Study, Study, Study

I've never been good at studying. I'm one of those people who goes to class, learns, never does the homework, and does well on the test. But, that's one thing that's never worked with me while studying Korean. I've tried everything I can think of to memorize vocabulary, and it's not that the methods don't work (flashcards, writing words repeatedly, making lists in my ipod and checking them often), but it's just that I don't keep up with it. And, it's never been a problem, really, until now.

I can speak Korean. I can hold down a normal, everyday conversation that you'd have with your coworker or friends. What did you do last night? How was your vacation? I'm having this problem lately... etc etc. And you know what? That's really all I need for now. I've never needed to talk about science or politics or technical stuff. I'll keep studying and I hope that some day I can progress to that point.

BUT, now I'm studying to take the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) with the hopes of getting the F-2 visa after passing EITHER level 3 or level 4 (intermediate). But, if I were to take that test tomorrow, I would fail. Miserably. Even though I've studied through level 4 at my hagwon (and took level 3 three times, to the point where I have the whole book practically memorized). Because I suck at studying. I always picked up the words I could use in conversation, because that's what I like to do. But I never picked up those nuance words that I could always get around using by using other, simpler words. This test, though, is all about nuances. It's designed to trick you into second guessing yourself.

For me, the questions fall in to one of two categories. The questions that I don't understand a word of and the questions that I understand every word of and STILL don't know the answer. The questions I don't know a word of, well I don't stand a chance with. But those questions that I DO know every answer to, I should be able to reason it out. But, let's put 4 words that mean very similar things as possible answers. Now, you need to know what word combination fits the best with the given information. Which, is good, you should know what words go together and what not, but I suck at studying and I have a feeling I'm never going to get these under my belt. All the Koreans have told me "just memorize it" but... I'm not a memorizing kind of person. And how can one memorize every possible word that could come up on a test? My method of studying is just talking and using my Korean, but this test doesn't even have  a spoken part. They measure me on all my weakest points.

I bought a reading book recently. I wanted to get the level 3, since reading is my weakest point (except for maybe writing). But, they didn't have level 3. So I settled for level 4. Big mistake. It takes me about 2 hours to read each one page long story in the book. I need to look up about every 3rd word or so and I can't answer any of the reading comprehension questions without help. I'm starting to get really discouraged...

To make things worse, I also started working with my Japanese friend who is studying for the test too. When we speak, I always feel that we're on the same level, or that even my Korean could be a little more advanced. But, then we take a practice test. Out of 10 questions, she gets one wrong. I get one right. Even more depression sets in. The thought that I might not even get 50 points (minimum score to achieve level 3 on the TOPIK) is becoming more and more real. I have less than 2 months left to study for this test. I've been studying pretty hard (in my terms of studying) for the past 3 weeks and have seen no improvement yet. Who's to say that trend won't continue? I'm only working part time now so I should have all the free time in the world to study, but it doesn't seem to matter.

What works for you?

More on the F-2-7 visa...

Ok, me and the boyfriend have been doing investigations all night on this beast. Only on unofficial websites like blogs and newspaper articles have I been able to find information on the new points system which was updated this year. All these sources that I have been finding all night were written last spring when the new visa rules were first announced, but I couldn't find anything official from the Seoul government in English on any website. FINALLY, after quite a long search, the boyfriend stumbled across the official document on hikorea.go.kr, effective 9/1/2010, with the point system. This looks more official than any of the edited things I've seen floating around the internet, so we made a jpg and I'm posting it here. Sorry, I'm lazy and not translating it for you. If you can't read it, find a Korean to translate it for you.

These points, if you look carefully, are not the same as ones you will find on the other websites I mentioned. By this chart, by my math, if I can pass the intermediate TOPIK exam and do a little community service (which will be easy since there is a free class for ajummas and ajoshis that will need a teacher soon at the community center where I study Korean) I should be set. Oh, and take the culture class offered by the government. But, I'll have lots of time in a few weeks and the class should start up in February or March.

I'll ask again. Is there anyone out there that has gone through the process of getting the F-2-7 visa or have looked into it and can confirm for me that this is the correct point system? By the other point system, I come up a good 15 points short, but on this one I come up possibly with one extra point... by my math...

Almost ready

Got my visa, got my plane ticket, got my apartment, got my job.

The only thing left to do is finish packing! I'll be in Korea on Friday! Can't wait to be back!

It's officially official!

I received my visa issuance number in my inbox this morning and went to the consulate as quickly as I could. My visa will be ready on Tuesday. I went home and made my flight reservation. Somehow the price went down instead of up as the date approaches. I'll be leaving Boston on Thursday and arriving in Incheon on Friday evening.

