It has been a while that I am away from here.
I am now sitting in the Min Suk Garden in Dongseo University, Busan, South Korea. I am listening to Kenny G Instrumental music and hear the birds and cricket singing. Autumn is here so the weather starts to get colder and colder. Some trees have changed its color to yellow and orange. I am sitting alone in my favorite bench. I, sometimes, feel like it is a dream. I had been dreaming of sitting in a place like this for a long time. I always find my real-self when I am alone with nature. I forget all of the sadness and problem once I am with nature.
How is my life here?
I have been here for a month already. Everything is good. I haven’t had homesick yet. Well… How did I feel once I arrive here? Everything is new to me. I actually do not know what should I learn first since there are many things. I met so many amazing people from all around the world. This is what makes KGSP special. Korean government allows people from all around the world to get to know each other in Korea, a wonderland. We are sharing our wonderful and amazing experiences together.
I treasure every moment I am having right now because I want it to be the best moment of my life. I promise to myself that I won’t make any mistakes or have any problems here. However, I know that things never go the way we want it to be. Like I said, life is funny. life is so unexpected. Unexpected things always happen unexpectedly. The best way for me to get away from problems and mistakes is not to fall in love again. Everyone around me such as my family and friends told me to find someone when I am here because I am now 25 already. I will be almost 30 when I am back. So I should think about it while I am studying here but that is not my plan at all. I am just so tired of it. I am tired of the relationship. However, I admit that sometimes I feel so lonely. Sometimes, I also need someone to stay by my side. I also want to share my experience and moment here with someone. I want to tell him how do I feel. But, I would rather keep it all alone because I don’t wanna be with someone just for a moment then disappear.
Well… Let’s talk about my experiences and activities that I have done since I came here.
When I first came here, I felt so lost and confused. I don’t know Korean (I used to learn in my country but that shouldn’t be counted.). It is hard to go somewhere when I cannot speak Korean because not many people here can speak English. There are many things that I need to learn such as how to take subway and bus. It might sound ridiculous to some people but yes, Cambodia hasn’t had a subway and a proper public bus transportation yet. By the way, something that Korea really impresses me is the wide broad of the Internet availability. Almost everywhere has a free wifi. I haven’t bought a phone, sim card, or wifi router yet but that’s not a problem for me at all. Even right now when I am sitting in the silent garden, I still can use wifi for free. Isn’t it amazing?
One thing that I have to learn and to adapt is to live with a roommate. Like I mentioned in the previous post, it is one of the challenges for me. I had never been staying in the room with another person even my relatives. Now, I have to live with another complete stranger for a year. Not everyone is the same so I have learned how to live and get along well with another people.
Another thing that I have learned is how to be a socialized person. Most of the people that know me said that I am good at making friends and build a communication. But they don’t know how much effort I put in order to have that status. Before coming here, I told myself not to lock myself in the door like I did before. I need to be a socialize and easy going person. I am now trying my best to do it even though it’s not 100% ok but I can do it. I have joined several activities, making lots of new friends, and experiences lots of new things. In the next post, I will list down all the “first experiences” that I have since I came here.
Talking about the study, I am now taking Korean Language Course for one year. Since I have known a little of Korean so I didn’t have to start from the beginning. I am in level 2 now. I am required to get TOPIK3 in one year but my school’s goal is to help all the students get TOPIK 3 in 6 months because they want to secure that we are all safe. Last year, Dongseo University had the highest rate of passed students among all the KGSP language institutions. No doubts why I have to work so hard since the beginning. All of my friends said this first year is the year of traveling, exploring, having fun, and so on. But I cannot do so because I cannot be careless. Of course, I will surely explore and experience new things.
Talking about making friends, I have made so many friends from all around the world such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Mongolia, Spain, U.S., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Brazil, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and many more. I have learned a lot about the culture, history, language, religion, and political from various countries. We speak different languages, have a different culture, and come from different continents but we are here together and have the same goal which is to get the education and explore Korea together. Our mutual goal is to be able to speak Korean and get TOPIK3.
Talking about traveling, I have been to several places in Busan such as Haeundae Beach, Yunggungsa Temple, Gamcheon Culture Village, Soemyeon, and Nampodong. There are many more places that I haven’t visited yet. I will surely them all.
I think that’s all for this post. I will write more detail for each topic in the next posts. If you are interested in applying for KGSP or any questions related to KGSP, please feel free to contact me or go to www.studyinkorea.go.kr for more detail and announcement.
Have a good day! Xoxo! ❤️
Ponika's Random Thoughts 