The Usual Suspects

Since discussing the Korea University intensive program with Shannon and his wonderfully supportive “don’t say ‘if,’ say ‘when’” attitude about it, I’ve gotten increasingly excited about it but also a bit nervous, just because it’s feeling more real and will be a huge adventure. Huge solo adventures at my age are a bit more daunting than when I was 20. I haven't traveled alone internationally in more than 30 years! And I haven't traveled internationally at all in more than 25 years, since our honeymoon in Ireland.

The plan is for me to go to Korea at the end of December 2026. When I travel I’ve always liked to do lots of research in advance, and in this case it’s travel I’m especially excited about, so this past week I’ve been watching all kinds of videos on YouTube, doing various searches on Naver (kind of the Korean equivalent of Google), looking around at housing options, etc.

Timing

The winter program at Korea University consists of 4 hours of class (9 am - 1 pm) every day Monday-Friday for three weeks. (Some of the courses at other times of the year are two weeks, but in winter it's three.) Students in the course come from all around the world, with a lot of different native languages, so there will be no English. The entire program will be entirely in Korean. It’ll be pretty intense! Sounds scary, but wonderful!

My classes would start on December 28, and I would definitely want to arrive at least a day ahead so I could get over jet lag and get my bearings a bit before trying to spend 4 hours in an intensive Korean class for the first time. Flights from our part of the world seem to generally arrive in Seoul between 5:30 pm and 10 pm, so I definitely wouldn’t want to start class at 9 am the next day after traveling for 14+ hours! (Some of the trips from here are considerably longer than that, but 14 hours seems to be the absolute minimum.)

I would need to leave Lihue early on Christmas morning, at the latest. Shannon might not want to take me to the airport at (or before) the crack of dawn on Christmas Day, so the 24th might be a better option, and it would give me a chance to settle in a bit before starting my class. Because of the time difference, if I left here the morning of the 24th, I would arrive in Seoul Christmas evening.

My last day of classes would be on January 15, and so the soonest Shannon would be able to join me would be that evening. So I’m looking at at least 21 days of housing in Seoul before Shannon’s arrival.

Housing

I initially was planning to stay in the dorms, because that would be cheapest, but after some research I realized it would also be very inconvenient at my age. The dorm rooms available to students in the intensive program are 3 beds to a room, with your bed being a loft bed above your desk. You have to climb a ladder to get to and from your bed. The toilets, sinks, and showers are all shared, in a big shared space like at the gym.

Yes, the dorm would be the least expensive option, but I think it would be pretty miserable for me, especially climbing in and out of my bed and staggering down the public hallway in the night if I needed the bathroom. So I started looking to see if there were any other housing options. Apparently a lot of international students actually use Airbnb for their accommodations, even students who live there the entire year, so I started doing some searching on Airbnb and found that there are a wide variety of different places available in Seoul.

Seoul has an incredible subway system, so at first, I was thinking that I could stay pretty much anywhere in the city, because Korea University has its own subway stop. I found there are a lot of cool Airbnbs all over the city! I got pretty excited about some of the possibilities in different interesting neighborhoods. But after doing more research I learned that “rush hour” (which of course lasts more than one hour) is horrible, with people often needing to just let trains pass by in the morning because there’s no space to get on. Since my class starts every day at 9 am, I wouldn’t be able to avoid traveling at rush hour, so I started only looking at Airbnbs close enough that I would be able to walk to the university. I mean, I’m looking at places within like an hour’s walk. Sure, living close would be ideal, but I’m willing to live further away and have a long wintery walk every morning if necessary.

It looks like I would probably have to pay between $1,000 and $2,000 for a 3-week stay at an Airbnb in Seoul. That’s the cheapest. The size of these rooms vary a lot—a lot of them are just a mattress on the floor, a tiny bathroom, and a kitchenette—but it would be better than the dorm. Of course I’m not looking for a specific place more than a year in advance, just trying to get an idea of what kind of living situations are possible and what the pricing is like. I feel more comfortable having at least a vague idea, so we can know whether doing this is really feasible.

