[kenchanayoh]

A couple years ago, I was living in Seoul to study at the Yonsei language program. It was a fun experience, much different than when traveling there as a kid.

It was an awesome time being 21 in Korea. People are super rude there and a lot of the kids there are socially awkward. However, there is nothing like being hungry at 2am and walking down the street to eat at a bbq place or a food cart. It was certainly a fun time. I drank way too much. I ended up at the Yonsei hospital because my liver started acting up. @_@ Also, if you drank as a kid, what the hell is wrong with you?!

But back to serious stuff. I statrted doing research on Korean adoptees, since so many of my friends were adopted by American as well as European families. I took several levels of Korean language and found it fun to meet so many Jaeil kyopo, or Koreans who were raised in Japan. It was fun, because I was the youngest always, so the elders treated me like their little bro or even son.

My pop culture professor was super punker geek, but I had some weird "love" for her, as I love rock music. Also, I was studying culture, music, and cinema as my emphasis in college.

The most fun I had was trying to figure out how to cook when I was travel down to Kyungjoo and Pusan. For those who don't know, Pusan people speak with a strange accent that sounds a lot like Japanese because of the rhythm and vowel pronunciation. But since that was the Korean I was taught, I giggled and was able to understand them.

Anyways, I had the best time trying to bargain with ajummas with my rather infelicitous Korean, going to noraebang all the time, and just chilling out at Myungdong, shopping or eating. It is certainly a wonderful and interesting experience.

For those who just want to chill out, I recommend the numerous bookstores, filled with comics and great stuff from Japan for way cheaper than in America. Thank you, Kyobo.

Also, don't look at coffee shops as ripping you off when you pay for 8000 won cups of joe. You are there to "rent" a space for studying, chilling, or just dating.


TIPS FROM ME (you will prolly find this in the other thread about teaching in Korea):
Places to go when you are bored:
1. JungNo (where the tiny river is)
2. Yeoido (good place to bike and run)
3. Myungdong (shopping and people watching)
4. Dongdaemoon (when you can't sleep)
5. Seoul Tower (when you are feeling inspired)
6. COEX (they have an aquarium, theater, convention center, casino, and shops)
7. ITAEWON (when you miss America)
8. Yongsan (when you need to get electronics fixed)
9. E-dae-ap (shopping, eating, and just hanging out)
10. Seoul Station (good to plan a trip down south, where the people and weather is a lot nicer!)

Advice:
1. You have to really try to get a cell phone when you are in Korea, its just way easier to reach anyone
2. Don't spend too much time in PC gamerooms, but DO go to Board game cafes!
3. There are a lot of themed cafes and bars you can visit, most offer a very good atmosphere for couples and casual friends
4. High school kids in Korea look funny, I used to laugh at them when they walked by my apartment
5. Flying out of Seoul Incheon airport is relatively affordable, so plan trips to other parts of Asia during the week or weekends (if you have work)
6. There are several HOOKAH bars in the Hongdae area. Don't say Hookah to natives, or they think you are saying HOOKER bar.
7. Korea rains a mini cooperload during July and August, and freezes over in December til February. Try to go to Pusan during this time!
8. Don't let taxi drivers rip you off. Try to go places with a native. Then when you are sure, you can figure out the routes from one place to another. Unlike Tokyo, Seoul doesn't have a late night surcharge, but it does start at a higher rate.
9. Ladies, if a guy ask you if you want to go to a DVD room, say no!

How bout posting ur experiences or tips and warnings for those who are planning to go there as an adult.






UPDATED: For those people who think i went to Korea to get laid and drink, umm no. I'm from Santa Barbara, and if I wanted to party, I would not have to move to Seoul. It is way easier to get a GF or find parties in SB. Obviously, I went there to go to school and do research for my senior thesis. So, just because I drink doesn't mean I am interpreting Korea in a wrong way. 20-something people who replied to my post appear to be more ANAL than most people I have ever meet.

