A Midnight Snack

Once in awhile you just need a midnight snack!  I was finishing up a powerpoint last night for my Sports Medicine class and afterwards I went to Andrew's room to hang out and plan our upcoming trip to Busan.  Around midnight we both gave each other the "I need some nosh" look.  Midterms were finally over and after barely leaving SK Global House for the past 4 days, we were feeling a little stir-crazy.

We decided to venture into Sinchon for something to eat.  We bundled up, which was an entirely new experience for us since being in Korea.  It was still 70 degrees just two days ago, and last night it was only 36 degrees!  Well that's Seoul weather for you.  It's hard to imagine Seoul being anything but hot and humid.  Walking outside with our wool coats, scarves, and gloves, felt really good though.  To me, it was the familiarity of upstate New York weather.  You could even feel the refreshing coldness in the air, I just love that wintery smell!

Between the quiet of the night and the cold temperatures, Sinchon was so peaceful!  Of course the only things open were Korean BBQ restaurants and coffee and waffle shops.  That was okay though, we found a delicious K-BBQ restaurant that we haven't tried before and it hit the spot.  Surprisingly, the place was actually busy at that hour, it seems that New York isn't the only city that never sleeps.

We headed back, and although it was late and we both had class the next morning, I'm still glad we went.  For the first time in awhile I slept really well last night.  And of course it was nice waking up to the heated floors.  So bring on the cold weather, Seoul!

A Day Out With Professor Chun (Again!)

This past Saturday Professor Chun arranged for our Religion and Culture class to go tour the Korean Folk Village outside of Seoul.  The weather was beautiful that day and we all had so much fun.  We met around 9am in the lobby of SK Global House and walked together to the bus stop.  We took 2 buses to get there, one to Gangnam and then the other to the village, and it took about 90 minutes to get there.  I enjoyed the ride though because I took a nice nap on the way!

The village was beautiful.  It's essentially a museum-like park set up like a traditional Korean folk village.  You can walk around, go into most of the buildings and houses, and there's even a small market and food court.  Also there's demonstrations and activities for the kids, as well as a horse show that we caught the tail end of (no pun intended).

Yes, that man is riding upside-down!

We walked around with Professor Chun and he explained a bit about eastern culture and religion at each stop we made.  It felt like we had our own personal tour guide!  We then all ate lunch at the market.  I had a potato pancake (it made me very excited for Hanukkah time!) and some soup, and as a class we shared some rice cake that Professor Chun bought.  At the market place we got to meet Professor Chun's reverend from his church back home in Kansas City.  His reverend is visiting South Korea with his family for the week and they decided to come to the folk village and meet our class.

One of the performances we caught was actually a national contest between grade schools.  Students were competing in the "Traditional Korean Mask Competition" where each school's team would perform a folk dance incorporating the traditional masks.  It was very interesting to watch and the kids were very cute.  It reminded me of when I would compete in chorus and band against other schools in the area.

Korean grade school students getting ready to perform their folk routine.

We continued to walk around and see things like traditional servants' quarters, the government house, a rich man's estate, a silk farm, etc.  Before we left we sat down in one of the tea houses and we all shared a cup of traditional medicinal tea and some candied ginger.  The tea had a very strange taste but it was really fun sharing the tea with the class and "experiencing culture", as Professor Chun says.  We headed back in the late afternoon, and after walking around for most of the day, we all enjoyed a nap on the bus ride back.

Sharing some tea with Professor Chun and the class, very Korean of us. 

Unsuccessfully trying to make friends with a donkey.  At least I tried. 

And another one bites the dust...

Well my roommate Joe moved out last week.  That's the second roommate I've had thus far.  Maybe it's me?  But in this case it was just a matter of polar opposite schedules.  Joe liked to stay up all night, and I mean all night, to about 4 or 5 in the morning if I was lucky!  She had been thinking about getting an apartment for awhile now so it made sense for her to go now.  Especially since it's midterms week and I need my sleep!

Sometimes I miss having a roommate, but it's nice to have two closets again and to have the room to myself.  And truthfully, I'm really not in my room much so it's not that big of a deal.

Yesterday marked the halfway point for my semester here in Seoul.  I can't believe it!  It seriously feels like last week that I got off the airplane, greeted by a sea of Asians in this big city, lost, confused, and blonde!  At this point I definitely feel more at home though.  I have my schedule memorized, I am finally able to pronounce all of my professors' names, and I can communicate with a cab driver to get back to SK Global House.  I even have the Seoul subway system down, now that's impressive!

The Seoul subway system.  Sinchon is located at stop 240 on the green line, #2.   That's in the middle, left hand side.

Bye For Now, Jeju

Well the day had finally come and it was time for us to leave our beloved Jeju.  Even after being there for only 4 days I had already felt a connection to the place and the people.  It's funny really, because when I first got to Seoul and began the semester getting to know Sinchon, it certainly took more than 4 days, even a bit more than 4 weeks to really feel a connection to my new surroundings.  Yet Jeju was different and we loved every part of being there.  In fact, that became one of our favorite sayings of the week along with "Charge it".  The Jeju tourist organization has signs and billboards all around the island that say We love having you here! and so every time Andrew and I saw one these signs we looked at each other and said, "We love being here!"

We got up and had breakfast and packed up all of our stuff.  We said goodbye to Sylvia and Peter, which like saying goodbye to Ilene, was really sad.  Sylvia took out her camera and asked to get a picture of Andrew and me because she said she likes to take a photograph of all of her guests.  Of course, we asked if we could get a picture with her as well.  We then left and headed for the airport shuttle stop which was right around the corner from the inn.

Sylvia and me before leaving Tae Gong Gak.  Behind us are countless messages, pictures, and letters that guests have left Sylvia and Peter. 

