 hours) I'd recommend you get something to hold on to or can sleep on such as a pillow. I had a middle seat (worst seat you can have) so having something like that was extremely helpful! I also recommend checking in early and lining up ! We were some of the last to board and it was bad! Once we were in, it was almost impossible to find any open bins for our luggage. Our seats were in the 50s and our carry on items ended up being all the way up in bins 29 and 28. Also stand up and walk around as often as you can because it will really help just being able to stretch and move your legs around especially with jetlag. After our flight we went through customs; many had warned us to be prepared to spend at least half an hour, but to our surprise we went by in just a few minutes! They took our finger prints looked at our passports and took a picture.  We then picked up our luggage which was not hard to find at all and then went on to find our program manager. He recognized us right away and then we looked for an ATM to get some won. We carried some money with us on the plane, but we did not exchange it. We used it for anything we needed while in the Dallas airport which came handy and once we arrived to Korea we withdrew about 300,000 won each about  $276.00 on an ATM. It was a lot cheaper than exchanging money prior to our departure which we learned about after research. We arrived about 4:30pm and since we were going to Seoul from Incheon it took approximately a little over an hour to arrive to our campus. Transportation was provided by our program which happens to be ISA and 4 of us took a cab. From what we saw the fee was about 100,000 won or $90.00 more or less from the airport to Konkuk University. After this we went to Emart to buy any essentials which I will have to make a separate post for because there is so much we learned on our first day in Seoul.
  

Packing

We’re down to 4 days before our departure and as the date gets closer we have no time to waste. The past few days have been hectic and they have all involved last minute preparations. We have a bad habit of procrastinating so we still have a lot to do. One thing is for sure, all our documentation is finally done and in order so all that is left to worry about is the little things such as PACKING. We don’t want to over pack but is it really possible not to? Last night we went shopping for essential items, but everything we saw all of a sudden we need it. Although we were on a ‘buy everything mode’ we managed to avoid throwing everything insight into the shopping cart and focused on the items that were on our list with the help of our beloved sister who kept us in check. (*Thank you Daigoro!*) When traveling to a foreign country it is important to check for items that your destination might not have, are hard to obtain, and/ or can be very costly. It is also important to check what is allowed and prohibited by your airlines to avoid any mishaps at the airport.

 Packing list

1.   Deodorant (deodorant is very expensive in South Korea and comes in smaller sizes so I suggest you stock up on deodorant before traveling to Korea.)  
2.   Toothbrush/ travel size toothpaste
3.   Bed sheets (Western style sheets are impossible to find and can also be expensive, but it is ultimately more of a personal choice.)
4.  Aspirin/ Ibuprofen
5.  Anti-nausea pills (I tend to get motion sickness easily)
6.   Eye drops, contacts, contact solution and glasses
7.    Full size towels (These can be found in Korea, but are a bit pricier.)
8.  Copies of our passport, visa, insurance, university letter and other important documents.
9.    Originals – passport, debit / credit card, print-off of e-ticket, etc.
10. Stock up on make up! Especially if it’s a brand that cannot be found in .   
11.   Birth control. Bring enough to last your stay. Talk to your gynecologist or insurance although it can be easier to get it from your doctor. They can give you sample packs!
12. Other female toiletries (pads, tampons) Tampons are rare in Korea so it's essential to pack your own.
13.    Laptops, cameras and SD cards
14.  English/ Korean dictionary
15.   Bring about $300 in cash for emergencies and things you might need to purchase the first week.     

Clothes

1.       1-2 winter coats

2.       1 Spring jacket

3.       Various shirts  (about 5-7 long sleeve/ short sleeve)

4.       One formal outfit in case of any formal occasions such as school events and dinners etc.

5.       Thermals ! We packed at least 2-3 thermals each.

6.        3 pairs of shoes. Casual, formal, and our boots for the rainy weather

7.       4 pairs of jeans

8.       Sweatshirts, cardigans

9.       Enough underwear to last 2 weeks

1.   2 weeks’ worth of socks

Miscellaneous (Optional)

1.       Favorite movies

2.       Snacks ! (Both salty and sweet. Chances are you might not like the food served on the plane so always bring snacks.)

3.       Favorite books/ magazines

4.       Family pictures

5.       Journal to write about our experiences

6.       Calendar to keep track of our schedule

Since we will be there for half a year and through seasonal changes we’ve decided it be best to buy our clothes as seasons changed.

We will definitely revise this list once our stay in Korea is over and let you know if we over packed or not and what items we missed or did not need.  Overall we spent about $500 dollars for all the necessary things, but remember since it’s two of us it’s double the items and we did stock up on some clothes as well. 

*Other important info: Make sure you call your bank to let them know you will be traveling abroad so you can use your debit/ credit cards without any problems. Also call your phone carrier to learn more about international calling plans. Most likely we will need to get a phone in Korea, but having that international plan can be very useful for the first few days or until we get a phone and prevent any extra charges.*

Ambition

It feels like it was only yesterday that studying abroad in South Korea sparked our interest, fast forward a year and we’re only 7 days away from embarking on what we know will be a life changing experience.  Time has flown by, but the process has not been an easy one, from choosing a study abroad program and/or a university that we felt would suite us the best to obtaining a student visa. Although we somewhat expected study abroad to be a challenging process we never fully realized just all that it entailed. Although it can be an overwhelming process we have come to believe as we get closer to the date that it has all been worth it and we’re positive that we will feel even more strongly about it once we are physically there. We were planning to start this blog once we were in Korea, but we feel that it is important to start it now to provide those who are planning to study abroad in the future or who are already going through the process with some valuable study abroad information. Hopefully this will save others some of the unnecessary stress and headaches that can sometimes come with this whole process.  Always Awake will not only focus on our experience as exchange students in  Korea, but it will also consist of as we previously mentioned important  information, as well as tips, and everything we can think of that will be of interest to others! We have noticed that though there are many blogs of exchange students in Korea many of them are very vague on what the process is actually like and are often more personal than informative. We are aiming at making this blog as HELPFUL as possible to others!  We will try our best to update as often as we can, definitely at least twice a week and post many pictures and possibly short videos. Also, this blog will be based on the experiences of both my sister and I and there will be posts written together and others separately, but we will go into more detail on another post. In the coming days leading up to our flight we will make several posts about the first steps one should take when considering study abroad as well as the scholarships available to students and  the process of obtaining a student visa and also a more personal post about us and who we are!   

★Ro & Kai★