Sorry for the late update! It’s midterm season and I’ve been studying hard! 🙂

Recently, I was selected to represent Canada as a K-Shuttle blogger. Basically, I get some benefits from K-Shuttle (a new foreigner-only bus tour company operating out of Seoul) in exchange for regularly promoting them online. The point of K-Shuttle is to give foreigners a taste of what lies outside of Seoul; a chance to explore several lesser-known destinations around Korea in a short period of time (three days and two nights).

K-Shuttle’s website is here: http://www.k-shuttle.com/

I heard about this promotion sort of by accident; it showed up in my newsfeed one night on Facebook and I thought, “well, I’m just sitting on my butt watching YouTube videos and not really doing much of anything with my life, why not apply?”. I did, and a few weeks later, I found out I was successful!

I received: one ticket for myself, plus two tickets for friends/family, plus an invitation to a thank-you dinner party with the rest of the K-Shuttle staff and foreign representatives! Pretty cool hey? And all I have to do is do what I do already 😛 Post on blog and review sites about K-Shuttle.

So yes! I was very excited to get in.

I decided to take the Saturday-Monday tour from October 13-15, down the Southwest Coast. There was a bit of a miscommunication though, because I was under the impression that the bus tour was full – really, I was the only one on the bus! Only two other passengers had reserved, but they’d cancelled at the last minute because of sickness. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it was still really enjoyable. It was like having a private tour, plus, I got to have a double room all to myself for each night!

A lot of companies would’ve simply cancelled the trip were this the case, especially considering that I didn’t pay anything to take the tour. So obviously that struck me as being very cool.

The crazy thing was that my guide, Justin, had spent half his life in Pitt Meadows (a short distance away from my own hometown in Canada)! He was the same age as me and wants to be a diplomat when he finishes school, also like me. Justin also knew a lot about history, and could speak Korean (mother tongue), English, and Chinese. This was really cool, as he knew a lot about the historical sites we visited.

The first place we went to was the Baekje fortress in Buyeo…

Baekje Kingdom Fortress at Buyeo.

Fortress garden

Pavilion on the top of Nakwha-am, a significant place in Korean history. This mountain, which is called “Rock of Falling Flowers”, was the scene of a tragic historical event. 3,000 women who’d been captured by invaders jumped off the cliff and committed suicide, after having been captured, taken from their homeland, and made into comfort women for their captors. The cliff is now called Nakwha-am, or “Rock of Falling Flowers”.

The ferry boat below

Standing on the top of the “Rock of Falling Flowers”

A painting (obviously not the original; it’s been too defaced) which depicts the sad story of the Nakwa rock. On the left, the “falling flowers” jump to their deaths, as their captors chase them to their tragic fate.

Drinking out the famous Nakwa spring water. There was an elementary school field trip there at the time I visited, my tour guide overheard one of the teachers explaining the spring’s legend to the children: “If you drink this water, you will become 10 years younger – so be careful! Only have ONE cup!”. I guess I’m now 9 years old again? Or 11 in Korean age?

Note: Koreans traditionally count age from the time of conception. When you’re born, you’re already “one year old”. I’m born on October 31, 1992. Additionally, when the new year comes, everyone gets one year older. So, right now, I’m 19 Canadian age, but I’m 21 in Korea!

This was a little Buddhist temple at the top of Nakwa. It was very busy as it is the time of the year when many high school students are preparing for the first round of their university entrance exams – a process that is not only stressful for them, but for their parents as well, who’ve likely invested thousands of dollars in their education already (mostly through private academies and tutoring). Many parents flock to temples and churches this time of the year to pray for their childrens’ success in the exams.

About to board the ferry from the bottom of Nakwa to the parking lot.

Standing on the ferry

Nakwa

Jeonju:

After visiting Nakwa, we were off to Jeonju. We visited a traditional fortress there, and even saw a re-enactment of the founding of the Joseon (or “Chosun”) dynasty.

Joseon Dynasty re-enactment

Standing with a traditional guard.

Playing a traditional Korean game.

Wearing traditional Confucian ceremonial dress.

And again!

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I went back with the tour guide to the hotel in Jeonju after the folk village.

End of the day!

Got all settled in, and joined Justin for some dinner at a Western-style restaurant (in Korea, that means taking some kind of pasta dish and adding some extra sugar and spicy sauce). I picked a spicy seafood noodle soup. However, Justin, and some of the waitresses, were afraid that it would be too spicy for a foreigner. I said I could handle it – to which they told Justin (who translated for me) that in case I couldn’t, they would make me a new dish for free. I insisted I would be fine, and so they brought me the soup. It was rather hot, so I had to wait for it to cool down. I was very hungry at this point, so as soon as I thought it would be safe too eat, I started slurping the noodles away. Sadly, I slurped one rogue noodle too fast and it whiplashed itself into my eye – MY EYE. Yeah, it hurt like hell. However, having worked at a Vietnamese restaurant for 2.5 years, I had already experienced the pain of having black chili oil in my eye (always, ALWAYS scrub your hands thoroughly after refilling chili oil containers!). It’s the kind of pain that starts off small, then in a matter of seconds erupts into the worst kind of burning sensation your eyes will ever experience. The most horrible part of it all? Like the first time being dumped, the pain of the moment seems to linger forever.

