Arrival Orientation: The first taste of Seoul!
- Lia <3
- Mar 1, 2022
- 4 min read
I was beyond elated to be free from the quarantine hotel.
We checked into our hostel
where we each got to stay with a roommate! I roomed with Catherine, which was amazing because Catherine is very kind and super chill.
^ The view from our hostel room
We (finally) had some warm food for meals, which were all delicious. We ate in our rooms with our roommates and then disposed of our trash in the community kitchen on a different floor.
Now, I had heard that sorting trash in Korea is really important, but can be a bit confusing for foreigners. Luckily, the program staff instructed us on how to properly throw things away.
Throughout the day, we attended planned orientation sessions to better prepare us for our new lives in Seoul.
We learned about how to resolve conflicts with our host families, program rules and safety, how to use won (The currency in Korea), and even had a chopstick competition! I don't mean to brag, but I was one of the fastest students to pick up all of my beans and place them in a bowl using chopsticks (hehehe). I ended up winning a portable charger, which became very helpful during our treks outside our host family area!
At night, we had some free time to explore the area surrounding the hostel. That was the first time I visited a 편의점 (convenience stores that are EVERYWHERE in Seoul).
^ Also, there were these cool lights that turned green when it was ready to cross the crosswalk!
The next day, we learned how to ride the 지하철, the subway system!
I have to say, I was SO excited to try this for the first time. Although we have a metro system in LA, I haven't ridden it very often, so this was a really cool experience!
< Here I'm charging my T-Money card with the machines at the subway station. You can use T-money cards to ride the subway or the public buses.
A one-way ride on the subway is 1,250₩, which is about $1.
Our class went all together to 홍대, a popular shopping spot among young adults in Seoul.
^ My first time scanning my T-Money card to ride the subway!
홍대 was AMAZING. All of the vibes were there.
The streets were filled with tiny cafes and clothing stores. It seemed like not an inch of city was wasted when 홍대 was built.
There were Karaoke rooms, street food stands, tiny cafes, restaurants, and shops for clothes, accessories, and shoes!
Also, it was freezing that day! I bought a beanie for only 5,000 won and felt much warmer.
Not gonna lie, it was WAY colder than I expected. I almost splurged and bought Rompadding (the long black coats that are popular in Korea), but figured it'd only be this cold for a couple more weeks. I could bear it!
I DID find some delicious food: 계란빵! It's a sweet egg bread that is to DIE for. The one I bought also had cheese on it, so I was in heaven.
You're probably wondering how I got that pink heart balloon!
Well, as we were walking, I saw a man on stilts making balloon animals outside of a coffee shop. It looked like he was doing it for free, so I walked up to him and asked for one in my broken Korean.
He was super nice and we even took a picture together!
We also visited the Kakao Friends store, where I almost bought this super cute purple wallet. However, the Kakao Friends merchandise was a bit pricey, so I decided to pass. Lianna had our picture taken at this photo op spot inside the store!
After shopping/exploring a bit more, it was time to head back to our hostel.
That night, we tried Korean pizza for the first time. It was LOADED with toppings. Ours had shrimp, sweet potato, broccoli, bacon, and some other stuff I couldn't really identify. Compared to American pizza, it was a lot sweeter and had a large variety of toppings.
We also had a fun little makeup session that night while making birthday cards for William and Sky, our program coordinators.
We sang them Happy Birthday in Korean (생일 축하합니다) during the next morning's orientation session, and they were totally surprised! It was really fun.
The next morning, a group of us woke up at like 6 AM because we wanted to watch the sunrise over Hangang river. We hiked along a little path by our Hostel that lead to the water's edge.
We also found a bridge where we got a great view of the sunrise over the city.
Was it cold?
Heck yes.
But was it worth it?
Again, heck yes.
That day we'd also get picked up by our host families! I was so nervous to meet them. We all were.
^The last real we had in the hostel, we got to have together in the community kitchen. Then, we waited for our host families to come get us.
Lianna and I were the first to be picked up by our host parents. I was actually shaking as I got into their car. However, my nerves soon turned to excitement as we were able to communicate okay-ish during the car ride home.
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