Night club in Korea

2014/09/08

Yesterday my friend's groupmates decided to go out to a night club, not any club, but in Gangnam area. It is the most prestigious expensive district in Seoul where the majority of celebrities live). He really just such proportions. You come there, and the people seemed to have gone from the screen of Korean dramas, all dressed-up, cool cars, and the hotels are the most nicest ones. And that was right on time as I tried to found out  where are all these Korean boys and girls with the pretty faces, beautiful lines, in expensive brand clothes and luxury cars. That turned out to be there- on Gangnam. The club where we were headed is called "Octagon". It ranks 9th out of hundreds of the best clubs in Seoul. And it's really so awesome. At least I found it very cool. There are 3 floors there, a huge dance floor, the music is great (just as I like)- electro and house. The way how it sounds is much better and differ from that of  St. Petersburg's club music. Besides, the luck was on our side that day, we came by 10 pm and the entrance fee was only 10$. For  Gangnam area is not bad actually, because starting from 11 pm the cost would be 30$. The fee includes one free drink, alcohol, water or juice, whatever you want. So do any other clubs in Seoul. Well, at least it was the same in those clubs where I have already been (5-6 of them).

There were 7 people of us.

My Russian friend, one Chinese guy, one Turkish guy and 2 Japanese girls

We entered the club, went down to the dance floor. First we went to powder our noses. The toilet was as in the best hotel. So  huge, sofas and ottomans and two huge wall mirror. And there we came across the magnificent view .... Some girl..... some are sitting, some are lying, doing make-up, drying hair and making it and even likely dressing up. There were huge bags with clothes and other stuff to fix themselves up. In other part of this restroom there were toilets and sinks, again, with huge mirrors. So, you don't need to waste your time at home, just need to come by 10 pm and ... doll yourself up right here))).

The restroom.Unfortunately, I couldn't take the photo of the whole of it

There was one problem. I was told there were a dress code and face control, too. So we had to put a more or less sexy and nice clothes on, so that brutal, but at the same time quite friendly and cute guards spread the red carpet in front of your beautiful legs and let you in to the club .... ))) I'm joking, of course, there were no carpets. We just had to bring our ID cards for them to check our age. We made the payment inside. We stopped, looked around, and after 10 minutes went to search for any cafes to eat and drink something - mostly alcohol (but only 2 girls were drinking, the others prefered not to, and I was not the exception. The reason are my constant headaches and anyway I hardly ever drink, only socially and not often and much, and I come to clubs just to dance and for no other reason))).

The dance floor at the moment when we just came in at around 10 pm. So it's too early for people to come and dance

The girls were drinking makgeolli - Korean traditional alcoholic drink 6.5-7%. It is also called rice wine. Since it is made from rice it is milky color and slightly sweet. I gave it a try and I would say, I was not impressed.. Though my Korean assistant simply glorified makgeolli, saying that this drink have the variety of flavors, such as banana, strawberry, pineapple flavors and something else. Well, I'm not sure that everybody will like it...... As they say "Tastes differ"

So we ate, drank, and finally went to the club.

Trying to kill our time in KFC

We came back it at around midnight and there were so many people already there. Again, the music was great, and our bodies began to move under it themselves)))). I noticed the DJ and was staring at him the whole time. And not only me. Other girls also drew attention to him. It's because he was very cool, handsome, with huge shoulders, stylish hair and beautiful face, and the music- the music he twisted .... In short, we stared at him, until he was replaced by another DJ .... ... We were fully upset. Well, nothing to do. We just continued to dance .... By the way there were so many Russian girls there and they were rocking and kicking asses.... in one word they really enjoyed. Maybe only Europeans behave themselves very open  .... Korean (Asians) try to look shy and modest, at least the vast majority, but there are, of course, as everywhere, exceptions .... And that is only facade. I mean they want to make other people think that they are so nice and well-behaved. But in fact they are not. In fact there are so many drunk and insane girls ... exactly the girls, not boys. Just imagine the picture...... Drunk girls are being carried out of a club in a half-dead condition, or girls lying around in the bushes, and emptying their stomachs by shooting the cats. Honestly, it is so disgusting. Yesterday I watched the girls with guys who were headed straight to the nearby hotel  with skirts and dresses hiked up in back reveling there intimate zones without even noticing it or just not caring at all about it. Hush!!!!…..

