Midterms at CAU

The fall semester is half way over and that means two things!

1) Midterms for CAU.  Midterms takes place over two weeks. it starts on the second or third Thursday of October and ends one week later.  Midterms here are INTENSE.  There is so much competition and therefore very long hours of studying and preparation.  In America it's normal for us to just study for a passing grade because we just need to graduate from university with at least a bachelor's degree for a good job so studying is more relaxed.  In Korea however, studying = life for the whole month of October up to midterms.  The curfew rule is taken back during the duration of midterms and we can come and go at any time of the day or night without penalty.  For Korean university students midterms are critical and not taken lightly.  Getting a job here depends on your university grades.  The grades you recieve in your classes and on your exams reflect on what your job possibilities will be and therefore everyone competes for the highest possible grade in class.  Walking through 1f in 308 at 2am you will see every study table full of people constantly reviewing information, and even napping.  Students here walk around with study guides reviewing every possible bit of information they can.  During midterms there are also no classes.  This is so that we have as much time as possible to study for our exams.  The exams themselves are critical, very specific and tricky.  I took one in Korean and it killed me.  It was hard and i didn't understand everything on it.  However, that was only one of 5 midterms, the rest have been easy up to this point.  Along with no classes, the E-Lounge and International Office are closed too.  Midterms at CAU is a lot more different than SFSU (the school I came from) but in the end, life resumes and a lot of people like to celebrate that Thursday night after the last midterm has ended.

Here is a picture ofthe study area of 1f at midnight.  Most of the students are waiting to print out assignments and other things to help them study for their upcoming midterms.  I tried to study here one day but nobody moved for hours and finding anywhere to sit is a competition all in itself.  

2) WINTER IS COMING...kkkkk

Alien Registration Card *Updated*

The below information is the more important stuff from an older post with a similar title.  I just summed this up but I am giving an update on my ARC.  So on October 17th, 2016 I went back to the Immigration office and made it for my ARC appointment.  I waited in the room for about half hour until I was called.  Each appointment takes about 2 minutes.  All they ask is for a copy of your passport and your certificate of proof of enrollment at the university and maybe your visa too (they didn't ask for mine but they have asked others for theirs).  They also ask for the application you print out ahead of time.  After that they, they give you a form to take to the atm on the Chinese registration floor and there you pay for the card (30,000 for pick up/33,000 for delivery cash only).  After that, you get a receipt and go back down the window of the same attendant you had.  They will be working with someone else so wait until they finish.  Once they finish, you either sit down to get your finger prints taken or are directed to the security guard table to do it and you're done.  For me, the whole process was about 15 minutes (but that's because a couple there applying for asylum was holding up the attendant because they were having language barriers (one side didn't speak any Korean, the other didn't speak any Arabic).  It was all very fast, easy and straight forward.









The Alien Registration Card (ARC) is for anyone staying in Korea for more than 90 days.  If you do not get your ARC within 90 days, you will be deported from the Korea, so this is pretty important.  Depending on where you are staying in the greater Seoul area/in Korea, your respective immigration office may be different from mine but for me (and anyone living in the general Dongjak-Gu area) our immigration office is located in Omokgyo (go from Heukseok to Yeouido, transfer to the purple line and go north to Omokgyo).  Getting to the immigration office in total (transit and walking) can take anywhere from 45-60 minutes.  I also recommend leaving 2 hours early to avoid any troubles.  I went for my ARC and I was half hour late for my appointment.  However I was able to make a new appointment.  There are also signs posted that state that it will be impossible to be seen without an appointment so you NEED an appointment in order to be seen by an immigration officer to get your residency taken care of.  The ARC is your residency card telling the government that you are a Korean resident and allowed to be in the country for as long as your visa allows.  WARNING: if you miss your appointment 3 times, you will no longer be able to make appointments  If you're from America though, you will see that it very similar to the DMV and Social Security Office so be prepared to wait.  Although these officers do NOT wait for you so pay attention to the screens displaying the appointment numbers.  When you first walk in to the immigration room, the list of appointments for the day will show your appointment number and time.
You need to take a photo in Korea because the photo required for the ARC is a different size than that of an American passport photo.  Don't worry though, there is a photo booth near the bathrooms in the Heukseok station where you can take your photo and print it out in minutes.

