도착했습니다

1 March 2013 (Day 1)

무사히 도착했습니다. Arrived safely in Seoul.

Without me knowing, my arrival coincided with a national holiday here, which is known as March 1 Independence Movement Day (삼일절/三一节), commemorating a day in which Koreans openly resisted the occupation by Japanese and fought for their independence. Not like it makes my arrival in Seoul any special, but hey, just thought of sharing :)

Anyway, what can I say bout Day 1, except err..., it was a little shattering. Why? I was on the verge of breakdown, if I may admit. First of all, the room is tiny (with a capital T!). The pictures online are definitely misleading. I know it's gonna be small (what can you expect from a 9.9m² room?), but now I think it's really pitiful. For the same amount I'm paying, I got a room 2.5times bigger in Singapore. Now Singapore doesn't seem that expensive to live in :(

Worse, the dysfunctional mobile phone (or rather, the line) further ruined my already-bleeding heart. I can't call, can't whatsapp, can't SMS, can't log on to internet, and worrying about how worried my parents will be (not hearing from me) got me in dismay. Sigh. And because the electrical adapter is different in Korea, I can't even use my laptop to connect to the internet to 报平安. Thankfully, a student who also works part-time in the goshiwon, was kind enough to lend me his mobile to call home. And he speaks not-bad English, thank goodness!

Unlike Malaysia, there aren't many mobile retailers here, and unlike Singapore, it's also impossible to register a SIM prepaid card at 7-11. eff-em-ell.

Knowing I've yet to buy my bedroom accessory, ahjussi lent me a pillow and blanket to warm the cold night. Thank you for the hospitality (although I'm still upset about size of the room). As there is nothing much I could do and wanting to soothe the sullen mood, I jumped into bed before 10pm. Taking a deep breath, I told myself everything's going to be fine. 모든게 좋아 질거야.

2 March 2013 (Day 2)

After a 12-hour sleep (how did I?!), the first thing I did was to head out to Hyundai department store just a minute walk away to get the necessities (food, pillow and such). Ahjussi found me a universal adapter and I am finally connected to the outside world. You'll never understand how big of a deal this is until you're in my position. Typing happily (as if I own the world *fistpump*), I updated family and friends of my status. This feels so good!

It's freaking 1°C outside today, and I don't even intend to leave the room for the rest of the day, except for meals. The entire day, all I did was facebooking, watching TV and shedding tears over Hyung Bin and Kyung Mi's wedding video. Brother logged into FB at night and taught me how to connect to WiFi via the wired connection so I can have a chat with parents on my iphone even without a mobile line. Amazing, I didn't know such technology exist! So much more at ease after our video chat. 그래 모든게 좋아 질거야! :)