Jeju Island Part 1: Breathtaking nature in the east
Believe it or not: I am in Seoul for almost 29 days. I got used to the fast subway, all the Korean people, the hectic in the city and university life. Seoul was the best choice I´ve ever made. I can imagine to live in this wonderful metropolis for a certain period in the next future (when my Korean is advanced hahahah). But somehow, all the traffic and high buildings, lack of green parks (compared to Berlin) got on my nerves. We, me and 4 other exchange students, decided to go to the most beautiful island of South Korea: Jeju do!
Waking up at 4am in the morning during our 3-days-vacation, that is quite crazy. But to us it was worth it! I was so impressed by the beautiful nature, even though I am known as a city girl. Yeah, I really woke up early in the morning with my friends to see a sunrise! However, it was not only A sunrise, it was the stunning sunrise at Seongsan Ilchulbong (성산일출봉). I can not describe the moment when I saw it, but I had so much hope. I know, it sounds really weird.
Gosh, I couldn´t capture the beautiful moment with my camera (NIKON D5000). The best camera are still your eyes! This shot is taken at 6.30am in the morning.
It was so much fun with you girls and Shay Shay! I am so looking forward to go to BUSAN tomorrow :D
Sunset already at 7pm
We had our own apartment for only 100,000 Won (~70€) per night, just a 10 minutes walk to the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak.
The best haemul jeon ((해물전) I´ve ever had for 15,000 Won (~10€). The food on Jeju do is quite expensive compared to Seoul. While the north of Jeju is famous for black pork, the east is known for their good seafood. It was really delicious!
East Jeju do at night from the vulcano (5 am).
Uni already started about 2 weeks ago and I am quite full of presentations and essays and a lot of readings. Compared to Germany, I have to do a lot for the courses, participate and discuss in the class. That is so weird, I feel like in school again. But it is a challenge for the lazy me to do something for uni. It is quite fun in class and the professors speak English very well. I am really surprised. During this semester I only take business courses and one Korean Speaking course.
Herausforderung ist gut gemeint. Wenn der koreanische Professor einen Witz macht, dann sagt er das natürlich immer auf Koreanisch! Und wer lacht dann immer? Ja, 95% der Klasse, die alle Koreaner sind und die stummen 5% sind dann die Exchange Students, die natürlich nichts davon verstehen. Das ist eine Erfahrung, die macht wohl jeder an der Korea University. Natürlich, es gibt für einige koreanischen Wörter keine englische Übersetzung, aber das nervt schon ziemlich. (Ich lache dann meist 5 Minuten später, nachdem mir das jemand übersetzt hat.)
Außerdem schleimen sich viele der koreanischen Studenten bei dem Prof ein, mit Sätzen wie "Ich weiß zwar noch nicht, was mich hier erwartet, aber ich weiß, dass ich Ihren Unterricht lieben werde." oder "Sie sind so ein super Prof, deswegen habe ich Ihren Kurs gewählt.".
Die ersten 10 Minuten sind so Verschwendung, weil da die Anwesenheit kontrolliert wird, indem die 50 Namen auf der Liste vorgelesen werden.
Das dauernde Nicken der Studenten, wenn der Prof was sagt, ist auch ziemlich nervig.
Nichtsdestotrotz, ich bin so stolz hier zu studieren. Ich präferiere kleinere Vorlesungen, die interaktiv sind, wie hier in Korea als in Deutschland. Die Räume sind super modern ausgestattet, besonders das mit 18 Millionen Dollar geförderte Hyundai-Business-Gebäude. In einem Monat fangen schon die ersten Klausuren an, dann kommen die ganzen Präsentationen und Essays, dann die Final Exams.
Nonetheless, I want to travel every free weekend to see more of Korea and later also of Japan and the Philippines! Working hard during the weekdays, traveling at the weekend... I really hope, that this will work. And it will definitely work! :)