Weather

I’ve also been doing research about winter weather in Seoul, so that I know what things will be necessary to deal with the cold, especially since most of my wardrobe is now Hawaii-appropriate. The weather in Seoul in January is pretty much entirely below freezing, with nighttime lows usually below 14°F and sometimes even below 5°F. It’s COLD. Significantly colder than where I lived in Scotland when I was in my 20s. And apparently the Siberian winds are no joke.

I’m trying to make sure I’m only looking at Airbnbs with good heating, because … brrrrrrr! And I would obviously need to buy some things (like a warm coat and some thermal underwear) in advance, because shops in South Korea don’t sell women’s clothes in sizes larger than like … an American size 4. (I’m not even exaggerating about the clothing sizes.) I don’t mind cold weather, and I’d actually be really happy with snow, but I need to be prepared.

The other thing I need to keep in mind is the “Asian Dust” air pollution that affects most of East Asia. This would especially be a concern if I lived in one of the Airbnbs that require me to walk a long distance to the university each day, because when the dust is bad people are advised to minimize outdoor activities. I suppose on those days I might be able to take a bus, depending on where I was living. I have no problem wearing a mask (thanks, prolonged pandemic, for helping me overcome my fear of masking), so that should help, but it’s still important to be aware and not complacent.

Health

That leads me to the issue of health. Seoul (and South Korea in general) is a very hilly, mountainous place, and I’m almost certain to need to do a fair amount of walking, though the amount will depend on where I find a place to live. In order for this amount of hilly walking to be realistic for me, I need to work hard on my health over this next year. This is one of the reasons I felt it was good to do some research well in advance, because now I have a full year+ to work on some health goals.

The largest health goal, obviously, is my physical therapy. Before I caught this cold (which I am still fighting off), my PT was going extremely well and I was feeling really optimistic about the amount of walking I could do. We live on a steep hill, and I was planning to try walking the hill literally right before I caught this cold … but then I got sick and had to put it off. I haven’t been doing my PT exercises while I’ve been ill, so I know I will need to back off on my strength-building exercises a bit when I return to it, but I’m still very optimistic. And us living on such a steep hill here should present me with plenty of opportunities to work on my hill walking, for building both my muscles and my cardiovascular fitness.

Another health goal, though, is weight loss. I’m currently the largest I’ve ever been, and I’ve long been unhappy about it because I don’t feel good in my own body. But planning to travel gives me a much more specific motivation for losing weight. Squeezing into Korea’s notoriously tiny bathrooms, huffing and puffing up steep hills, finding room on crowded buses … it all would be easier if I lost a significant amount of weight. I’d love to lose 50 pounds, which seems definitely possible over the course of more than a year. I mean, just being able to be more physically active as my legs become stronger and I worry less about re-injuring myself should help a lot. I know that losing weight becomes more difficult as we get older, so I know it will take hard work. But the physical therapy comes first. I can’t really do a lot of useful physical exercise as long as my legs and knees are so vulnerable. But I have multiple health and fitness goals.

And while I'm in Seoul I will want to wear a mask any time I'm going to be around lots of people, because I wouldn’t have caught this darn cold (which I’m still fighting off after nearly 2 weeks) if I’d just worn a mask to the theater! I would hate to be sick like this during my study abroad, so I’ll just have to be extra extra careful.

But, speaking of the cold I have right now, I’m going to go rest. I’m not terribly sick anymore, but it’s just sort of dragging out. Some coughing, some nose congestion, but mostly just physical exhaustion. So resting is crucial. If I rest enough, I’ll be able to get back to my PT and working on my goals!

Next time, maybe I'll write about the Korean language learning goals I have for this upcoming year, because I want to work on my Korean as well as my health. I have a year to make it all happen! I also have financial goals, as I'm going to work on saving up more money in case that might help me stay at a better Airbnb without the long hike every morning. If I had an extra few hundred dollars to put into my housing, it might make a big difference. We'll see. I mean, saving up money is important anyway, so that I can go places while I'm there and eat out and such. So ... saving money is another goal. Lots of goals!