State of Flux

First week of classes here at Handong had my head spinning. Apparently it is the normal routine for there to be a mad flurry of adding and dropping courses for the first two weeks as students iron out their schedules and decide what they can or can't take. Well, my week was no different as I ran into several road blocks to the class schedule I had planned out before leaving the states.

The first day of classes, Monday, was rather anti-climatic for me. I only had one class during the seventh period, so until 5:30pm I was at loose ends. I finally attended my language class, Korean 1, but still felt a little unsure about how my week would shape up. As the days progressed I realized it would not be as simple as I hoped. I walked into one class and discovered that it was taught entirely in Korean, which it had not been advertised as. Well that would do me no good, so I left before it began and had to drop it.

For one reason or another I ended up dropping two classes. Then I still had to replace those classes, but discovered that most of the classes were already full at that point. There is a certain procedure for trying to get into a class that is already full which I had to become a master of immediately if I wanted to get a class schedule nailed down.

After asking what seemed like a million questions, and running around campus feeling confused and overwhelmed, I finally settled into a schedule by the end of a very hectic week. This is the last week one can drop a class, and I certainly hope that I won't have to. 
This is my current schedule:

As you can see, it is a slightly unbalanced schedule, and Tuesdays are really quite dreadful. But this is how it worked out, and I am simply grateful for the state of flux to be at an end. So far I believe my favorite class is going to be Philosophy. The teacher is absolutely incredible, and his English is really clear. I only have one American professor, so I am getting a whole slew of new experiences.

Although the week was incredibly stressful for me, it was also filled with good things in-between. I got to know the people here better, started to feel more comfortable in my dorm and at the cafeteria, and became more familiar with the buildings I will be spending my semester in.

The highlight of the week was going out to dinner with members of the international church along with my fellow new international students. I got to have corn and potato on my pizza for the first time, as well as shrimp! 

It was a really good time and I greatly enjoyed it. I love getting to know all of these people and hearing all of their stories. 

As I went through the past week, I realized what a humbling experience it was to be the outsider and to not know anything. I had to ask questions, otherwise I would be lost. I had to admit to not knowing what I was doing. I am so used to doing everything at school on my own and not needing directions on how to get to my classroom. It is not easy, but I feel like it has been a good lesson in humility and appreciating the help of the people God has placed around me.

So anyway, I survived my first week, and hopefully will continue to do so as my time here progresses--though my goal is to be able to become comfortable enough to really thrive here. Hoping to keep updates coming! If there is anything in specific anyone would like to know, please just ask me. Thanks for reading!

Random cultural fact: In Mongolia if you accidentally step on someone's foot, you always shake their hand afterward