In Korea!

So I am in Korea in one piece and writing from my laptop as I stare out my window. It is raining today in Seoul so I have decided to turn off Pinky (my Ipod) and listen to the rain. I officially start my classes today, but can I tell you how beautiful the campus is?!

It is very similar to Pepperdine in that the whole campus is on a hill. The main gate starts out at the bottom of the hill and all the buildings go up from there. And of course my dorm is on top of the hill......

The obvious con is I have to hike up the hill (and let me tell you, I am going to have the most amazing legs when I get back to the states!) but the definite pro is when I get to my dorm and look out my window, I have a beautiful view of the campus and the mountains. While I was living on campus at Pepperdine, I had the most amazing view of the blue ocean. But at KAIST, it's the mountain with tall, beautiful, green trees. 

Last Friday, I had my student orientation for exchange students and to my great surprise, there are 19 exchange students and I am the only American! There are students from Germany, France, Denmark, Taiwan and Philippines. I am thrilled at the fact that I am making international friends but at times have no clue as to what they are talking about. For instance, my uber chic classmate from Paris asked me for a handy... "Excccuuuussseee meee??"  (Later figured out that handy is a cell phone) And all this talk of Kilometers and Celsius is confusing me. I miss Miles and Fahrenheit!

But other than the minor communication barrier, I am thrilled at this oppurtunity and cannot wait for classes to begin! Which officially begins in .... 18 minutes. :) 

Dilemma

I have decided to take advantage of Pepperdine's study abroad program. I will be studying at KAIST University in Seoul, Korea for the Fall term. My focus will be Asian Economics and human resources strategy while I am abroad. As most would expect, I am thrilled by this opportunity, or so I was up until I came across this HUGE dilemma. 

My sudden joy has been overshadowed by this single question that has been haunting me for the past month or so... "How in the world do you pack for a 4 month trip??"

I have spent the last two days packing... just on shoes! Most fashionista's would know, (and a certain Hamilton comes to mind..) that a pair of shoes can make or break an outfit. And while I am going abroad to attend school and not a fashion show, (a direct quote by my father BTW) I must say I certainly do not want to end up on Korea's issue of Glamour as a DON'T with my eyes covered by a BOLD BLACK LINE!!

I was given the dress code policy by KAIST University a few weeks ago. And it clearly states: NO SHORTS, NO SLIPPERS. Whaaaa..????? As an Angelenos, the flip flop has become a staple to my wardrobe year round. So to take that out of my shoe closet is a huge dilemma...

So in conclusion, you can only see that packing has become a huge burden for me. Can you feel the stress level as I write this??? And if you must know, I have decided to pack 16 pairs of shoes, lucky 16. :)

With that, I say farewell Los Angeles! Farewell to everything I love about LA, the smog, the traffic, the perfect 80 degree weather, flip flops, tan-o-rexic people on the beach, Mr. Chow and of course my lil Pepperdine community, friends and family. My next blog will be in Seoul, Korea so stay tuned!

PS. I want to thank Benjamin Hamilton for lending me his croc collections so that I may have a visual on my page today. Thanks B, you're the best!!! xoxoxoxo

It's Official...

First year orientation has started today, making me an "official" second year. I cannot believe the year has gone by so quickly. When your swamped with group work, exams, research papers, socials and lectures; time flies...FAST. 

I reminisce on my year and visually bullet point everything I have gained. Besides the obvious, (knowledge and connections) I have gained a group of friends for life, bonded by numerous hours of perfecting every details on PP presentations and staying up until wee hours cramming for exams. 

Last Sunday, I threw a baby shower for my dear friend/fellow MBA classmate/co-president for NAWMBA/OB partner for life, Tal. A dozen fellow classmates gathered in celebration of Tal becoming a baby mama! Then on Tuesday, I met up with my fellow leaders for NAWMBA (National Association for Women in MBA) trying to plan networking events for our club.  And last night, a bunch of second years got together at Saddle Ranch on Sunset for some happy hour fun before school started. There's always events going on through out the school year in order for students to network and to get to know one another.

I cannot help but feel blessed to have such a great community at Pepperdine. When I signed up for B-school, it was mainly education, so the fact that I have developed life-long relationships is an added bonus. It's as if I can have my cake and eat it as well. And I must say... it's pretty sweet!

Phercitement

I could not find an exact word in the Webster's Dictionary to portray my thoughts this week. So I made up my own word and I will make sure at the very least, that it gets a patent in urban-dictionary.com. :)

Phercitement. (adj; pronounced Fur-cite-ment):

A mixture of feelings of hope, fear, nervousness and excitement. Commonly felt by 1st year MBA students.

I attended "Beginning of a New School Year" mixer Thursday night hosted by MGBS at Makai in Santa Monica. I was thrilled to see my fellow classmates after a 3 month hiatus from lectures, group work, exams and (most missed) socials. We were able to catch up on all the "3-ships." (internships, relationships, friendships) Basically, who worked where, who's dating who, who's partied with who...

I also observed many new faces that night. Ahhhh.. the newbies, freshmen, aka 1st years; slowly trickling into Malibu for a week of orientation and HAPPY CAMP at Calamigous Ranch. I could definitely see the phercitement on all the 1st years faces. It was only a year ago that I was the newbie among the sea of unfamiliar faces, feeling the phercitement as to who I should approach and spark up a conversation with. Going down memory lane and realizing this unpleasant feeling that has once haunted me last summer, I excuse myself from my table of 2nd years. I approach a girl sitting alone in the corner table and spark up a conversation. Immediately, I could tell how relieved she is as her face changes expression of phercitement to relief as I answer her 101 questions about MBA-life.

So in conclusion, I have a better definition of phercitement...

Phercitement. (adj. Pronounced Fur-cite-ment)

A mixture of feelings of hope, fear, nervousness and excitement. Commonly felt by 1st year MBA students, often cured by 2nd year MBA students.