taylorsseoul

[taylorsseoul]

Let’s take a moment to pay our respects to those lost in the Sewol Ferry Incident 1 year ago

R.I.P to those that were lost

[taylorsseoul]

So the biggest cliche happened to me today... ran into a Kpop Star on Campus

So short story, short, I was talking with some friends on campus when i saw this group of people walking in our direction and felt one guy kinda staring at me so I looked up (typical occurrence for me in Korea, since I look so distinctly foreign with my blonde hair and tall height I get stared at every time I go out. It was jarring at first but now Im pretty used to it), made a quick eye contact and looked back to my friends. Then I did a double take thinking "Okay I recognize this guy" thinking I maybe I knew him personally from around Campus but forgot his name and so I looked back and made eye contact one more time then it hit me...

He was Taecyeon from 2PM...

and then from no where, on total impulse and without really thinking about it i waved and said hi! He then smiled said hey and kept walking with his friends and I was left pretty much dumbstruck at what just happened.

Now I'll admit Im a pretty big fan of Kpop, but Im not the kind to go frothing at the mouth over idols but wow what a cool experience!! Running into someone youve seen so much in music videos and dramas and then having them be super chill and nice was super neat!! Now will I ever run into him again on campus? Probs not but just getting to say hi to such a great idol is really more than I couldve asked for ^^

[taylorsseoul]

My First Week in Korea. A catch up post!!!

WOW guys, what past two weeks this has been!!! I know a lot of you guys were looking forward to my posts about finally arriving in Korea, so Im super super sorry this took so long but man do I have a lot to post now!! ^^ My first week here has been both exciting and exhausting and Ive just now found the time/energy to sit down and blog while waiting to head out to a Chuseok get togther in town since we have off from class!! :D

Arrival

I officially touched down in Korea at 8:45pm KST on August 23rd and LORD was I delirious. After not sleeping at all the night before I left and the mayhem of my flight being canceled, and then having my connecting flight in Chigago (heading to Tokyo) encounter electrical problems that lead to a two and a half hour delay on the tarmac which almost caused me to miss my connection to Seoul (I made it two minutes before the closed the cabin doors only after SPRINTING through the Tokyo airport like a maniac) I was pretty all over the place. ^^; I was tired and gross but I was so relieved to have finally made it to Korea and was even able to make the KU Shuttle service that drove me to my dorm!! Victory was mine! There I was even able to run into the leader of my KU Buddy Program, Jun! Hes an amazing guy and after I shot him a kakao letting him know I made the shuttle despite the madness of my flight, he jumped onto the bus as it stopped at the first dorm and ran right up to say hi to me! Hes really the best ^^ I was then the last to arrive to my room as i hauled my overweight luggage behind me and flopped into bed, I had finally made it!! 

Orientation

Since I didn't sleep really at all the night before my flight and employed my friends mechanism for avoiding jet lag (while on the plane only sleep if it is night time/sleep hours in the place you are going) I didn't really jet lag at all!! The night I arrived I went to sleep at probably 3:30ish and then woke up at 8am but that was it! After that I adjusted right away and really had no problem! After having one day to ourselves to get settled and adjusted it was time for our two days of orientation! Here we got to meet our KUBA buddy groups and buddies (Korean students who help us exchange students adjust to life in Korea) and went through all the bases of school orientations (ID cards, campus tours, class registration workshops, Intranet registration and so on). Even though Ive been through two college orientations so far in my life I have to say that these two days of orientation were the most taxing and tiring yet inspiring days Ive experienced. Each day when we got home it took about all my remaining strength to power up the hill to CJ (which is really no joke, its brutal) and collapse into bed. Amazing few days but exhausting none the less! 

From now on blog direction and really thanks for following!! 

