Heart and Seoul

Lets get some things straight. Coming to an Asian country, whose language that you cant speak is hard. You cant communicate the way you want to, you cant ask how peoples days are, nor can you say you don’t want mustard on your chips.
The language is the greatest barrier and when you arrive at your new school there will be quite a few administrative stuff to do like opening a bank account, an alien registration card, buying living items, changing classes etc
But its all worth it. This is literally once in a life time opportunity to live and breath in another country for 4+ months.

I chose Korea because i love Asia for it being so different to Australia (and cheap) (and because this university was the only one that accepted me because my GPA was so low). But oh my goodness does this city have so much to offer. The food and drinks here are amazing and cheap (a lot of foods here are spicy), the hospitality that I’ve been shown by the locals is so heartwarming. Even though they think by slowing down their speech i can understand them (I cant), they try their hardest to try and help you.

Its been one week since ive been here and….prepare to drink. Koreans LOVE TO DRINK. Soju is like $2 AUD for a bottle! 2 AUD!!!. Asia in general is quite cheap compared to Australia which makes spending money very easily (seriously download a budget app).

Korea is quite a night life city. When i first arrived here it was 2pm and the streets were dead. My Airbnb host told me ”Its too early, everyone is still sleeping from drinking last night”. On my first night out, I saw a 60+ year old granny drink with her grand daughter!!

I haven’t seen much of the city just yet, but I am already having the time of my life right now because of the other students. Everyone is in a new country, everyone is open to everyone and you will make new friends sooooo easily!
Seriously, just making new friends and hearing their story and going out to classes together, to explore new areas together and going out at night together is one of lifes best experiences.

Exchange is absolutely amazing, fantastic, wonderful, spectacular, insert adjective here. From the people you meet, the sights  that absolutely blows your mind, to exotic foods you’ve never even heard off; exchange opens you to a whole new world and allows you to be small and adventurous again.
But don’t get carried away, life is all about balance. Its going to be hard at the beginning especially if you don’t speak the language, you might get a bit fat from not gyming and eating and drinking way toooooo much :(. But i guarantee you it will all be worth it. Because hey, nothing worth having comes easy.

ps. theres not many photos cause i haven’t taken too much and the rest are questionable.

Ivan Yeung, 12146041, Business