Gyeongbukgung at night!

So today was a lot of fun but I am tired, as usual, and in writing this on my subway ride home. I have a feeling I am going to be perpetually tired the next week, but it's totally worth it.

First, today we had a supporter meeting in Dongdaemun. The subway station there is so long, I walked like a mile before I got to the exit that I wanted to be at haha. I'm also just really bad at reading subway exit signs (I once got out on the wrong one and was so far away from the right one I had to scan back in, walk trough the part where the trains go, and get out on the other side. I would rather waste a dollar than get lost in the streets of Seoul haha). 

But we walked around the exhibition area a little bit and then went to a cafe. The exhibition hall park is so beautiful and modern and cool it makes me really happy. Plus, we walked by some old floodgates that were uncovered during the building of the museum and I took some pictures of course. Hooray for old things! The history here is so interesting because sadly Korean history (and Asian history in general) isn't taught extensively in US classrooms so it's really cool to hear about it here and then actually see the places. 

After walking around and cafe-ing We went out to lunch in a mall type place that, if I recall correctly, was called "Food World". It was basically a maze of various restaurants and food stands and it smelled delicious. We got Japanese food, a type of cold noodle with a dipping broth that you put it in. I had had in once before with my pen pal, and it was just as good the second time! 

Over lunch we discussed ideas for our final project and then we headed out for the university. Classes were a lot of fun today for some reason, and we tried a different convenience store during break instead of the mini stop (because it's embarrassing when the guy basically knows you because you go there so much). I got bread and I thought it was sweet but it turned out it was cheese. It tasted like Cheetos and sadness. I also got chocolate mushrooms though, which are the most delicious cookies ever and I have developed a serious obsession. Half my carry on is going to be chocolate mushrooms, no joke. 

After class we met up to go to Gyeongbukgung at night! They only open up the palace at night twice, for very short amounts of time so we were really lucky to get to go. We stood in line to but tickets first, and then we went out to dinner (NOODLES!). 

After dinner we returned to the palace to see it at dark. The nsliy photographer took a ton of pictures there, but all of the pictures I took really don't do it justice. It was breathtaking and I loved it. Only parts of the palace were open because it might be hard to do crowd control in the dark, and maybe also because only certain parts of the palace have light on them. But the palace itself is huge, so just imagine how it looked in the dark, all lit up. 

The outside gate. 

The next place was definitely the prettiest- a building that my supporter said was used for parties with foreign officials, that had a pool underneath it which reflected all of the lights in the building. 

Apparently the pool that the palace is surrounded by represents the earth- I don't want to misremember the details but definitely look up the history of the palace if you are interested! It is really interesting. 

We walked around for a little bit more after this, but I had to leave early because my host mom wanted me home by 10:30 tonight. It's fine though- since the palace wasn't all open I saw basically everything, the only thing I might have missed out on was a group picture or two! Once I get a hold of the professional pictures I'll definitely put them on here! 

Since I had to go early I walked alone through city hall to the subway station and it felt amazing. I love Seoul so much I can't handle it sometimes. Also, I found some really cute buildings and a cat statue while I was there! Of course I took pictures like a tourist haha. 

But I made it home in time and I had a great day. Here's a group picture to top it off, photo creds to another nsliy student. 

Birthday in Korea!

So today was my birthday, woo! And I got to spend it in Korea, which is the best birthday present I could ever receive. Today was also jam packed full of activities, which was awesome!

First, I woke up really early to go to a jimjilbang, which is basically a Korean traditional bath house. Jimjilbangs are open 24 hours and often serve as hostels too because people can just sleep on the bamboo floor mats in the coed areas at night. Basically what happened when we went (and what happens in most Jimjilbangs) is you go in and pay a flat fee and you get a change of clothes and two towels. Then you go take your shoes off and collect the key from the shoe locker. After that you hand the lady at another front desk thing your shoe locker key and she puts it in a cubby with the corresponding number to the real locker key she gives you, which is big enough to hold all of your stuff (given that you have an average sized backpack, etc.). The lockers are in seperate female only/male only rooms where you undress, shower, and then change into te jimjilbang uniform if you want to go into the coed part. However, in the naked only shower room there are more things to do as well- this place had about four or five different mineral baths/hot water baths that all had different healing properties, and then there were also 2 hot saunas and one cold one, along with a cold bath. Since it's supposed to be healthy to go from hot things to cold things (since it makes you sweat faster in the hot thing, which is the healthy part) we alternated between the hot saunas/hot pools and the cold pool. Sadly, the coed and female only cod saunas were closed so we couldn't go in there, but it was fine! After exploring in the female only area we rinsed off and then put on the sauna clothes, which were huge and looked like prison uniforms haha. 