So now that Ive posted about all the boring stuff from my first week I can finally allow myself to start posting about the fun things that have happened/Ive done in my second week as well as my first day of classes!! Yayy!! From now on a lot of my posts are also going to be small photo set posts where I toss up a quick update about fun things Ive done that day in addition to my longer diary text posts and my how to guides from my experience here which I am going to attempt to post at least biweekly!! Again though, since Ive been here theres been so much to see and do that I havent really had the time to organize my postings but now that Im all settled in and cruising along I should have the time now!! :D :D Really guys thanks so much for following me and taking this journey with me and if you have any questions about me or Korea or the study abroad process, please dont hesitate to ask!! :D 

Fall semester Im ready for you!!! 

[taylorsseoul]

So it was Day 1 for me here in Seoul and so i still dont have the WiFi needed on my laptop to post a full length post but I can tell you this: Seoul is absolutely incredible... its everything I had hoped itd be and more and I cant wait to get back out there and experience it all!! Since I cant do a full post today here are some of the pictures I took from my first amazing day!

[taylorsseoul]

Ignore how tired and panicked I look XD 

And we’re off!! Ignore that look of pure fear in my eyes… Korea here I come!! 한국에 가자!!!

[taylorsseoul]

MAYHEM!

So what i was fearing came to fruition... my flight to Chicago was delayed and then canceled, so I had to rebook TT 

Super scary and super not fun but as of now seems like its going to all be okay! 

Im now getting into Seoul at 8:35 instead of 4 so fingers crossed Ill make it!! 

Sitting in the airport of my home town now, so ready to just get on this flight!!! 

I'm almost there! 

[taylorsseoul]

FINALLY!! There it is!! All of the clothes that I could possibly need from September to December all together, organized, compressed and ready to be packed!!

Wow was that harder than I was expecting. In all I had to pack up~

Jeans

Non denim pants 

Skirts

Dresses 

Shorts 

Jackets 

2 Blazers

Pjs

Hoodies 

Sweatpants

Athletic shorts

sweaters

tee shirts

blouses

Oye. Its a lot. Not to mention the shoes and other supplies I still gotta cram in my suitcases XP 

But the hardest part is over!! and I can finally move into the final stages of my predeparture preparations! 

Its almost time! 

[taylorsseoul]

Quick update from the bowels of packing hell!

Okay so its actually not too too bad but WOW is there a lot still left to do. For the past week my room has been splattered with piles of clothes and toiletries ready to be organized and packed in an effort for me to really see all the things im bringing with me, and lord only knows how Im going to fit all of it into two bags... 

Basically Ive had everything organized in the form of post-its stuck all over my room to remind me of what to pack and then periodically checking them off when Ive picked out the portion I am bringing with me and have sealed them up in Space Bags... and so far so good!! Ive got almost half of my clothes packed up and ready in one of my suitcases so hopefully I'll be all done soon! 

Ive also got a lot of posts lined up to post very soon, but by the looks of how crazy these past few days have been, those posts may have to be finished on the plane as I fly over ^^; 

Guys only 2 more days separate me from Korea, can you believe it!!! 

[taylorsseoul]

Potential bump in the road...

Okay so this has the potential to be pretty bad.

I fly out a week from tomorrow and thus have been checking the flight boards for my home airport every now and again to see how similar flights heading to Chicago (where I'll pick up my flight to Seoul) are doing and what I'm seeing is actually pretty terrifying... 

On Tuesday all of United flights to Chicago were cancelled. No other airline flying the same route to Chicago canceled their flights so the likelihood of a weather event causing the cancellation was slim, and all of Uniteds other flights were flying as scheduled. It was just Uniteds Chicago flights that were being canceled. To try and stave off a panic I got in touch with United to simply ask why it was only their flights to that one destination being canceled and their answer? Short staffing. They didn't have enough crew members to make the 1hr 45min trip to Chicago, and they canceled more flights in the same exact pattern today... 

So, as much as I am trying to tell myself that it'll be fine and that I'll make it to Chicago in time for my connection I am FREAKING OUT worried. 

