I apologize for not keeping you guys updated on what is going on these past few weeks. So here is a quick run down; classes have already started I am already in my fourth week now, I have gone to a noreabang (karaoke), picked up my ARC on my own, have had 6 quizzes already, went bungee jumping and spent the night at the place where I went bungee jumping. I have done other things as well but so far that is what I can remember. Bungee jumping happened on Saturday, and let me tell you that it was amazing. I went with a group of girls I have gotten close to since I have been here. So close that I even call one of them my daughter XD. What surprised me that most was how cheap bungee jumping was, I thought it was going to be around 70,000 won but it wasn’t even close to that. I did two things that day, I bungee jumped, and did this swing bungee thing that only costed me 45,000 won. Super cheap I think for doing two things. Although taking into account other expenses, it ended up being 100,000 won for the whole day. Anyways, it was amazing what was even cooler and not in our plans was that we are going to show up in the news. Since we were Americans he wanted to interview us and talk to him about why we went and what we were feeling before the jump. You know just the normal interview questions. After the bungee jump we had to wait an hour to get back to the city we were at, and also find a place to go eat. The restaurant we went to was delicious and the lady serving us was amazed at how well we ate. She said we were basically natives! It made me feel super happy, I don’t know why but it did. About the ARC, it was just a proud moment for me because I went all by myself to go pick it up and I didn’t get lost using the subway system. I mean there are only so many ways the subway can go before I realize I am on the wrong one. Noreabang is super fun if you go with people who aren’t shy and are willing to sing. I want once before with some people from my KLI class and then again with almost half of my KLI class because it was my friends birthday. On my friends birthday we spent 3 hours singing and people wanted to keep singing. I was so tired and my I throat hurt. Although only two people have the mic, if you know that song everyone sings with them. Some people even danced while singing. It was just something that I had never done before and I was so happy that I went with people that were willing to sing and dance and just be goofy.

Now, time to get real, classes. Wow, I know I am definitely learning from every single class. More from my KLI class but KLI is everyday for two hours and then almost an hour of studying every night what I learned that day. Speaking of which I have a vocab quiz tomorrow on 102 words. So today is a definite study night. The format for classes here is different, it is like one day it is two hours of that one class and then another day of only one hour. I think it is like a block period or something like that. I think I have a weekly quiz for one of my classes and then then another weekly quiz for the other class. KLI is more of speaking Korean and learning the spelling as well as how to address certain people that are older than you; using honorifics for that individual. KLI is becoming a little bit easier, I can understand more for when my professor is asking us a question or when she is only asking me. I am super nervous for our midterm. It is one day of reading, one day of writing, and one day for speaking. We get graded separately for each one. I have a hard time speaking and using the right terms for what I am talking about, so I know my speaking test is going to kill me. Anyways, things have been great classes are getting harder, but it is not like I don’t know that feeling. Life is good right now, and I have to study right now so until next time! 안녕!!!

This weekend the international program took the study abroad students to Cambridge. It was only about 2 hours away from London and was well worth the trip. We toured the campus and town all day and had a great time. It was amazing to see one of the oldest universities in Europe and one of the most prestigious. We shopped, ate, and admired all day long. There was a river surrounding the whole town where the college students rowed tourists around in gandola type boats that looked really cool but we all thought it was a bit too cold for water activities. The chapels and libraries were truly breathtaking and it was such an amazing experience.

At the palace in the Seoul Tour! (That is just a small part of the palace)

I think I am still in the honeymoon phase of my study abroad trip. I LOVE IT!!! Everything is great, my roommate is awesome, my friends are totally my style of friends, the food is great and cheap, the people are nice and understanding of my lack of communication skills, and classes start tomorrow. I am a little nervous, but also excited, because I have been out of school for almost two months or more, so I miss it. Orientation was amazing and mentors club was fun. Mentors club is a club I got invited to before I arrived in Korea. It consisted of having a current student from Yonsei be a mentor for a whole group of international students. I think there were about 25 students in my cell and my mentor. Let me just say, I am so excited to go to a sport event here at Yonsei. The school has a cheer team, that is amazing! The whole student body is involved with the cheering. There were about maybe ten or more dances we did that involved cheering. It made me think that we weren’t as cheery as they are over here. The cheering is called AKARAKA, it is huge and amazing and I will post a link on the bottom so you can see what I am talking about. I also want to point out that although I don’t know enough Korean maintain a conversation with someone, yesterday I was able to get medicine, get myself from one place to another, and also buy a computer. It felt like a great accomplishment and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of my friend. We both made a great accomplishment yesterday with our minor knowledge of the Korean language. Please feel free to ask questions if you guys have any and talk to you guys next week!!!

This was reading week for me so all I did was catch up on reading and essay writing. The classes here are so different but I really like the way they do it here. You only go to each class once a week but for two or three hours, sometimes four. This is so convenient because if I took a week off to travel, I’d only miss each class once. Also, I don’t feel like I am spending all of my time in class. This is nice because I have more time to do the things I like to do here in London. This was especially nice during reading week because I was able to just travel around London and check some sights off my list.

Hello my name is Daisy Romero I am in Korea right now and the time is 2:39 on a Sunday. I was so caught up on getting all stuff together as well as hanging out with friends in family before I left, that I completely spaced about the blog. However, I do have a journal that I write in so I can tell you exactly what I was feeling before I left to Korea. Here it goes.
It is Wednesday, a day before I leave. I am still in like lala land, I feel like nothing is really going on. I just feel like I am on a mini vacation from work and tomorrow I have to go back. Yesenia (my friend since middle school) keeps telling me, “It’s like we are in High school again. Hanging out with no worries about work and just doing what we want.” I was like this is going to end soon and I am going to be on my way to Korea, but for some reason I don’t feel any different. There is no anxiety attacks, or worries right now. Maybe once I get there I will feel the culture shock and all that, but right now I am just like “meh”. Last week I was worrying about my departure, what am I going to do with no work?, what about the language barrier? will my roommate like me? what if I don’t like her? this is going to be hard. However, as the days went by my worries went away. Daisy you are going to be fine, you will make friends to help you with the language barrier, you can turn on that customer service (i work retail so I can be really customer friendly when it is needed) when you meet your roommate, and you will go into clubs for that extra time you have on your hands or exercise. Let’s do this Daisy! you have been waiting three months for this you are ready.
Yes, even in writing I talk myself, just for motivational purposes. So that was what I was feeling before I left I will post something new on Thursday my time to let you guys know about my experiences this week. Until then Annyong!

My fifth week here was spent starting my essays. Here, instead of having assignments throughout the term, you just go to lectures and take notes for ten weeks and then the last week you write an essay that makes up 100% of your grade. So there’s a lot of pressure toward the end of the term. This is why I’ve decided to start now! I also visited the science museum and Hyde park. It was actually sunny this weekend which made London so beautiful! It finally felt like home!

This week I went with a group of international students on a tour of the Hampton Court Palace. We had a great time touring the gardens and apartments of the Tudors. It was a lot of fun but I hope to go back in the spring when the gardens are in bloom. Also it would be much more enjoyable when it’s not freezing outside. It was great to go outside of London and see so much history. Next will be a tour of the North of England and York, which should be really cool.
I’m pretty much completely adjusted to the culture and differences here and just settling in.