My boyfriend set up his web cam in the new apartment to give me a tour. Actually, it was pretty much what I imagined, but it's nice to see it for real (kind of). I still can't get a good feel for the size of it but I guess that's the nature of cameras. Not much in the way of depth perception. The poor boyfriend, though, is sleeping on the floor with no pillow or blanket tonight because we still don't have a bed and he hasn't gotten the yo our friend offered us. I hope he does that soon, because I don't think that a jacket for a blanket and a book as a pillow will be enough to provide any comfort...

Anyway, now with only 7 days left, I feel as though I should start packing. I've got too much to do this week, people keep pulling on me in every direction wanting to see me before I leave and its getting to the point where I can't see everyone, as much as I wish I could. If only people lived closer and didn't work all the time, life would be so much easier!

So soon..

I just realized that if all goes according to plan, I could be back in Seoul in a week an a half. Of course, with this big snow storm in Seoul, who knows if anyone is in the immigration office clearing my paperwork. The earliest my visa processing number could have shown up would have been today, but I kind of knew between New Year's and the snow storm that that was quite unlikely. Now everyday I'll just have to hope and wish and pray that that number will show up in my inbox. And then, when that number does decide to show up, that there are still flights left as now I'm at the less than 10 days before the flight mark.

I've packed a box of summer clothes to ship by boat, as I've decided to carry light suitcases this time instead of pushing the 50lbs limit every time. I am a light packer really, and I might find that I have extra room in my suitcase, but that's ok. This time I'm bringing two pairs of boots with me and a big new ski jacket, so that will probably occupy the space that the summer clothes would have taken up.

I haven't even pulled my other suit cases back out yet... they are sitting in the attic, out of the way. Of course, it's hard to pack winter clothes, as I'm wearing them. I made a packing list last night (mostly out of boredom) but I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm trying to bring two weeks of summer clothes and two weeks of winter clothes, just like I did last time. I also have a few random articles of clothing that I left with the boyfriend that wouldn't fit in the suitcase... now that I'm thinking of it... it was more than a few random articles, I think it was a whole duffel bag... don't worry, a small duffel bag, but still.

Technically, Wednesday was the day I could have moved into my apartment in Seoul. The boyfriend walked in to check it out. He says it's a little dirty... we're going to have to do some cleaning seeing as how we have a cheap landlord who won't bring in a cleaner to clean it for us. He is, fortunately, redoing the floors and wallpaper in the biggest room for us.

We paid the girl moving out for a bunch of her things. It sounds like we have nearly everything we need minus a bed, dresser and maybe a sofa. A friend offered to give us her yo (floor mat) until we were able to find a bed. So, really, we might not need to buy much more. Of course, I haven't even seen this place except for photos, so when I see the situation on the ground, I might have a very different opinion. I'm excited to see it, I just hope it's everything the boyfriend makes it out to be. Sometimes men have very different standards than women...

List of things we got from the girl moving out:

• Desk
• Tables
• Chairs (how many? I don't know)
• Clothes Hanging rack
• Dishes
• Pots and Pans (?)
• Gas range
• Full size fridge
• TV
• Washing Machine
• Clothes drying rack

Anyway, I'll keep you all updated with apartment details once I arrive. Also I'm sure I'll be blogging again when I buy my plane ticket!!!

Update 2.0

So I received word from both FedEx and the director of my new school that my visa documents had been received yesterday. I was informed that they would bring the documents to the immigration office on Wednesday and it would take 2 weeks maximum to get the visa issuance number.

Waaa.. I just want this to be over and have my visa in hand. Because even when I have the issuance number it will still take 2 or 3 more days before my visa is in my hand. I want to buy my plane tickets now, I hate the suspense, but I can't buy my ticket until I know when I'll have my visa. Ideally I'd like to arrive on the 15th of January, because that's the boyfriend's birthday, but I don't know if it will happen. :-( It's cutting it kind of close there...

Update

Lots of things going on this week.

First of all, one of the volunteer Korean teachers from my Saturday Korean class is visiting Boston right now. She stayed last night at my house, but I think she changed her mind about staying with me for the rest of the time when she saw how inconvenient my house is. As I mentioned before, by American standards, it's in a very well connected area, but by Korean standards, it's not at all. Not to mention the subway station nearest to me is somewhat dangerous and I don't want her pulling out her map and looking like a tourist in a dangerous part of town. Also, not to mention she probably felt bad that I gave her my bed and slept with my mom in her bed. It sounds like she'll come back and celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve and spend the night one more time, though.

Today I finally got everything together and put the documents in the mail for my visa. Even though I sent it today, FedEx told me it won't arrive until Dec. 28th. That's 6 days from now! I guess it's because of Christmas? So I'm guessing that the earliest that I can have a visa in my hand will be Jan 11th, and that is if they bring my paperwork to immigration and are not on vacation next week....

