Second Week in Full Swing: A Week of Grammar, Picnics and Karaoke in Seoul
The microphone was passed around the tiny karaoke room while our voices grew louder with every song. What was supposed to be one hour of singing in a Hongdae 노래방 quickly turned into two. By the end of the night our throats were sore, the table was covered with empty glasses and we were laughing with a group of curious Koreans who wanted to know everything about our lives in Seoul.
Moments like these make it easy to forget that just a few days earlier I had been sitting in class trying to wrap my head around tricky Korean grammar.
The second week of my Korean language course was officially in full swing.
From Foundation to Beginner
The week kicked off with a test to see how much we’d retained from the previous week. Thankfully, it went well… I’ve officially moved up from the Foundation Group to the Beginner level. Yes, I am now a Beginner!
This level is divided into four sublevels before progressing to Elementary. And if you’re wondering how long it takes to reach the Advanced level… about 61 weeks of study 🤪. So yes, this language journey is definitely a marathon rather than a sprint.
A Fast-Paced Week in the Classroom
This past week was quite intense… packed with new vocabulary, tricky conjugations and extra layers of grammar.
We had a new teacher and just like our previous one, he brought a lot of energy into the classroom. He raced through the material while still managing to fire questions at us in Korean, which, of course, we had to answer in Korean too.
Every now and then, my ears would perk up in mild panic when I realized it was my turn.
Let’s just say I ended up with a lot of extra notes in my notebook. Now comes the real challenge: reviewing everything, practising it and hopefully remembering it all.
In the four afternoon classes, we had a female teacher who approached almost the same material in a completely different way. Her lessons were very playful, communicative and definitely interactive, which made the grammar feel a little less intimidating.
Lunch Breaks with Karin and After-Class Beers
Another highlight of the week were the lunch breaks. Almost every day Karin and I would head out together to find something to eat nearby. It quickly became our little routine between classes, stepping out of the classroom, stretching our legs and letting our brains recover from Korean grammar.
Our conversations rarely revolved around homework. Instead, we happily discussed our nights out in Seoul and the plans we were already making for future ones. Those lunch breaks felt like a small social pause in the middle of an otherwise very focused study day.
One lunch, however, became a story that still makes me smile.
At a small local restaurant I ordered a soup without really knowing what it was. By that point in Seoul I had already adopted a simple strategy: sometimes you just trust the menu, point at something and see what happens. The soup tasted… interesting. But of course I ate it, when in Korea, you commit to the experience.
Later that day I asked our teacher what I had actually ordered.
She smiled and told me it was 선지해장국 (seonji haejangguk), a traditional Korean hangover soup. It’s a dish many Koreans eat after a night of drinking and it contains pieces of coagulated ox blood.
Karin and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Apparently, completely by accident, I had chosen the perfect lunch after a night out.
In the afternoons, Christian, Karin and I often continued our routine in a slightly different way. After class we would meet just across the street from Lexis Korea and wait for each other before heading out for a beer. Sometimes other classmates would join us too, turning it into a small international gathering after a long day of studying.
Those casual moments quickly became one of my favourite parts of the week: a change to unwind, laugh about our struggles with Korean grammar and share our experiences of life in Seoul.
Not long after, Karin and I also discovered a great pub near the school called ‘I Love Pub’. With its high tables, free popcorn and delicious tap beer, it didn’t take long before it became one of our favourite spots to end the day.
At some point we even created a WhatsApp group with the same name. The group kept growing as more classmates joined and it continued long after I had finished my four-week Korean language course.
Moments like these, trying unknown dishes, learning unexpected cultural details and laughing about them afterwards, were exactly what made life in Seoul so special. Even an ordinary lunch break could turn into a small story I would carry with me long after the class was over.
A Friday Afternoon Picnic by the Han River
Also this week, I had signed up for the Friday afternoon excursion😃
So, Friday afternoon, a large group of us went for a picnic at Banpo Hangang Park on the Han River side. And what fantastic weather we had! It was one of those perfect spring afternoons: sunny, warm and ideal for relaxing, chatting and cycling along the river.
Here are two short videos of my cycling along the Han River:
Karaoke Night in Hongdae
Of course, we wanted to end our Friday in a unique way.A group of us took the subway to the north side of the Han River to the lively Hongdae district in search of a Karaoke room (노래방).
Here is a little video of one of the many street dancers we saw while strolling through Hongdae:
After strolling through Hongdae for a while we found a nice one. We ended up spending two hours in there instead of one hour and singing our throats hoarse.
Here you can hear how we enthousiastically sang along:
We rounded off the day after our quick dinner with beer and soju in a pub, where we struck up a conversation with some young Koreans who were curious about our experiences in Korea. It turned into one of those spontaneous conversations that make travel so special.
A Quiet and Rainy Saturday
Saturday turned out to be a bit of a slow day, at least in terms of studying. It was already getting late before I properly got started and to be honest, not much learning happened.
So instead, I decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood.
Along the way I stumbled upon a nice little supermarket not too far from my hotel. I picked up a few things to eat, because sometimes I simply don’t feel like eating out. Luckily, with a microwave and kettle in my room, I can prepare a few simple meals myself.
In the afternoon, the weather took a turn. It started raining, so I ended up staying close to home.
The weather here really is all over the place… Friday was beautiful, sunny and over 22 degrees Celsius, perfect picnic weather. But last night, the temperature dropped sharply and it actually snowed!
Sunday Study Mode
This morning, I headed out around brunch time, partly so housekeeping could tidy my room🤗
I picked up a few groceries for lunch and dinner and of course I couldn’t resist stopping by a coffee shop for a fresh latte. The instant coffee in my room simply doesn’t compare.
The rest of the day has been dedicated to studying. We’ve covered quite a lot this past week and there’s still so much grammar and vocabulary to review.
It’s almost ten p.m. now and I haven’t managed to go through everything yet.
Thankfully, tomorrow’s test isn’t crucial for moving up to the next level… but of course, I’d still like to do well.
For now, it’s time to close the books and get some sleep. Tomorrow morning the next test is waiting… and with it, another step in this Korean language adventure.
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