I Fought the Law, but the Law Won

I apologize for the late post; my internship is kicking up.

The public transportation system in Geneva, like many other cities in Europe, is quite good and transportation companies offer monthly passes. In Geneva the transportation companies are TPG, CFF, SMGN, and five other companies who operate the buses and trains (and possibly a little boat that shuttles people across Lake Geneva). These companies formed a united fare policy and offer bus passes for a fair price.

If you are a "junior" or anyone younger than 25, you can purchase your monthly bus pass for 45 CHF (Swiss Francs(Roughly $50). If you are familiar with the transportation systems in Europe the thought of forgetting your pass and risking not purchasing a ticket looms in the back of your mind as the bus or train "police" may get on your train or bus and give you a ticket.

Ironically, my fellow interns and I were on our way to the main train station (Cornavin) to pick up a monthly pass for one of the new arrival interns. Guess what? She "YOLOed" it. Half way into the bus ride down the route the bus "police" hopped on and stopped people who tried to make a mad dash for the door to escape the impending 80 CHF (roughly $90) fine for riding the bus without purchasing a ticket. She tried to reason with the bus "police" saying that she was "new here", "didn't know where to purchase the ticket" "didn't speech French", and was "confused". I can only assume that the bus "police" heard it all. Mercilessly, they summoned one of their colleagues who spoke the most English. Confusion and panic ensued, but there was no way out of the fine for her.

The lesson of this story is: To always buy a ticket and if you have a transportation pass; to always bring it with you even if you have to run back to your house. You can try to fight the law, but in this case the law won.    

Seasons in Korea

Every Season in Korea is different. In the first half of Summer, it is monsoon season and you can expect a lot of heavy rainfall and hot weather. In the second half of Summer, it becomes more dry. When I arrived, it was end of August and the weather was already turning more dry, but the air still remained very humid and it felt very hot. Fall is a beautiful season in Korea, because it is still very sunny, but temperatures aren't too high and the air is dry. The leaves begin to change to beautiful colors. On campus, the Ginko-tree leaves turn yellow, its magical! In October/November it gets colder and colder until the temperatures reach the freezing point. The street will get very slippery because of ice and from time to time you can experience snow fall, which will look very pretty on campus. Still, usually the sun shines pretty often and even if the temperatures are low, the sun can get pretty warm. 

During the seasons, you can expect to find different types of food. Typically, Koreans love to eat Ice Noodles during the hot Summers, but when the leaves start to change, you will find a lot of street food vendors with roasted chestnuts and a pastry in the shape of a fish with a bean and chestnut filling. Those are really good and cheap and I recommend that you try it! In the Winter, there is nothing better than a hot Kimchi stew. It will really warm you up!

So far, I was very impressed with the fall, its probably my favorite season in Korea. But I still need to experience the Spring. I will post more pictures next semester…! 

The Impressions That I Get

(An important note before reading: I had the directions printed out, but had lost the map that had accompanied it. I am technically not doing a study abroad program, but an internship that doesn't require French language skills.)

After travelling a day and a half from Honolulu, to Los Angeles, and London I finally reached my final destination in Geneva. With no knowledge of the French language, the predominant language in Geneva; however due to presence of the United Nations in the city most people possess some knowledge of speaking other languages, this weary traveler had to get to the main train station to get to his hostel. Thankfully a nice worker directed me in the direction of where the train line was.

With luggage in tow and a extremely overstuffed carry-on and personal item I made it to the station, but everything was in French. Luckily there were two very helpful TPG (the transportation company) workers who not only helped me purchase my ticket, but also personally used their own coins to make change to break my larger bill, as the machine only took coins. Arriving at the main station I had a vague sense of which direction I needed to go to reach my hostel for the night. Except a few things stood in my way: the cold, heavy luggage, the zombie like trance of sleep deprivation, and the dark. To tired to care, I sought a cab (Geneva is an expensive city to live in and cab fares are quite high; public transportation is the best option) to take me to my hostel. Instead the cabby said that the location was "quite close" and that I could get there in the direction I thought I had to go in. "Go straight down this street for 500 meters and then take a right and keep going straight", he said. The only problem was that in my sleep deprived state, cold, tired, and lugging luggage, I took that right turn a little bit too early and accidentally stumbled into the "red light" district.