The flight was short and smooth and perhaps the most funny and exciting part was the passenger sitting next me.  To my right was a Korean man, probably in his 50s.  I'm not sure if it was actually his first time on a plane, or if he was just trying to be funny, but as the plane was taking off he put is hands up in the air and shouted "Whhaaaahooo" as we ascended.  He then looked at me and just started giggling, I couldn't help but laugh as well.  It was quite funny and certainly a memorable moment.

A shot from the flight back to Seoul from Jeju.  The distance was so short that we could see the ground or the ocean for almost the entirety of flight.

We got back to campus around 2pm and I had class at 3.  We were certainly not on vacation anymore! While in Jeju Andrew and I talked a lot about if we would actually return to Jeju at some point down the road.  I'd like to think that I would come back at some point; it would be really special to someday show my kids all the things I experienced while I was here.

Jeju Island Day 4

It was our last full day and we were determined to make the most of it.  As Bree told us, we just had to "Charge it!".  Andrew and I had hit up basically every big Jeju sight except for Mt. Hallasan, the Manjanggul lave tubes, and Seongsan Ilchubong, commonly referred to as Sunrise Peak.  Mt. Hallasan, the statuesque volcano that lies in the middle of Jeju, was far too much of an undertaking for the hiking abilities of Andrew and me.  Bree and her friends had climbed Mt. Halla and said it was an "easy" 4 to 6 hour hike, but Andrew and I took one look at each other and said, "Uh-uh, no way", we'll admire it from a distance.

We really wanted to see the famous underground lava tubes though, and we were desperate to climb Sunrise Peak.  We headed out early after having a nice breakfast at Tae Gong Gak and then Sylvia showed us how to take the bus to the lava tubes.  The sky was looking really gray, and considering we had had perfect, sunny weather the whole time, we weren't too bummed.  We'd rather be underground or hiking when it rained, rather than on the beach or at the waterfalls.  Sylvia even gave us rain ponchos with our directions, it felt like Sylvia was our mother and she was getting us all ready to get on the bus for school!

The bus ride was a bit long, almost 90 minutes, but it was fine because we were passing through the rain.  We found the lava tubes right away and without wasting any time bought our tickets and headed on down.  The Manjanggul lava tubes are an extensive system of underground tubes that lava rushed through during the last eruption.  This particular site is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and South Korea takes a lot of pride in it and has preserved the area so well that over 8km are open for the public to walk through.  Unfortunately, we had missed the English tour but it was alright because we wanted to hustle through.  It was chilly down there and we were anxious to get to Sunrise peak.  The tubes were really cool though and I'm glad we had kept them on our list.  It reminded me of Howe Caverns, except that they were way bigger and far more dramatic.  It was hard to get good pictures because it was so dark, but we did manage to get a few good shots.

Oh you know, just hanging out in a lava tube, the usual.

After the lava tubes, we got back onto the bus and headed to the town of Seongsan-ri where Sunrise Peak is located.  Sunrise Peak is a volcanic crater that lies slightly off the east coast of Jeju.  In fact, the crater is the most eastern part of the island, which is why it's called Sunrise Peak, because it's the first part the island that the sun hits each morning.  There is one side of the crater that you can climb up but unfortunately you cannot go into the crater, once at the top the center is blocked off.  The hike going up was not bad at all, only about 20 minutes, and most of the way up there were stairs carved into the path.  As expected the view was amazing.  You could see the ocean for miles as well as a panoramic view of Jeju.

Here is Sunrise Peak, we climbed the crater from the left side but we were not able to go down into the grassy middle.

I made it to the top!  To the left is the middle of the crater and to the right is the small town of Seongsan-ri, which lies on the eastern coast of Jeju Island.

We headed back down the path and then did a little shopping at the base of the crater.  There were many souvenir shops and food vendors.  We were exhausted so we got back on the bus shortly after and headed back to the inn.  We asked Sylvia and Peter for dinner recommendations again and they suggested a popular Chinese restaurant nearby.  Unfortunately, it had already closed, we were starving so we settled upon an interesting looking Korean restaurant in the same area.  Andrew ordered kimchi stew and I ordered a scallion pancake and when our food came we were stunned!  Both orders looked like they could feed a small army.  There was so much food and if we had known how big our meal was going to be we would've just shared something.  The food was pretty good though, but not nearly as delicious as the night before.  

Afterwards we stopped at a little cafe around the corner that Sylvia thought we might really like.  She said a lot of foreigners go there and I'm glad we went.  I had a delicious hot chocolate and it was nice to be around other people speaking English for a little bit; for the first time in awhile I don't think Andrew and I were the minorities, there were many other Americans there.  The cafe had a lot of books, most of them in English, and we had fun reading some of them to each other.  The funniest one I picked up was a dictionary on popular English phrases.  It was fun to read about how they defined phrases like "You gotta be kidding me" and "Fish outta water".  We didn't want to end our last night in Jeju so soon, but we were exhausted and we had to catch the airport shuttle at 9 am the next morning, so we headed on back to Tae Gong Gak (that rhymes!). 

Jeju Island Day 3

It was day 3 of our trip which meant it was time for Andrew and me to leave the Island Guesthouse and travel to another part of the island, Seogwipo.  In Seogwipo, we'd be staying at the Tae Gong Gak Inn.  This inn and guesthouse was recommended to me by a fellow HWS student, Amy, who had stayed there last spring while she was studying abroad in Seoul, also at Yonsei University.

We woke up, had breakfast and then headed out.  We went to go tour a historical, but still functioning, Buddhist temple that was only a few miles from the Island Guesthouse.  Ilene suggested it to us because she said it was really beautiful and had a great view of Insong-ri.  It was really cool to see a temple that had many ancient features but was still currently being used by the Buddhists in the area.  We walked around the temple and even hiked up part of the mountain that it was carved into, Mt. Sanbang, where there was a "fountain of youth".  Andrew took a drink from it, but I wasn't risking a parasite or some other fluke illness!

