Ninth week in Seoul ～

<rant on> Ah... my Korea stay is slowly ending and I can't even enjoy it to the fullest because of the upcoming upcoming final exams. Also my body has slowly started to surrender to the daily humidity and heat, I keep feeling fatigued, no matter how long I sleep... so I guess I'm ready to go home. These last few days the temperature and humidity have slowly started to decrease but for my poor body it's already too late... Note to myself: Don't visit Asia in July-August.... ㅠ </ rant off>

Because of the fatigue and studies I wasted most of this week at the dormitory or around Sinchon area. Luckily I could compensate it with small adventures on Friday and Saturday. These two days have been a blast! I danced through Namsangol Hanok Village wearing a Hanbok and strolled along the woods of Nami Island, counting the stars and lighting sparklers. ♥

① A street artist in Hongdae  ② My hair is dark again! Ignore the cat-makeup. XD''  ③ Seoul by night, a romantic view from N Seoul Tower.



① Just me, ehm, dancing in a Hanbok...  ② The cute  ferry to Nami Island. ③ Romantic lights and the beautiful trees on Nami Island.

 I don't want to leave Korea! ㅠ_ㅠ

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Eighth week in Seoul ～

This week has been my turnaround week. After our trip to Jejudo which I consider the climax of my Korea stay because it was the biggest and most anticipated trip I started to feel how fast time has been passing. Everything had to be done quickly '빨리 빨리': Last-minute meet ups, mini-trips, planning possible activities. Suddently I didn't have all the time of the world anymore. So I stopped trying to make new Korean acquaintances online and focused on the ones I already knew instead. 

Still, this week offered quite a few highlights: I finally reunited with the Soonchunhyang girls I'd first met in Japan (love ya crazy gals ♥) and we had quite a lot of fun goofing around Namsangol Hanok Village, Myeongdong and Itaewon. I was also kept busy writing a small paper (& memorizing it and presenting it in front of the class) as 10% part of our Malhagi (speech) exam. The topic was Korea 'something', so I chose to write about Korean friends. I introduced 2 of my dearest friends, one I had met 6 years ago in China and one I have met 7 months ago in Japan. 

① Harbangs @ Bukchon Dol Harbang Park.  ② Pictures of my 2 Korean friends I drew for my paper presentation.  ③ Gisaengs entertaining, Korea National Museum.

August 15th was Liberation Day (from Japan in 1945) and a public holiday. Since museum entries are free on that day my friend suggested we go to Korea National Museum. So I spent the free day roaming around and marveling at historical Korean artifacts. It was quite a funny experience because hundreds of families chose that free-museum-entry holiday for a cozy family trip, so the museum was full of families and children running around. It felt less a museum and more like a entertainment park.

Another super interesting experience (quite the opposite of the museum) was my visit to Seoul Comic World. It's a monthly exhibition of Comic/Manga-related fanart and Cosplay culture. I went there with some classmates and let my inner Otaku out! Though I have to admit I didn't buy many Anime-related stuff, mostly cute original art and some Pokemon fan art. (yes, I admit, I still adore Pokemon T_T)

① My favourite Cosplayer at Seoul Comic World.  ② Beautiful entrance of Korea National Museum. ③ Oldschool style Purikura in Myeongdong with SCH girls.

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Fourth week in Seoul ～

Today is July 20th and I still can't believe it, but I've already lived in Seoul for 1 month. I've gotten used to living in the shared room at the dormitory and class routine. But sometimes - specially when I walk out of the campus listening to Korean music and looking around I have like a sudden realization that I am in fact  and right now, living in Korea. I am completely content with my life here and I wish time could stand still. 

There are still so many places to discover, food to eat, people to meet, adventures to live. I'm trying to understand the hustle and bustle of this city and the joys and sorrows of its people. Next week we have mid-term exams so I'll be busy preparing for them. I love studying this language so much and despite its similarity to Japanese grammar to me it seems easier to learn... or maybe I'm just too much into it? Watching TV dramas and listening to Korean music all the time I kind of got a feeling for the language I still haven't achieved after 2 years of Japanese studies... *sighs*

① The beautiful sight from Seoul N Tower observatory.  ② Found these in a stationary store at Ewha. The middle one represents me really well - so I bought it.  ③ Aren't these decorations at Changdokgung palace precious?.



