It has only been three weeks since I arrived in South Korea. During this time, I have already met many great people and done many exciting things.
I made it to South Korea on the 21st of February, through a series of 2 flights, which was a total of about 13 hours. As I passed through security and customs at the airport, I was greeted by NewJeans as I was picking up my luggage.
I was very excited to see a K-pop group that I know and although I was very tired, it gave me the energy to grab a SIM card, find a taxi, and check-in to my hotel for the night.
The next morning, I was able to play a friendly football match with other international players. The place wasn’t far from my hotel and I needed to take the subway to get there. It was my first time using any sort of subway transportation, but I ended up working it out and reached my destination.
A few days after, I was able to check into my dorm at the school. I used the bus to get close to my dorm and it was a very short, yet tiring, walk to the place with my heavy luggage. I met a friend in the lobby and we headed off to grab lunch.
As the days went by (with no class schedule) I decided to explore the campus by myself and see where I would be having classes regularly. As I walked the huge campus, I quickly noticed the beautiful scenery and the popular sites as seen on K-dramas, music videos, etc.
A cool thing to note was that I was walking through the campus, students had a ceremony for their graduation.
A few days passed again and I wanted to explore a bit of Seoul. I decided to take an hour subway trip to make it to the famous Starfield Library (which you may have seen videos online).
Not too far from the library, they had a full building dedicated to all things K-pop. The building had a training center, shop, cafe, etc.
Again, a few days passed, and before I knew it, it was orientation day. It was a 2-hour long session filled with dance performances to start and informational sessions. It was very helpful to understand how to live in Seoul.
After orientation, we were taken on a tour to see some sites of Seoul. I was able to visit the Namsangol Hanok Village and N Seoul Tower in one day!
All caught up to now, I have already had my first week of classes. It was great to see that some people I have previously met are in the classes I am taking. I also enjoy going out for dinner and enjoying the wonderful food Korea has to offer.
There has been so much great food and so many great people – I am exited to see what the semester has to offer!
– Riley Rama