Midterm exam and being on edge

2014/07/23

At the end of the previous week I had the midterm exam as I've been already through the half of the first semester. The tasks were similar to TOPIK exam, but of course much easier and covered only studied material. It took us 2 days!!!! Oh my God. The first part of this test took us about 3 hours and included grammar and vocabulary, listening and writing a composition on a given topic. That was rather hard. Too much to think about and too little time. Due to the lack of time I tried to put the last 20 task in the rest 10 minutes and could only read the textes between the lines. The next day we had the second part of the test- speaking exam. We needed to asnwer the teacher's random questions using the studied grammar and words. Besides there was a picture to describe it. And finally, we needed to speak for 3 minutes about any topic the teacher picks up. I'm saying "we", but I actually mean each of us, one by one, face to face with the teacher. 

My preparations

I could take a photo of only the first page of the exam paper

To tell you the truth, I'd been preparing for the speaking part for 2 days (as it is the most difficult part of the test for me), but the exam itself took me only 5 minutes. That was somehow dissapoiting. I tried to guess the possible topics and prepare them, but the teacher chose another one, so my efforts were in vain.... or maybe not, in the future I would need to use them anyway.. )))))
I got 91 points for speaking exam. Plus my results for the first part of the test- all in all 89 points out of 100 possible. The passinf score was 70 points. So considering this, my mark is not bad but leave much to be desired. Well, I'm not very upset... moreover the next exam will be better. I'm sure!!!

My results. Shoud have been better (((

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

My arrival in Korea........ finally

2014/06/18-19

Finally my dream is coming true. Finally I'm going to Korea. I spent so much time, strengths and energy on this, starting from collecting documents and money ( hopefully the tour company New Asia gave me a helping hand), finishing with my luggage.... but all these obstacles were for sure worth it. 2 jobs almost without weekends from 8 am till 9-11 pm... Wow, that was really hard. But I had no other choice because we all can't get money out of nowhere, moreover the foreign study is not a cheap deal... university, dormitory, half-empty baggage... that's why I had to spend quite much money on clothes, sheets, blanket and other first-need stuff. And, of course, I was so excited and was eager to have a look at everything and right now: at the country where I'm going to live for the next one year minimum, walking, excursions, subway, coffees and restaurants.... all these are not free from charge, of course. The flight wasn't difficult but it was long enough. I was on the board with my friend and we had a transfer in Dubai.... it took us 8 hours by plane from St. Petersburg to Dubai, in the airport of Dubai we spent 3 more hours and from Dubai to our long-awaited Seoul- 8 hours. We were lucky to use Emirates airlines and that was really great! Our Russian Airflot airlines are so far and can never be compared with Emirates. When we finally landed we were tired till death and had to search for a room in the hotel for a couple of days because we came before that day when we could occupy our university dormitory. And thanks to one russian girl who met us at the airport and escorted us to the motel which is situated in the Russian district called Tongdaemun where there are so many Russians, Russian speach, Russian shops and caffees. As soon as we left our bags in the hotel room we went straight to the mobile phone center in order to find out about getting a local sim-card. But, unfortunately, it turned out to be not that easy as we thought before. First of all for getting Korean sim-card we have to get id-card, then we should open a bank account and make a minimum 1-year contract. Of course there are some other sim-cards without any contracts, but as sweet as it may seem, they don't work in our Russian mobiles. All in all, I've been here for already about a month but still don't have ANY sim-card((((. Luckily here in Seoul you can catch free wi-fi internet almost in every caffee or restaurant or even outside on the street, and every single Korean man, woman, child and an old person use special korean messenger Kakaotalk which is very convenient for sending instant messages, smiles and making calls. That's why I can be got into touch almost all the time . So, in short, these are my preparation days for reaching my dream in studying in Korea.

Preparing for the flight. St.Petersburg' airport

A bird's-eye view to Dubai city

Morning view

I was met by this nice girl in South Korea's airport Inchon

It wouldn't be me if I didn't take a picture of this cool restroom in the airport of Dubai )))

Even if we wanted we couln't be bored on bord the plane. Each sit had this kind of screen where one could choose any TV show, movie, music or whatever he wanted in any language. So cool and comfortable

Russian airlines called Airflot is so far from Arabian airlines Emirates in service. The food was much better than I've ever tried taking a flight of Russian airlines

Saying "goodbye" to Russia

In Dubai's airport

I'm in love with bikes. So have found one in Dubai's airport. It's cool, isn't it?)))