Sofie to Korea

Not from the festivities that is, it’s absolutely amazing to see all the lanterns hanging everywhere in Seoul these days. So colorful and bright that it’s impossible not to feel happy when you look at them.

No, I need a break from school. Oh, I know I sound like a spoiled brat when I say this. So many people are dreaming about studying Korean at Sogang, and I’m living that dream. So, what’s my problem? I’m tired, exhausted, worn out, and sooooo excited that I’ll be graduating in less than three weeks. It’s right around the corner but having the day off today in honor of Buddha’s birthday has made me realize how much I miss self-studying. I miss my freedom to decide what to study and how, not to mention when. I miss feeling truly excited about learning Korean, and I miss not having to do homework assignments.

I once wrote a post about how classroom learning can kill my interest for learning a language in an instant, and I think it’s a testament to the true excellence of Sogang Korean that it would be 5 months of attending classes every day before I started to feel fed up. Don’t get me wrong. The program is still awesome. We’re learning so much, and my skills are improving at an incredible pace. Studying Korean just went from being something that I would do for recreation and fun to something that I have to do in order not to fail a test.

Also, studying in this way is worlds away from studying at a university, which I’ve done for ages. There’s such a big difference between hiding in the middle of a lecture hall of 100+ students and sitting in a classroom of 10 people being forced to speak, present, and participate for four straight hours every single day. Effective? You bet! Exhausting? H… yes! As opposed to last semester, I’m teaching in the afternoon this semester, and going right from four intense Korean lessons to three hours of standing on the lecture hall podium is, well… hard.

Anyway, I’m going to get through this. Final exams are only two weeks away now, so truly there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ll end this post by introducing you to the new single from Korean singer IU. And just like her, “I like it” and “I’m truly fine” but I’m no longer 25 so I’m a little tired, haha. I’m looking so much forward to my three-day weekend starting Friday. Yay!