Electromart (Youngdeungpo mall 영등포몰)

So Yongsan is the most well known place for its electronics.  However, over the weekend (today is October 16th, 2016) I went to 영등포몰 (Youngdeungpo mall) to see a movie.  I bought a ticket for a 5:45 show and it was only 3:50 so I decided to wander the mall and shop around.  It was two malls connected to make one giant mall and it has a lot of really cool shops like a hottracks, topten, 8 seconds and more.  Electromart was the store that caught my attention.  It is like the yongsan electronics mall condensed into a store.  It was a really cool place and that is why I decided to dedicate one post to this store.

This is the sign right outside the store.  The store has so many electronic trinkets and a variety of cool things that are really hard to find in Korea.  It is basically Korea's Bestbuy or Fry's.  

When you walk in, to the right you will see the apple section.  It is like a mini apple store in that section.  Every kind of more recent apple product can be found there.  It is stylized almost as a Bestbuy.  They even have thir blue shirts sitting at a desk waiting to start up your newly purchased phone and everything.  

This is the camera related section to the left after you walk in.  All types of cameras and accessories are located here along with tripods and go-pro accessories.  They even have ready to use examples (for everything except the Polaroids which have been disabled).

Here is their collection of instax cameras.  Some of these were actually cheaper here than in Yongsan or online.  There were only a few basic varieties of film however but there were still some pretty cool things in this area that are hard to find in Seoul.

This area is located in the back where the video games, action figures, computer parts and other miscellaneous electronics can be found.  To the left on this picture is an area where you can play with robotic toys.  It was pretty fun and cool seeing all the different themed keyboards and computer mouses.  

This is the android section.  It is located to the right of the cameras.  At this time they were displaying the latest phones in the android lineup (Sony Xperia XZ).  Near this area was also the windows surface display and other microsoft releases.  

There is a part near the apple products that i thought was kind of funny.  It is a clothing section.  Electromart is bigger than it looks and had a clothing section.  To the other side of this was bicycles and their accessories, power tools, kitchen appliances and widescreen tvs.  However, I did not get any pictures of that due to my phone dying before I could walk over there.  However, I can say that they had a lot to pick from in every one of those sections and at least one blue shirt in those areas ready to help (only if it was something within their section though).  

This was a cool display of a bulldog with a VR headset right outside the apple section in the store.  

Finally, tucked away in a corner that i accidentally stumbled upon was the RC section.  All kinds of RC toys were here.  However, they were really expensive.  Everything in the store had a price tag except the RC section (except for one small toy car going for $800).  I was able to play with RC monster trucks if I wanted to but I didn't want to accientally trip and fall on anything like I always seem to do...So to save money, I decided to not touch it and save myself from paying $1,000+ on that.

Electromart was really cool.  It had a little something for every part of your home and was fun to play in.  It was like a costco for electronics (sampling tables everywhere).  Personally I went in to preorder Pokemon Moon coming out in November.  This is the only store in Seoul by the way that will do video game preorders and has every popular and more recent video game for every console in the market.  Preordering does require you to pay everything up front but the price is discounted and comes out cheaper overall than buying it after its release.  I highly recommend shopping here for your electronic needs.  It is on the first floor between Shinsaege mall and the time square mall right next to EMart.  

And to get to this mall take Heukseok to Noryanjin (going towards Gaehwa), transfer to line 1 to 영등포 (Youngdeungpo) (going in the direction of Incheon).  The subway in there also has a really big mall with a produce section and everything leading up all the way to Time Square mall entrance.  Time Square mall also has a new year's eve celebration and holds various mini kpop concerts throughout the year.  