Andrew and me at the Mt. Sanbang Buddhist temple

We returned to the guesthouse shortly after and packed up our stuff.  It was sad saying goodbye to Ilene, she was such a big help and we liked spending time with her so much.  Naturally, she wrote out detailed instructions for us how to get to Seogwipo by bus and after we hugged and snapped some pictures we left.  The bus ride to Seogwipo was really easy.  We transferred once and while we were waiting for our next bus we ran into to an E-mart for a healthy lunch consisting of chocolate donuts and sliced pineapple!  We found Tae Gong Gak without any problems and checked into our room right away.  Sylvia and Peter, the owners, were so sweet and they were so excited to meet us!  It felt like they had been waiting for us to arrive all day.  Our room was beautiful, for the price of a hostel, it was incredibly clean and roomy and the best part was that we had an excellent view of Seogwipo Harbor.

The goal was to head back out immediately because there was so much more to see, but Andrew fell asleep after just "trying out the bed" and I couldn't help but want a nap either.  We did go out soon afterwards though and Peter and Sylvia showed us exactly where everything was.  Seogwipo is known for the two most famous waterfalls of Jeju, Cheonjiyeon and Jongbang.  With detailed directions from Sylvia and Peter (they actually showed us pictures on a computer monitor of how to get there!) we easily found our way to the first one, Jongbang.  The Jongbang waterfall is said to be the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean.  We bought our tickets and hiked down a small path, and then all of a sudden there it was right there in front of us; it was absolutely breathtaking!  We were so close to it, and there were tons of other people around, most likely from all different parts of the world, admiring the falls and posing for pictures.  We took plenty of pictures but then left right away because Peter recommended we check out the Saeyeon Bridge before sunset.

Having another "Am I really here?" moment at Jongbang waterfall. 

We walked over to Seogwipo Harbor and we hustled in order to make the sunset.  We made it though and it was fantastic.  We walked across the Saeyeon Bridge as the sun was setting and we had a terrific view.  The Saeyon Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects Seogwipo Harbor to Saesom Island.  Saesom Island, meaning "bird island", is a beautiful little island that has a small nature path, as well as a path through the lava rock formations, which allow you to get a bit farther out into the ocean.  While walking Saesom, we met a cool guy from Sweden whose name I unfortunately can't remember.  It was fun to talk to him for a bit and share stories; he's just traveling around the world while he's "still young" he says.  He offered to take a picture of Andrew and me, and we returned the favor. 

Andrew and me on Saesom Island, compliments of the cool Swedish guy.

The beautiful Sayeon Bridge just as the sun was setting; to the right is Seogwipo Harbor.

After we left Saesom it was dark and Sylvia and Peter told us that was the perfect time to see the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.  It was only a short walk away from the heart of Seogwipo harbor and we even made friends on the way!  We met a couple, probably a few years older than Andrew and me, who were also looking for the waterfalls.  The girl is from Canada and she's been teaching English in Seoul for almost 2 years.  She was traveling with a guy who is studying in Seoul but he's only been here for a few months.  Andrew and I believe they are an item, but the verdict's still out.  We pointed them in the right direction of the waterfalls and then kept bumping into them, turns out they were staying at our inn so we even had breakfast with them the next morning!  They even offered to give us a ride to the airport since they had rented a car, which was extremely nice of them, but our flights were at two different times.  Note, I respectfully declined the offer since the second they mentioned "rental car" Andrew couldn't stop fuming.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was located in a beautiful manmade park that was all lit up.  The sight of the falls with the lights on it was just gorgeous.  I noticed that at every waterfall we'd been to there were two sets of people, those that just stared in awe, and those that were busy taking pictures, snapping a hundred shots a minute.  I believe Andrew and I belonged to the first group, but then transitioned into the second.  For the first few minutes we couldn't help but just stare and marvel in the falls' beauty, it was such an amazing sight and it felt so good to finally be seeing all the cool things that we had been planning for and reading about for so long.  

Admiring the amazing scenery, Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.

We were starving at this point so we were happy when Sylvia recommended a delicious multi-course Korean restaurant nearby.  In fact, a couple of Sylvia's friends happened to be at the inn visiting Sylvia and they offered to show Andrew and me right where the restaurant was!  It was quite a hoot getting a personal tour from these two ladies; they were both really sweet but spoke very little English.  They did show us around the area a bit on the way to dinner and we got a very nice tour in Korean!  At one point one of the ladies even picked a purple flower from a garden on the side of the street and put it in my ear, so tropical island like!

The area that the restaurant was located in is called "Lee Jung Seop Street".  The surrounding streets were lined with the interesting artwork of Lee Jung Seop, a famous old Korean artist.  The restaurant was really great; our server was so friendly and he even knew the two ladies that had shown us to the restaurant, so when we got there it felt like one big party!  We ordered the multi-course meal (in Korea they refer to that as a "set") for two and it began with a delicious pumpkin rice porridge, and included beef tartare, a scallion pancake, Korean noodles, kiwi salad, stuffed shrimp, spring rolls, fish, and two beef patties.  The food was absolutely delicious, by far the best Korean food that I've had yet.  Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was that every time our waiter approached our table with another course, he would yell "Yooohooo" in a very high-pitched voice.  It was hysterical, if only every waiter did that!

In the spirit of capturing every detail of Jeju, Andrew and I were taking pictures of each course we got and at one point our waiter saw this, took the camera, and began photographing the food for us!  It was so funny and we both couldn't stop laughing afterwards.  But the pictures did come out great and just looking at them makes me crave that Jeju food.  Our last course was a yummy citrus dessert drink, and then we headed back to the inn, quite exhausted but extremely satisfied.

Just arrived at the restaurant with the help of Sylvia's two wonderful friends.  Notice the flower that they attached to my ear.

Our awesome waiter helping to peel the skin off the delicious Jeju fish.  Yooohoooo!