All I can do at this point I guess is keep my fingers crossed that my flight wont meet the same fate as those United flights to Chigago did this week. 

Ooooh man XP 

[taylorsseoul]

I was tagged by the absolutely gorgeous adventuretimeinkorea! 

Now Im not a huge selfie person nowadays but I was able to find the 6 needed for the challenge and so tadaaa! I even found one from the day right before I chopped my hair off! I know my boyfriend definitely misses my long hair more than I do XD 

Passing the selfie post challengeee to: silverhyukjae and to anyone else who wants too!! 

One thing i learned is that I gotta step up my selfie game XD XD 

[taylorsseoul]

Just realized that this is going to be my last full week here in the US...

I leave next Friday... can you believe it!!! 

There's still so much to do but WOW WOW WOW!! 

Along with the reality of all this I'm realizing that the transition might be a little difficult at first but Im still SO SO excited! I'm ready to give it my all and to experience one of the most amazing times in my life. 

:D :D :D

[taylorsseoul]

And so it begins... the start of packing!! 

So this whole process is really going to be one big test of my self control and strategizing because I'll admit it; Im a CHRONIC overpacker. Weekend trip to New York? Brought probably 5 outfits. Week long trip down to S. Carolina? 4 Dresses, Two skirt outfits and three short outfits... I CANT BE STOPEDDDD. Yeah, its a curse, one that I've blissfully ignored but now must face head on with the challenge of trying to pack my entire life into two or less suitcases staring me squarely in the eyes. 

Heres my plan!! I figure start early, make a list of what i will practically need and then have some one hold a taught rubber band to the back of my neck and flick it whenever I attempt to rationalize that extra pair of heels. 

So here we go!!  My room is a mess with piled clothes, toiletries and shoes and Ive got 12 days left to do this thing...

LETS GO! 

[taylorsseoul]

Theme Update! [UPDATED]

So with only 17 days left to go (and my posting about to get crazy) I thought Id play with my theme a bit to see if I cant get it a little more organized to make reading my blog a little easier! 

Oye I really am not good with themes though so pleaseee bear with me <3 

[Update]

Okay, so I may be making a few stylistic tweaks here and there before Im totally satisfied with it but TA DAAA!!

So other than the stylistic changes, the new things on this theme are the new pages on the left that'll be updated or changed as needed and the cute little twitter button that directs to my Taylorsseoul twitter! So you guys can check that out too!! 

<3 <3

[taylorsseoul]

The odds were in my favor!- Course Registration aka The Hunger Games

Oh dear this post is a doosey (mad longggg, sorry!) but I couldnt find a good place to put a break and soooo much went into this so lets just barrel right into this thing!!! 

LORD WAS I DREADING THIS WHOLE PROCESS. Being a junior now, who spent her first year of college attending a cramped private school, I am no stranger to the perils of course registration or the AGONYYY of dealing with a less than organized registration system. However, I have to admit that while navigating this system I felt like a deer-in-headlights freshman all over again. Really though I think, more than anything I just psyched myself out wayyyyyyy too much.

Thinking back on the process as a whole it really went quite smoothly/ SO much more could've gone wrong and turned the whole thing upside down. My biggest problem actually was finding and picking out what classes I wanted/needed and then working them into a schedule, rather than the actually registering (which is quite the opposite of my home school and previous school). I think this was mostly because I had 100% freedom of choice over what I would be taking over there, and thus I had absolutely no preset parameters to work off of. At my home school Im matriculated, so I have a list of the things I need to take/ the bench marks I need to pass in order to get my degree on time and thus whenever I plan for a new semester I base my schedule off of those guidelines to continue towards my BA. However, since Im just an exchange student this time around and not a matriculated student at KU, its pretty much a free for all. My department at my home school (Linguistics ^^) is pretty strict when it comes to the content of their curriculum, so after double checking with my department chair, I found out that it was unlikely that any of the classes I would take over there would count for more than elective credits (which I still need so that's not super terrible) and the same really goes for my schools General Education requirements, so I was totally open to pick whatever I wanted to take for whatever reason I may want to take it for... which was both a kick ass and terrifying concept.

