My first week in Seoul has already passed. So time for an update again!

The introduction at the university is already over, and next week my classes will start (so from then on my updates might take some more time). Unfortunately I could not take the courses I wanted to, so I had to make a new course selection. Right now I am waiting for those courses to be approved by the university. The courses I am planning to take are mainly marketing and/or Asia related.

The introduction at Korea University was very nice; we got a campus tour, and an explanation about all the facilities and IT-systems. In the evening we went to a (spicy though tasty) chicken-and-beer restaurant. What I noticed so far is that Korean people really seem to like food (and luckily for me not just seafood); there are many street vendors selling all sorts of snacks/dishes (that often really smell very nice), and around 30% of all TV-programmes seem to be about food as well.

The second day of the introduction was more formal (about course registration and so on). Also, everyone was assigned a 'buddy'; someone from Korea University that will help you with all sorts of matters. So far my buddy (Yoo Seungmin) already helped me to buy a cell phone (GSM phones don't work here) and to open a Korean bank account. What was a nice added bonus is the fact that my phone has a Korean/English & English/Korean dictionary on it as well as a subway map.

Of course we also had some spare time, and so far I visited Dongdaemun area, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Yeouido Island (financial center of Seoul), Itaewon, and the Myeongdong area. Even though there are many subway lines, and Seoul is a very busy city (around 24.5 Million people are living in the metropolitan area), I think it is very hard to get lost here (unless you are inside a shopping mall… they are enormous here). At all stations you can find subway-and-neighbourhood maps, and most information is provided in both Korean and English (and sometimes even in Japanese and Chinese as well). Unfortunately it has been raining a lot last week (since it is the rainy season right now), so my pictures might look a bit.. rainy.. this time. Hopefully the weather will get better soon!

Jeroen van Bommel (or as most Koreans call me: Jae-Hun)