Fall in Seoul, CAU Hospital, and Optical care

Weather Changes
     When I arrived to Seoul in the last week of August it was really hot.  On any given day, the humidity reached 90% with weather in the high 80s to low 90s (Fahrenheit).  The days felt really hot and the nights were no better.  This type of weather lasted all the way through September.  One tip for that is to buy a xiaomi battery pack and a mini fan you can attach to it.  It will save your life and both combined cost less than 30,000W at the Hyundai Outlet mall in 동대문 (Dongdaemun) right outside the 동대문역사문화공원 (Dongdaemun History and Culture Park) stop on line 4.  Anyway, So summer here was rough, hot and unbearable to me,  Then again, I am from a city where it is a constant 65-75 with a nice ocean breeze 24/7/365.  So now it is October and autumn has arrived and the weather is cooling down drastically.  One day it was 80 and the next it was 69 which is about 20 degrees Celsius (all these temperatures are in Fahrenheit since that is the only weather measurement we grow up learning in America).  My friends here have been saying that snow is expected to fall in the end of November.  Since I am used to this constant 65-69 weather I have no problem going out in a thin sweater and t shirt, but there are those mornings that start in the mid 50s.  So keep that in mind.

Flu Season
     Since it is fall now and the weather is cooler, that does mean it's flu season.  Here there are no doctor's offices but there is the 중앙대학교병원 (Chung Ang University Hospital).  In America we have a doctor's office for non serious ailments such as a cold, flu, nasal infection, cut, sore, etc. and the hospital is for more serious and life threatening ailments such as surgery, cysts, cancer, etc.  However, in Korea everything is in one building, 병원 (the hospital).  The hospital is the massive building right in front of the university. It is hard to miss.  There are usually people in hospital gowns walking around right outside, an ambulance outside and more people in gowns sitting in the little eating area next to it.  The hospital can be seen from 흑석역 (Heukseok station).  Healthcare in Korea is free so that is one nonissue.  All you may need is your proof of insurance from your home university or the insurance you get from the university.  I don't know where prescriptions can be picked up but I do know there is a pharmacy in building 310 (next one over from the dorms) on B2 I believe.  Also, if you have a preexisting prescription, you do need to make an appointment to see a Korean doctor and get a Korean prescription.  The doctors in the hospital do speak English too.

Eye Care 
     Recently I did do something that is helpful.  Like a lot of people, I use glasses.  Therefore, also like a lot of people, from time to time we will need new glasses.  I recently needed new glasses.  The last time I got glasses in America, the frames alone came out to $650.  Then I got protection on the lenses, transitions, etc.  Luckily my insurance covered 90% because I would not have wanted to pay $800+ for glasses.  I asked a friend to take me to get glasses in Seoul (and there are a lot of places right in front of the university) and he took me to Lens Story which is directly across the street from the front gate.  all the stores look different and some cater specifically to men, others to women but this one offered services to both.  I got an eye exam and that was literally 5 minutes.  I looked through a machine and it examined my eyes and printed out a sheet with all these numbers.  Then I did the basic "read these numbers to me" game and the glasses with the "one...or two..." thing they do.  All that was another 5 minutes.  Then I picked frames.  The frames were 82,000W but since I was a university student, any frames in that store were 50% off and the exam was FREE!!!  Awesome deal.  So then I chose the lenses I wanted and that came out to 66,000W total.  It took only 20 minutes for my glasses to be ready.  It was super convenient and I would highly recommend that place because the owner was super cool and he provided awesome service and the three of us spent a lot of time in there just talking and joking around.

Seeing a movie in Seoul

Movie prices differ from state to state and within the states from city to city.  Since I know San Francisco prices, I will refer to those.  Seeing a movie back home would cost $13.50 per movie, $21.00 for 3D I believe.  You also paid for your ticket right there at the ticket booth before the movie usually.  I decided to go see a movie in Seoul.  Again, the closest theater is in the Ipark Mall in Yongsan (take bus 151 to the Sinyongsan station stop) and walk to the mall.  The theater is located on the 6th floor near a shoe store and TGIFridays.

