Gaming in korea (The real scars of Korean gaming)

Hey guysi 'm posting a this great report on gaming in South Korea, as you may or may not no gaming is very popular here and professional players can year 6 figures competeing.  PC rooms are extremely popular here and young adults are known to spend hours on hours in these rooms. The link below explains in detail the good,bad and the ugly in the gaming community.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32996009

Trip to Osaka, Japan

Last week my partner Somy and I traveled to Osaka, Japan as an early birthday present for myself.  We arrived in Osaka roughly 12 noon at Kansai airport (one of to airports in Osaka) which is actually on a man made island, from there we decided to get a day subway pass for 1500yen that included an express train to Namba, the centre of Osaka and free travel within the city for the remainder of the day. Just to let you guys know the subway in Japan can get quite costly if your using it a lot and the express train to Namba alone is a little over 1000yen and individual fares within the city range from 100 to 300 yen.

We took the express train into Namba and switched to a different line to take us to the area our hotel was located in, we stayed at Daiwa Roynet Hotel Osaka Uehonmachi, which was two stops from Namba and right next to the station, so it was a fantastic location. The hotel was brilliant and i would recommend it to anyone visiting Osaka, as the room size was decent for Japan (hotel rooms tend to be very small) and the hotel in general was very clean.

Somy in front of the famous Marathon Man

Im not going to bore every one to death in this post with to much detail i'm just going to give a brief outline of what our days consisted of while in Osaka, i will make a new posts about specific things we did and some tips for anyone traveling there later.

The first day we took the subway back to Namba and explored the area searching for Dotonbori a popular tourist destination in Namba Osaka. Dotonbori is famous for its giant crab and other restaurants. Once we located the area we both of us stuffed are faces with crab, ramen and a host of other Japaanese food in between walking round the area. By the time 10pm came we were both ready for bed and returned to the hotel.

Myself standing in front of osaka castle

Day 2 started with a walk to Osaka castle, which due to my terrible sense of direction got us lost and turned into a train journey, we spent half the day walking round the castle and basking in the glorious sunshine. After we again jumped on the rather pricey subway and headed to Umeda for the rest of the day where Somy was in her element in the tax free shopping department, If im being honest there not a lot in Umeda that interested we a great deal although we did take the big wheel which looks over the city which was pretty cool.

The third day and final full day consisted of a trip to Kyoto located next to Osaka. We took the train from Umeda to Kyoto station and spent the majority of the daytime exploring and dying in the heat. Kyoto is very spread out and the best option would be buying a rail pass for the day as the temples and shrines are really spread out. Once we could no longer walk we headed back to Namba and i braved Sushi yet again, this time however i was pleasantly surprised that i actually enjoyed the whole experience (maybe due to the saki).

All in all the trip was extremely enjoyable as well as challenging at times in regards to navigating around osaka, however the Japanese people were very kind and helpful, every time i was struggling with a map they would come over and try to help me regardless of whether they could speak English or not. It really was a birthday present i am extremely grateful for, although it probably means i'm going to have to do something amazing for Somys birthday in a couple of weeks.

Korean Fish Market

There is always a first time for everything, and while I've always loved English fish and chips i have never really been fond of sea food or raw fish.  A couple of weeks ago it was parents day in Korea a time when children give gifts to there parents, its like the Korean equivalent to mothers and fathers day i guess. Well anyway my girlfriends family decided to celebrate with a trip to Gangseo fish market to buy fresh fish, have it prepared then eat it back home, so although it was not my cup of tea i'm always open to trying new things and experiencing other culture.

This particular fish market is made up of 2 floors, first of all the ground floor of which is full of independent sellers, who try to persuade customers to buy from there fish stalls, although the benefit of being a foreigner was no one hassled me to buy from stalls. Theres a vast selection of sea food in the sellers tanks such as octopus, giant crabs, lobster and shell fish, however we stuck to the fish. Upstairs consists of restaurants that will cook and prepare the seafood you have bought for a price however we did not visit any as we took home what we had bought.

The picture above shows the fish we bought to eat raw, the fish were caught and prepared into sashimi(raw fish sliced into thin pieces) there and then. As i wasn't a big fan I also purchased mackerel to be cooked so i i wasn't a fan of the sashimi i could have something I could enjoy.

To be fair the raw fish we bought wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be and the salmon was actually really delicious, the other fish was OK but to be honest it was a little tasteless and chewy for my liking, the mackerel on the other hand was prepared beautifully by my girlfriends mum, she had battered the fish like we would back home, so i was extremely  grateful for this.

