SCH: Second Semester

I am back at SCH for my second semester of study abroad in Korea. It's kind of weird to be back after such a long break, but at the same time it feels like I had never left. I came down yesterday afternoon and turned my bare room into my home for the next four months. I met my international suitemate after I unpacked. Her name is Perpetua. She is a new student at SCH, born and raised in Nigeria, and came to Texas in her late teens for High school/University. She is very sweet and excited to meet our Korea suitemates. The Korean girls from our suite will be moving in this weekend, I'm very excited to meet them (I will have new suitemates this semester).

Yesterday after settling in, I met up with Sarah G, one of my friends from last semester. She came a few days ago and has been helping the new students get situated here at school. We went with some of the new students to EMart (The Korean equivalent to Walmart). I was able to get some much needed stuff for the semester (laundry detergent, ramen, and a huge tin of hot chocolate!).

After the Emart stop, we all ordered some chicken and had a chance to spend some time together. The new students are all very upbeat and excited for the semester. I am really excited for the semester, I think it will be a great group of international students.

Today, the international students went to the SCH Freshmen Welcome Ceremony. It was in Seoul in the Basketball Stadium from the 1988 Olympic Games. It was about a two hour bus ride to Seoul, so I was able to meet some more of the new students. The new students outnumber the returnees by more than two to one. I sat with one of the new Japanese students, Miako, who was very shy speaking English but spoke very well.

Once at the stadium, we were surrounded by three thousand freshmen SCH Korean students. Once in the stadium the ceremony began.

I didn't really know what to expect from a Korean welcome ceremony, but I was surprised by the way the ceremony commenced. Firstly, the school officials, including the president of the university walked down to the stage of the stadium to Pirates of the Caribbean music. I thought that was a bit odd, but hey, it was intense. Next the president made his welcome speech, which included a welcome to the international students. Poor guy, I think he had the English for the international welcome written for him by someone with limited knowledge about English, so the grammar was quite dreadful. Not only that, but in his welcome he said: "Welcome to all our friends from around the world: USA, UK, Mexico, Finland, Iceland, and all the others." What was bad was that there aren't any students from UK, Finland, or Iceland this semester. Olliver, one of the Canadians, was so offended that they would mention a few countries, and not the others. I have to agree that it's pretty bad that he mentioned three countries that aren't represented by the international community this semester.

After the presidents speech, the ceremony started to get weird. First, between the other speakers, there were these weird advertisements for the school. I think that is strange considering everyone in the stadium already enrolled in the school. After these other speakers, two comedians came to the stage and started a trivia competition for a scholarship. It was so bizarre. About twenty SCH students came to the stage and answered questions about SCH to win $1000 scholarship. It looked like a Korean variety show: a comedian hosting a competition, every time a person answered a question the comedian would crack a joke, and weird gag music in the background throughout. I don't know why they did this at a welcome ceremony, but it was unique.

After this competition, 2NE1 (an extremely famous Kpop group), was scheduled to sing. But before they came on, there was a lady with a pianist who taught the incoming freshmen the university anthem. Apparently they weren't getting it or they were buying time, because they sang it about five times. After this singing lesson, a singing/dancing/kungfu/screaming group came to the stage. They reminded my of Power Rangers meets Jackie Chan. They were kicking, punching, and yelling to some workout music. It was one of the strangest musical groups I have ever seen.

After they jumped around the stage for awhile (keep in mind, this is a WELCOME CEREMONY FOR A UNIVERSITY), 2NE1 came to the stage. The security guys were in full force as the Koreans swarmed towards the stage. 2NE1 sang four songs for ten minutes, and after those ten minutes, there was a "Kamsahamnida" (thank you) from the four singers, and they left the stage, ending the ceremony. As people were leaving, there was this music that reminded me of a Star Wars soundtrack. I was looking for a Tie Fighter as we were leaving because at this point, I thought one would swoop down.

(I know my posts have been kind of like popcorn: China here, Thailand there, and a bit of Korea. I am going to try to finish the China and Thailand posts as soon as possible. Now that I'm at school and all settled in, I will have a chance to finish those posts and let you know how things in Korea have been since I got back. Bear with me folks!)