First Day (Night?) Recap

Short post today, but
I AM HERE!!!!

After 15 hours of flying, I finally arrived.

At an altitude of 23,000 miles.

And after lugging my luggage to my temporary accommodation in Dongdaemun, we ate dinner at 9 and settled down for the day. Although the place is a bit smaller than we thought, it's cozy enough.

So here are some fun facts of the day:

First celebrity spotted: Jang Dong Geun (an advertisement at the airport)
- Hours slept on the plane: 2.5 (I used to be able to sleep through the whole ride. Sign of getting old)
- Number of people that spoke to me in Chinese when I talked to them in English: 5 (their pronunciation is better than mine... shame...)
- Good act received of the day: an ahjussi helped me with my luggage when I had trouble getting it on the curb

Pre-departure preparations

Finally things are coming together.

Visas are applied (and picked up), accommodations are settled, and classes are also registered. It seems like everything is more or less in control now.

Although Canadians get to stay in Korea for 6 months without a visa, I had to get a D-2 Visa in order to study there. To be honest it was kind of scary going to the Toronto Consulate by myself. The Consulate wasn't the closest to where I was living, which means if I forgot to bring anything it would take another hour of driving to apply again. But everything went smoother than I expected and I can now officially study in Korea!!

The accommodation took especially long to confirm. I've applied for the Gwanaksa (dorms) back in early July with uncertainties of whether I will be accepted into a room or not since space is very limited. And when I say  very limited, I mean very, very, VERY limited. Even more so, exchange students get no first priority at all. Rooms are allotted in a lottery ticket process, meaning it's by random. This is really frustrating since exchange students normally have no connections in Korea at all, and it would be extra hard for us to find an off-campus accommodation in the short time we're there.

But after more than a month of waiting, and almost giving up, results are out. I GOT INTO GWANAKSA!!!

Anyway, with that worry aside, I've also got all my courses registered. I'm pretty satisfied with my selections actually. They're all courses that either complete my minor or my major. Hahaha

There are only 2 more weeks until I arrive in Seoul.

THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!