Keepin' on

Feeling lots better :) I think sleeping and lots of fluids and just re-adjusting to the chilly weather is the cure. And warm food. yeahhh... lots of warm food yummm....
Anywayyy...I'm in the midst of my second week of classes. Techincally tomorrow (Thursday) is the start of my weekend, since I only have Korean Class, and nothin' else the rest of the time :)
Speaking of classes, this is my official schedule:

Monday: 8-10:45 am Korean Class
              2-3:15 pm Understanding Korean Cultural History

Tuesday: 8-10:45 am Korean
            
Wednesday: 8-10:45 am Korean
                   12:30-1:45 pm Understanding Korean Cultural History

Thursday: 8-10:45 am Korean

And 2 Online classes:
Diversity in Language and Culture
Therapeutic Use of Music on Human Behavior

The online classes involve watching a lecture, doing various readings/listenings/exercises/responding in the forums/etc, within the school week (Monday-Sunday). So, I usually do some work for them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and finish up whatever else I need to do for them over the weekend. They're not throw-away classes either, the Lang/Culture class seems to be building up on the readings, and the Music class requires response exercises to the music we listen to for each assignment. Very cool and fun :)
I'm also really enjoying my Korean classes, despite their unholy early hour. We're moving along at a good pace, even if we're still pretty much reviewing stuff I already know. It's still great practice and I'm already noticing improvements. I'm really determined to get better at Korean this semester. I'm taking advantage of all the opportunities to get better, like signing up for Korean Language partner who will be helping us advance quicker, and I'm thinking about taking an intensive class on grammar or writing that they're offering. It helps that our professors speak only in Korean during the class. And I bet Noraebang trips help too ;) and all the kpop that I continue to listen to with devotion :D :P
OH and some friends and I signed up to volunteer at the children's center next to our dorms, where they're looking for english speakers to talk to the kids! They're so adorable! ...and throw tantrums in the mornings sometimes >_< Ya wake up and hear "엄마!! 엄마!" (Rom: Omma! Ommma!! Eng: MOOOM! MAA!")
But it'll be fun :)

Uhh....yeah! I can't think of much else to say for today.
Love You ALL!
사랑해!

Tired...

maaannnn....waking up for 8am korean class was a struggle, lemme tell ya. And to top things off..i'll have to do the same thing tomorrow. In fact, we have 8am-10:45am Korean classes every week, monday through thursday.
I don't really mind though, if it means I'm learning and improving my Korean :) I just really like learning languages I guess.
OH but story time. So, I"m realizing that while Seoul is amazing and great and interesting and damn cool, Ewha university....is a bit overrated. The make this big deal about how great the school is, and I'm sure it is great...if you're Korean, maybe.
The administration and school system seems really inflexible and unaccommodating for exchange students. I've heard stories already of people not being able to take classes they NEED for their major because the professor let Ewha students sign up first. They're also really slow and inefficient at organizing things and running things efficiently. Like, they ALWAYS take days to reply to emails, and sometimes don't reply at all. They're also scarily late at putting up important things like CLASS SCHEDULES and info for HOUSING?! Like...why?! grrrr.....
Another example....I went to my Korean class this morning, and it soon became apparent that something wasn't right. The classes are supposed to have maybe 10-15 people, and soon about 30 people were trying to fit into the classroom, and standing at the back. The teacher was really nervous and did a pretty good job of handling it, but she called the office to get someone to figure out what the scheduling conflict had been, and they never sent anyone. We wasted like an hour filling time with introductions, and then learning the alphabet (which half of us already knew) until she decided to look online at everyone's level, and confirmed who was supposed to be in that beginning class. Then the rest of us finally went to the hallway and met another teacher and walked to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUILDING and finally started our actual class, appropriate to our level. Ha, great job Ewha....great job at organizing your students...
Ah well, it was all good, I like our class, and the most difficult thing I've got to do so far is memorize vocab I don't already know.
Another good thing was that I talked to my parents, checked my email correspondence with Beloit, and then talked to the Global Affairs Office and it looks like my tuition is being sorted out *phew!*
Still a bit of a stressor, but I'm pretty sure Ewha and Beloit will figure out how to get their money sorted out...

Ah, another bit of sad news...Me and some friends were trying to get tickets to GD's One Of A Kind concert here, which went on sale today and tomorrow, but since the concert tour is sponsored by Gmarket, we couldn't buy tickets without an account--and when we tried to make an account, it needed our Alien Registration number, which we won't be getting for another few weeks! :( 
We were Heartbroken

But I figure 1. we might be able to try again tomorrow...2. There will be other concerts during the time we're here that we'll hopefully be able to go to 3. As my friends pointed out, its sponsored by Gmarket, and an 8 and up concert sooo...it has to be family-friendly which sadly means probably no cussing in That XX and No GD taking off his shirt ;__;

Heheh in all seriousness though, it's a bit sad, but we're having a great time anyway :) and we'll find fun stuff to do and maybe run into our favorite celebrities at any time...It IS Seoul after all ^_^

Love you all!