Landed in Seoul: First 2 Weeks

[VIDEO::https://youtu.be/-_inOgq4Is8]

Hello, this is Hunter. It's been two weeks since touching down in Seoul. Many things happened so fast. Here are some recaps:

8/24 Day 0: Once stepping off the airplane, I was immediately greeted by the Korean Public Health Department. The authorities guided all passengers through the COVID Q-code check-in station. The Q-code is an intermittent COVID account that is tracked by the government. It is required in order to enter Korea and notifies whether or not a person must quarantine. The primary information it needs is a COVID test 72 hours before arriving and another test 24 hours after arriving. After going through the station, there was the usual immigration and customs checkpoints. Testing centers were posted in various parts of the airport and packed with travelers. Testing was definitely an urgent matter. A surprising fact was the Q-code did not require proof of vaccination. I wonder about Korea's confidence in mitigating more waves of COVID in the future. It is possibly because of their successful history of tackling COVID effectively.

8/25 Day 1: I joined other CIEE students to travel to a COVID testing center. The test was consisted with mouth and nose swabs. On this day, I was being cautious going around public because of the possibility of being infected. A little fear was always in my mind. If my results comeback positive, then I immediately go into quarantine. Also, I could have spread it to anyone I was in contact with. Gladly, the test came back negative, so I was relieved.

8/28 Day 4: The CIEE staff hosted a 'scavenger hunt' for everyone. The task was to take group pictures at assigned landmarks around Seoul. The objective was to explore more of Seoul and get familiar with local culture... and public transportation. Luckily, with prior experience, I easily led my group in the complex public transportation system. The students in my group has never been in Korea before, so I thought I should guide them. However, the landmarks were unfamiliar, which I then use the Naver map app. The mission took two and a half hours; that is much faster than the expected time, four to five hours. After finishing, I took them on an extended tour in Hongdae, a hub filled with young adult and college culture. 

8/31 Day 7: The day before the first day of class. International exchange programs hosted campus tours, city tours, and social gatherings that day. But, all tickets were sold out. I was a little sad that I couldn't get into most of the activities. There are about 1,200 exchange students in Yonsei University. That is a record breaking number, the vice-president of the international office of affairs said. Each tour was capped at 50 to 100 students and the mentor's club gatherings probably had the same limit. Rather than taking part in those events, I solely roamed around Seoul and visited landmarks I never visited before: Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Namsan Seoul Tower, Gwanghwamun Square, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Myeongdong Shopping District. The experience required me to be perseverant. In the back of my mind, I knew I would not have this much time to explore numerous places… while studying.

9/3 Day 10: It’s Saturday. I made a tour reservation with YECCO, a cultural exchange program that guides foreign students to Korean culture. My roommate and I met with four native students to learn about Gyeongbokgung Palace… I was taught nothing about it before. During the tour, we frequently conversed with each other. The environment was friendly and casual rather than a tour guide and tour group relationship. Afterwards, I felt more comfortable and connected with them. 

9/6 Day 13: I went to one class that was an hour long in the morning, walked to a gym in Sinchon to exercise, and picked up my passport pictures… for my alien registration card. The ARC is required to legally leave Korea after residing for a long period of time. Yonsei offered three days, each with six hour working hours, for 1,200 students to apply for the ARC. Normally, foreigners must reserve an appointment through the government. However, the earliest time slots were estimated to be six weeks from that day. The line was long… and sluggishly slow. After waiting 90 minutes, I finally got to an ARC administrator. All of my documents looked good; therefore, the process took a surprisingly 30 seconds. My stress was emptied out of my heart. At that point, all government immigration work was finished… hopefully.

Now, Chuseok is around the corner which means more experiences and excursions. But I still have things to share from the past two weeks. Stay tuned on my CIEE stories. 

If you want to see what I am currently up to, follow me on Instagram @hunter.leong 

To see more about my life in college and my past summer experiences, check out my Youtube @Go_Hengjian