Jeju Island Day 2

I usually don't dream about food unless it's Cinnamon Toast Crunch or pancakes of course, but when I woke up on the second day of our trip to Jeju, I thought I was dreaming about warm, homemade bread.  But I wasn't!  Andrew and I went into the kitchen and Ilene was slicing a loaf of fresh bread that she had just taken out of the bread maker.  Talk about Korean hospitality!

We made breakfast for ourselves with the ingredients that were set out for the guests' use; bread, eggs, milk, jam, coffee, and tea.  I had a delicious egg sandwich and Andrew made a fried egg.  We knew we wanted to head out early so we got ready fast and then spoke to Ilene about our plans.  She recommended a beautiful beach for us to go to that would be far less crowded than Jungmun beach, which is where we went the night before.  She wrote out the bus numbers for us to take, as well as the name of the beach, Hypeojae, so that we could just show the bus driver our slip of paper and not worry about memorizing the Korean.  Without even planning it, we ended up going to the same beach as one of our housemates, Ginger Puffer, and yes, that is her real name.  Like Bree, Ginger's from California and teaching at the international school in Incheon.

The beach was beautiful!  There was plenty of white sand and seashells, and we got to walk around the lava rock that remains from Mt. Halla's last eruption in the year 1007.  Mt. Halla, or Hallasan, is a large, inactive volcano in the middle of Jeju island; in fact, the volcano's eruption is what actually formed the island.  The volcano is visible from virtually any part of Jeju, but typically the summit is covered by clouds or fog.

Sitting on some lava rock, enjoying Hypeojae beach. 

And so it begins, my strange obsession with adorable Korean families. 

We were reminded immediately by the wind and temperatures in the low 70s that it was certainly not summer anymore!  We didn't let that stop us though, we walked through the sand, got in the water (to my knees at least!) and laid out on our towels.  I even managed to get a little sunburned!  It was incredibly relaxing and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  We only stayed a few hours because there was so much more to do!

Our next stop was the O'sulloc Tea House Museum.  We were pleasantly surprised when we got there, it ended up being far more beautiful than Andrew and I were expecting.  It was a small, but beautifully architected building, with a cafe, observatory room, nature walk, paths through the tea plantation, and even samples and demonstrations.  We were starving at this point so we went straight to the cafe.  We shared a piece of green tea cake roll and some green tea ice cream.  Both items were delicious!  We then walked around the museum and went up to the observatory; we were shocked to see that the green tea fields stretched as far as the eye could see, but it makes sense though, since green tea is a Korean favorite.

O'sulloc brings a whole new meaning to fresh!  Here museum workers are packaging the green tea that Andrew and I bought.  

Andrew and me on the observatory floor; that's a lot of soon-to-be green tea!

Smells like tea!

After walking through the fields we decided to head back since we wanted to go back to Jungmun to have dinner at the Lotte Hotel.  We took a cab back to the guesthouse to get ready for dinner.  After showering Andrew and I both came to the conclusion that the sun is still extremely strong in September and that perhaps sunscreen would've been a good idea (we were looking a bit lobster-ish, more so me than him).  I was so excited to go to Lotte for dinner!  Lotte is a huge Korean company that owns supermarkets, amusements parks, department stores, and hotels.  The Lotte Resort at Jeju is a staple of the island, and by far the classiest hotel there, so naturally I was dying to check it out!  I wore a pink silk blouse that I had bought while shopping with my friend Rachel (she bought the same one) before we both left for abroad.  When we bought it we knew we'd wear it to something special while studying abroad in our respective locations, Seoul and Copenhagen.

Andrew and I had 8pm reservations for Lotte's Volcano Buffet and Lightshow. We arrived a little early to walk around the lobby and check it out.  The place was beautiful, and like the Hyatt, it reminded me very much of being at Disney World.  Everybody we encountered was incredibly nice, and it was just so nice to finally be there.  We headed outside to the buffet and were absolutely stunned.  Everything from the beautiful swimming pools, the hotel's "volcano" structure, the sushi bar, and the tables and tables of food, was just amazing.  We were seated right away and perhaps the most surprising, but nice thing was that we were surrounded by so many families!  We had forgotten for a bit that it was still the week of Chuseok, and often this is the only vacation time each year that Korean families get.  

The entrance to the Lotte Hotel

View of the Volcano Buffet from the lobby terrace. 

Andrew and I ate a ton!  Everything was so delicious we just couldn't help ourselves.  I'm sure that the Korean families at the table next to us began to stare after plate six, but that didn't stop us.  Some of the highlights were the sushi, roasted duck, filet mignon, rice cake filled with red bean paste, blueberry cream tart, and green tea gelato.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  At 8:30 it was time for the Volcano Lightshow, the event that the buffet and hotel are known for.  The volcano went dark and then all of sudden a flash of light appeared and it began!  There were flames, streaks of light, flashes of water, and even holographics!  I wish I could do a better job explaining it, but it's just something you have to see in person.  Although it only lasted about 15 minutes, it was an incredible show and it certainly made the whole night worth it.  When the lightshow was over, a group of Korean drummers performed, and although they were quite talented, nothing could compare to the lightshow.  We continued to stuff ourselves, and when we couldn't possibly eat another bite, we walked around the patio and pools some more and then headed back to the guesthouse.  

Volcano lightshow, pictures just don't do it justice.

Andrew and I still going strong, not quite stuffed yet!

Jeju Island Day 1

I know I'm a few weeks late in writing about my trip to Jeju, but I wanted to wait until I had enough time to sit down and relax and write about every detail, rather than rushing through a post.  Today seems like the perfect day!  It's a beautiful Thursday afternoon; I've finished class for today; I have no classes tomorrow; I submitted 2 big assignments last night; and now I'm just sitting in the Caribou Coffee shop in SK Global House ready to write!