Then we went out to explore the coed part of the jimjilbang, which held the restaurant/cafeteria type place, the sauna rooms, and then various other things. The first floor had the three sauna rooms and also one room that looked like a sauna but had a suspiciously small door and so we opted not to go in. Outside if the saunas there were a bunch of people sleeping on roll out bamboo mats, with wooden blocks for pillows (they were actually really comfy- wooden blocks with a little indent for the base of your skull). There were also massage chairs down there as well. It was really quiet so we just tiptoed around because it was still the morning and we didn't want to interrupt anyone's sleep. Then we went upstairs and explored the second floor, which had a computer room, a manhwa (Korean manga) library section, an Oxygen room (which was dark and I think was meant for sleeping), some race car arcade games, and then a "VIP Lounge" where you could pay five dollars to sleep in a really comfy chair bed with a personal TV attached to it. The bath house we went to was by the World Cup stadium and wasn't very touristy so no one there spoke any English. We can understand pretty well (or at least pool our abilities to create a decent understanding of what's happening) and there was a really nice (but forceful lol) ajumma in the jimjilbang that kept telling us what to do haha. We were so lost at first but that ajumma definitely helped us out (and didn't tolerate our awkwardness about the whole thing haha). 

After the jimjilbang we went back to Sinchon and picked up down chicken and smoothies from the Hyundai department store. We ate on a bench outside of the station and then headed to school early because WE HAD A MEETUP WITH TALK TO ME IN KOREAN  PLANNED! Talk to me in Korean is a website/YouTube channel that makes awesome videos about Korea, Korean culture, and learning the Korean language. Their website is so thorough and helpful and has so many resources, it's so awesome and if it weren't for then I would have known no Korean before I came here. Since most of our group watched their lessons before the trip a lot of people showed up for the meetup! It was really nice of then to take time out of their day to meet us, and I really appreciated it! We hung out for 30-45 minutes and talked and took pictures, and it was so much fun! Of course I took a selfie with everyone before taking a real picture hahaha. 

I definitely recommend TTMIK for anyone who wants to self study Korean, or for anyone who is just interested in their culture videos! They are awesome <3 

After that fun event we had some time before class so we ran and got bubble tea before class. 

Class was fun, and everyone sang happy birthday in Korean to me during break which was fun I guess lol. 

After class a group of us went to karaoke and then got chicken afterwards! The karaoke place was so cute and awesome and adorable and FREE ICECREAM so it was basically the best. We had to take off out shoes before we went into the hallway, and the floor if the hallway was glass display cases full of toys! 

The rooms were also really adorable~ 

We sang for about an hour, but got extra minutes for free as service! After singing and free Ice cream we went and got delicious fried chicken and then headed home. All in all it was a great birthday in Korea and I couldn't have asked for anything better! Now that our stay is drawing to a close I can't help but think everyday that I don't want to leave 🇰🇷

Tuesday~

So I'm writing this a day late, but basically because I was super exhausted yesterday and I had to wake up really early today so I went to bed at a fairly reasonable time!

Yesterday was supporter meeting so we met at Hongdae and (planned) to go to a puzzle cafe. However, the cafe opened at twelve so we couldn't go because we arrived at ten :(. Side note about Korea: everything opens late here since it's a late start culture, which means it's hard to get an early start when you want to go shopping or sightseeing. If you want to see Seoul at its finest, the afternoon or night is your best bet. Nightlife here is the best! That's when the city really comes to life. 

Instead of the puzzle cafe we just went to a normal coffee shop and ordered our milkshakes since we are the non coffee drinking group haha. We finished studying pretty early and so we had time to walk around hongdae in the morning. There weren't many people out, but walking around there made me want to go back so bad! I've only been to a few places in hongdae but it's a really cool area and I really wish I had more time to just wander around. 

After our little morning stroll we went and ate Thai food (YAYYYY). I love Korean food but a little variation is great once in a while. The food was delicious and I love Thai food so it was a win win. 

After lunch we went back to Sogang for class and dd more mini stop runs, etc. my host mom wanted me home after class (at least, I think she did- talking on the phone in Korean is a little difficult haha). I ran and grabbed some souvenir presents from shops around the school and then headed home, but when I got there no one was there! Turns out I had just missed then and they had gone to go get a tent for when they plan on going to the river/swimming pool over the weekend! I was then served the most terrifying food I've ever eaten here. 

