“It’s finally happening!” – I thought to myself, as I landed in Incheon Airport on the 25th of August.
The first thing I did was to grab myself a bottle of Banana Milk (it’s addictive) and top up my T-Money Card, which are like the EZ-link cards we have back in Singapore, used for public transport payment.
My accommodation for the 4 months here was a small, cosy room (A.K.A. Goshiwon) just 5 minutes away from the front gate of Yonsei University. Finding the place was not difficult, and if you are not too particular with space, these can be a great alternative if you are unable to get a place in the hostel (just like me).
Week 0/1 was quite free & easy, and I spent it mostly getting to know my area better before school started. We had a Student Welcome Session on one of the days, where we were officially welcomed into Yonsei University. I did not take too many pictures, as most of them were administrative briefings, but we were pleasantly surprised with a traditional Korean performance by one of the in-school clubs!
During the week, Fabian and myself went to explore some of the local street life, along with Nicholas and Melissa from SKKU! We took a night to explore Myeongdong area, as it is known for its street food at night. The streets were bustling with people and the smells of various grilled and fried dishes. Needless to say, I went a little crazy with the food and spent about 15,000-18,000KRW in that one night (but you gotta live every once in a while right).
The main highlight for this week would be our climb up Mt. Bukhansan. Together with some friends from Hong Kong that we had met in our schools, Nicholas, Melissa and I decided to make what we thought would be a 5-hour climb up and down Mt. Bukhansan. We ended up taking closer to 7 hours all in all, but it really was an unforgettable experience. To reward ourselves, we grabbed some Chimaek (chicken and beer) for dinner, which I had unfortunately forgot to take a photo of because hunger got the better of me.
All in all, it was a great start to the exchange programme, and I know I am going to have a great time here in Seoul!
P.S. Ok so the video feature does not seem to be working so here’s a link to a video I made. https://youtu.be/B6eQ0okgI4I
It’s my first time making a video so please be nice haha
Regards,
Nicholas Phang