This is the area wgich is cowered with clubs and tus crowds of young people

Each hour there very more and more people even though there was hardly room to breath.   There was one group of young people ... I do not know ... maybe models. Americans. Girls and guys are all tall, handsome, beautiful, sexy=)). Couple of guy looked a bit girlish so I supposed they were gays. Anyway they drew so much attention that even the most dressed-up  Korean guys were in shock and died of envy, because those guys are simply overshadowed everything and everybody ... .. And then the girls-girls. A good part of those that were on the dance floor just stuck to those American guys. We were also there near them but we were there from the very beginning and those cool guys appeared later. One of them even came up to me and talked... My friend (girl) was so surprise and shocked. She couldn't believe in our luck. LOL. His name was Rodrigo and he was from Brazil .... Haha ... .Though I was sure that he was an American. And by the way, all the time he was half-naked. All of those guys simply took their t-shirts off showing their biceps and piercings in their  nipples LOL))))) Anyway, he asked my name, introduced himself and after this just was gone with one of those cool girls. Well, frankly speaking I do not care about all those sweet guys as their look is only the beautiful  wrap, nothing more. Of course, maybe he is not only handsome but possesses some other good features as well, but who knows!)))).

There were enough Korean guys with a good style there, so were girls, all tall, slim, on high hills, with a good attracting make-up. In short, there were everything in them necessary to draw attention ...

By the way, Clubs in Korea are much more safer than in Russia, and probably, in America and in Europe. Yes, of course, guys stick to girls, even to me. But ... ..I just say "No, thank you" and that's it.... it usually works. Next time they will not try to do it again So, they are not that insistent, that is going to be a good news for ladies, who usually go to a club just for relaxing, enjoying the music, simply dancing and spending with friends.

At the end of the story ... .. We left the club at around 3:30 am, just because we were so tired and didn't leave the floor even for a couple of minutes. And even despite the fact that none of us wore high hills, already at 3 o'clock in the morning we were completely dead and our feet cried for help and were longing for the rest))))))). So we decided that was time to go home ... But the guys refused to catch a taxy as it was a bit expensive.... well, not that much, but definitely more expensive than to go by train..... and as you may already understood.... we are just students here with no money((((, so we had to wait until 5:30 am when the subway opens. And at that time I just was dreaming about the flying magic carpet ...  or a time machine, or a magic lamp ... you know, that you can snapped you fingers, and find yourself in a comfortable dorm room in your little cozy bed under the blanket and black teddy-cat beside you....... Mmm, so nice =)) )))).

Getting used to my new life in Korea

2014/06/23

After 2 days of living in the hotel in Russian district Dongdaemun we have finally moved to our dormitory. Our university is called Soongsil and is situated almost in the center of Seoul which appeared to be so good and convenient for us as we could easily get to any part of the city taking a subway or a bus- fortunately both are very near to our university campus.

The room in out dorm is quite cozy and light. It's a double - room as I'm living with a friend of mine with whom I've come to Korea. Each of us has a big bed, a desk, book shelves and a small wardrobe. There is also a small fridge, a cupboard and one more large wardrobe with a big mirror on one of its doors and a toilet with shower.

The desk is very cosy so you can do there whatevere you awnt ))))

And very big bed which allows you to lay in any possible pose :-)

Our tiny hallway

Going back to my dormitory. On the B1 floor there are also a gym, table tennis, a laundry, where you can wash and dry your clothes only for 2$. Practically, one can come out and in the dorm any time even though there is, of course, a "security- guard". But as far as I understood the time of night and morning entrance schedule doesn't apply to foreigners only. Koreans have to deal with it and stick to dorm rules. That's a good idea actually, because during the first couple of weeks you can't sit in your room and long for "till-the-morning" going out and social debuts Our study has begun a few days later. On the first day there was a level - test. Those who came with any knowledge in Korean language and being fully aware of it simply didn't take any level - test, because they were placed in the first level group. But those who could speak and understand Korean at least a little bit and who didn't want to be the first - level student had to take this test and according to the results they were assigned to the various levels. Usually it's level 2, more rarely- level 3. Being in Russia I had already got TOPIK level 2, so I was hoping to start from level 3. In these terms I were to take the exam and I found it rather difficult. Well, maybe not that much, but I expected it to be not like this. There was a grammar test which appeared to be harder than I could imagine. I thought it would be just a simple grammar test. But to my horror, the set was the same as TOPIK with the only difference..... 4 hours long are given on real TOPIK test, but we could operate with only 1 hour. Ok, grammar is grammar and is not that difficult for me. But what was after that!!!!!!!!! The interview!!!!! As you may guess in Russia I could hardly practice my speaking in Korean due to lack of people to talk to. And I focused mainly in grammar. So during the interview I suddenly face with the so - called "language barrier" when you want to say something and even know how to, but can't as your tongue just stuck in my mouth and failed me. But ..... to my great surprise... seemed like my grammar test was not bad... 
Moreover I have already had TOPIK 2, so I could reach my goal and be placed into level 3....!!! I was really afraid of being placed into 2d level, because I didn't want to spend 3 month and additional money on the material which I already knew. Well I may attribute this very result to my diligence in study on which I've spent 1 year in Russia. What a nice student I am, aren't I?!

