Week 7 in Seoul, South Korea

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Isaiah Richardson

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> ์•ˆ๋…•ํ•˜์„ธ์š” <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Western Kentucky University <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2023 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Seoul, South Korea <i>Program provider:</i> Yonsei University <i>Major/minor:</i> Computer Science <i>Demographics:</i> First-generation college student Biracial (African American and Caucasian) <i>Future career aspirations:</i> After I graduate I want to work in U.S. a little while as a software engineer, and then eventually move to South Korea and work as software engineer. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> While I am abroad I want to learn more about the Korean culture. Enhance my software engineer skills by learning about the different approaches to problem solving. Get involved in different student organizations.

The weeks just keep getting crazier and crazier. This week I had to move AIRBNBโ€™s again, during my first week of classes. I also read a syllabus wrong which resulted in me scheduling things wrong for the week.

So to start this week off, my friends and I decided to file a complaint to our AIRBNB host. The day we entered our AIRBNB we noticed that cleaning had not been done even though we were charged a cleaning fee. We also noticed that the pictures were different from what was shown on the website. My friends and I discussed and felt it would be better to apply for a refund for our first month and move to a new location.โ€‹โ€‹ There were so many inconveniences, but I will definitely miss the location of this AIRBNB and everything you could see (Image 1). We found a new place located in Mapo-gu and decided to move on Wednesday.

Now while all this was happening, we also had school. Monday I had my pre-modern history which is pre-recorded for the first two weeks. It was definitely very interesting, and we are only being introduced to the course! I also had my computer science class which was very straight-forward and interesting. It is definitely different from what I am used to because there are so many more students (100+) and also the grading system. I am used to my coding for computer science being graded based on correctness and partial points. Here it is leaned more towards the correctness of the problem.

Monday I also found out my level in Korean. Just as I expected I landed in level 1 and would start class on Tuesday. Although level 1 is the lowest you can get, it moves so fast. The first few days we learned the whole alphabet and we have already began to learn about grammar and vocab. Since I have Korean class everyday, I know I will learn so much!

Wednesday was moving day and my friends and I moved after all our classes. We had packed the night before so we were prepared. It was long and difficult but we made it to our new destination in Mapo-gu! I can already tell I will love this location more than the other because of the abundance of restaurants, cafes, and markets. Thursday was relaxing since I only had my Korean class. I also unpacked and set up my room the way I needed it. I am expecting this week to be a lot more engaging and challenging as we are starting to dive deeper into our units for our classes. Next week my first assignment for computer science is due, and also I have homework and a quiz in my Korean class. I am so excited and cannot wait to learn more!