Yonsei Housing

Yonsei has to be one of the greenest campuses I've ever seen in my life. Although it has gone under some constructions this summer and some paths are blocked, the beauty of this campus still remains. As I've walked to this spot multiple times for classes, I sometimes still stop in front this building to look at "Mr. Famous", Mr. Yonsei for a bit before I go. He's attractive, handsome, and smart ;). He has definitely made me proud of being a student at Yonsei.

Mr. Yonsei statue

Now, let's move on to the main topic of this post: SK GLOBAL HOUSE :D. Yonsei gives students a specific date of when they are able to move in. When I checked in at the front desk of SK Global, I got to know what room number I'm in and whom my roommate is. In addition, one of many Yonsei staffs gave me my room key and this check-in and out sheet and requested to have it by the end of the day. They wanted to make sure that everything in the room is in the same condition as it is on the check-in day. Easy cheesy! It took me 5 mins.

Check in and out sheet

Students have their own key to get accessed to the building and to their rooms. If you lose it, you must pay 5000 Won (~$5) to get a new one. I keep it in my wallet/ purse at all time because I need it to check in and out of the scanning machine on the second basement (B2). Otherwise, I have to jump over which would ruin my reputation :)) 

Room key

My room is on the 6th floor by the way.

My floor's hallway

After I scan my key on the door to have it opened, I put my key in this card holder to turn the electronic power on. When I take the key off, the power will be completely off. 

Insert room key in this card pocket to turn the power on 

Woohooo! Welcome to my room! My roommate didn't arrive till two days later so I owned this double room myself for 2 days. The room is symmetrically divided into two parts. I have my own bed, closet, shoe storage, desk, and chair and so does my roommate. 

SK double room 

The only thing that we get to share is the bathroom. My room was in good condition so I'm satisfied :p

Bath room

Closet

Bed and desk are right next to each other 

In the second basement of SK Global, there're some coffee shops, some restaurants, and a convenient store called GS 25. If I need something in urgent or am lazy to walk out of campus for meals, I can always get/ eat something downstairs. Overall, I must say that SK Global is a safe and convenient place for students to stay. 

After settling in and cleaning my room for a bit, I decided to go out and have a walk around Yonsei campus. 

Seoul transportation

Traffic jams in Seoul were unexpectedly horrible everyday for car drivers. For this reason, Seoul citizens often use public transportation to ease the craziness of the traffic and save time. As soon as I arrived to Incheon airport, the first thing I did was to purchase a T-money card. I believe everyone who lives in South Korea has this card. It costs approximately 2000 ~ 4000 won for each ($2). With this card, my transportation process has gone by quicker. T-money card can be used if I take a taxi, subway, or buses. Scan the card when you enter and scan it again when you leave. The card can be charged and recharged at anytime at any charging machine in any subway station. There's always an English option for the convenience of foreigners. Although the cost for riding buses and subway is almost the same here (~1000 ~ 4000 Won depending on my traveling distances) , I prefer using subway over buses because all the routes are much clearer with English description. With a subway map in my hand, I literally can go anywhere myself without being afraid of getting lost. To sum up, I'm most pleased with the Seoul subway system. It has definitely made my trip easier. 

My T-money card....Carried this with me the whole time in Korea

Here's some tips for you, Seoul travelers: 

• Download "subway" app

The subway app looks like this! If I was not mistaken, this app is accessible to any phone brand :)

• If you study abroad at Yonsei, Ewha, or Hongik Universities, green line (#2) on subway map is the route that you're gonna use the most.

* You should bring a paper copy of Korean subway map with you wherever you go the first few days in Korea just to get used to the system and some common locations. Here is the link of the most up to date subway map: http://metropoliphone.com/img/sub_seoul.pdf. You can find a pdf file on a lot of websites, not necessarily only the one I provided)

• Take the right exit when you get out of the station. You may not want to take the longest path of all to get out of the subway when you want to walk back to Yonsei.

*Google the direction before you go. 

• Subway is close around 12am/ 1am so always keep a physical address of Yonsei dorm or wherever you stay for the night with you. 
• If you forget your T-money card home, don't freak out. You can always purchase a one-round trip ticket at the charging/ticket machine in the station. 

That's everything I could think of right now. I bet you will enjoy Seoul subway as much as I do :p