Local Knowledge/Language Study

This weekend, I went shopping in Myeondong, which has a lot of trendy and some expensive stores. I went with a Korean teacher, so she showed me around and saved me some money when I wanted to purchase a pair of shoes. I guess for certain stores you can buy money vouchers. On the street in little kiosks you can exchange won for a voucher that give you a 20-30% discount. I saved 50,000 won when buying a pair a of shoes that were nearly impossible to find. Brown shoes with a decent tone or style are very difficult to find. Black shoes are ubiquitous and come in every possible style wanted or not. I guess this voucher system gives locals a discount, but allows for the stores to make a greater profit on the tourists or unknowing expats.

This week, I will start visiting the Ewha Woman's University campus, specifically Ewha Language Center. Yes, the university is women only, but the language center is co-educational, so it won't be for sightseeing purposes only. I received a scholarship through the G.O.A.L (Global Oversees Adoptee Link) organization. So, instead of studying 2 hours/day, 5 days/week and spending nearly $400/month, I will study less, 2 hours/ 3 times a week and pay nothing. One drawback is that I will have to commute nearly one hour each way to the University. If I was still working in my first location (Shinchon), it would have only been a 10-15 min. wall.

My Korean is still poor, but I am hoping that I can start at a pre-intermediate level. It should be nice to learn at a new location with different teachers. It will allow me to get away from Gangnam area for part of the day, which is always nice, because it is a very "rat race" type area.