My books

However there is one big BUT........ You can't cook food here. It's just prohibited by dorm rules as students here are not allowed to use some electrical devices such as electrical stuff for cooking. That appeared to be such a disaster for me . That's because I simply can't eat korean food.... the majority of it, because it's eather too spicy or there are so many vegetables or specific roots or something weird inside all these korean soups and other kinds of food that seem not tasty to me at all. The truth is that the number of korean meals suitable for me can be counted on one hand, which I can usually find only in restaurants. But as you may all know visiting a restaurant ever time when you get hungry is not a cheap deal. That's why the only think I can do is to have a bite or a snack from time to time buying more or less suitable food for me in small shops and small markets. But lets go back to the level - test. It took me nearly 1.5 hours while others have been already studying in there classrooms. After the test I was taken to my classroom to my classmates who were trying hard to learn some new grammatical constructions. But, of course I was late for these 1.5 hours (it's 1.5 lessons out of 4). I didn't even have the needed books. So the teacher gave me the prints and I had to pull myself together and quickly get involved and go into the heart of the study process. Of course the teacher spoke in Korean and it was so uncommon for me that my poor ears were shocked and it blew my mind completely. So as the result even the half of the teacher's explanations couldn't reach my mind. But day by day step by step I was adjusting to this scheme. And for now I can understand what my teacher is speaking about..... well, at least 80% of it. LOL. But still there are certain difficulties in speaking. On the lessons we don't actually speak much, but I'd rather to. And I'm the person who prefers sticking to certain rules weather it's education or work or whatever. And of course I'd better our teacher be more strict and demanding. Because one should understand that persuading himself is much more difficult that the same would be done by the particular person (the teacher in our case). 

Aside from this, I liked the lessons, the teachers, all of them are quite kind and professional, active, always eager to give a helping hand to us and they are rather tolerant to foreigners, their explanations are simple enough to understand the subject-matter (there are 5-8 grammatical constructions each lesson and it's not little I would say, apart from every-day home task and new vocabulary which we are to learn by the newt lesson:-)

The lessons are from 9 am till 1 pm every on weekdays. They say we are allowed to miss only 3 lessons during the whole semester (3 months. To be more exact, 2, 5 months of study and 2 weeks of vacations). Otherwise, we've been told, we will not be transefered to the next level. There is also the final test at the end of each semester. If jne doesn't take this test, the same will happen. He will have to repeat the same level again. And of course the result of such a test is also plays its role. It must be over 70% for you to move to the nest level. So, in any words, If you come here for study, you'd better to study in order not to waste your time and money. I've come to Korea exactly on this very purpose, so I'm planning to do my best. Fighting to me !!!!!!

What else I would like to tell you, guys, is that our schedule consists not only in pure studying-studying and once more studying. There are also so-called "cultural lessons" that are held about once in 2 weeks. It means that our group together with our teacher or sometimes all the student of the whole level or even the whole university plan some small trips to interesting places like Korean traditional village or some. Korean teachers believe these lessons will help foreign students to be integrated into their culture and history and to understand Koreans more. Well, I completely agree... moreover isn't it a good opportunity to have some rest from constant vocabulary and grammar learning and take part in some events, sightseeing and simply communication with people?)))By the way, my group consists of 13 students and I am the only one European person there. It gives certain advantages, of course (everybody find me so nice and beautiful and, let us say, kind of unique, even though by Russian or even European standarts I am just common). Most of the students are from Asian countries such as Malasia, China, Vietnam, Mongol and Japan. 3 or 4 students are really good at Korean especially in speaking. But usually these students have been studying here from the very beginning (1st level)- and it's 6 months!!!! The great difference with me. Or students who have been just living in Korea for some time so they could practice their speaking ability even not going deep to grammar. Because of this I feel myself a little bit dissapointed and frustrated, but, I' here to study and I'm sure I will reach the same level and even better. 
As they say, 

"Patience and persistent win the day". 

      So will I !!!

The campus of Soongsil University is really very bright and nice. The life, joy and energy flourish here. So, these are my study days which I'm trying to enjoy ...

Somewhere between the university and the subway station (7 minutes on foot)

In front of the dorm entrance

Only small part of Soongsil Univercity campus. It's so bright especially in sunny days

Some monument in the campus territory