Student Spotlight - Ethan "Welcome to Seoul"

This first week in South Korea has been great with CIEE! The flight was quite long as it was around 13 hours in the plane. Then we got through security and there were some different things then from back home. There were some over-the-top arcade machines that some young children were playing and the convenience store in the airport sold banana milk! We took a bus to the hotel where we were staying and we all got to our rooms and found that our rooms were smaller than most hotels back in the United States, so there was some getting used to. 

The next day came around and we got to go on a tour of seoul, but we had to do our covid tests first (which everyone came back negative!). Our tour of Seoul was great as we went to the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and learned all about Korea. This is also when we meet Sky, who was and is such a great tour guide. It was a lot of walking and we ate bulgogi for lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant and it was amazing.I had also drank tons of water at the restaurant because it was so hot and humid outside. We had then done some more walking and got back to the hotel to get some rest. Some people went out to dinner and explored. Some people were so exhausted that they fell right on their beds. 

Our next thing to do was our orientation at Yonsei University where we met some of the Gen.G staff and Suzanne Crowder Han, who is the Center Director of the program. We then learned a little about esports and Gen.G as an organization. We then learned that we are going to play the game “PUBG” for our tournament and that it was happening on week 3. We also got our handbooks and schedules, and learned some of the do’s and don’ts in Korea. Then we went into 3 different groups and we went on a big scavenger hunt! We went to the Gangnam Style statue in front of the starfield COEX mall and we also took a picture inside where the big library was. We then went to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where there were some interesting chairs and this very cool grassy area inside that was quite calm. There was also a piano, which some of us know how to play, so it was fun to listen. After all was said and done we headed back to our rooms and rested our feet once again. 

The next morning, we had another esports class at Yonsei University where we went a little more in-depth into the history of esports in Korea as Starcraft on the PC was immensely popular in Korea as game consoles were not so much. We then learned about “ongamenet” which was a broadcaster of Starcraft tournaments. Then we learned about the rise of League of Legends in the esports space and talked about what could come in the future. We then had lunch at the student cafeteria and went on a tour of Yonsei University where we saw some monuments and classroom buildings. We then went back to the classroom to learn some korean! We learn some basic things like how to say hello and count to 10. We also started to learn Hangul, which is the korean writing system. We had then made plans for dinner. I had gone out with some friends to “LoL Park (LoL standing for League of Legends) and then gone to this great restaurant where there was this mini stove on your table and they would put all the uncooked food on the stove in with the juice and it would cook right in front of you and I had a great time going out to eat with my new friends! When we got to bed we just couldn’t wait to go to the PC cafe the next day. 

Time to go to the PC Cafe! When we got there there were rows of computers and you could order food and drinks right from your spot! We then learned how to play “PUBG” and I drank a strawberry smoothie. I also Played some Destiny 2 at the Cafe as well and saw my friend Dai order a delicious looking corndog. We then had lunch at a chinese restaurant and then had a very big ice cream cone (I finished it without it tipping over!). Then some of us went shopping afterwards and we also went to a Cat Cafe, where we saw a bunch of cats and had a drink. Some of us went straight to the PC cafe in LoL Park, but I went back to my room to write this blog.  

Overall, my first impressions are just… wow… there are so many lights and electronic billboards on these huge buildings and LoL Park was just SO COOL. I don't even play League of Legends and I thought that was really neat with all the detail put into everything in such a small place. It's almost like Disneyland, but for League of Legends. I can't wait to go and see all the other things waiting for us on our trip!