Put your records on

"The four stages of culture shock: honeymoon face; irritation and depression; negotiation; and finally, acceptance. Duration: four months."

Honeymoonface? I’m quite sure is over, or it was probably already over when Shit hit the Stomach in China. But knowing that irritation and depression are lurking behind the corner (why does nobody speak English? Why is there no normal food? Why are all the girls so extremely girly? Why do we have to go to an immigration office and wait 8 hours!?*), there is no clear guidance on how to tackle your slowly progressing culture shock. So I have to figure it out myself, someway, somehow.

So far my philosophical thoughts. I think it is clear that I am still kind of struggling in settling into my new abode. Although I am quite sure it is going to be okay in the end. I will for now just update you on what my new life looks like. My roommate Jenny is really nice. Next to our room and KUBA-group, we also share two courses. That makes that we have a good time sharing our experiences. The first week at the campus (before uni started) was mostly just arranging stuff, buying clothes and exploring the city. This week the courses started and it is time to get used to reading, writing and listening in the academic context again.

No speaking then? Unfortunately, at this uni, students do not really speak in class. You mostly just sit there and listen to the teacher explaining things from the book you already read (and sometimes, explaining it totally wrong!) I already miss my cozy 12 person problem-based-learning tutorials/discussions. Teachers here desperately want their students to engage in discussions, but Koreans barely dare to introduce themselves, let alone discuss in English. (Which was a hilarious moment though: seventy students, getting up one by one, mumbling some non understandable words and then almost started crying). Getting into enough English courses is also a hassle. My home university wants us to take six courses. Nobody here does six courses (max is four). And the teachers are secretly not really fond of exchange student; probably because they speak better English than the profs themselves. Some English courses even turned out to actually be taught in Korean! At one point, I was sure I had to book a plane back home, because I would never get enough credits. Of course, in the end it all worked out.

Since there is also a quota for the amount of exchange students per course, I am sometimes the only exchange student amongst 70 Koreans. In Hongkong and China, people were quite positively surprised to see a white blond girl between all those Asians. And despite the stares, it wasn’t that bad. Here however, it seems that being different is not interesting, but a reason to be ignored. And because I don’t speak Korean, it is almost impossible to get into contact with the Korean students. And that is difficult, because the only thing anyone ever wants to do on the first days of school is to fit it. The best thing to do, so I found out, is to just smile and wait for the undercover Asians to approach you: some students have Korean parents, but where brought up in the US. They of course have no problem speaking English, or to get to know someone who does not look like the rest.

(Naturally, I really want to take a Korean language course, but because of the big amount of courses I have to take for my home university, that was impossible. So I am now on a quest for a Korean that wants to teach me, and in the meantime, I will use talktomeinkorean.com.)

The campus is beautiful. It’s located on a hill, with loads of big IV-league-meets-Korean-type buildings and green trees. The Media building (where I follow my courses) is big, blue and beautiful (pictures will follow). It’s only a few years old, as are most buildings on this campus.

I look forward to the weekend. There are some new activities planned for the KUBA group. We are going to visit a Hanok village and take pictures in traditional clothing. And afterwards I am sure there will be more chicken and beer. (What makes me wonder though: how do these girls keep so thin? Vegetables and fruit are extremely expensive, so it’s a lot of deep fried chicken all the time. Everywhere there’s fast food and the meals in the cafeterias aren’t necessarily healthy either. But there are virtually none overweight Koreans here)

Oh! In the meantime, I did have the chance to finally sing at a real noreabang! You walk between these little rooms and everywhere you hear singing Koreans, totally off tune! We had a great time singing together, but also here, I felt like a total noob. My international buddies turned out to know and be able to sing hundreds of songs from Korean Girl groups - in Korean! Whereas I recognize approximately five songs now. (I guess I will come back to Pop-culture, gender and feminism because it is really interesting how the gender roles are divided here)

So yes, finding my feet is still a tough process, with good and bad days. Of course, I have only been here for 12 days now, so what would you expect? Most of the time, there is this song stuck in my head. Must be symbolic!

"Maybe sometimes, we feel afraid, but it's alright
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same
Oh, don't you hesitate.
Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow." (Corrine bailey Rae - Put your records on)

Annyeonghi gyeseyo!



*Here I was actually quite lucky :) There were 400 people waiting before me, so I decided to buy a book at the store across the street. When I came back with my new Gaiman (American Gods), a man approached me and offered me his ticket – he had taken a spare one. Within 15 minutes, I could apply for my alien registration card. The others really had to wait 8 hours!