Day 26: 24 July 2009 Friday

My final exam went quite smoothly and I wasn't that nervous for the oral exam. The oral exam comprised of 2 different role play situations and 1 directions-giving situation. The first role play situation was something I've been doing almost everyday in Korea: shopping for clothes and a typical conversation I'll hold with the sales assistant. The second one was a telephone conversation which we've practised quite a number of times back in NUS, and the third component was giving directions which was quite alright. As for the essay writing, we were given 2 options: our favourite place and our life in Korea 한국 생활. Naturally, I picked the latter because I've already done the first essay in class before and I didn't feel like doing it again. Furthermore, if 홍선생님 remembered what I wrote previously, she would be able to identify the vast difference in my standard of writing with and without help from her and my electronic dictionary.  I felt that it was quite apt to write about my life in Korea given that it was the last day at Yonsei University for us.

It was a really busy day for me. After the exam ended at 1pm, we had a farewell/program completion party of sorts in our classroom.  My Korean language teacher 홍선생님 bought us donuts and fruits and drinks. Yes, fruits! I've a serious lack of fruits consumption since I came to Korea because over here, there are only seasonal fruits like watermelon, grapes, plums and banana. I didn't see any apples! Ok, maybe it's just because I didn't go to the correct places that sell the fruits I wanted. But whatever the case is, I didn't eat much fruits here in Korea and I certainly miss eating them. Back in Singapore, I eat a big plate of fruits every night.

The 2 ladies sent by 홍선생님 brought us donuts and fruits and drinks.

홍선생님 and her message to us

With Peiyan

With 홍선생님

With 김선생님, the teacher in charge of the admin matters for us

강남 바퀴, the cockroaches of Gangnam

We ordered pizza for lunch too.

After the party, we headed back to the dormitory where I spent about 1 hour 15 minutes packing my check-in luggage again. Thank you, Yong Kang, for carrying my 30kg luggage down 3 storeys to the 1st level for me!  I certainly wouldn't have been able to manage without you. Or if not, I'll probably bring my empty luggage to the lobby area first and then bring all my stuff down to pack after that.

There are 2 things I don't like about the dormitory 무악 기숙사: 1) no lifts 2) a gymnasium without a single treadmill. As a result, I only ran once during my 5 weeks here when I had initially planned to run every day.  I don't like running outside here in Korea because for one, there are many hills and slopes and too much incline isn't healthy for my poor knees when I once had a partially torn ACL. Secondly, the Korean girls don't run. Or rather, they don't run/jog around the estate like us back in Singapore. Maybe they go to a fitness club like our Amore Fitness club or something. 3 weeks back, I went for a run, out from the North gate of the school, along the main road, back into the school via the Main gate and back to my dormitory. Along the way, many people gave me strange looks and I only saw one other person running/jogging - a man. I felt quite embarrassed and out of place during my run so I ran even faster in hope that my ordeal would end quickly. It wasn't a pleasant experience so I would very much prefer a gymnasium with at least a treadmill. Then again, perhaps I should have considered the school's track as an alternative as some friends later pointed out to me. But I would rather use a treadmill in the dormitory's gymnasium because it's nearer and more convenient. With a treadmill, my exercise regime won't be subjected to weather conditions.

The security guard in the dormitory helped us call for a taxi which Yong Kang, Beatrice, Peiyan and I shared to Myeongdong 명동's Hotel Ibis where I deposited my luggage in the luggage room before we went shopping. Yong Kang and I had dinner at a Korean eatery in Myeongdong: pork belly samgyeopsal 삼겹살.

It was delicious but I think my guilt from eating oily fattening food coupled with a lack of exercise the past few weeks far outweighed the tastiness of the meal.

We were quite late so we took a cab down to Megabox at Sinchon Station to purchase the tickets for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before taking bus 03 to Sinchon Subway Station to meet my Yonsei buddy, 용준오빠. He brought us to a noraebang 노래방 (Korean version of karaoke) near the place where we had fruit soju 과일 소주 the other day.

용준오빠 can sing really well and after hearing him sing, I didn't quite dare to sing, especially because I was partially tone & pitch deaf with partially blocked ears because of my ear infection. If I'm ever asked to list my favourite singer, I'll put his name down!

After spending about 1hr or so at the 노래방, we went to the soju 소주 house opposite for fishcake 오뎅 and fruit soju 과일 소주.

Jeannie joined us after coming back from Everland.

I'm really glad that I got 용준오빠 as my buddy. Even though we only had 4 buddy meetup sessions, I had a really interesting and fun time with him and learnt more about the Korean culture, like the etiquette for drinking soju. It was easy communicating with him because he can speak English fluently with a British accent which I initially mistook for an American accent :P I hope we won't lose contact and when I'm back in Korea again next year, I'll definitely look him up for more soju drinking and noraebang sessions :)

After our small little drinking session, we wanted to walk to Megabox for our movie but because it started drizzling and we were running a little late, we took a taxi there. The movie ticket was quite pricey at 9,000원 (approx S$10.29).

We caught the 11.50pm show.