Also, today we bought a Christmas tree. Frankly, being the bah-humbug person I am, I could care less if we get a tree, it sort of seems like a waste of a life for a tree, not to mention a waste of $30 for something that will be thrown in the wood chipper in 2 weeks. But what can you do when your mother demands she have a tree for Christmas because she doesn't know when the next time she will have one will be. I'll just try to appreciate it and not look at the wastefulness of it. It will be nice when my Korean friend comes back to my house for Christmas eve. She can see the way a house is supposed to look on Christmas (we haven't decorated much yet...).

I'll post some photos soon of my excursion into Boston to get the apostille for the criminal background check. (though, I'm not even sure if you need it nowadays, no one has said anything about it...)

Up to Vermont

View from the drive to Vermont

My home for five years. I attended college in the Burlington, Vermont area and lived in South Burlington for one year after I graduated before I went to Korea. There are so many memories for me in Vermont, it's where I became an independent person, learned to live on my own, and found that 10 degrees F can be warm.

I had to drive up here to get my transcripts and a copy of my diploma notarized. I got quite a few extras, just in case, because it's a long drive and kind of a pain to do, and impossible from outside the country. Then had to bring that to the Secretary of State to get the apostille form.

I left my house around 9:30 and was on the highway before 10am. I got to my college at 1:45 and brought everything to the registrar's office to be processed. They said it would be a bit, so I went out really to get lunch, but the cafe was closing on campus because it was 2:00 on the last day of finals and no one was around. So, I went up to the Biology department to see if any of my old professors were around. I used to hang around there all day every day and I would stop in and say hello to all my professors whenever I wanted. I like to think we had a very good rapport back then. Sometimes I worry that they will forget who I am, and I'll show up and they'll give me some cockeyed look and think to themselves that I look familiar, but not remember my name or what class I had with them....

But, that wasn't the case. I was welcome with excitement from all the professors that we still around. I guess I must have left some sort of impression on them because they all still remember me well. Now with the advent of Facebook, I guess my adventures keep popping up on their news feed.

From there I went back, picked up my documents and headed down to Montpelier, the capital (with a whopping population of about 10,000 I think...). It was getting late, I had spent more time than I expected with my professors, but I found the building of the secretary of state that I had come to last time around that I went to Korea, rushed in the door with about 15 minutes to spare and went to the desk asking about getting my apostilles. "Actually, they do that at the office of archives, which was moved to Middlesex about 7 months ago." was the response that I received.

With that I went into full panic mode because I had come up to VT with this purpose only and now I had only 10 minutes to get to the next town over and find the office of archives. "Can I make it before they close at 4:30?" I asked. "If you speed." was my answer. "hurry up".

I ran out the door flew out of the parking lot and called up the office. It's Vermont, and things are usually pretty laid back. I figured if I called, and they understood the situation, they'd wait around an extra 5 minutes for me. Well, when I explained my problem, all they said was, "hurry up, the door locks automatically at 4:30, we have no control over it".

So I hurried down the highway to the next exit. I actually didn't go much over the speed limit, but fortunately, these two towns happen to have exits very close to one another, unlike most of Vermont. Usually there is 8-10 miles between exits in the state.

I got there, and found the office pretty fast, ran in the door and they recognized me immediately as the flustered out-of-stater that needed an apostille. They did it for me quickly and I could finally breath easily.

Then I went on my way to go up to Newport, where my friend and his fiancee live. I didn't really realize where Newport was, especially in relation to where I was. It's not that close, in fact it's quite far. It's waaaay up by the Canadian border, in fact I could see Canada from where I was. But, that's ok, it was great to finally see their house, and Newport was beautiful. There will be a separate post about Newport, because they brought me on a tour of the town the next morning.

That night my friend and I got some pineapple pizza in the only pizza joint in the town, then went back to the house to down some wine I picked up at the New Hampshire State Liquor Store for 9.99 (a big bottle of Yellow Tail).

In the morning, I woke up early and they brought me on the tour of the town (not too much to see besides main street) and then I headed back to Burlington to meet up with my old roommate from college/ year after college. She's living in New York now, so we both had to drive a ways to meet up, but it was worth it.

Church St., Burlington, VT

We got lunch at Tiny Thai in Essex, which is a great place (though I was disappointed because they only had black tea offered with their lunch special). The food there is excellent though. Highly recommended. After we went to Church St. in Burlington to get some things for Christmas before we had to say our goodbyes. A storm was predicted to hit Mass. that evening and I didn't want to get on the road too late.

Fortunately, I didn't hit any of the snow, it didn't start 'til after I went to bed. I made it home safely and I'm hoping to get back up to Vermont at least once more before I go back to Korea. It's so beautiful up there in the winter. I would also like to go skiing once on a real sized hill before I go back to Korea and their midget-sized ski hills.

Expect more posts soon on Newport, and maybe even the snow storm... if you can convince me to go out again and take pictures... it's pretty cold out there...