My trip to Jeju Island was incredible, I went with my friend Andrew and we had such an amazing time!  Jeju is a small island off the southern coast of South Korea and it is considered the "vacation hot-spot" of Korea, it's where many honeymooners go and some even call it the "Hawaii of South Korea".  Andrew and I left on Thursday, September 23rd, which was still part of our fall break for Chuseok.  We took the subway express line to Gimpo Airport, which is a smaller airport than Incheon airport, it's similar to New York's Laguardia Airport.  We arrived and checked in without a problem.  I'm pretty sure Andrew and I were the only Caucasions on the plane, and we were both assigned to the exit seat aisle.  Of course we made plenty of jokes how they would put the white kids in charge of saving everybody, but the flight was smooth and quick, only about a 50 minute trip.

When we got off the plane we could feel it already, warm ocean air!  We grabbed our bags from baggage claim and then our next step was getting to our first guesthouse.  Andrew had his heart set on renting a car for the trip.  We looked into and it would've been extremely affordable, about $200 for the 4 days including insurance!  The only problem is neither of us had filed for an international license, so instead we headed towards the bus terminal.  Andrew was bummed and so was I,  it would've been nice to be able to travel by ourselves and not have to wait for the island buses.  I let it roll off my back, but Andrew procedded to sulk like a puppy dog everytime we passed a rental car.  It was funny at first, but by the third day I told him to GROW UP.

The bus system was slow, but easy.  We took a bus from Jeju airport, which is located at the northern coast of the island, to Insong-ri in the southeastern part of the island, which is where our first guesthouse, Island Guesthouse, is located.  It was about an 80 minute ride with one transfer, and many stops.  We got off the bus and followed the convenient directions sent to us by the guesthouse manager, Ilene.  We were greeted immediately by Ilene when we arrived.  From what I learned, she doesn't own the guesthouse, but she does run it and lives upstairs.

Ilene and me at the Island Guesthouse

The Island Guesthouse was beautiful.  It was eccentrically decorated and the house had this wonderful tropical feel to it.  We put our stuff down when we arrived and were anxious to head back out and explore!  We wanted to head to the beach before sunset and walk around the Jungmun Tourist Complex.  This area was located about 15 minutes away from the guesthouse and it is where the Jungmun beach is located, which is one of Jeju's most popular beaches; also it's where the big resorts are, like the Hyatt and the Lotte Hotels.  Ilene wrote out awesome directions for us.  She drew us a map how to get to the bus stop and wrote us a note for us to show the bus driver so that he knew where to drop us off.  After just two days Ilene felt like a mom to us!

We got to the complex just before sunset and we walked down to the water and along the beach.  After being in the city for a month already it felt great to walk with my feet in the sand and listen to the waves.  We were lucky enough to catch the sunset and then we headed down the beach towards the Hyatt.  The Jeju Hyatt is a beautifully architected resort that overlooks the beach on a hill and it was all lit up since the sun had already set.  We couldn't help but be a little bit curious so we decided to check it out.  The lobby was beautiful, there was a fish pond in the lobby and a cafe and bar with a nice jazz singer.  We sat outside on the terrace that overlooked the beach and ordered a couple of drinks and a small margharita pizza to share.  I had a pina colada, since it was the most "islandy" drink I could think of and perhaps the best part about it was that it was a non virgin!

Me and Andrew at the Jungmun Tourist Complex, before heading down to the beach.  The bridge in the background is  called the Seonimgyo Bridge, or the Seven Nymphs Bridge, because there are 7 nymphs carved into either side in white.

We made it to the beach in time for the sunset!  The building in the background on the right is the Jeju Hyatt.  

While we were sitting on the terrace at the Hyatt, we could see a bunch of children congregating inside at the cafe with some chefs.  We asked our waitress and she explained that every night there's an activity for the kids who are staying at the hotel and tonight they were learning how to make rice cake!  It was so very Disney-like.

We finished our drinks and decided to head back up to the bus stop because the last bus stopped running at 9:30 pm.  We caught the bus and headed back to the guesthouse, completely exhausted.  When we got there the other people who were staying at the guesthouse were there also!  It was so much fun meeting them.  It was a big group of girls and a few guys who were not much older than Andrew and I.  They were mostly Americans who were teaching at an international school in Incheon for the next few years.  It was so much fun talking with them before we went to bed, but it was a little strange sharing a big room with a bunch of people we had just met.  It felt kind of like the first few nights of sleep away camp, when we're all a little bit shy and nervous but we know we're going to have fun anyways.

The group of teachers had been in Jeju for the whole week so they offered a lot of good advice about what sights were worth seeing and which one's weren't so great.  I enjoyed talking to Bree the most.  Bree is from California and she's a bit of a tom-boy with this deep, raspy voice.  She was so enthusiastic about meeting Andrew and I and she wanted to hear all about our plans for Jeju and the other stuff we were planning on doing over the semester.  We expressed some hesitation about traveling all the way across the island to see a particular crater that we were thinking about and her response was "Just charge it!  Charge it!!".  Me and Andrew started laughing; she sounded so funny but we weren't sure if she was referring to charging a credit card or something like that.  The more she said it we realized she meant "charge like a rhino", in other words, just do everything and don't hold back.  So that became our philosophy for the trip, JUST CHARGE IT!

Life without limbs

Yesterday morning I awoke to a text message from a classmate telling me that my Sports Medicine class would be held in the chapel instead of our normal classroom.  I thought this was strange, and for a moment I even thought that perhaps somebody was just playing a trick on me!  But the more I thought about it I realized I was just being paranoid, so I got ready for class and then headed towards the chapel.  Before I reached the chapel however, my phone rang and it was my Sports Medicine professor, Justin.  He asked if I knew where class was meeting today and when I told him the chapel he corrected me and said to come to the auditorium.  When I got there it was packed with students!  I spotted a few of my classmates and sat down with them on the second floor.  I realized quickly that a church service was just ending, and that's why my classmate had said "come to chapel".  I arrived during the transition between the church service to a university-wide presentation by a man named Nick Vujicic.