[kennesu]

erm... yeah the yonsei program is known by most foreigners in korea as the 'get wasted and laid club' and i don't really consider that "living in korea" really. i'm not trying to be judgmental and i think it's great when people want to learn about korea, but i think moderation is key in anything.

if you are still enamored by all of those things, than i don't think you've lived here long enough. but i really do look up to the foreigners that live here long-term, like 5+ years. I can't imagine it.

btw, there is a lot of opinions about living in korea in the "east asia" section under soompi networks.

[kenchanayoh]

i'm sorry but i was utterly offended by your posting of my having a trivial experience of korea. sure i drank a lot of alcohol, but i did not go there to get laid. in fact, i didnt have sex while i was there, and that was by choice. how dare you claim that about me. i was at the language program, so all i did was study.

should i consider living in korea and an employee? or my story about living there as a kid? do you want to hear that?

i think i should just bash some aspects of korea then, because i want you to not know my trivial experience. i was trying to show korea is a brighter light. everyone is rude and disrepectful if you are a stranger. people are super-fake. it is a country full of a lot of biggots, racists, and people with very little class. the locals will try to instigate a fight, especially with some of the mixed bloods like me. i did not enjoy that. a lot of the people in our group were korean adoptees who were trying to find their parents.

i feel sorry for a lot of the foreigners sense the old generation are very racist against people like blacks. some of my black friends were treated poorly.

living there was difficult for my friends and me due to our encounter with these difficulties.

[kennesu]

i was being frank about what i think of the program in general and what i've heard from other people. i don't think i made any 'claims' about you up there either. but if you're offended, i apologize.

and no i don't care if you 'bash' or raise up korea; or even what you should or shouldn't experience in korea.

what i could glean from your initial post was: korea is good for drinking, food, shopping, and nrb... which to me aren't things that requires someone to 'live in korea as an adult' to figure out.

[n3llvr22]

I was at Yonsei last year as well! I was 21 as well (not sure if I can consider myself an "adult) but I had the best time in my life (although I didn't have nearly as much fun with alcohol as you lol). 6 months on my own in a foreign country without anyone telling me what to do taught me so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to experience. Totally miss it! I do consider living there sometime in the future permanently but I'm unsure right now

[kenchanayoh]

I was at Yonsei last year as well! I was 21 as well (not sure if I can consider myself an "adult) but I had the best time in my life (although I didn't have nearly as much fun with alcohol as you lol). 6 months on my own in a foreign country without anyone telling me what to do taught me so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to experience. Totally miss it! I do consider living there sometime in the future permanently but I'm unsure right now

if u read the post of the guy replying to my initial post, you will see that he didn't like my drinking stories.

seriously, isnt drinking a part of korean culture? u drink when ur elders take u out. u drink when u eat. u drink when its ur friend's bday. u drink when ur on a date.

i miss it, but i dont think i will ever live there the same way i did. i would rather be living in pusan anyways. i'm a beach lover.

[hailing from ny]

OP, was this the first time you've ever partied or had alcohol? It seems that way since you're hyping it up so much. Maybe it was your first time, and you're just riding that high of being away from home and having freedom away from home.

I did a language program at Koryo University back in summer of 2004, similar to the Yonsei KLI program. People do study, and student usually party hard too (nothing wrong with that).

When you say stuff like "but a country who forgot too much about its own history and roots, unlike Japan," you're really putting a blanket statement out there that represents Korea in the wrong way. If you're any part Korean, I wouldnt want to bash my own country like that.

I agree with another poster that living in Korea as an adult is not represented by your one month stay in Korea. That's more like a vacation.

[kenchanayoh]

OP, was this the first time you've ever partied or had alcohol? It seems that way since you're hyping it up so much. Maybe it was your first time, and you're just riding that high of being away from home and having freedom away from home.

I did a language program at Koryo University back in summer of 2004, similar to the Yonsei KLI program. People do study, and student usually party hard too (nothing wrong with that).

When you say stuff like "but a country who forgot too much about its own history and roots, unlike Japan," you're really putting a blanket statement out there that represents Korea in the wrong way. If you're any part Korean, I wouldnt want to bash my own country like that.

