A Month Before

I have less then 4 weeks until I study abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Shit.

Am I worried? Chea, mostly because I know I'll panic about missing a flight, forgetting something important and did I mention I can't speak Korean? Yea, problem. Unless, you know, they want me to say hello. I'm good with that. A-nyoung-ha-seh-yo.

But in all seriousness at this point I'm more excited than panicked. I've done a good portion of my shopping already! New jeans-check. Travel pillow-check (it's in neon orange! should I be this excited about it? probably not but I am!). Camera-check (thank you mama and tato *cough*ImeanSt.Nick*cough*)~it's a lovely Nikon 500 and I made by two best friends my test dummies YAY! I'm sure Kat and D were as excited abut staying still while I fiddled with the settings :D).

Things I still need to get? A suitcase/carry on because the one we have is old. I also need power converters (is that what they're called?)...am thinking I'll buy them there...because really, they HAVE to have them there and I'm too lazy to look for them here.

Now the bigger question that you might be asking is why Korea?
It was between Japan and Korea. I took 2 years of Japanese at university, no hablo, but I had wanted to go to Japan. Ironically, Japanese killed my GPA which killed my chances of going...the world works in strange ways. Am I disappointed? No. Because thanks to my now-roommate I learned about Kpop, Kdramas which resulted in learning about the food, the language, the culture and being genuinely excited. This was in 2009. I'm sure she'd love for me to shut up about the music and stop with the flail but it's not going to happen right now so oh well!


Things I need to clarify:
First clarification...I'm going to South Korea. Yes, the south...no not the North...why?....because they're communist...yes I thought that was a good reason too.
-_- I have actually gotten that question.
Second clarification...no I do not plan on eating dog...no not all Koreans eat dog...what's with that face I'm serious...*5 minutes later in this same conversation*....sigh, okay I won't eat dog.
>.> I need a drink...

All in all my biggest worry is the language barrier but I have heard that Seoul is nice enough to have some things in English (or Engrish as the case may be), especially on the subway system...and there's a chance that should I get lost I can ask someone of the younger generation because lo and behold they might speak English.

...the US needs to get on this whole multilingual schtick because we're getting left in the dust...

A lot of people would be concerned about leaving people behind. While it's a given that I probably will get a bit homesick, I've always had a very small group of friends and been an introvert so I'm not too too panicked. The culture shock will be that...a shock but I don't think it'll kill me :p It'll be strange being in a foreign country where I don't understand anything and don't have my parents with me. The only other foreign country I've been to is Ukraine...and well I'm Ukrainian and can still speak it and read it though I haven't lived there in over a decade...but it's not the same thing. What's more is it's not a European country (obviously, woot geography skills!) so the mind set is different.

Regardless, I'm uber excited. Lol, I get to go to the home of Kpop and Kdrama...which while not a major factor in my choice or my attitude on my impending travel...is a major bonus :D

...is it bad that I would kinda sorta love to go celebrity stalking? At least to a concert, a proper one...and buy stuff of course, nothing big...you know, socks and stuff...should they happen to have band members on them then what can you do?

Before I go I need to get into the picture-taking mindset. I never take pictures, I prefer to look at someone elses or write about the experience...but I will persevere!