Nick Vujicic has no arms and no legs.  He is limbless!  He developed a program called "Life Without Limbs" and travels around the world giving presentations and motivational speeches.  Many other classes were present for his speech, along with many faculty members, and the auditorium was almost full.  The audience seemed to enjoy it for the most part but I was bothered by a lot of what he said, or rather how he said it.

Nick's tiny body stood on a table as he spoke and a translator accompanied him.  He spoke about how he was born this way and how he's met many other limbless people who have ended up that way through injury, disease, or even from a brutal attack.  He explained how he's thankful for how much he as and he accredits God and Christ to his success and motivation in life. Nick is extremely religious and he incorporates much of his views on Christianity and Jesus Christ into his speech.  At times he went so far that I almost felt as if he was preaching to the audience, rather than speaking to us.  This was the first time that the University's Christian influence was really apparent to me.

The part that I disagreed with most was when he literally was shouting to the audience about how we all live our life in sin unless we believe in the power of Christ.  Now, I totally realize and respect the fact that this is a popular Christian notion, but I believe his speech could've still been heartfelt and powerful without all the Christianity references.  I wish that he had gone more into detail about some of the amazing experiences that he said he's had, like traveling around the world and even learning how to surf and golf.

Here is a picture I took from the presentation, Nick is the one on the table. Remember, you can click on a picture to get a bigger view.  

A Day Out with Mindy

My friend Andrew's mom, Mindy, is visiting this week and yesterday Andrew invited me to go out with them for the day. We had a really nice time and it was fun getting to know Mindy. Mindy is staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Seoul and I met them at the hotel yesterday morning. The hotel was very nice, it was much fancier than a typical Courtyard Marriott and it was on top of a large mall and an E-mart. The best part of all was that Andrew surprised me with a watch that his mom had brought with her for me. Andrew's dad works for a watch company, Armitron, and Andrew has this one particular watch from his dad's company that I really like. The one Mindy brought for me is the same one, just in different colors. Also, Armitron is the official watch of the New York Yankees! Here is a picture of my awesome watch:

Mindy wanted to take the City Tour of Seoul, which is basically a coach bus that you buy a ticket for and it travels in a loop to about 20 different sights around Seoul. You can get off at any stop that looks interesting to you and then just get back the next city tour bus that comes. Also, with the headset in your seat you can hear about the facts and history of each stop. We traveled around on the bus for about 30 minutes and we decided to get off at the Namsan Seoul Tower stop. The N Seoul Tower is one of the many things on my "Korea to-do" list so I was happy to be able to go. Also, we lucked out with the weather being sunny and beautiful so we had a perfectly clear view of the entire city.

The N Seoul Tower is not the tallest tower in Seoul, but it's still a staple of the Seoul skyline standing at 1,574 ft. above sea-level. Mindy bought tickets for all of us and we stood in a short line and then took the elevator up. The view was breathtaking! The observation floor is cylindrical so we had a 360 degree view of Seoul. It was amazing! The coolest part of the view is that the windows were all labeled with major cities around the world at the approximate position of where they would be located. Here is a picture of the bottom portion of the tower, and what the view looked like from the observation floor.



Afterwards, we jumped back onto the next city tour bus and we looked at some more sights in passing. We thought about stopping at one of the many palaces but by this time it was almost 4 and they all closed at 5. We got off at the Namdaemun stop because Mindy wanted to see one of the famous markets. Neither Andrew nor I had been to Namdaemun yet so I'm glad we went. Namdaemun is one of the most famous traditional, open-air markets in Seoul. Literally meaning "south gate", it's located very close to the historical south gate of Seoul. The market was awesome, but very overwhelming! Many, many street blocks are filled with thousands of vendors selling everything from live squid to Korean souvenirs to lingerie! It's literally one-stop shopping for the people of Seoul. Here's a few pictures of Namdaemun market.


Mindy reminds me of Grandma Rhoda in many ways. At 57, she was way ahead of Andrew and me everywhere we went and she was determined to make the most of every minute of the day! We were definitely hungry by the time we got to Namdaemun so Mindy thought it was time for a little nosh. We shared a scallion pancake and some potato tempura from a street vendor which hit just the right spot! We zipped through the market pretty fast but I definitely plan on returning to do some gift shopping and such. I did buy one thing though, Mindy and I both bought Korea swimcaps. Nothing like showing a little Korea pride when I train for another triathlon this summer!

Afterwards we decided to grab some dinner and so we thought we'd try this noodle and dumpling place that was recommended in Mindy's travel guide. The restaurant was located in Myeongdong, the shopping district, and it's very famous for it's noodles. I have to say though, it was nothing like what I was expecting. It was this tiny, hole-in-the-wall place, and we had to wait in line to be seated for about 15 minutes. The food was very good though, only 4 different options, all of which were the same price, 7,000 won, which is about 6 bucks and change. I ordered the soup and Mindy and Andrew ordered both the dumplings and the soup to share. Each portion was huge! My bowl of soup was bigger than my head and I barely made a dent in it. It was a chicken broth with the restaurant's famous noodles and a couple of dumplings mixed in with some ground chicken. Even though the restaurant had take-out service, they refused to give me a to-go container to take the rest of my soup back to the dorm. I could've heated it up and had it for lunch today! Andrew and I even looked up on his phone how to say in Korean "Please wrap it up, we are poor college students" but they still said no. I was very upset, but oh well, Korea is not exactly known for their customer service. Mindy treated to dinner which was very nice of her.

We strolled through the hustling and bustling Myeongdong for a bit before heading back. We walked by a street vendor selling these huge creampuffs and she was filling them right in front of us! Of course we couldn't resist, so we shared one for dessert and it was delicious. We looked around some more and then got on the train. It was so much fun spending the day with Mindy and Andrew, it was nice to be around a mom for a bit, but really it just made me miss my wonderful Mom even more.

