Yon-ko-jeon and preparing for midterms

This week was relatively normal and low-key except for the weekend. On Friday and Saturday was an event called Yon-ko-jeon. Yonsei University and Korea University, two big rivals, compete with each other in a series of sports games including baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugby, and soccer. What is unique about Yon-ko-jeon in comparison to other sports events is the amount of cheering. You spend the entirety of the game going through various cheers that each have their own dance. For those who are unfamiliar with the dances like myself, they had what are called Blue Knights stand on a stage by the field of whichever game was being played and dance so you could follow. What was strange about the event is that instead of watching the game, you watch the Blue Knights and focus on cheering. It was very odd when we continued to cheer after Korea University scored a goal or points but everyone didn't seem to mind.

Olympic Park, where Yon-ko-jeon was held. 

I went to the opening ceremony on Friday and then I had to head back before baseball started because I didn't want to miss my North Korea class. Yon-ko-jeon was held at the Olympic Park near Jamsil, which is about a 40-50 minute subway ride from Sinchon. It was neat being in the stadium that was built 26 years ago for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. On Saturday I went to watch rugby with calligraphy club but I had to leave afterwards because I unfortunately caught a cold the night before and I wasn't feeling well enough to stand and cheer for hours.

Calligraphy club at Yon-ko-jeon!

Another photo from Yon-ko-jeon.

Due to my financial status, I am unable to live with my host family any longer because the cost of living with them is much higher than if I were to live in my own apartment. I conditionally received the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship, but the Asian Studies Center is working out the details of whether I am actually able to receive the award since I also received the Boren scholarship. If I don't receive FLAS I can't live with my host family so instead of taking the risk and waiting, I decided to find an apartment to move into. After watching rugby I met with a realtor and we looked at some apartments that fell within my price range and what I wanted, which was primarily location and the apartment being fully furnished. I feel in love with the second apartment which is a little older than other apartments but the room is bigger, it's furnished, and it has an AWESOME rooftop. I move in on October 25th so I will take some photos then. As much as I love living with a host family, it'll be nice to be independent again in my own apartment. The apartment is also a 10-15 minute walk to Yonsei so I will save a lot of money on not having to take the subway every day.

Midterms start this week on Friday and go until Wednesday. For my Reunification class I just have to memorize some terms and for my North Korea class I have a short two-page paper I have to write. What I am worried about is my Korean language midterm, which is four days long. On Friday I have to act out a skit that I wrote and memorized with my classmate. On Monday I have an oral interview with my teacher, on Tuesday is listening and reading, and on Wednesday is writing. Unlike my two content classes which are just pass/fail for me, in Korean the grade actually affects my GPA so I want to do really well in the class. Luckily I have a lot of credits already from my studying at MSU but a 6 credit class can still affect your GPA a considerable amount depending on how bad you do. So because I will be concentrating on studying for midterms, I won't be writing a blog until the end of next week or possibly after I move into my apartment. Hopefully my blog next week will sound positive!

Since I'm already on the topic of apartments, I will talk about apartment living and renting in Seoul. What is unique about apartments in Seoul and in Korea in general is the amount of the deposit. Deposits here are very high. I'm paying $2,000 and that is on the cheaper side. Usually they are $5,000 or $10,000. However, the higher the deposit you pay the lower your rent is. I'm paying $600 a month for my apartment, which includes rent, utilities, and building fees. Sometimes the deposit is so high that you don't even have to pay rent. It's a lot of money you have to put up front but you end up getting all the money back at the end of your contract. And the reason they can make the deposit so high is that the next person renting the apartment will pay that same deposit, so the owner is not losing out on any money. Additionally, a lot of one-room apartments, which is what I will be living in, have strict rules regarding who can come over. Most one-rooms won't allow overnight guests or a night of hanging out with your friends. Fortunately the apartment I will be staying at I can have long-term guests and I can have people over to hang out. I'm already planning on having a mini party on the rooftop.

This week's post has been shorter than previous weeks but I'll have a lot to talk about next week so I will see you then!