There are police cars on each street, perhaps I could ask them for directions. Except the police weren't there and I continued to blindly walk straight down a pretty sketchy street. I realized that I was in the wrong part of the city when I saw the women of the night, so I decided to get the hell out of there as soon as I could. Taking a left turn I found myself at a cafe where an older lady was having a drink. I asked her for direction and I got them, but they were in French. She did the best she could using international sign language and I thanked her and was on my blind journey yet again. I assumed my destination was two streets over and then another left turn from what the lady had said and described. An even sketchier alley awaited me with a couple of tough looking gentlemen and a smell of "medicinal" herbs.

I backtracked and made it to the next street over. Giving up hope and looking for a cab I heard a French conversation quickly being switched into an English one; I was saved. Three girls from the US, who work at the UN office in Geneva, happened to be coming up the same street and upon hearing my story and where I was from they not only helped me out, but led into the right direction to where I needed to go. Despite my first view of the city being the "red light" district in its functioning hour of operations, the people of Geneva are nice and very friendly people who will be more than willing to help lost weary travelers.

     

Keys to Success

So I'm out of the craziness of the big city of London and back sitting on my moms coach in Connecticut. After having a few weeks to sit down, relax, and binge eat as many cheeseburgers and buffalo wings as I can, I have had some time to reflect on my 3 1/2 months in London. In the end, I have come up with a few keys to success for anyone interested in studying in London.

Be Ready To Write

I heard the rumors from my friends who have studied in Europe that universities overseas expect students to write a lot more. However, I did not expect exactly how much writing I was going to end up having to do. The grades for my classes were based almost entirely on one or two papers and the final. These papers are not the two or three page papers we commonly write in the USA, but generally the shorter ones would be around 7 or 8 pages, with my longest term paper being around 20. Almost all of these papers will be due at the end of November, so if one procrastinates, they can easily end up with 30 or 40 pages to write in a 2 week period. Writing a few term papers wasn't fun, but I was pretty prepared to do so. What did catch me by surprise was finals week. Again, I was told that none of the questions would be multiple choice or matching, but I did not really expect how much writing I would have to do. I had five finals and they were all pretty similar. Generally, I was given 2 hours to answer 2-4 essays questions and expected to write as much as possible. I typically wrote about 5 pages for each final, so I ended up handwriting 25 pages or so just for finals during my last week in London. I wouldn't say that the finals were too much harder than at HPU, just a much different format which requires one to really know the material. One can guess on a multiple choice test and have a 25% chance of being right. One can't really guess on a 5 page paper. 

Know How to Budget Your Money

A lot of college students aren't great at budgeting money. However, it is absolutely essential one learns how to budget their money quickly in London. Reason being, things cost about the same in British Pounds in London as they do in US Dollars in Hawaii. The only thing is 1 Pound is 1.6 Dollars. So what you're used to getting for $5 in a McDonalds in Hawaii, will now cost you $8. You want to buy a pair of shoes that normally cost $50, you have to pay $80. Instead of getting tickets to a soccer game for $100, now its $160. It adds up FAST. Then, one also has to consider that London is a huge city, and getting around costs way more than in Hawaii. Just taking the tube (subway) out and back can cost the equivalent of 12 US Dollars. And if you like to go to the clubs, just the cover at most places in central London is 20 pounds, or $32 dollars. There were classmates of mine that did not do a good job of budgeting and spent a huge portion of their money for the semester just in the first couple of weeks. Having fun in London is easy to do on a limited budget. It is just more important here than in many other places to keep track of exactly how much your spending, because, especially during a night out, it can get away from you quickly. 

Be Outgoing

This is something that I found extremely important especially if one is studying with AIFS. AIFS does a great job of getting everyone housing and a meal plan, and making sure they are signed up for classes. The one frustrating thing about studying in London through AIFS, is they tend to house all of the study abroad students together, and the vast majority of the study abroad students are from the USA. For instance, my dorm probably had a little over 100 students in it, and I'd bet over 90 were from the United States. This meant that a great deal of the students in my dorm ended up spending their entire time in London just hanging out with other people from the USA. They all had a great time, but I did not come to London to hang out with people from the USA all day. This meant I had to make a conscious effort to go out and talk to new people. It was all completely worth it as I made new friends from Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Zambia, Nigeria, Germany, the Netherlands, El Salvador etc... In fact, two of my best friends that I hung out with the most in London were from Essex, England and Berlin, Germany. It was a great oppurtunity to meet people from all over the world, however, one really needs to make a conscious efffort to meet new people. That's not to say I ignored everyone from the USA, as I did become very good friends with people from all over the United States while in London, but for me, there had to be a balance. In the end, one can certainly have a great time just hanging out with other people from the USA while studying with AIFS, but the extra effort to meet new people from other countries is certainly worth it. 

