Day 2: Ewha Korean Placement Test & Opening Ceremony
06.26.18
The second day kind of made me nervous and it felt like I was walking into something blind not knowing what to expect. Which, I probably was. I had my Korean Language oral placement test in the morning at 10:30am which was super nerve-wracking. It was also the first day I would be actively walking around on campus and also the day I would receive my student ID -- the official identification card that would render me an official student of Ewha Womans University.
I woke up around 9:15am to prepare and meet up with my two friends from Rutgers who happened to get rooms on the same floor as me in the International House dorms. Oh right, I forgot to introduce my dorm and dorm rooms! I got placed into Ewha's I-House Building B, floor 2 in room 203. Every floor has a common kitchenette with a sink, toaster oven, and two microwaves. There's also a filtered cold/hot water machine in every kitchen which makes it easier to fill up your water bottle in the morning and stay hydrated.
My room was a double room and came with plenty of cabinet space, a dresser, a desk, and a lamp. Inside the room is also a private bathroom with a shower hose that is hung next to the sink and the toilet.
I opted for a random roommate when I applied for housing through the Ewha housing application, and ended up paired with someone random but still from Rutgers University. Although I expected to be paired with someone from another school (actually random), it was still a new experience to get paired with someone I didn't know before.
Anyway, after getting ready, I made my way to the Korean placement test with my friends where we were led into a room to fill out a form about where we previously learned Korean, how much we knew, and what the classes were. The form also asked why we were learning Korean and other basic questions like that. We were then asked to take the form with us and wait in another area outside a couple of glass-walled rooms. Inside, there were many adults at different tables having one-on-one conversations with students like us. They had some Ewha textbooks in front of them and papers to take notes.
The oral test differs depending on what adult you get, as some of my friends were in there for around 15 to 20 minutes talking to the adult. Mine lasted a little over five minutes, and she really only asked me a couple questions like what I did yesterday, what plans I have today, and then what classes I have taken at Rutgers that pertain to my Korean language proficiency.
After the test was finished, all of the Rutgers students (we made a Kakaotalk messenger group prior to arriving in Korea, so all of us had a rough idea of who each other was) who were taking Korean language at Ewha met up outside the classroom along with several others we had met while waiting to start the test. We all made our way to where the Ewha opening ceremony would be.
Since none of us had eaten breakfast prior to the test, we all stopped by a bakery within the ECC building to get a little to eat before the ceremony -- we were starving. I opted to just get a red bean cream bread, but it was good. Korean pastries are always good.
After this, we chilled for a little at the tables by the bakery and then made our way to the ceremony when it was time. Outside, there were tables where we could find our name by alphabetical order and receive our welcome folder along with our student ID card. Then, we got to pick a free shirt in our shirt size and receive a free Ewha International Summer College tote bag. The ceremony really consisted of the dean talking as well as a few peace buddies (the Ewha students that we got assigned to by the school -- usually every peace buddy has 2 or 3 international students in their group). There was also some small presentations by the chief police officers and some teachers who were part of the program. At the end, we were given free Papa John's pizza for lunch! Yes, Papa John's is more fancy and more popular in Korea.
Right after lunch, the peace buddy groups had to meet up and start the campus tour. Unfortunately, the weather was really uncooperative and it went from drizzling to raining. The full campus tour was not conducted, and only a campus tour of the ECC and a brief tour of the surroundings was done. After the tour, my peace buddy asked me and the other girl from Australia in my group if we had time to go out and grab some coffee or desserts and just have a talk. There's always time for that!
We went to the Beansbins Coffee Ewha Branch nearby and ordered an icecream waffle to share as well as drinks to have on our own. Have I mentioned that cafes in Korea are so comfortable, so big, and so wonderful? Well, they are. Beansbins was the first coffee shop I went to since I landed in Korea and it didn't disappoint.
Around 5:00pm, I had to back out of this meeting since the Rutgers crew had previously scheduled a dinner just for us (all 17 of us) at a chicken place in Shinchon which was around 15 minutes away from the Ewha campus by walking. We figured that at least once, the Rutgers crew should meet up altogether and have a proper meal. We went to 다사랑치킨피자호프 신촌점 (you can just search it up like that on Naver) and one of the guys from the Rutgers group made the reservation for 5:30pm.
After dinner, we all returned to the dorms to repack and reorganize everything. The weather got pretty bad in terms of raining so we all decided that it was best to get an early rest and prepare for tomorrow's first day of classes.