It was raining heavily by the time the movie ended. We wanted to go to a jjimjilbang 찜질방 (Korean sauna) but we didn't know of any to go to. We thought of joining the rest of the girls at the 찜질방 they were at but we didn't know which one they went to and neither could we contact them. Luckily, we met 2 Korean girls and a guy who recommended a big 찜질방 nearby. They could tell us roughly where the place was located at but they weren't sure of the name and we didn't know what we should tell the taxi driver when we eventually flag down a taxi later on.  When we went out of the building, we found the 3 Koreans outside their car, waiting for us, despite the rain! They figured that we would have difficulty telling the taxi driver where to bring us to, so when we flagged down a taxi, the Korean guy told the taxi driver where to drive us to! I think we've been really blessed on this trip because we kept meeting really nice and helpful Koreans who go all out to help us. So yup, we ended up at this big 찜질방 near the back of Ewha Women's University 이대 and the East gate of Yonsei University at nearly 3am. The entrance fee was 9,000원 per person.

This is the 2nd level with shoe lockers where we stored our shoes.

At Basement 1 (for Ladies only) where Jeannie and I stored our belongings and changed into the "uniform" given, which Jeannie called, our prisoner attire.

Later on, we met Yong Kang at Level 1 (unisex level) where we went to the hot room for about 20 minutes and I think I slept for awhile. Say 5-10 minutes? Actually, I had no idea that we would eventually head to a 찜질방 because the initial plan was to go to a jazz bar after the movie but because it was too late by the time the movie ended, most of the jazz bars would have closed by the time we reached Hongdae so we decided to go to a 찜질방 instead. That's why I wasn't prepared to spend the night there: I didn't bring my contact lens case, contact lens solution, spectacles and makeup remover. Jeannie and I went into the hot room with our contact lens and full makeup on so we couldn't stay in there for long, apart from the heat issue.

Later on, we ended up at the ice room where we stayed for about 20-30 minutes. I slept for awhile there too, for 10-15 minutes again while Jeannie and Yong Kang chatted. Eventually, we went to the main area where there were many other Koreans sleeping on mats on the floor. We didn't join them; instead, we sat on the massage chairs and slept for about 15-20 minutes before we left at nearly 5am. To Jeannie and Yong Kang: I'm so sorry! If not for me, you guys could have stayed on at the 찜질방 and wouldn't have had to leave so early with me. I felt so bad when I had to wake you guys up when you had so little sleep!

We had difficulty in calling for a taxi to take us back to the dormitory because of the close proximity of the dormitory to the 찜질방 and no taxi driver was willing to drive down to the 찜질방 just to drive us back :( But thankfully, we managed to get one eventually and made it back to the dormitory where I hurriedly removed my makeup, bathed, and struggled to squeeze everything else I had in my room into my tiny hand carry luggage which looked like it was going to burst. It was really stressful for me because Mel's flight arrival timing in Incheon was 7.20am. I had no idea how long I'd take to reach the airport by subway and initially planned to leave the dormitory by 6am to give me ample traveling time.

At 6.15am, I was still in my room, trying to fit everything into my luggage. I was running late, with less than an hour of sleep and unable to fit everything in. Thankfully, Jeannie who followed me back to the dormitory managed to help me squeeze everything in. Everything was too rushed. My room mate Minqi wasn't back and I didn't manage to say a proper goodbye to her. I didn't even have time to say a proper goodbye to Mu-ak housing complex, my dormitory. Instead, I rushed downstairs to the lobby area, gave the security guard at the desk my half-used bottle of Dettol hand soap and a bottle of sweets because they couldn't fit into my hand carry luggage and asked him if he could help me call for a cab again. However, he couldn't call for one because of the close proximity of the dormitory to Sinchon Subway Station. It was drizzling and with my heavy hand carry luggage and a lack of time, there was no way I was going to walk out of the school via the North gate to the bus stop to wait for bus 03 and take the bus to the subway station. 

By 6.40am, I felt like giving up the wait for someone to take a taxi back to the dormitory so that I could the taxi out. However, the 2 security guards for our block stopped me and told me to continue waiting and not give up because a taxi would come by soon. They said it with such conviction which Jeannie and I regarded skeptically.  But they were really nice because they waited with us in the porch area to keep a lookout for a taxi.  And true to their words, within 5-10 minutes, a taxi drove past our block (block 2) and headed up to block 3, so Jeannie and I rushed out to the road to wait for the taxi. I was too lazy to take out my umbrella so we waited in the drizzle for the taxi to drive down. The security guard (whom I gave the handsoap and sweets to) thought that we didn't have an umbrella and rushed back into his office to take one out for us.

When the taxi finally drove past our block, we flagged it down, got in and waved goodbye to the 2 security guards. That was how I left my friends, Mu-Ak housing complex and Yonsei University, hurriedly without saying a proper goodbye :(  I love Yonsei. Initially, I was really bent on going to Korea University for my exchange but throughout my 4 weeks here, I've come to love the school and my dormitory. So even though I didn't bid a proper farewell to this place, I think, I might be back here again next year because I'll most probably put Yonsei as my 1st choice instead of Korea University. Sorry Hyun-ju 현주언니, Yun-mi 윤미언니, Kihong 기홍오빠 and Dong-hyun 동현오빠! I'm leaning more towards Yonsei University instead of Korea University BUT I may not be able to do my exchange at Yonsei because I think there's only 1 place for an incoming student from NUS :(

And so, this is the end of my 26 days at Yonsei University on the Korean Language Immersion program catered for NUS students, the end of Part 2 of my Korea Trip 2009.