That was it. No rice. Nothing. It had no flavor and it was thick and weird and gross. I ate some but my host mom noticed I didn't eat a lot and gave me kimbap instead haha! Korea is definitely concerned with food/how muh you've eaten. I had never been complimented on my appetite before I came here, just like no one has ever forced me to eat because they thought I didn't eat enough until I came to Korea. I'm really going to miss the food here <3 

Final Project

So today was another weekly meeting before class, except this time we were able to showcase out final project that we had been researching!

I woke up late this morning so I rushed out of the house without eating, so as soon as I got out if the subway I got chocolate milk from the convenience store (yes I ate chocolate milk for breakfast NO ADULTS=NO RULES). We had to tape our information to the board and we were pressed for time but it turned out well in the end! Our topic was in Korean superstitions and I forgot to take a picture of our board so I'll just explain some of the superstitions right now! Disclaimer though: not all Koreans believe these things, just like superstitions in the US, and also keep in mind that the US superstitions are pretty weird too (salt over your shoulder? Breaking mirrors? Try explaining to a Korean person why opening umbrellas inside is bad. Good luck). 

1) Fan Death. If you are in a closed room with an electric fan the fan will suck all of the oxygen out of the room and you will die, or you will get hypothermia and die. 

2) Red Ink. It is really bad if you write someone's name in red ink because red ink was traditionally used to record the names of the deceased in family registrars. Writing someone's name in red is basically wishing death upon them. 

3) Cutting fingernails at night. This superstition says that if you cut your fingernails at night nice will eat the clippings and steal your soul/take your form/turn into a human! 

4) if you touch a butterfly or a moth and then touch your eye you will go blind. 

5) Blood types! Just like some people in the US believe in horoscopes, many people here believe your personality can be determined by your blood type. Look it up, it is super interesting! 

6) whistling at night summons ghosts and snakes 

That's all I can remember but they were really interesting to learn about! After the presentations we went to get cake before lunch (for the reason cited above- NO RULES) and it was so cute and delicious! The cafe was adorable and the cake was really good too! 

I had Earl Grey cake but I also took a picture of my friends chocolate cake because it looked beautiful as well. 

Since we used almost all of our lunch time eating cake we picked up 1.50$ kimbap on the way to Sogang and ate in the classroom before class started haha. Class was good, as usual, and the breaks included mini mart runs, as usual. After class I came straight home because my host family wanted to eat jjajangmyeon (짜장면) with me, which is basically koreanized Chinese food (just like we eat Americanized Chinese food in the US). It was really good! After that we went out to eat bingsu (of course). I didn't get a picture before I destroyed it all, but I remembered to snap one before I completely mixed it up. Here's what bingsu looks like when it's not all pretty haha. You're supposed to mix it up before you eat it anyways ^_^ 

After that I came home and now in exhausted and so full I can barely moved. Oh Korea. 

Water Gun Festival!!!!

So today I went back to Sinchon for the water gun festival and actually participated in it, which was a lot of fun. To give a little background, Sinchon is like a quaint Times Square type of place- the buildings aren't as tall and there are no neon signs, but it has that same wide open street layout and is always really busy.

So today I woke up (at 10:30, I didn't leave my room until 11:00 haha) and had breakfast. I chilled with the fam in front of the tv for a little bit and then walked to the subway station. I was in workout shorts, a baggy tshirt, and flip flops since I was going to a water gun fight, but no one in Seoul dresses like that so I looked really out of place. Me and the other nsliy kids were talking a few days ago about how everyone in Korea always looks so nice and clean and neat. It's not that Koreans are naturally prettier than other people (although they are very pretty) but they also just take care of themselves better. Skin care (for men and women) is really emphasized here, and no one really goes out of the house looking unkempt. Korean fashion is also very classy, modest, and neat/clean looking so that definitely helps everyone look more put together. But another interesting thing is that there isn't a double standard surrounding looks like there is in the US. I feel like in the US girls are held to certain standards for how they look when they leave the house while guys aren't- guys can go out if the house unshowered, looking like they just got out if bed, and no one will look twice. Here both guys and girls are expected to look put together (but keep in mind this is just what I've noticed in Seoul, I'm sure the countryside is a little different). I haven't seen a Korean person with wet hair on the subway. I go out with wet hair in the US all the time! 

Anyways, I arrived in Sinchon and met up with two other friends there and we went to Mr. Pizza. We didn't get any weird pizza flavors, just vegetarian, so it was pretty good! 

After pizza we met up with a friend from the Korean high school camp! It was really fun to see her again, and I was happy she came because the other two friends I met up with weren't feeling up to the water festival/didn't bring extra clothes. 