E-mart

Today I needed to do a little grocery shopping and since we always go to Grand Mart I thought I'd try something new. E-mart is the biggest retailer in South Korea and it is known around here as a "mega-store". It's kind of like a Walmart Supercenter, in that it carries everything from clothes to electronics to groceries. I went to the one in Yongsan, and in my opinion, it's much nicer than Walmart. Everywhere you turn there is an E-mart employee ready to help you, and if they don't speak English then they go and find someone who does. Also, they were giving away many free samples which made shopping on an empty stomach much more enjoyable.

My friends and I have been cooking a lot more because we've quickly realized that eating out for multiple meals a day is not only unhealthy, but also a big waste of money. We haven't been that adventurous with our cooking yet, but we're working on it. The types of things we've been making are basically sandwiches for lunch, scrambled eggs and egg sandwiches for breakfast, and usually fried rice with some meat or vegetables in it for dinner. We've also made some different types of stir-frys and we're going to try pasta this week. We'd like to make more but the kitchen in our dorm does not have any ovens, just stovetops. We were told that Koreans don't use ovens that often to prepare meals and that's why we don't have any. So we've been getting creative with the microwave and stove! If you know any simple recipes that we could throw together, let me know!

E-mart is much bigger than Grand Mart, which I think I've mentioned is our local grocery/department store in Sinchon. E-mart had a much bigger variety of everything, including a huge bakery, a fish market, and a large produce section. Apples, cereal, and cheese were on my list, and I didn't deviate from my list because E-mart was a bit of a hike from Sinchon and I didn't want to have to carry many bags. I also got some dish soap because with all of the residents of SK Global House sharing one big kitchen, the pots and pans have been getting a little grody. All of the items I got were a little bit cheaper than at Grand Mart, but not by much. Produce is incredibly expensive here because all the rain during the monsoon season has been bad for the crops. I bought a bag of 7 small to medium-sized apples and it cost me 6,900 won, which is about $6. I even saw a watermelon on sale for 35,000 won, which is over 30 bucks! The cheese and cereal are both considered "Western" items so they too were expensive. The pack of cheese I bought (individual slices just like American cheese, but they don't call it that here!) was 4,980 won, which is about $4.50. Lastly, the cereal almost killed me. Most Koreans really don't eat cereal here, or any "breakfast item" for that matter, so how anyone can wake up and have a big bowl of ramen and squid soup is beyond me! So, after unsuccessfully trying to make my beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch last more than a week, I needed to buy some cereal. I bought a mid-priced box of Post cranberry and granola flakes which cost 6,950 won, which is a little over 6 bucks.

So it wasn't the cheapest grocery store trip, but all necessary items for an American college student living in Seoul! It was fun checking out a different grocery store and a different part of the city, but I always forget that once I leave Sinchon, I'm no longer surrounded by as many international students and therefore people definitely look at me more. As I mentioned in my last post, it really doesn't bother me as much as it did before. Also it's occurred to me that when I pass newborns and little babies in the stores and on the subway, I could possibly be one of the first Caucasians that they've ever seen. I know that's a strange thought, but being a foreigner (and an obvious one at that) in such a big city, these are the types of things that go through my mind.

Another cool thing about going to E-mart was that the subway line to get there, line 1, uses a Korail train, or a "KTX". The KTX is a newer model train that travels at a much higher speed than the conventional trains. I tried to read about it at the subway station while waiting for the train, but much of the sign was in Korean. An interesting fact about the KTX is that the train is designed to look like a shark. I was not at the top of the platform, so I couldn't actually see it, but here's a picture I found that resembles the picture on the KTX info board I was reading from:

Myeongdong

This afternoon after I got out of class, I decided to venture out of Sinchon for a bit and explore Myeondong. Having a roommate again is great, but I was really craving some alone time. Myeondong is one of Seoul's biggest shopping centers. Namdaemun and Dongdaemun are Seoul's biggest open-air markets, but Myeondong makes up Seoul's biggest commercial area. It's many many street blocks filled with food and clothing vendors and the shops on these streets are mainly clothing and cosmetics. It is also the location of many popular Western stores. I saw a Gap, Forever 21, Ralph Lauren, and there was even a Lacoste and Louis Vuitton store.

Honestly, today was the first day I set out with the intentions to do a little bit of shopping for me. Up until this point I hadn't had a chance to do much clothing shopping and I've mostly been shopping for all my wonderful friends and relatives. But I wanted to see Myeongdong and also check out the Forever 21, which is one of my favorite stores at home. Everyone talked about how huge and wonderful it is, and I gotta say, when I went in I wasn't that impressed! It was a nice store, and it was by no means small, but the Forever 21 in good ole' Smallbany is probably 3 times as big! Who woulda thunk?

I did enjoy shopping there though, I felt like I was back home at Crossgates, except for the fact that I was maybe one of 4 white people in the whole store. That's okay though, I've gotten used to standing out. Now I just smile back at people when they stare, especially the small children. I did manage to find 2 things though and if you know me, you know that I probably didn't pay full price for them either! I found a skirt and a top, both on the sale rack! I was very pleased and I think Grandma Rhoda would've been quite proud.

I wanted to stay a little bit longer but I had made plans with my friend Kara to make fried rice together for dinner so I decided to head back to Sinchon. The Myeongdong subway station was extremely crowded so it took me a little while to reach the platform; I definitely plan on coming back to Myeongdong soon though. Also, this weekend I'm hoping to check out the other markets for a little gift shopping! And yes, I am taking gift requests/suggestions, so don't be shy and speak up!

Samsung Library

Yesterday was the first day that I spent some time in Yonsei University's Samsung Library, which gets its name because it was partly funded by Samsung. I've been to the library before, but not the media complex. Professor Chun, who teaches my Religion and Culture 1 class is out of town this week at a conference in Germany, so he scheduled our class to watch a movie which we'll discuss when he gets back. We were told to report to the 2nd floor of the Samsung Library where a media specialist will set up the movie for us. She directed our class to a separate room down the hall and I was quite stunned! It was basically a mini-movie theater! There were a bunch of them down this hallway and it was quite fascinating to see. The class watched the movie in this theater, comfy seats and all, the only thing that was missing was the popcorn!

