Third week in Korea#
This is the last week at Lexis Korea. By now I felt much more comfortable with my class mates and spent most time with a class mate from Taiwan. Until now my plan had been to fly to Jeju island after finishing school. This would change during the course of this week.
Relaxing at the last week#
I spent the last week hanging out with my classmates, especially with Joan. On Monday evening we went out to have some Japanese Shabu Shabu. It was pretty delicious, especially the big selection of different sauces were great.
On Wednesday two of our Teachers organized a social event where we went out to eat Korean BBQ together. We must have been around 10 people in total. The teacher Juho was pretty skilled at preparing the BBQ. After dinner some of us went on to take the mandatory selfie pictures in one of the many selfie stories.
When meeting Joan on Saturday the week prior I asked her if she wanted to go to Busan after the classes have ended. This is because I’ve figured out that we’ll graduate during the same week. She said yes but told me that we can plan what we are going to do.
Fast forward to Tuesday. I went out with some classmates to have Tonkatsu in a Japanese restaurant around my apartment. I went home later and did my homework in my small Mini Studio. This time it didn’t take me that long. Since I wasn’t tired yet I decided to take a walk by myself. I walked around the plaza near my school and found that a bar called Craft Hans was still open. I walked up to the second floor and sat down at some balcony. To my dismay I realized that they didn’t have German beer, so I went with a cocktail instead. I enjoyed the warm evening while listening to a group of Korean students talking at one of the tables next to me.
I suddenly received a message from Joan, asking me if I wanted to go to Osaka instead. I was a bit confused at first. I thought maybe she didn’t want to go to Busan. But then she explained that her two friends wanted to see G-Dragon that was going to perform in Osaka at the weekend and she just wanted to walk around Osaka and go jogging. I agreed and when I went back to my apartment, I immediately canceled the flights to Busan. I thought that it will be fun regardless as long as I don’t need to hang out alone during the last week.
Dinner with Taiwanese Friends#
On Wednesday after the classes had already finished, I went out with Joan to look for souvenirs and for a suit for me. I was invited to a wedding that would take place just a few days after I would come back to Germany. We went to a clothing store nearby the school. However they only had every day clothing, so I gave up after a while. We then went to a store selling sunglasses.
While I looked for a new pair of sunglasses my friend got a call from the other Taiwanese girls that were also in the afternoon classes. When she finished the call, Joan asked me if I wanted to have dinner with her and some other friends from Taiwan. I agreed and we met up with my other two classmates and also a couple that hang out with my classmates. I spent some time talking with the boyfriend. He was a funny and cool guy. The couple and the two classmates left to buy some beer, while we waited on some plaza not too far from the school.
Once they returned all of us went to the restaurant. On the way we opened the beer cans and already drank one beer for arriving at the restaurant. There, we united with yet another couple. However I found out later that the girlfriend of this couple was actually from Indonesia. I was quite surprised since her Chinese sounded immaculate. The food was a little spicy but pretty delicious. I chit chatted with my class mates and the boyfriend of the first couple I’ve met. After around 1.5 hours of eating and chatting we parted ways and I walked home. I still was supposed to do some homework but I was already a little tired from the food and drinks. So I just started but thought that I’ll get up a bit earlier on the next day to finish the homework.
Surprise dinner with my teacher#
While the morning classes were from Monday to Friday, the afternoon classes already ended on Thursday. After the class me and Joan talked a bit with our teacher Daisy since we both really liked her. We then left the school with her and I mentioned that I was looking for a wedding suit. She recommended me a store that wasn’t too far that was selling all kinds of suits. She had recently married her yet husband and he bought his wedding suit there as well. We said goodbye and I went straight to the store.
I first inspected the suits myself but since I’ve never bought one myself I asked a clear that was standing at the counter. I told him what I wanted and he gave me two suggestions. I tried both of them and went with the more casual suit. I then asked him to take a photo of me in the suit before I bought it. The pants were a little long, so he told me to come back tomorrow morning. Until then my suit should be ready.
I was about to leave the store and head back to my Mini Studio when I received a message from Joan asking me if I wanted to join her and my teacher Daisy for some dinner. I agreed but said that I quickly need to take a shower before joining them.
We met in Myeongdong for some traditional Korean soup with dumplings. The teacher talked about the origin of the dish and ordered herself a different dish that she also wanted us to try. After dinner we walked around Myeongdong when we accidentally stumbled upon a HBAF store. I’ve recognized the mascot. It was wrong some honey glaced nuts that I had tried before but didn’t like very much. Thus I was pretty surprised when I saw that they had a massive store with all kinds of variations of these nuts. They even had different statues of the mascots (most of which I’ve never seen before). We left the store and the teacher recommended to try some Korean ice cream that was super popular these days. Since we were already quite full, we decided to share one strawberry ice cream cup. Before leaving the ice cream store, the teacher gave both of us some gift back with sweets and even a letter. I was very moved by this gesture.
We finally went back to the metro station and the teacher invited us meet her whenever we are coming back to Seoul. We happily accepted the offer and said goodbye for good this time.
Last day at Lexis Korea#
On my last day I had to get up early to pick up my wedding suit. I got there around 8 AM but realized that the store would open half an hour later. I used the opportunity to buy some notebook and an eraser. At 8:30 AM I finally went into the store and picked up my suit. I then went back home to clean up my flat and check out of my room. The landlord wasn’t there when I left, so I sent him a message thanking him.
I arrived to the second part of the morning class with my bag and suitcase. We finished the class and then took some pictures of the graduates. It was almost all of the class with the exception of Evelyn and Juli.
We exchanged contacts with the teacher and with each other and then left the class room. I shortly met up with Joan but then I went to my hotel near mount Namsan. I took the metro to Seoul station and then switched to another metro line to a stop near the hotel. It took me a while to find the hotel since it was in a small side street. Unfortunately for me, I was too early to check in, so I put my luggage in the lobby and left the hotel.
The school organized a social event each Friday. This weeks’ social event was visiting the N-Seoul tower which was at the peek of mount Namsan. So I set off my hotel and climbed the stairs to N-Seoul tower. There I joined the other students and we spent some time watching some martial arts performance and enjoying the view.
The other students came by bus and also meet up with the teachers to go back by bus once more. I decided to take the stairs as I was familiar how to get back to the hotel. Some students had invited me to join for dinner with all graduates. However I had to check-in first before considering whether I should attend or not.
Recap#
I enjoyed this week, I did a lot and spend most days with some of my class mates. I focused more on enjoying my time in Hongdae than doing the homework, but still managed to do it most of the time. I was a bit sad that the three weeks were already over but I was grateful for the dinner invitation of my teacher! I’d going to spent the last few days of my trip in Osaka and have one night in Incheon before flying home which I’ll detail in the last part of this article.