Arriving at Incheon International Airport after a 12 hour flight from San Francisco was exhausting enough, and then I realized I had no other information than a piece of paper that said the university would pick me up. There were no instructions telling me where to meet anyone so I assumed they would be waiting at the arrival gate holding a sign or banner like many other people were doing. Unfortunately an email letting students know to meet at gate 10 didn’t make it to my inbox. After wandering around for a little while with no luck I returned to my arrival gate to wait for someone to show. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses introduced themselves to me out of the blue, gave me some reading material, and then helped by talking to the information desk and helping me find the pickup service a few gates down. In the end I arrived at 6:00PM and managed to leave on the last bus to the university around 11:00PM.
It was a little less than a 2 hour drive from Incheon to Seoul and I ended up checking into my place around 1:00AM. On the way the only thing that stuck out were a ton of illuminated red crosses in the towns that we passed. Red just seemed to be an odd color to make crosses, I would expect them to be lit up with white lights. If anyone knows why red let me know.
The room was significantly smaller than what I expected. I have more bed space than I do open floor. It turns out the pictures they put on their website are of a slightly larger room for 50,000₩ more. I’m paying 450,000₩ a month now. You can take a look at their website for reference; just imagine a slightly smaller room. There are bigger and cheaper rooms available around Seoul but I plan to stay at this one for now.
I will be posting all of the prices in Won since the exchange rate can fluctuate. To convert just use Google and in the search bar type “#### won to usd” and you can get the latest conversion.
A nice older couple owns the place and their daughter, that speaks English, has been there to help explain the rules and act as a mediator between all of the international students and the owners. The kitchen is communal and they have free rice, kimchi, and various other basic foods for us. There is only one washer and no dryer so we have to hang our clothes to dry on the roof or in our rooms. Unfortunately things do not dry fast thanks to the rain we’ve had every day since I’ve been here.
As expected the internet is extremely fast and I’ve been able to reach speeds up to 60mbps so far. Even now I’m writing this in a café with free Wi-Fi that goes up to 10mbps. For a reference, I managed to download an entire season of a television show in 20 minutes, something that would take at least 2 hours with the internet at my place at the University of Florida.
My address, for those that want it:
Room 106
61-100 Haegidong Dongdaemungu,
Seoul, South Korea 130-050
Getting around is easy and relatively cheap, about 900₩ per trip (one way), though it can add up quick. This week alone I know I’ve spent at least 20,000₩ alone in transportation costs. The subway is easy to use and all of the signs are in English along with Korean. If you travel very far, even within the city, transit time can be up to an hour or more, the only downside to the system that I’ve thought of so far.
Classes started for me today and my schedule gives me a 4 day weekend since I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The campus is very nice, though I haven’t had the chance to take any decent pictures of it yet.
In my next post I’ll cover all of the places I’ve been this week and fill in a few more details I’ve left out. Just leave any questions in the comment section if you have any.
Me starting the Royal Guards Changing Ceremony