Long story short, it took me about two weeks of sifting through the entirety of KUs course offerings before I was certain I had come up with the best possible combo of classes that would be interesting, useful, balanced, wouldn't overwhelm me and my ability and leave me some time to have fun and enjoy being over there. A tall order I know but I really think I accomplished it!!! Here's what I came up with;

English Grammar for EFL Teachers

Theory and Practice in EFL Pedagogy

English Acquisition Theory 

Introduction to Korean and East Asian History 

Intermediate Korean I 

WHOOP!!! 

As for the over all process, KUs servers did a pretty great job of handling the massive Hunger Games of students making their mad dash to register (at one point the register timer told me 1800 people were tying to register at the same time O.O). They accomplished this with the use of a pretty neat timer box where it would calculate the spot in time when you hit "register" next to a class and then filtered your request through a digital queue that took at most 1 minute and 45 seconds during the craziest traffic. Not bad!! My only minor complaint was that you had to register your classes one at a time so you had to frantically triage which classes were most likely to fill up first and pray that your guess was correct and none of your classes bounced back with a "waiting" next to their name meaning that you had been wait listed for the course. The only exception to that being the Korean courses. For them, they all bounce back saying "waiting" however, that only functions as a place holder until we take our proficiency exams in September to ensure that we are being placed in the correct level and minimize any advanced students from enrolling in lower levels for the easier grade. LORD THOUGH DID THAT FREAK ME OUT. I was so happy that I made it in to all of my classes (apparently the Intro to Korean history one filled up right after I made it in whew!) but that waiting that poped up next to Korean resulted in close to panic.

However, after a few minutes of frantic research I realized that it was a place holder and went right back to happy dancing that I had survived yet another registration Hunger Games! 

[taylorsseoul]

20...

Only twenty days left in the US, then I move to Seoul for four months... 

IM SO READY!!

As of tomorrow's class registration my life in Seoul will be 100% move in ready, I just get to get my butt and my stuff over there... How crazy is that?!?!

We are entering the home stretch and I can barely contain my excitement!! AHHH!! 

[taylorsseoul]

[INFO]Super Show 6 Promotional Picture and Ticketing Information 

Super Junior’s world tour Super Show 6 ticketing for Seoul stop to start on the 7th of August The concert to be held on the 20th and 21st of September with Leeteuk joining. You can get the tickets from Gmarket through the website tickets [Here]

cr:Daum; Naver | Tr@SJ_Empire

OP: mysilentmemory

So looks like this is where I am going to try to get tickets from for Super Show!! The website is entirely in Korean so Im flying a little blind but LORD I AM GOING TO DO MY BEST!! 

[taylorsseoul]

Official Dorm Assignment- I GOT IT!!!

I GOT IT I GOT IT!! i got my first choice of suite!! 

So the official room assignments were officially posted a few days ago and we got the quad!!! IM SO EXCITED AND HAPPY AND RELIEVED YAYYYYY!!! 

So our room is going to be located on the 5th floor and I personally will be in room B of our four person suite, I officially have a Korean address!! Whew we were so worried because there is a large class of exchange students this semester so the competition for rooms was a lot greater than that of previous years (when one of our student advisers attended KU he had this kind of suite as well but his three roommates were all domestic Korean students because there was left over room in CJ!) but we got it!!

One of the best things about KUs dorm system, for me, has got to be the price. Back at my home school a single room will run you about $9000 or more per semester, and $6000 a semester even if you suck it up in a triple (which is one of the biggest reasons why I commute to my home school) However, this room will only cost me 2,000,000 W which is about $1900 for the entire semester!! How awesome is that!! 

Move in day is August 23rd!!

This is going to be my new home in only 23 days... I can hardly wait!!