I went to Fukuoka, Japan to visit my NAU friend Emani! I only spent 3 days there but I loved it!! I found Japan to be overall cleaner than Korea trash-wise and air-wise, more expensive (subway and food), the people were also shorter and their style of dress was different. I had a really fun time visiting my friend, however I did find myself missing my country Korea :) Here are a few pictures!
In America you see typically plain, chocolate, or sometimes strawberry milk. However in Korea there is every flavor imaginable :) My favorite is banana milk but there are so many to try! Seoul have put on a lantern festival since 2009 at Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul. During the festival period, hundreds of lanterns, each with a unique design and story, will be lit on Cheonggyecheon Stream. It was a very pretty sight and is something unique to Korea. Although it was cold and crowded, I am glad I could see during my time here :) <3 Desserts are amazing in Korea! I have already done one blog post on this but here are some more pictures~ - Nutella Bingsoo (shaved ice with milk) - Oreo yogurt ice cream - Various convenience store ice cream - Strawberry Bingsoo - Waffle with ice cream and custard - Breaded custard filled cone with yogurt ice cream with a slice of pinnapple and drizzled chocolate and nuts
Incheon is the area located to the west of Seoul. There are several small islands there. Incheon Airport is on one island and chinatown is located on a different island close by. It is about 1 hour on the subway from Seoul. The china town was smaller than San Fran but still really cute. We walked around some, bought traditional Chinese bread dumplings (red bean and sweet potato), and got 자장면for lunch. Afterwards we took a bus to the ocean and relaxed. ~ <3 This is called a BapBeogoh or a rice burger! You pick what you want inside then they sandwich it between 2 layers of rice. I got the chicken curry rice burger an it was $2.50. To eat it you have to squish it down to make it more flat then you use a spoon. They have many different flavors to choose from and they are all cheap and very filling!! :)
Korean thanksgiving, also known as Chuseok, is a combination of Americas memorial day and turkey day. It iss a huge holiday here; families drove back to their hometowns, Mon-Weds. all the stores closed down, traffic was crazy. I was lucky enough to be invited to spend Chuseok with my Korean family. Whereas most of the foreign students stayed in the dorm. My Korean parents parents both live in Gunsan which is middle - left Korea, on the ocean border. Normally it is a 2 hr drive but with Chuseok traffic it was 4 hrs. This is still nothing compared to the drives i'm used to in America, but to a Korean this is a really long trip. I met both sides of the grandparents, many aunts and uncles, some cousins, and a cute dog named Cookie. None of these people spoke the slightest bit of English so it allowed me to practice the Korean that I knew. Gunsan is a well known tourist place. It has the famous Lee Sung Dang bakery known for their red bean and vegetable buns. Then there is Seonyoudo Island and Lizzy and I took a ferry to. We rented a motorcycle, and rode around the entire Island in less than 2 hours. Gunsan is also known for their sea food which I tried a lot of and it was delicious! Although Chuseok spans from Sat to Wed. the main day is Monday. Moms and grandmothers spent all Sunday in the kitchen preparing for Monday. The main morning feast was spent at the dads side of the family then dinner was spent at the moms side of the family. This is traditional Korean culture, the parents also slept at the dads parents house as well (I slept at the moms moms house). They laid out the Chuseok food on a nice table, lit some incense, and did a wine pouring and bowing ritual. Only the men participated in the bowing ritual. They also moved chopsticks around on top of all the dishes. After we cleared the table and put the food on normal plates and ate. It was really yummy food! My favorite was the songpyeon; the green rice dumplings with sesame inside. After that we hiked up a small mountain where the great grandparents were buried. We cleaned up the plants and then did a smaller similar food/bowing ceremony. I felt really honored to be a part of their Chuseok. I was able to participate in all Chuseok festivities. I know not many foreigners get to experience this and it will be a strong memory I will have forever. I moved into my dorm in Seoul!! My school is called Sogang Jesuit University. It has about 10,000 undergraduates and 2,000 graduates. The campus is very clean and pretty, it sits on top of a hill. It takes about 10 mins to get from one side to the other. The dorm rooms are smaller than my dorm for the summer but it is a comfortable room. It has a cafeteria, laundry room, and gym in the basement. Security and safety is really strict here. They separate girls and guys by buildings and there is also a curfew but that is the norm for Asian schools. Hiking is very popular in Korea, there are mountains and trails everywhere. instead of big 5 and sports authority, they have hiking stores. People wear crazy neon clothes and carry backpacks that say The North Face or Bean Pole. Hiking gear has its own fashion trend and if you dont keep up with it your out of the loop. I've hiked 3 different mountains since I have been here. They all provide spectacular views and the green trees provide nice shade. At the top you will often see older Koreans drinking makoli (rice wine) and sometimes there is even an ice cream vendor. |