All in all it was an interesting experience for me although i probably wont be running out to buy any raw fish soon, tho in saying that I'm off to Osaka, Japan this week so i could be sampling raw fish sooner than I think. For those of you looking to check out a Korean fish market the most famous and popular is Noryangjin Fish market the address is posted below.

How to get there: Noryangjin Station(Line 1–Exit 1, Line 9–Exit 2). Walk along the overpass to the market.

No need for a gym membership

Fitness and working out is a huge part of my life, back in England I would workout at least 5 times per week. Since being in Korea I have continued to work out and i was a member at Seoul National University's gym however it was kind of  expensive it was 55,000 won per month. So when moving back to Gimpo I didn't really want to fork out for a membership for a new gym as they all seem kind of pricey.

Instead i have started running on a trail up a small mountain behind where I live and I'm really enjoying it i have even found parallel bars, pull up bars and even a bench press along the trail. When I’m deep in the woods, I’m not there to make small talk or impress anyone. I’m there to work. I love the solitude as I am free from distractions and interruptions. I also enjoy outdoor training as it forces you to use your mind. As long as you are creative, you can exercise almost anywhere with little or nothing.

So remember you don't need a fancy gym to stay active Korea is full of similar work out parks, so for an effective workout you just need to use your mind.  Myself I have incorporated body weight exercises to my workouts such as variations of push ups, dips and pull ups as well as incorporating running and hill sprints. Maybe at some stage I will sign up for a gym in the area but at the moment I'm happy using the earth as my gym free of  charge.

Acting like a big kid

 

Although I turn 26 next month I still act as tho im 6 years old, I stopped by the amusement arcade today and had so much fun messing around on the baseball, basketball and shooting games. In the end my girlfriend literally had to drag me out of the place, not sure if I will ever grow up. Remember your never to old to live like a kid.

Review of my Spring Korean Language course at SNU.

So I have just finished my level 1 Korean language course at Seoul National University and I have to say I am quite relieved. I found it so hard to go back into a classroom and study again after having not studied for 5 years, it really was a shock how difficult I found it.

Why Seoul National University
First of all I was accepted into to language programs Sogang University and Seoul National University, I opted for SNU due to hearing that it was the most prestigious university in the country. Turns out I should of listened to my girlfriend and chosen Sogang University as SNU was a horrendous bus and train journey that took 1hour 30 minutes whereas Sogang was a 50 minute bus journey from Gimpo (More on that later).

Cost and course outline
Anyway it cost roughly 1,600,000 won and the duration was 10 weeks with lessons taking place from 9am to 1pm Monday-Friday. The text books consisted of the alphabet and 16 chapters of which at the end of every 2 chapters you would have homework and also a lab test plus role play to prepare for. The homework role play and lab test contributed to 30% of your final score while the rest was made up by a mid term exam and a final exam.

Classmates and Progress
I would say the language programs are made up of Chinese students although there are endless different nationalities represented. My class was made up of 14 students who were all super nice but totally different from me in so many ways, however I always love meeting new people from different cultures. The Asian nationalities seemed to progress a lot faster than the western students this may be because they are already used to using symbols and the language sounds pretty similar or it could just be that they have a higher work ethic than us westerners. Whatever the reason, they were light years ahead of me which frustrated me to a degree, however I remained positive as my girlfriend was very impressed with my Korean and I was using in everyday situations.

Accommodation
As I mentioned above my commute was terrible so I decided to rent a room in Gwanak close to the university this cost 300,000won per month but was very basic and the kitchen and bathroom were shared. I believe there are dorms on campus for a similar price however these are shared.

Final Thoughts
So my final thoughts on the last to months are yes it was a costly experience but I learnt more Korean than I ever thought I would and can now actually speak basic Korean to my girlfriends parents which is important to me as they don't speak a word of the queen. The text books were good and the teachers complimented them very well and all were friendly and were up for the odd joke or two.

Looking back I probably could of stayed in Gimpo-si with my girlfriend and took private lessons with a tutor and home studied for the  money I spent but it was a good experience for me as I never went to a University in the UK and probably never will. 

For more information about SNU's language program check out http://lei.snu.ac.kr/klec

Clueless in Korea

Hi. Welcome to my blog page my name is Ellis and I am a 25 year old man from England living in Korea. After finally getting some free time on my hands I have finally decided to start a blog about my experiences in Korea. I moved here 2 months ago to be with my Korean girlfriend (What a lucky girl) and have been attending Seoul National University studying Korean language.

I will be making posts detailing my experiences, thoughts and opinions whether fun, serious, happy or sad while I am here. Hopefully you will find my posts interesting as well as helpful.