Interesting...

I was walking to class on Wednesday and heard two Korean girls speaking in English. I didn't really fully understand how surprised I was until today when I thought back about it. It has been so long since I last was able to eavesdrop on a conversation and understand the topic. This has been on my mind all day: when I arrive back in the states, what will be different for me and take readjustment? First answer: hearing English spoken by strangers.

Sadly, at the end of the month, I learned that I didn't receive the scholarship from the State Department. It was a little bittersweet. On one hand, I was looking forward to staying in Korea for the summer and learning Korean under the government's banner...but on the other, it would have kept me in Suwon until late August, binding me to a commitment of intensive daily language classes. I am still a little disappointed, nonetheless.

I went to talk to the Office of Global Affairs today about enrolling in the summer program. They made it sound fairly easy for exchange students already here, as in, I wouldn't need to reapply and the program costs would be paid to my home university. Additionally, they said that they only needed an "official" email from my university to show that they authorized my decision. I emailed my adviser today to request for that letter and for any clarification if I misunderstood the process.

If I enroll in the summer courses, I would stay at Ewha until the end of July. From where I am at now, I think I would take August to mid-September to travel around South East Asia. Also on my possible itinerary is Germany, but I am slowly becoming painfully aware of how much this all will cost.

On a much happier note, I discovered that my visa is a multiple entry visa! When I applied, I remember asking only for a single entry, thinking I may encounter some problems about coming to Korea before the school year started. Therefore, at the time, I wanted to request single entry until I figured everything else out. After my talk with OGA, I found out that my visa is multiple entry -- saving me about $50 and a couple hours at immigration (although I like to think of their employees as friends of mine).

One thing that I love about being here is the ease of visiting other countries. From what I understand about the academic calendar, I will have a Monday-Wednesday off of classes during midterm week. I think that midterm week at Ewha means there are no classes -- but we have Thursday and Friday classes because we are international. Or at least Korean language classes...

Soooooo, that means that I will have a five day weekend in late April. Already, I am trying to figure out what I can do. For about $105, I can take a boat from Pusan to somewhere in Japan -- giving me about four days in Japan. One of the international students from Belgium participated in a Rubix Cube competition in Japan over a Thursday through Sunday weekend. I mean, how cool is that to visit Japan for the weekend? Another option is to take a boat from Incheon to China, giving me four or five days in Beijing or Shanghai (Hong Kong perhaps?). I am pretty excited for that opportunity. If anyone has some input to share with me about what I should do with those five days, feel free to let me know (I could also skip my Friday class and get an early start).