① I love this stone wall decoration, seen at Anguk Station.  ② This was on a huge mirror next to a coffee shop. Remember it:  Be Good to yourself.  ③ Gwanghwamun in the evening... super romantic!

Also, although I'm supposed to have LAN connection in my dorm room the connection keeps shutting down... 짜증나.  

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Third week in Seoul ～

My third week in Korea has been like a roller-coaster ride. I've had super boring days at my dormitory but also explored a new city and spent hours under the pouring rain and gotten sick because of it. I also missed 2 day's class and had to quickly catch up with the grammar.

Often after school I go back home and take a nap (blame my 5h sleeping during the night) and then venture out in the evening for dinner or light shopping. But this week I was lucky to be able to watch a traditional Korean musical called Miso (more about it in a another post!) and dressing up in a traditional Korean wedding outfit. Plus this week(end) I had several meetups with friends, I went to Bukchon Hanok area for an all-day 'Photography date' and next day to Incheon for sight-seeing and meeting my friend's parents. Then I had another all-day hangout at Seoul N Tower. Every day was filled with impressions and hundreds of photos... and I was really, really tired. =)

① Class time! Love how our teacher (who also speaks English, Japanese, Chinese) adds the Chinese translation.  ② Kitchy mess at Myeongdong.  ③ Central Park 2 area in Songdo (Incheon). Foggy day increased the creepiness.



① One of my favourite photos of the Bukchon Hanok area where you can see both modern and traditional buildings.  ② Eating Jjajangmyeon at the place where it was (supposedly) originally invented.  ③ Beautiful flowers around Chongdong Theatre area where I watched Miso.



① Unfortunately I visited Incheon on a very rainy day - Pagoda at Jayu Park.  ② Uber cute Teddy bear museum (this time I didn't fail to visit the "modern" part , last time I only visited the "historical" part).  ③ Korean National Flower - Mugunghwa - in all its beauty.

This week has many highlights:  Miso Musical, Bukchon Hanok, Incheon, Seoul N Tower.  ♥

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Second week in Seoul ～

The second week marked my slowly becoming comfortable with the Seoul subway system and my  university's surroundings (Ewha campus = ♥). I started getting lazy in the evening and buying more and more dosiraks. I also started making and meeting new friends from the internet, eating and visiting interesting places in Seoul together.

I went shopping and met up with some of my Korean friends I had made in Japan. Also our classmates managed to have a get-together, dinner, a short visit at a Bar and then Purikura - it was fun! There is still lots to see around here, I actually use a Seoul Tourism pamphlet book to ✓ the tourist attractions I've already visited.


① Huge instant-noodles segment at convenience store.  ② Short hang-out at Ho-Bar with our classmates.  ③ Huge (traditionally) Kimchi pots outside of a hanok (Traditional Korean house)



① Entrance of some exhibition hall around Insadong.   ② Romantic night street view. ③ Decoration on the floor - an old map of Seoul.



① Traditional Korean food (many small side dishes) I was able to try at Samcheong-dong.   ② One of the 3 (?) Hello Kitty cafes I've spotted so far - super cute! I should visit someday.  ③ Beautfiul traditional figures, seen at Insadong.

Many of the places I visited (Insadong, Trick Eye Museum, Samcheong-dong) deserve an own entry with tons of photos - I'm working on it! ♥

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First week in Seoul ～

As I'm writing this entry I am sitting at my small desk eating a dosirak (Korean bento) that I just bought after class and I'm pleased to say that I've successfully survived my first week here in Seoul.

In this first week I've seen and done lots of things. ♥ I've eaten lots of yummy Korean food (Bibimbap! Bibim guksu! Sashimi!) but also Japanese and Thai food. I've ridden the subway all alone (& gotten a bit lost), opened a Korean bank account, gone to the hospital and walked hours and hours and hours...