London is an amazing city. One can have a ton of fun roaming around London all semester, or one use London as a base point, and take advantage of cheap flights to explore Europe. Studying abroad in London is an incredible opportunity, but I would just keep in mind three things to make the most of your experience: Be ready to write, budget your money and make an effort to meet people from other countries. 

Here are a few more pictures from my last couple of weeks in London. Check them out.

Cambridge University

Another of Cambridge, rivers and bridges everywhere.

Fullers Brewery, definitely recommend the tour to a beer fan.

Fall in Kensington Gardens.

Kings Mediterranean off of Earls Court. The best place for a kebab in the city.

This is a park in Richmond, just up the hill from the Richmond Campus.

Alright, that's it for now. Check back in about a month when I start blogging about my next study abroad city:  Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Shoots

Coffee in Korea

For those of you who were --like me-- not expecting to find a great coffee culture in Korea, here is proof that this is not true: Korea is a great place for plenty of tiny and cute, large and professional, colorful and simple coffee shops. Since I am a chronic coffee-addict I have sought out the nicest coffee places around the SKKU campus by Hyehwa Metro station. Here are some impressions:

Coffee Shop °1: The best coffee you can probably get around campus:

Directions: 

Across from the Main Gate you can find a small Lotte Market. Not far down the street you have to take a left into a small side road. You will see a sign for "Inside Hostel." The coffee shop is right next door.

My favorite is always the Café Latte. They have a lot of different kinds of coffee beans from various regions, which they roast themselves. But also their other drinks and food are really good!

Try the Matcha Green Tea Latte! 

Also you will find some Western food, sandwiches, salads, french toast etc. 

Pros: 

• The coffee is simply the best
• They have an English menu and the staff also speaks a little bit of English
• The athmosphere in this place is great! Often they play jazz music and I like their simple décor.

Cons:

• This Café is probably the most expensive one I've been to around Hyehwa. The Latte costs about 5,500 KRW and the salads and sandwiches are about 10,000 KRW.
• The Café doesn't allow you to share the Brunch (for ex. French Toast).

Coffee Shop °2: Maybe not the best, but certainly the best for the price:

Directions: 

This Café is right by the side gate in the street that goes to I-House. You won't miss it, it has a name written in Russian (unfortunately I still couldn't find out why).

I love the Café Latte. The cute Korean guy always fills up the huge cup, so you get a lot for the price. Also the Americano is great!

Pros:

• Cheaper than most other places
• Better Coffee than in the Cafés on Campus (and a bigger cup!)
• Really nice owner who doesn't speak much English, but who still attempts a little small talk. Super friendly!

Cons:

• I always get the coffee to go because the interior of the Café isn't very inviting. Its dark inside and the chairs look uncomfortable.

Coffee Shop °3: Sunny days need to be spent outside!

Directions: 

You won't miss this place if you walk from the side gate (or I-House) down towards Hyewha station--but don't take the bigger street, instead walk the faster side street. It's also the side street where you will find the Mexican place (Dos Tacos) which you will probably check out within your first week (its so popular among exchange students.)

Pros:

• I like this place to study when the weather is nice and I don't want to stay indoors. They have a little terrace. It's the only place that seems really nice to sit outside and enjoy the sun.
• The coffee (Latte, Vanilla Latte etc.) is really good!

Cons:

• The drinks are a little more pricy.
• The staff isn't all too friendly.
• You always have to ask them for a real cup, if not they'll give you one of these cups to go out of paper (hate that!). 

Coffee Shop °4: Coffee has to go with…. SWEETS! 

Directions:

 This place is in the same side street as the previous one, but if you walk the street down (towards Hyewha, away from campus) you need to take one of the side streets on your right. I can't say exactly which one, but you should see a sign that says: "Everyday Cupcake." Actually these side streets are full of little Cafés, so just keep your eyes open. If you don't find this one, i'm sure you will still find at least 2 other ones.

                                      

Pros:

• This place has a huge selection of cupcakes, but also other amazing deserts and slushes. Just delicious!

Cons:

• I was a little disappointed by the cupcakes themselves, try their other desserts instead, in my opinion they are better.
• Some of their drinks are simply TOO sweet!