My first 3 months in Korea

To celebrate the first anniversary of my blog, I decided that it’s time for another post. The past 3 months have been so incredibly busy that I barely found the time to contact any of my friends. 😥

So, what have I been doing in the past 3 months? The answer is pretty straightforward: studying Korean. When we arrived at the language institute of Sun Moon University (in Cheonan) all the students took a level test to determine in which class they would put us.

During the first term (fall) I finished intermediate I and II. Although it wasn’t easy at all, I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. My classmates were nice and we had two pretty cool teachers.

I also took my first TOPIK test in November. It was one of the hardest exams I’ve ever taken! Let me explain you what exactly TOPIK is and why it is so important:

TOPIK is a national exam that tests a student’s proficiency in the Korean language. Sungkyunkwan University (the university I will attend next year) requires journalism students to have a TOPIK level 6. Level 6 (6급) is the highest level you can achieve on the TOPIK exam. As you can see below, this means getting at least 230/300. As I mentioned before, I took the test this November and although the results have not been published yet, I am pretty sure that I did not even reach level 3 (120/300). Consequently, I will have to work really really hard to get my 6급 before summer 2017 ends.

Although I do not like living in the dorms of Sun Moon University Cheonan Campus (bad food, poor hygiene, doors closed between 11 pm and 5 am, quite far from the city center) I did meet wonderful people here. My roommate is so sweet and considerate and the other friends I made are really amazing! It’s because of my friends that I still feel motivated to go on, because we are in this together and we can share our troubles and worries. ❤

Korea D-15 : visa, flight ticket, instagram

My Korean adventure is coming closer, which means lots of stress to get everything ready in time.

Now, the main things have been taken care of. I’ve got my visa for the first year and I’ve got a flight ticket bringing me from Brussels to Incheon.

I’ve also realised how much I will miss my friends and family in Europe. The fear of being lonely, especially during the first few weeks, suddenly struck me and made me feel a bit insecure. I could have expected it, but being busy as I was, I actually did not give it much thought. However, I am too exited about moving to Korea to be very sad. After all, it isn’t the end of the world.

I also decided to finally get myself an Instagram account! I haven’t completely figured out how it works though 😀 But if I’m not mistaken, you can find me via my profile name misty_eliane.

Lots of love,

Misty (Eliane)

Korean: 5 websites that taught me more than 가나다

Hi everybody ❤

Actually I should be reading Richard Sakwa’s book on the crisis of Ukraine and finish my Korean homework now but my concentration is nowhere to be found. I looked under the desk and in my closet but nope… it’s gone. As I’ve been struggling for the past hour with my Korean grammar, I decided to share 5 websites with you that have helped me a lot in the past few years.