The movie itself was interesting. It was a Korean film called "The Way Home" and it was the first Korean movie that I've seen since I've been here. It was subtitled of course, but after a few minutes I got used it. The film was about a young boy from Seoul, maybe 7 or 8, whose mother brings him to live at his Grandmother's house in the country, while she looks for a job. The boy is rude and ungrateful and treats his grandmother horribly, but eventually he begins to learn compassion as he realizes how his actions affect their daily lives.

But more about the beautiful library! The Central Library, which is YU's original library, is also very nice, but not nearly as amazing as the Samsung Library. The two libraries are connected, and the link I posted below gives you get a "virtual tour" of the library complex. The new library is state-of-the-art in every way, from the high-speed glass elevators, to the touchscreen monitors, even the rooftop cafe. The elevators are almost completely made of glass, as is the wall facing the outside; standing in the elevator you can see the outside all the way up and down, and you can also see each floor you pass. Very cool!
In order to use most of the facilities in the library, you must first register and make a reservation using the touchscreen monitors in the lobby. Although I've heard it's very easy to do, I haven't mastered this part yet.

My Sports Medicine group members showed me the rooftop cafe last week when we were finishing up our project. Also, that happens to be the exact location I was in when I first received a facebook friend request from Grandma Judy! I got so excited, it's a good thing I didn't fall off the roof! The cafe is very nice; coffee and waffles (the Koreans' favorite), and bagels and specialty drinks, in a beautiful glass enclosed room as well as tables and chairs outside on the roof, giving you a great view of campus. Everyday I wish I could put all of you guys in my suitcase so you could see all the wonderful things I'm experiencing! Outside view of the Samsung Library:


Take a look at this!
http://library.yonsei.ac.kr/main/sub.do?menuCode=0019

Heart and Seoul gets a makeover, and I get pancakes

Happy half birthday to me! I was in the mood today to spiff something up and since I'm not allowed to decorate the walls in my room, I thought I'd play with the design templates on my blog. So here's the new Heart and Seoul!

Today Andrew and I went to Gangnam. Gangnam is one of the more modern districts of Seoul, many more skyscrapers than Sinchon, and more western style chain restaurants and stores. Also the Ritz Carlton of Seoul is located in Gangnam. When we got out of the subway station, we both said "Ahh, this feels like New York". We came here once before a few weeks ago for a Mentors Club party that was held at a bar on the 23rd floor of the building, so we had an awesome view of the this part of the city at night. But we wanted to see it during the day, so we jumped on the subway around 2pm and explored.

Some highlights of our afternoon were walking through the Ritz Carlton, going to Artbox, and eating at Paris Baguette. Andrew located the Ritz Carlton right away; he told me has a "natural ability to sniff out luxury hotels". Something tells me he's not kidding. We walked through the lobby and looked around. Needless to say, it was beautiful. Also, they were in the process of building a marble fountain outside the lobby, which I'm sure will be really nice once it's finished.

Artbox is a Korean stationary store that has many shops all over Seoul. It's really not just stationary though, it's much, much more. They sell so many "Asian-style" gadgets (a.k.a. bright colors, hello kitty, strange quotes) that you could just look around that store for hours. Korean students are completely obsessed with school supplies. Even university students have matching pens, notebooks, binders, pencil cases, all themed of course. And in Korea, you're never too old for Hello Kitty, or any cartoon character for that matter! Artbox also had a candy section, but Andrew and I resisted because filling up those bags of candy and paying by the weight is a rip off everywhere, even in Korea. We still had fun looking around though and I will definitely be returning for some gift shopping!

We ended up getting a late lunch at Paris Baguette. PB is a coffee shop/bakery cafe all over Seoul, but the one in Gangnam is especially big. They have a "brunch all-day" menu and a large outside sitting area along with all of their usual cakes and baked goods. It was the first place I've seen so far that had PANCAKES on the menu and so because after all it is my half birthday, I treated myself! Waiting for my buzzer to go off felt like the longest 10 minutes in the world. But when they were done it was worth the wait; they had banana slices and maple syrup on top and in between each pancake. Delicious!

On our way back to Sinchon we stopped at Grand Mart, which is our home grocery store, and Andrew and I bought some items to make ourselves fried rice for dinner. He bought pork and I bought chicken, and we both shared some onions, broccoli, eggs, and garlic. The fried rice was delicious and although I still hate to cook, perhaps if you ask nicely, I will make some of my fried rice medley for you when I get home.

A very cute and Asian Artbox sign:

Joe tries Mexican food!

Happy October 1st everyone! I can't believe it's October already, it's so weird to me that I've been here since August. Time sure does fly, and now that I think about it, it feels like camp time! At camp we would always joke about how a day feels like a week, but a week feels like a day. Today is Friday and normally I don't have classes on Fridays anyways, but today is a University holiday so everyone has the day off.

Last night Joe and I went out together because she wanted me to try "patbingsu" which is her favorite Korean dessert. I thought that for dinner I would have Joe try something that was my favorite. She's never had Mexican food before so I brought her to this yummy, little Mexican restaurant in Sinchon. We both ordered steak quesadillas and they were delicious! Below is a picture of Jo trying her first Mexican dish! She really enjoyed it, especially because it had MEAT in it!

We then walked a few blocks down to Red Mango, which is a cafe in Sinchon known for it's frozen yogurt and patbingsu. Patbingsu is a traditional Korean dessert which is made up of ice chips, topped with frozen yogurt or ice cream, and then different kinds of fruit, red bean, rice cake or cereal. We both ordered smalls, which were huge, and I had vanilla frozen yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, corn flakes, and peaches. Also, they give you a small cup of sweetened condensed milk to pour over the ice chips once you ate everything on top. It was delicious!