On Sunday, I was welcomed back by the extended Byeon family. The grandparents along with Uncle Josh's family joined us for dinner at home. We then opened the presents I brought from America. I brought games for the kids and shoes for Imo and my Korean mother. Everyone was excited to try the new games and the shoes were modeled with a lot of flair!
Jinyoung is now in middle school and is still her calm thoughtful self. Eujin also hasn't changed.....he is still bombastic as a seven year old. It was fun to see how much they have grown yet how much they are still the same kids I played Jenga and went to Nami island with.
On Monday, I made my way from Seoul to my school in Anyang. Anyang is a suburban region just outside of Seoul. It is about 40 minutes from downtown by subway, which is much closer compared to the two and a half hour epic journey from SCH in Asan.
Anyang University is a school of about 8,000. It is located on the outskirts of Anyang city on a mountain overlooking the suburban area. It is also a Christian university, which makes it the first Christian university I have attended. The founder of the international student program at Anyang also created the international student program at Soonchunhyang, so I am curious to see what is similar and what is different.
Anyang
When I arrived, I went to the international student housing. The housing for international students at Anyang is a bit different from any housing I have experienced in my academic career. While I have lived in traditional "community" dorms in the USA and lived in a large suite style dorm at SCH, the housing at Anyang is a literal house where about 26 international students hold residence together. There is a kitchen, four bathrooms, six bedrooms that board anywhere from three to seven students, and a common area. In my room, I have two roommates: Emily from Missouri State (also from St Louis!) and Winnie from Tainan, Taiwan.
My room
The common room in the house
In our international student house (the larger house of two for international students at Anyang), there are students from the USA, Finland, Spain, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, and Germany. It will be quite an adjustment to live in a cozy space with so many different people, but I like the sense of community this type of housing brings.
The kitchen
In the past two days, I have spent a lot of time with the returning and new students from Anyang. It's been quite interesting being on this side of the experience again as a "newbie" yet feeling very comfortable in Korea. We went bowling downtown Monday night and Tuesday we toured the city to get more acquainted with the area. We also went shopping on Tuesday at Emart for groceries, which was very exciting. It is nice after three years of school to be able to cook for myself in the place I live!
Tomorrow is orientation for the new students. I am curious to see how it differs from the orientation I experienced at SCH.
Coming from your large and extremely active family, I'm sure that adapting to your living situation won't be difficult. Just was how well it holds up for studying with all those people there? Will you all meet and set up quiet times or something?
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