- End of Day 2! -
The second day kind of made me nervous and it felt like I was walking into something blind not knowing what to expect. Which, I probably was. I had my Korean Language oral placement test in the morning at 10:30am which was super nerve-wracking. It was also the first day I would be actively walking around on campus and also the day I would receive my student ID -- the official identification card that would render me an official student of Ewha Womans University.
I woke up around 9:15am to prepare and meet up with my two friends from Rutgers who happened to get rooms on the same floor as me in the International House dorms. Oh right, I forgot to introduce my dorm and dorm rooms! I got placed into Ewha's I-House Building B, floor 2 in room 203. Every floor has a common kitchenette with a sink, toaster oven, and two microwaves. There's also a filtered cold/hot water machine in every kitchen which makes it easier to fill up your water bottle in the morning and stay hydrated.
These machines can be found everywhere in every building on campus, as well as off-campus in restaurants and governmental facilities -- it is very convenient so it would be beneficial to have a reusable water bottle on you, especially if you're in Korea over the summer.
My room was a double room and came with plenty of cabinet space, a dresser, a desk, and a lamp. Inside the room is also a private bathroom with a shower hose that is hung next to the sink and the toilet.
I opted for a random roommate when I applied for housing through the Ewha housing application, and ended up paired with someone random but still from Rutgers University. Although I expected to be paired with someone from another school (actually random), it was still a new experience to get paired with someone I didn't know before.
Anyway, after getting ready, I made my way to the Korean placement test with my friends where we were led into a room to fill out a form about where we previously learned Korean, how much we knew, and what the classes were. The form also asked why we were learning Korean and other basic questions like that. We were then asked to take the form with us and wait in another area outside a couple of glass-walled rooms. Inside, there were many adults at different tables having one-on-one conversations with students like us. They had some Ewha textbooks in front of them and papers to take notes.
The oral test differs depending on what adult you get, as some of my friends were in there for around 15 to 20 minutes talking to the adult. Mine lasted a little over five minutes, and she really only asked me a couple questions like what I did yesterday, what plans I have today, and then what classes I have taken at Rutgers that pertain to my Korean language proficiency.
After the test was finished, all of the Rutgers students (we made a Kakaotalk messenger group prior to arriving in Korea, so all of us had a rough idea of who each other was) who were taking Korean language at Ewha met up outside the classroom along with several others we had met while waiting to start the test. We all made our way to where the Ewha opening ceremony would be.
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| Walking through the ECC for the first time (Ewha's main campus building famous for its architecture) |
After this, we chilled for a little at the tables by the bakery and then made our way to the ceremony when it was time. Outside, there were tables where we could find our name by alphabetical order and receive our welcome folder along with our student ID card. Then, we got to pick a free shirt in our shirt size and receive a free Ewha International Summer College tote bag. The ceremony really consisted of the dean talking as well as a few peace buddies (the Ewha students that we got assigned to by the school -- usually every peace buddy has 2 or 3 international students in their group). There was also some small presentations by the chief police officers and some teachers who were part of the program. At the end, we were given free Papa John's pizza for lunch! Yes, Papa John's is more fancy and more popular in Korea.
Right after lunch, the peace buddy groups had to meet up and start the campus tour. Unfortunately, the weather was really uncooperative and it went from drizzling to raining. The full campus tour was not conducted, and only a campus tour of the ECC and a brief tour of the surroundings was done. After the tour, my peace buddy asked me and the other girl from Australia in my group if we had time to go out and grab some coffee or desserts and just have a talk. There's always time for that!
We went to the Beansbins Coffee Ewha Branch nearby and ordered an icecream waffle to share as well as drinks to have on our own. Have I mentioned that cafes in Korea are so comfortable, so big, and so wonderful? Well, they are. Beansbins was the first coffee shop I went to since I landed in Korea and it didn't disappoint.
Around 5:00pm, I had to back out of this meeting since the Rutgers crew had previously scheduled a dinner just for us (all 17 of us) at a chicken place in Shinchon which was around 15 minutes away from the Ewha campus by walking. We figured that at least once, the Rutgers crew should meet up altogether and have a proper meal. We went to 다사랑치킨피자호프 신촌점 (you can just search it up like that on Naver) and one of the guys from the Rutgers group made the reservation for 5:30pm.
After dinner, we all returned to the dorms to repack and reorganize everything. The weather got pretty bad in terms of raining so we all decided that it was best to get an early rest and prepare for tomorrow's first day of classes.
- End of Day 2! -
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