I agree with another poster that living in Korea as an adult is not represented by your one month stay in Korea. That's more like a vacation.

seriously, those korea bashing statements were obviously sarcasm. also, i lived there for a year, my other friends lived there for several years. most of us went to an english church in shillim and had a lot of retreats and stuff. seriously, i feel like people answering my posts are really mad that korea is represented as a college town filled with drunk people. obviously, that was not my point.

i went to ucsb, there was no way i drank more in korea than i did back home in santa barbara. also, it was not my first experience drinking or my first experience living alone. but it was my first time i lived in an asian country as an adult.

but seriously. hearing from u people just tells me no body likes to have a pleasant time without the presence of verbal wars.

[kenchanayoh]

i was being frank about what i think of the program in general and what i've heard from other people. i don't think i made any 'claims' about you up there either. but if you're offended, i apologize.

and no i don't care if you 'bash' or raise up korea; or even what you should or shouldn't experience in korea.

what i could glean from your initial post was: korea is good for drinking, food, shopping, and nrb... which to me aren't things that requires someone to 'live in korea as an adult' to figure out.

i don't see how the food and shopping would be a negative nor trivial aspect of Seoul. It is a metropolitan area, so what do you expect.

Actually, I thank you for allowing me to write a more solid post about my Korean experience.

[oreos]

Someone obviously never told you that sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.

A very entertaining post nonetheless :]

[kenchanayoh]

Someone obviously never told you that sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.

A very entertaining post nonetheless :]

sankyu very much

[kennesu]

Someone obviously never told you that sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.

A very entertaining post nonetheless :]

oreos, you worked it.

point proven.

and to the OP, i must insist that you check out the networks section. you are just stating the really obvious things that anyone who's visited Korea for a month would probably know. and do you think posting your living in korea 'tips' in the 20+ section is really necessary? you do realize this section is restricted and your advice would be going to a really small portion of soompi. anyways, you'll find all these tips in the east asia section (and some that are a tad more insightful and a little less obvious advice).

i'm not one of those 'you posted in the wrong section' nazis, but i think you need to learn the ropes here kenchan. i only tell you this because we both have the same and we're the same age. but i hope you don't get all offended again by me saying this.

[hailing from ny]

Someone obviously never told you that sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.

A very entertaining post nonetheless :]

I hope this wasn't that "sarcasm" you were talking about...



OP, your edit is a much better representation of your story. Props.

[kenchanayoh]

oreos, you worked it.

point proven.

and to the OP, i must insist that you check out the networks section. you are just stating the really obvious things that anyone who's visited Korea for a month would probably know. and do you think posting your living in korea 'tips' in the 20+ section is really necessary? you do realize this section is restricted and your advice would be going to a really small portion of soompi. anyways, you'll find all these tips in the east asia section (and some that are a tad more insightful and a little less obvious advice).

i'm not one of those 'you posted in the wrong section' nazis, but i think you need to learn the ropes here kenchan. i only tell you this because we both have the same and we're the same age. but i hope you don't get all offended again by me saying this.

yawn. you complain about things more than anything. if you don't like it don't read it.

[craftyLIANG]

Maybe it's just me, but I found your tips helpful and insightful. I'm not a big party person or a drinker, but besides all that, what you posted is what I'd want to do if I was visiting Korea.

To those who are offended or who think the OP's advice is generic or obvious, I would just like to note I didn't find it any of those things. Maybe it's because I have very limited knowledge about life in Korea and from that perspective, this post was very insightful. Thanks OP.

[kennesu]

Maybe it's just me, but I found your tips helpful and insightful. I'm not a big party person or a drinker, but besides all that, what you posted is what I'd want to do if I was visiting Korea.

47 PAGES WORTH OF TIPS AND ADVICE WHEN VISITING KOREA ON SOOMPI

there you go.

[kenchanayoh]

47 PAGES WORTH OF TIPS AND ADVICE WHEN VISITING KOREA ON SOOMPI

there you go.

You're a tool

there you go

[Tuxedomask]

Guy's keep the flaming to a minimal. He was just here to give his story and some tips to us, if you don't agree with some of them that's fine. There's no need to flame the guy.

[Aziraphale]

Closing this. Prime example of 20+ behaving like five-year-olds.