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First, I realize there is no "Seoul Post #1" but that's because I titled it "First few weeks in Seoul". I'd title this one "Second few weeks in Seoul" but I've been here for six weeks and there's going to be more. From here on out you can expect "Seoul Post #n" to be the title!
I really love living in Seoul. Maybe it's too early to say that, but so far it's been true. There are so many little things that I really like: automatic sliding glass doors, extra convenient convenience stores, partying until 7am, noraebangs everywhere, super cheap transportation, heated floors, good food, and the list goes on! It probably seems like a list of irrelevant things, but there's just so many of those little things that make daily life here so fun. I was talking to a friend who is also American and he was telling me about some of the things he misses like the food and English being spoken/written everywhere. I really don't mind having so much Korean food or not being able to understand most of the buildings/signs/menus that don't have English. Daily life, on the whole, has been great.
Now for some other updates...
Most of the short winter program people are gone and the spring semester people are here. There was a period in between where I turned into a massive degenerate. Every night a few others and I would go out drinking (never just one or two drinks) and, for a week and a half, it was really bad (like ten days of drinking). Don't get me wrong, there were some really fun nights of clubbing and being up until sunrise... but some of the nights were just sad. I would wake up and think, "what has happened to my life?" before getting ready to go out again (context: in the U.S., I only went out maybe once a weekend). Now that spring classes are starting, I won't be so reckless (which is a blessing and a curse, I suppose).
During that time, I stopped playing Starcraft. When I started a few days ago I was playing way worse than when I had stopped. I got really frustrated on the ladder and got tilted for a whole day. The next day, I asked my roommate from home and some other people on the GW CSL team to play practice games with me and I'm starting to feel confident again. Hopefully I can hit Masters again before the end of March, but I really need to figure out PvZ first (and maintain some kind of regular playing schedule).
Feel free to ask me any questions about Seoul, Yonsei or anything else and I'll try to answer. I'll also attach a few photos with brief descriptions after the "Goals" section!
Goals:
[ ] Go to live GSL, SSL, and Proleague events
I plan on going to SSL this Thursday, maybe you'll see me on stream!
[ ] Reach Masters with Protoss on KR ladder
Went through a tough time and wasn't really playing for a few weeks, but now I'm back to practicing regularly so hopefully I can do this soon!
[ ] Place into the Level 2 Korean class
My placement test is Wednesday and I'm a little nervous for the interview part, but I am confident in my ability to place into level two.
[✓] Get back into Taekwondo
I've been going to Taekwondo here at Yonsei on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so this one is done.
[✓] Write semi-regular TL blog posts!
Well... I wrote this, didn't I?
[✓] Meet GTR, Tasteless and Valdes
Chance encounters, super cool dudes!
[ ] ...I'll think of more later...
Pictures:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QahdOMM.jpg)
Some super cool buildings in Dongdaemun that light up at night.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5hr0pl0.jpg)
Random street in Sinchon (where Yonsei is located). I love how the streets are always full of people.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8MttOrB.jpg)
Lotte World!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8cvBfuB.jpg)
Gyeonghoeru Pavilion at Gyeongbokgung Palace.
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I love Korea blogs :D
Quick questions: Do you think a solo traveler girl can survive in Seoul speaking 0% Korean? Or is it too dangerous/problematic? I am starting my journey this year and Korea is one of the places I'd love to visit, but I'm scared for my safety and afraid I could get lost or starve to death 
Good luck reaching Masters League!
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51489 Posts
oh so this is your account lel
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please tell me more about heated floors? where do they have them except in housings, which is now pretty much standard, where are they?
And how much does a beer or a cocktail cost on average when you go out?
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On March 01 2016 08:46 Silvana wrote:I love Korea blogs :D Quick questions: Do you think a solo traveler girl can survive in Seoul speaking 0% Korean? Or is it too dangerous/problematic? I am starting my journey this year and Korea is one of the places I'd love to visit, but I'm scared for my safety and afraid I could get lost or starve to death Good luck reaching Masters League!
One of my female Mexican friends did it. Although she had every place / location / transportation method already planned out, which is what you might have to do.
As long as you can speak English, you'll be able to find someone who can at least somehow communicate with you.
I also heard there are salsa clubs in Seoul if you're into that haha. I'm sure there are Spanish speakers there 
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Do you think a solo traveler girl can survive in Seoul speaking 0% Korean? Or is it too dangerous/problematic?
I can say speaking 0% Korean (like some my friends) would be fine. It's easy enough to get your point across as long as you can point to a map/menu/etc. Like parkufarku said, just make sure things are planned out. Not knowing Korean will make it harder to improvise.
oh so this is your account lel
I have been sniped. Yes! This is my account.
please tell me more about heated floors? where do they have them except in housings, which is now pretty much standard, where are they?
And how much does a beer or a cocktail cost on average when you go out?
I've encountered them most in my dorm room, I'm not sure they exist in stores, etc. but I don't have them at home (and none of my friends do) so it was new for me!
As for cocktails and beer... On average a regular cocktail like gin and tonic or vodka cranberry has been ~5,000 KRW, a Long Island Iced Tea or similar bigger cocktail has been ~7,000 KRW. Beer has usually been around ~3,000KRW for Cass or Hite and then more expensive for the others. There's a lot of "deals" type stuff though. I've been to a couple all you can drink events, one bar does 2,000 KRW gin and tonics, and there's some other stuff like that. That said I've mostly been in Sinchon and Hongdae, when I went to Gangnam I drank soju outside of a Ministop because I didn't want to buy the drinks inside.
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oh yeah, Korea isn't dangerous at all. Granted, you shouldn't walk in a dark lit neighborhood by yourself at 3 am as a woman, but Asia is relatively safe, unless you go to China or SE Asia, and even then, it's still quite safe compared to other places around the world - (I'm looking at you Latin America)
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How are the people? Are they OK with foreigners? Do you feel like you get extra attention (good or bad) or do you feel more like (average) people try to avoid you? And also, how is the air quality?
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Thanks for the answers guys! Hopefully I can go this year.. I'll give you a shoutout if the GSL camera man catches my cheerful ^.^
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On March 01 2016 19:51 B.I.G. wrote:
How are the people? Are they OK with foreigners? Do you feel like you get extra attention (good or bad) or do you feel more like (average) people try to avoid you? And also, how is the air quality?
The people have been really nice to me! I use my Korean whenever I can and generally people are pretty nice? Not like weirdly nice, but kind of what you'd expect I guess. My first few weeks here I noticed people look at me a lot, but now it either doesn't happen or I don't notice anymore (probably the latter). As far as I'm aware, people don't try to avoid me or anything like that. So far the air quality has been fine, but I've heard it gets worse in the summer so I may start wearing one of the masks if the Koreans do.
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I'm in Seoul right now too and would also like to watch live sc2. Do you know where and how I can be able to watch live matches? The gsl finals are usually in March? Do you know where those are held? 😄
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Can't believe I didn't comment on this earlier...I love blogs like this. Keep writing them and I'll keep reading them
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EPT