We bought water guns and walked around for a little while before meeting up with a few other NSLIY friends. That's when the real fun began- we got super into the water fight. So how it was set up was that the street was blocked off by firetrucks, which periodically sprayed (cold) water into the crowd, and then there was a main stage in the middle which had sprite showers? The entire thing was run by sprite so the logo was everywhere and I think they filmed a commercial or two there as well. There were water gun refilling stations every block or so and then the entire big street was basically a free for all. Of course they had bass heavy music to set the mood haha. We were targeted a lot because we were a group of foreigners, and it was so much fun to engage in random water battles with complete strangers. The best part was the random English they would yell at you as they sprayed you in the face haha. "Where are you from?!?" "Nice!" "Excuse me!!!!" And my personal favorite (which I heard sooooo many times it was hilarious" "WELCOME TO KOREAAAA". Also, not going to lie, this festival attracted every nice looking male in Seoul. I would have totally come just for the eye candy haha. 

But seriously the water gun festival was definitely one of my favorite moments in Seoul and I'm so glad that I came back to join. It's stuff like this that really makes you feel how communal and collective Korean culture is at times, and it just made me feel so connected to the people and the city I have been staying in. After the festival we took some pictures after changing clothes and then left back to the subway station (not after stopping for ice cream, of course).

When I got home my host mom made me dinner, but then about an hour after that we went out to eat again? We got pizza and brought it back home, but even though I wasn't hungry I ate some because they basically just bought it for me.... Awkward. But now I'm exhausted and ready to go to sleep, but I'm really thankful for such an awesome day in Seoul. I love Korea so much sometimes <3 

Project Day!

So yesterday was really fun, and I'm writing this a day late because I came home and fell asleep until 10:30 today because I was really tired haha. First, I met my friend in Sinchon to work on our final project for NSLIY. We had to make a board about some aspect of Korean culture and ours was on Korean superstitions. Since we didn't have the board with us we just did it on pieces of paper and plan to glue what we made onto the board on Monday morning. I think it looks really cute and I'm happy with what we did! We hit up the dollar store and bought a bunch of materials (also Oreos) and then went into a cafe and camped out for a few hours on the third floor. It just so happened that a water gun festival (which I might go back to) was happening today and we got the perfect view of everything that was happening outside. There were so many people, it was crazy! Towards the high point of the festival I definitely didn't want to go outside because I didn't want to get wet haha. There were fire trucks spraying water into the crowd and the main stage (which was right next to our third story cafe window) also sprayed water on everyone.

(We also bought toast) 

The water was even hitting the cafe windows! 

Then they brought up the singer Suzy from Miss A (a girl Kpop group) and everyone went crazy. They brought her on top of the stage so she wouldn't get wet, and our cafe was so close! Everyone who was in the cafe went rushing towards the window and taking pictures, but we didn't know who she was at first (Lol) and had to ask a bystander. 

After the cafe we went out looking for a PC 방 with a printer (PC 방s are cafés/rooms where people can pay to use the internet, usually used by teenage/young adult boys to play video games without their parents seeing hahaha). All of the PC rooms we went to either didn't have a printer, were really sketchy, or both. So eventually we gave up and just went to the Hyundai department store to eat lunch. While we were there we met the creator or ugly dolls who was doing a fan signing! We heard English and turned around and the event was going on! Fun stuff~ 

After that we went shopping and I bought a nice pair of sandals in the subway station, which was awesome. We walked around a little but more before meeting with the group who was going to the movies! 

As a group we went out to dinner and ate something delicious (even though I'm not quite sure what it was. Chicken? Red sauce? Friend rice after?). We then headed out to see the movie 군도. There were no English subtitles so I didn't know exactly what was going on so I basically just made up my own story. It was set during the Jeosun dynasty in Korea and it was about some sort of royal man disrespecting a butcher and then the butcher joined a gang of good guys. But ten there was a baby at the end and the importance of the baby was lost on me. I tried to ask my supporter how/why the baby was so important and he said "yes" so I'm still not sure lol, aside from the fact that the baby may or may not have been royalty. But there was a lot of action and blood and stuff so I understood that part. Good vs evil! After the movie I went home  and my host family surprised me when I walked in! They celebrated my birthday yesterday (maybe they forgot or maybe they just wanted to do it on a weekend night and have it be a surprise, idk. It was super sweet though) and they made me go out and walk back in so they could pull the party streamer things. Then they brought out a cute little cake and I blew out the candles, and then they gave me two little bottles of nail polish as a gift!

My host sister even wrote me a little card ^_^ 

 It was so adorable I couldnt even handle it haha. They are so sweet <3 my host mom kept telling me that my host sister had been so excited for it that she couldn't stop taking about it haha. But it was a great end to a great day!