I actually slept till around 6 this morning, and then basically just messed around on the internet and talked with people from the states online until it was time to get ready. This might end up being a good habit to get into, so that I can keep up with people at home and get used to waking up at a real time for when my job starts in August. Jasmine, Heidi and I left around 830 for orientation, stopping at a convenience store on the way to pick up some breakfast (I had a kimchi rice and tuna thing, wrapped in seaweed, it was actually suuuper good).
And orientation, oh boy. So many foreign students! I met so many people before finding my KUBA buddy - an actual KU student who is the main contact person for 3-5 foreign students. She was super nice, and I met two of the other students she's a buddy to, Sam from the Philippines (who studys in Illinois) and Fuka from Japan. We all stuck together for most of the day.
The main lectures in orientation were pretty boring, and most people seemed to be falling asleep. It was mostly just information about the school and different stats about it. We were divided into 7 groups (my buddies and I are in group 1), and we went to lunch. The limit was 5,000 won (a little under $5) for what we could get - I only spent like 3,800 and was full, which shows how cheap university meals are here. We then learned our group's "cheer" - apparently it's something we'll be doing a lot, seeing as how KUBA and the groups have events every Saturday which I'm definitely going to go to. We got registered online for the school's online system (like blackboard or D2L essentially), and then went on a campus tour. It ended with people registering for the city tour on Thursday (which I obviously signed up for).
My buddy (Jaemin) took Fuka, Sam and I to the store to get a SIM card for our phones. I actually had to leave them there and come back by myself as I didn't carry my passport with me - that's just not something I'm in the habit of doing, as an American. I did get it, so now I have a Korean number and data, which means I can be on all my messaging apps ALL THE TIME :P It's just nice knowing I can be in constant contact with people if I need to be.
Got some snacks (800 won for a package of 9 cookies, that's like LESS THAN 10 CENTS A COOKIE I LOVE IT), chilled, and then met up with Sam and Fuka for dinner. We were walking around and actually ended up meeting Sam's friends from her boarding house (she doesn't live on campus). So we all went around for a while before going to a chicken and beer place. It was super fun, just chatted with everyone, Fuka and Sam taught me some Korean, talked with two girls from Peru and a guy from France, and just had a great night out. We all have so many places we want to go see, and we said we'd all go together, so I hope that pans out in the end.
Fuka and I walked back since we both live in the same dorm - her English is understandably not the best, but I told her that her English is better than my Japanese, so she thought that was funny. I'm going to help her with English, she's going to help Sam with Japanese (she already speaks some), and both of the will help me with Korean, as their scores ahead of me. I'm pretty excited, it sounds like I have a lot of people to lean on for help with the language. Back at the dorm, Jasmine, Heidi and I talked about language and accents and complained about the dorm, as some people have TWO bathrooms and a living room and not bunkbeds but pay the same amount, which is duuumb. But anyway, it's nearing 1030, so I'm going to just going to review a bit of the Korean I learned today and turn in for the night.
It's still weird that it's Monday night here when my friends and family in the US are just waking up for the day. It's like I'm in the future and all I can say is the 23rd is a great day so enjoy it!
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