First Thoughts about Seoul

Now that Expo has ended and my study abroad program is about to begin, I think I'm going to switch to a different format of blogging. Instead of recounting my daily encounters, I'm just going to comment on the overall experience because that is what I think will be more interesting and easier for me to maintain.

So after moving in to my new room on the 14th, it didn't really feel permanent at first. I was sleeping on a mattress cover and towel and the room was pretty much devoid of stuff besides necessities, but as the days went on and I got my room more organized (and bought things like a comforter and shelving), my room is now starting to feel like my new home. I love the size of my room and bathroom, even though I find the layout to be a strange. The room isn't that wide (about 7 feet at its widest), but quite long (20ish feet?), so it's actually quite spacious. The place also provides some basic food staples and laundry detergent, which is convenient. My biggest complaint is they have a strict no-guest policy. Before I moved in, they had told me that guys weren't allowed in, but after about a week of having some friends (who were all girls) come and stop by, they informed me (kindly) that it was against their policy. I don't see it being a big deal once school starts though. It's just that during the afternoon when it's hot, it's nicer to just go to someone's place instead of having to spend money at a cafe.

I had  about half a month before my school started (excluding a day of orientation for international students), which I was thankful for. At first, it just seemed like a long vacation off work, but it all seemed temporary. I felt like at any time I would realize that I had to head back to Yeosu. This feeling was only compounded by the fact I was hanging out mostly with friends from the USA Pavilion who were still in Seoul. For the most part, I was super thankful they were all there because I think otherwise I would have been bored. It's interesting to come to Seoul not as a tourist, but as a student. Although I still wanted to explore Seoul, since I'm here for so long, I didn't feel the need to continually go out and do touristy things. I found myself waking up late every morning, going out and meeting friends for lunch and then hanging out, getting dinner with them or other people, coming back to my room at night, and then staying up and talking to friends back home. Repeat. I knew though that this was unsustainable once the school year began, but it seemed so distant in the future, that it didn't really faze me.