This is a ticket machine.  You can buy tickets here if you know how (I didn't know how.  It was confusing and there wasn't a very clear place to put money or a credit card).  

Here is a picture of a friend and I trying to figure out how to work this machine and get it to give us our tickets.  After spending about 15 minutes trying to figure it out and being called stupid multiple times by a Korean who was unwilling to provide any assistance, we decided to go to the ticket counter.  

To the right of the last picture is this(the ticket counter).  However, you must first get a number from the pillar right there in the middle of the picture and wait for your number to come up.  Similar to the way the banks and immigration office work.  We paid for our tickets and it was very convenient.  It was 10,000W per person (about $9.75) which is pretty good for a movie.  We saw Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  

Here is a clear photo of the ticket counter (the clearest photo I could get anyway.  That guy stood there for a long time in that pose).  The people there waiting are there waiting to go see their movie.  Unlike back in America, we have to wait to be called back to a theater room.  We can't just go in and wait with 10 minutes to go.  

Here is a korean movie ticket (somewhat crumbled up though).  It is just a pink receipt showing what time the movie starts, what room, how many people and the price.  I bought it 4 hours early and unlike America, we reserve seats and get tickets for those seats.  

This is where the movie rooms are.  That black poster shows which rooms are now open and being called to enter to wait for their movie to begin.  

The inside of a movie room.  When we went in, we waited for about 10 minutes, then commercials came on and 5 minutes after the commercials, the movie began.  The commercials were very straight to the point movie ads with nothing like silence your cellphone or little animations.  Everyone was naturally really quiet an didn't move once during the movie.  I felt like I was being the loudest one in the room and all i did was eat a snack.  Besides the movie playing, it was the quietest movie theater I had ever been in.  

Getting a phone or sim card in Korea

This post should have been done sooner but I forgot to even do it until I looked back at all my blog posts.  Getting a phone and sim card is a little difficult in Korea but not impossible.  If you don't want to wait so long for your ARC and would prefer to have a sim card asap then you can do what I did.  thearrivalstore.com is a website for expatriots to visit that are going to be in Korea.  An expatriot is a student, a long term tourist (2+ months) or someone starting new in Korea due to occupational purposes.  Anyway, so I went on the website and got my sim card there. It is very easy to do.  All you have to do is go on there and click on the sim card only option, put in how long you will be there and click a plan you want.  Then when you pay, you will be charged the activation fee and then a calculated fee for how many months you're going to use it.  I got a plan that gives me unlimited talk, text and 2GB of 4G data for $54.00 a month.  There are other plans and if you don't want to spend so much you can get the most basic plan and then get a wifi egg at an olleh store (15,000W a month for 11 gigs).  Here's the thing though, in order for your phone to accept the Korean sim card, your phone needs to be unlocked.  Or, if you don't want to unlock your phone but know what kind of phone you want, get the sim card and then buy a phone in Yongsan (post on Yongsan/Sinyongsan coming later).  I haven't bought a phone there but I have seen the prices and types of phones and they are reasonably priced.  I think you only need a passport also to buy a phone there.

This is how my sim car came.  I picked it up at a cj counter that thearrivalstore.com emailed me about.  Purchasing the sim card is very straight forward and easy.  A few days before you arrive, they tell you the location of the sim card and give you a map showing you where it is.  The cool thing about the sim card is that unlike American sim cards, it has the capability of being used as a t-money card as well.  However the t-money function does not work on every phone.  It can also be used as cash bee.  The way I understand cash bee to work is that it is like a reloadable pre-paid visa that you can use anywhere that accepts services like apple pay/android pay.  Along with the sim card, you get a packet of instructions and your phone number.  I immediately set my phone up in the airport and it took less than a minute.