In my few weeks in Korea, I’ve tried a lot of new food. I had gone out for Korean barbecue a couple times while in the US, but I hadn’t really tried “authentic” Korean food or any other Korean dishes beyond what is typically served at American K-BBQ places. So most of the food I’ve had has been very novel. For example, after our trip to the DMZ, we went out to a traditional restaurant in the nearby town of Paju and I had bibimbap for the first time. It was so delicious and a great source of vegetables, which it turns out is kind of hard to find in Korean cuisine.

If you ever decide to learn Japanese, and if you then decide to talk to someone online in Japanese, you'll probably get told something along the lines of nihongo jouzu desu ne, which basically means "your Japanese is really good." However, people will say this regardless of whether your Japanese is actually good or not, making getting "nihongo jozu'd" a bit of a running joke among people studying Japanese on the internet. It's pretty much a rite of passage at this point. It has happened to me personally countless times online.

“I know a girl whose one goal was to visit Rome. Then she finally got to Rome, and all she did was post pictures for people at home. 'Cause all that mattered was impressin' everybody she's known." - Drake, "Emotionless"

As I’ve relaxed in my apartment after my first week of classes and internship work in Roma, I’ve found myself unsure of what exactly to write about this week, for there is no way to encapsulate the true beauty of this journey in just one post. In the 2 weeks that I have been here, I have found my life turned upside down time and time again; around every corner, I am prompted to think in new ways as I find myself exposed to new ideas, ways of life, and responsibilities to undertake.

Preface this by saying that technically last Friday was the first day of class, but I only had one class (KLI) which was just a placement test. I went to campus about 1.5 hours before the test and just walked around campus to look around. The back half of the campus is honestly really pretty. The front half is all tall grey concrete buildings. Also, it is super hill-y, so that was a humbling experience. There was a lot of people walking around, which was little nerve racking.

Monday

The first two weeks of IES Abroad Amsterdam are essentially a vacation. You meet a bunch of awesome new people, explore the city, socialize in and out of IES Abroad orientations, and it’s still summer! However, despite the seemingly non-stop fun, setting up your Dutch phone, withdrawing cash without paying absurd ATM fees, and opening a Dutch bank account are the logistical nightmares that ground you before the semester starts and make you realize that it’s not just study abroad, but study (and live, independently) abroad.