New Year, Same Goals (and lots of complaints)

안녕하세요!

It’s 2014 already, and my goals are the same. Become fluent in Korean. Travel to South Korea. Do an exchange program between my university and Yonsei. Work out more, do well in my new classes, have time to meet friends. Write more fictional stories. Remember to post on this website ㅠㅠ

Ahem, it’s been a month since my last post….awkwaaaaaaard

And work. Make that money so that some of these goals become financially possible.

I’ve been working my way through the applications for study abroad scholarships and the actual program itself. It’s intense and makes me reluctant to study Korean afterwards because my head is swimming from the information I’ve been looking up and the forms I’ve been filling out.

Time to do a review of the last 10 lessons? Ha. Ha. Riiiiiiiight.

I discovered my passport will expire, so I have to apply for a new one. But the new semester starts this week, so I had last night to go get my picture taken and tomorrow I have to walk to the post office early in the morning to apply. And it’s been snowing, and snowing, and snowing with negative wind chill that continues into tomorrow. There’s a HUGE winter storm covering the region. Tomorrow morning will be fun. Then, as soon as that’s done, I have to move back into my dorm with my sister’s help while the skies dump snow on our heads. And go to an appointment in the afternoon.

When in reality I’d much rather channel my inner Harry

As I’ve been filling out these forms, I discovered that the estimated costs are sooooooooo very not inclusive of a bunch of side costs that I hadn’t even thought of. For example, to get a visa, I’ll need to travel to the closest consulate to apply, which is a car trip of about 4 hours one way. Wooohooooo must factor in gas costs, parking, and the unknown time it’ll take to go through the process once at the consulate.

The International dorms at Yonsei also require chest X-rays to scan for tuberculosis. And I’ll need to budget for using T-money to get around Seoul on buses and subways. And five thousand other little things that I won’t bother complaining about here.

But guess what?! I’m scheduled to meet with my study abroad advisor on Thursday! Woohoooooo! Hopefully she can help me overcome the intense stress of trying to take classes on the other side of the world and not being in debt for several lifetimes.