JayCup

oh my god, its only 5 weeks left now !!! then i will be back in japan, stay there for a week and then enter korea again in order to start my studies... damn, time is really just flying by...

so, i got my ticket to korea, i got all the scholarship documents and got a room in the students-house AND most important thing: i got enough money now. worked a lot, earned a lot, now got a lot, hehe. enough for 2 months in korea and a short travel to japan. with the additional scholarship i won't have any problems during my stay in korea, thats a nice thing.

 

so, i will arrive on the 17th of february in seoul, but i plan to go directly to japan then and stay there 10 days. then go to korea, check in at university and start my student-life in korea. from today on, its only 40 days left, so not even 6 weeks... cant wait to see my girlfriend again, and also to visit japan and korea one more time...

 

i wont work too much now and invest more time in sports and study. need to relax now a little bit and i think learning and sports is the right way to do so. clearing up my mind, and gaining more knowledge to make my stay in korea and japan easier... ah yeah, i didnt tell but i also started to learn japanese language. i am not so good in it like in korean, but it's getting better now, cause invest more time in it.

Sooo, a few days have passed since my last entry... and a lot of things happened. I am quite busy now with university and my job, in fact i am kind of really knocked out now. Everyday university from 8 or 10 am until 6 pm, then work from 7 pm till 1 am...  i sleep almost 5-6 hours a day...

 

But every effort brings some kind of results. I still hope to go to Japan during or right after christmas and of course I already paid my ticket to Korea for February... YES, some people thought perhaps that I am gonna change my mind and cancel my Korean classes or something after my journey, but please, just think first a little bit and THEN start to judge. Of course I wrote some negative things about Korea and yes, there is a lot of negative stuff to write about, but I would do this with every country. Korea has still some things I like and I still have the plan to become fluent in Korean, or at least to speak on my english-level, this should be more then enough.

OK, Korean and Japanese hate each other, so if I say that I liked Japan more, some people automatically see me on the "Japanese-side" and do not listen to any honest word I say, but sorry, it's just not like that. Yes, I liked Japan more, but I spent only a week a there and this with the most beautifull and sincere girl in the world, so how could I see something negative?? I want to spend more time in Japan and you can be sure that after this, I will also write some negative things about it... but until then, just relax.

 

So, my journey in Ferbruary is for sure now. I got the confirmation of the Yonsei University and already did buy the ticket. Now, I work like a freak to get enough money to go to Japan to see my girl...but perhaps it wont be enough...I need a hell of luck now...like a very cheap ticket or winning in the lottery...

It's interesting. Most of my friends and my parents told me, that I changed a lot. Actually, I didn't really notice...but of course the journey changed me in many ways. First of all: I am in love now... perhaps this is one of the most important points. But there are also many different things, especially some experiences I made, that changed my attitude toward some things.

But well, right now really no time to think about it. The University just started and I am really busy with managing all the Korean, Japanese and Economics classes. In fact, this Semester will be really hard...

 

I got the offer to put parts of this blog in a korean newspaper here in Germany, so today I cut out some parts and I think this week we will start to translate it in class. Then it will be send to the newspaper. It's really great that also my teachers support this idea. The blog will be translated in the "professionals" class (Korean 5 - I am in Korean 3), but I think I also have to go there and take part in the translation, but right now just don't know if I can manage it due to my Japanese classes...

So, my journey is over now... after 5 very beautiful days in Japan I made a 30 hours journey back home...and now I am back in Berlin. I really wanted to stay longer in Japan. The country is beautiful, the difference to Korea couldn't be bigger. In fact, now I understand a lot more about the problems between Japan and Korea. It is not only the history which is throwing its shadow on the Japanese/Korean relationship. The cultures are just soooo different, I can't imagine a Japanese could get used to Korean society and live there... in fact I am sure that every Japanese or Korean would get a real culture shock trying to live in the other country.

Right now, I am a little bit torn apart...I like Korea really a lot, but Japan has more....I don't know exactly how to call it... perhaps... spirit? I can't really explain. In Korea, everywhere I go, I always noticed the very proud statements about Korean history, society, culture...it was like everybody wanted you to notice it and to point out the special points about Korea. This is kind of Korean Nationalism at work. But in Japan, I just could almost feel it... perhaps it is my old passion for Japan, that I already had about 5-6 years ago...OF COURSE it is the influence of the special person I visited...but right now, exactly in this moment, regarding the atmosphere, the surrounding...I must say that I liked Japan more...And I will go there soon again...very soon.

 

BUT, all this experiences I could only make due to my Korean Studies.

 

Finally: There are also a lot of very good things about Korea that I already mentioned AND for people who are seeking work, Korea is a kind of "dreamland". The salary is almost at our level and the working conditions are not so bad. Also the language is very attractive, as long as people keep speeking in a cultivate way, not using 반말 too much and with a calm voice. When I started to learn Korean language, I always wanted to speak Banmal, but this changed during my stay here, due to all the drunken people.

 

So, I dont want to give up my Korean classes or anything like some of my friends were suspecting. I will continue my studies now even harder but also try to learn Japanese basics. This two skills combined, will be sure a great help in the near future...

 

Ok, this was my last blog to Korea and to my journey. Hope you enjoyed it and if there are questions left, just ask me :-)