I've visited the Gyeongbokgung area, Ehwa area, Sinchon area, Dongdaemun area. I don't even know how I should start sharing everything I've experienced so I put together some snippets to give you an impression of what I've seen so far.
 
① I love the colorful signs in Hangul, it looks like a decoration though they are just simple advertisements or other placards.  ② This delicate stone flower wall can be found at the main entrance of Ewha Women's University.  ③ Cute fashion stores at Ewha shopping area.  ④ Amazing building at Gyeongbokgung with stone guardian.  ⑤ The street leading to the main entrance of Yonsei University.



① Nice 'shopping town' entrance sign at Dongdaemun.  ② These beautiful Hanbok are quite eye-catching; I hope to be able to wear one someday.  ③ Super love this photo I took inside Gyeongbokgung. It has a romantic feel to it.  ④ Our colorful and yummy (and cheap!) Bibimbap.  ⑤ Couples everywhere at Cheonggyecheon.

Since I've slowly settled down a bit (and the LAN connection in my room is finally working) I will update more often, so stop by for more Seoul stories! ♥

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KYOTO: Kinkaku-ji ～

Our first day trip! I think we were all super excited about visiting Kyoto! The only downer was the grey, rainy weather. By 9 we had all boarded our rental bus and took off to our 1 hour ride. Tao tried to console us about having a rainy first trip saying that most of Winter School's trips to Kyoto had been rainy... T_T

HY (sitting next to me) immediately fell asleep so I started practicing napping too. 

1 hour later we arrived in Kyoto and as we were driving by old buildings and seeing lots of people in Kimonos I slowly started falling in love with this city and quietly decided to visit again some day. =3

After getting off at the Kinkakuji (金閣寺) or Rokuonji (鹿苑寺) as it is officially called and getting our tickets, we entered the garden and took tons of photos at the first scenic spot.

The Kinkakuji in all it's beauty and my favorite pastime: Taking photos of people taking photos. ^^



Afterwards we were free to walk around the beautiful garden (I'd really love to see this place in Spring)



I'm a sucker for nicely decorated roofs XD

While driving through Kyoto's main streets (so beautiful T_T ) we saw many dressed-up young people and were told that it was Coming of Age Day (成人の日). 

This Japanese holiday is held to celebrate young people who reach age or majority (20 years old).

It was very beautiful to look at so many young women in Furisode (振袖) some kind of formal long-sleeved kimono walking elegantly down the rainy streets and meeting up with guys in suits. kk

Our next stop was Yasaka-Jinja (八坂神社) and Gion (祇園). Please wait for my next entry ~ 

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Shinsaibashi-suji and Welcome dinner～

So... after gathering at Namba Station Tao gave us 1 hour of "free time" to roam around. Our big group quickly split into small groups and disappeared in the middle of the masses. HY, TY, SY and I (yes, I know it sounds strange but the initials of their names are really like that, kk) got separated and decided to check out the Shinsaibashi-suji  (the famous covered shopping street) that was nearby.

One of the ufo-catcher featuring LINE (messaging app) mascots. Seriously, doesn't the bear look like it's being harassed by the other two? No matter how I look at it it seems wrong... kkk

Actually we didn't do that much. We just strolled around, took lots of selfshots, then entered this area were you could take Purikura (which we did - of course, yay!) and also tried our luck getting some ufo-catcher plushies (We failed). SY (the glasses girl) turned out to be a huge Nameko (the mushroom mascot that is famous from a "grow your own mushrooms - app" - whatever ^^' ) fan so I started calling her Namekochan.

Japanese Purikura Booths are scary! First of all, the photos are taken much too fast, you don't even have time to change pose (just sticking out some V peace sign and that's it!), then finding the right "Corner" to decorate the photos is hard too... and lastly the limited choosing time during decoration - super stressing! After finishing and waiting for our prints we were all exhausted, haha. AH!... not to mention the huge eye enlargement which might look cute on Asians but makes me look like a Manga-figure... or an Alien.

