"Start of Something New" | YISS Student Orientation

On Friday, June 29, 2018, Yonsei International Summer School held a opening orientation for all the participants in the program. Catching the bus with my roommates, Andy and Eddie, and a neighbor, Kenneth, we arrived to Yonsei University from DMCville. The school campus is unbelievably aesthetic with its many beautiful attractions all around. When you enter from the main gate, there is a long walkway down the middle that leads to a statue welcoming you to Yonsei with open arms.

Past the long walkway from the main gate, you can arrive in this scenic area with buildings covered in green and a statue welcoming you with open arms.

The orientation was held in the Main Auditorium; we were greeted at the door by fellow students and the university's mascot, an eagle, and given a folder full of important information, including a handbook of Yonsei information and handouts about different opportunities offered by the campus.

Kevin, Andy, Kenneth, and Eddie are welcomed by the Yonsei University mascot, the eagle.

After sitting down in the auditorium, the event started with a dance cover from some Yonsei students; they danced to SHINee's "Sherlock" and " Clue + Note" as well as BTS's "Fake Love". Continuing the orientation, the Yonsei University President gave a few words of encouragement and advice for the new incoming students. In addition, other speakers came and covered relevant information for students such as how to use the library, places to study, and more information about Sinchon, the city that the campus is located in.

The dance team gives their all in performing a dance cover of BTS's "Fake Love".

Afterwards, we explored the various places in the Sinchon area. For lunch, we headed to the basement level of the Hyundai Department Store where there were many different types of food. Each booth had their unique food items, ranging from pastries to Chinese food to traditional Korean street food.

One vendor offers mini 김밥 (gimbap) for 1,000 won each.

Following lunch, I decided to head to the local M2U Records Shop to buy some Korean-pop albums. I ended up buying BTS's Love Yourself album and Blackpink's new Square Up album for my friend and I. The albums costed 25,000 won and 20,000 won respectively which is cheaper (and more available) than in the states. I also have a surprising story about this, but that will be saved for another post so stay tuned! ;)

Here are some of the merchandise I bought from the Sinchon M2U Records shop.

After relaxing for a bit back at DMCville, a group of people were chatting on KakaoTalk about eating chicken and beer in Sinchon; chicken and beer is a very popular Korean combination. In fact, 치킨 (chikin: chicken) and 맥주 (mekju: beer) can be combined to be 치맥 (chimek: chicken and beer). I decided to go and meet new people while enjoying this Korean delicacy.

Afterwards, we headed to 노래방 (norebang: sing room/karaoke) in the area. There were many places since Sinchon has a very active nightlife due to the student body located there. Typically in these singing rooms, you pay for a certain amount of hours and usually get service by having a couple more minutes of free singing. For example, during this visit, we paid for two hours and ended up staying for about 3 hours. The system has a wide variety of songs ranging from Korean songs to American songs and even to Japanese songs, so feel free to sing whatever you want!

YISS students enjoy a night of 노래방 by singing Beyonce's "Drunk in Love".

This day was full of excitement and amusement from exploring my surroundings as well as meeting new people!