Two photos and a short movie to give an approximate idea of how many people were around us. It was truly jam-packed and people were walking fast, so despite being a shopping area it didn't feel relaxed at all. Well, we still had a lot of fun!

1 hour passed by much too fast, we met the group at the same spot and moved to the next location for our Welcome Dinner. We entered the Italian restaurant "La Pausa" and enjoyed our first (and in Osaka famous) 食べ放題 , which means All-You-Can-Eat. We could order as many Pizzas, Salads, Pasta as we wanted and get soft drinks anytime but just for a limited (90min) time span. 

The restaurant was very small and our huge group just filled it completely. I laughed when I saw intimidated Japanese couples at the door who didn't dare to come in and take a seat since we had kinda 'claimed' it our territory. We were mixed with the Japanese language partners and had our first try to talk about any plans we had for our stay in Osaka and so on. All in all we had quite a nice time ~

Below some photos of the area around the Italian restaurant. I thought the trees were decorated very beautifully.

Hope you liked the travel diary of the first day and look forward to the next one - we'll be going to KYOTO! Look forward to it! ~ 

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Arrival in Osaka & First Day ～

So... after a long flight with a short stopover in Dubai I arrived at Kansai International Airport at around 4pm, right in time for my first photo of Japan - a beautiful sunset! The flight with Emirates was comfy and nice, I specially loved the "stars" on the ceiling and the light color change around sleeping time and waking time with birds singing... another funny detail was the "available anytime on request"- Instand cup noodles that were offered throughout the flight.

After a slow and tiring checking out process and a first small Japanese conversation with the airport staff who opened my luggage to discover kilograms of chocolate (he laughed) I finally walked through the South Arrival door and started... waiting. I had to wait for the Thai and Australian group who were supposed to arrive 2h later. The coin I am holding was the change from a vending machine and though it's just 50yen I thought it was very pretty~ Luckily everything worked out and around 3 hours later I met Hiraoka-san from the International Office and we boarded our bus to Senriyama. I was so tired I fell asleep on the way to the Seminary.
At Senriyama Seminary house we took our baggage and prepared futons in our rooms (the rooms where shared rooms with 6-8 people in each room). That's also when I met our 3 Korean roommates HY, TY and HE.
The staff had prepared bentos for dinner and I was finally able to grab a Curry bento after checking out the Seminary house and trying to find my way around.

The next morning I woke up before 7am (hello~jet lag) and started exploring the area around Senriyama Seminary. There's a beautiful bamboo forest and many sports grounds around the building.

After watching some Pokémon Talkshow (don't ask me - Japanese TV ~.~') with HY the Aussie girls, HY, Dew and I dared to go out to buy breakfast.

After walking for around 10min we found a nice combini and I got myself a Melonpan (メロンパン) for breakfast and that was the start of my love for Melonpans... I might have eaten once a day while I was in Japan? kkk 

 

Anyway, I also spent my first money to buy a Vivi magazine and after getting back to the Seminary I was happily skimming over it while waiting for HY who was drawing something in my (physical!) travel diary. I was also happy to be able to relate much more to Kansai's fashion (more playful and feminine) than to Tokyo's (more 'chic' and grown-up).

Around 1pm we finally met Tao, the International Office Staff who had guided me through the application and kindly replied to all my Mail inquiries before coming to Japan and first had to sign a Liability Insurance, then got a small introduction into Japanese public transportation and important subway stations we were supposed to know. We also received a list of Japanese language partners we had been assigned to. (They had already contacted us via Mail before our departure.)

Afterwards the whole group (we are around 40 students from Australia, Thailand and Korean --- and me from Switzerland, of course ~.~') took the subway and experienced the Japanese subway system for the first time. The tall Aussie guy was used as a "guide" for everyone as to not get lost. kk That's also the reason why he's faking that smile in the photo.

Yes, it was quite a mess as you can see. There were also some Japanese language partners keeping us company and starting first conversations/taking care of us. As you can see, yes, we were a lot of people. The woman in the green jacket below is Tao and this picture was taken right before our 1h break at Namba Station. She had scheduled a Welcome Dinner for us but before we could roam around freely... more in the next entry! ~ 

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