This pain, however, went away pretty quick. It was just my ego that was hurting, as I felt as if the stares of everyone in the restaurant were directed towards me – the token white girl, thinking she was SO TOUGH ordering the spicy soup, only to wind up crying like a baby. If you can’t take the heat…

Anyways, as I said, the pain subsided pretty quickly. This was largely thanks to the cup of rice that those thoughtful waitresses had the foresight to give to me with my soup. For those of you who don’t know, water is pretty ineffective at dousing the pain of a really spicy food. Starchy things, like rice, usually work best to mute that scorching hot sensation in your mouth. It did the job, and soon enough Justin and I were laughing about it.

After that, we grabbed some coffee and looked at some cute puppies we found in the window of a nearby pet store!

Little chihuahua!

Aww, what a cutie! Falling asleep in her water bowl ^^

“Angel??? How did you get here??” <- That was my thought upon seeing this little poodle! She looks so much like my family’s dog Angel back home. Complete with the pee spots (yeah, our dog never learned – or maybe it was because we were powerless to discipline that cute widdle girl! Bad idea).

All in all a great day! After that we went back to the hotel room and got a good sleep for the next day.

Day 2 coming soon…

Wow! A lot of fun things have happened in the past few weeks.

Diplomacy! Talk Workshop:

I got to visit Sungshin Women’s University to take part in the Ministry of Foreign Affiairs (MOFAT)-hosted “Talk Talk” diplomacy event before Chuseok holidays. This was thanks to a CAU Global Ambassador who’s volunteering for the youth volunteer wing of the ministry, called “Friends of MOFAT”. First off, I want to mention that Sungshin Women’s University is the most beautiful, clean, and modern university I’ve ever been to. I know what you’re thinking – “come on, it’s because it’s a women’s university!”. No. I lived at another women’s university here in Seoul for four weeks, and while it was nice, it  did not compare whatsoever. The place looked like an art gallery. Either they’ve got some very generous donors, or tuition fees are out the roof.

Anyways, we were seated in a big auditorium where we got to watch this talk show-style interview featuring three important guests, one of whom was the first female Korean ambassador. They had some really neat insights to give.

Then we had a discussion session; I got put in the one with the focus being on Asia. It was really cool. After the event, they gave out free neck rests. Cool.

Above is a group photo of my discussion group ^

After leaving the event, I went to Namdaemun market in search of some PSY socks (not for me; just as a gift, I promise!). I failed. However, I succeeded gloriously at finding some delicious street food! I had tteokbokki, my favourite, and my new SWEET favourite, hotteok!!! Dear lord, hotteok is amazing. It’s a deep fried pancake with syrup, nuts, and cinnamon inside. And, like most Korean food, it’s dirt cheap! It’s roughly less than $1 for one. Photos to come later.

Chuseok:

First, I recommend watching this video, which gives a great summary of what the Chuseok holiday is all about:

Last week was Chuseok, a Korean holiday very similar to Thanksgiving. We had nearly a week off from school, so lots of people decided to go travelling (Taiwan, Japan, Busan, Jeju-do, etc) but many of us stayed behind in Seoul. Sadly, I had a rather large assignment due at midnight in the middle of it all, and of course I didn’t have the foresight to complete it before the holidays. So, instead of travelling I decided to stay at the dorms.

On Saturday morning, I participated in Justice for North Korea‘s South-North Friendship Family Sports Day. The Gaebong Defectors’ Church and Unity Vision Self-Support Centre also helped host the event. Chuseok is a time to come together with one’s family and celebrate the year’s harvest. Sadly, North Korean defectors don’t have this option, so the point of the event was to give them a fun time to enjoy the holidays. Since this was partially a religious event, there was a small service held before the games started. It was conducted in Korean only, and while I didn’t understand much of it, it still seemed very nice.

The next day, I did a homestay at a Korean CAU student’s house for Chuseok. This was organized through the CAU International Office. While it wasn’t as “traditional” as I’d expected, it was still quite enjoyable. My host sister and I took a walk through the Insadong district of Seoul, and saw many families with their young children dressed in hanbok (traditional Korean attire). We then went out for Korean BBQ with her dad, whose English was quite good as a result of his time spent working in Boston. Her and I then went out and saw “Taken 2”, which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would.

I left the morning after to head back to CAU to work on some school stuff.

That night, I joined some friends for a trip to a $7 all-you-can-eat sushi buffet in Sinchon, Seoul’s most vibrant college town (it’s got four universities surrounding it, after all!). It was pretty decent; what you’d expect for that price range. The other side of the buffet had spaghetti, salad, sweet bread, and occasionally pizza if you were lucky enough to grab a slice before they all disappeared!

After that, I went back home and worked on my Powerpoint due for my Project Management class. Currently, it stands at 42 slides! Oh my..

Dragon Scholarship: International Office Internship

Thursday night, I had my first shift teaching conversational English to several professors and administrators from CAU. Since I’m not technically being paid for it, it’s 100% legal. (Korea has very strict regulations for foreigners teaching English without a proper visa. Penalties range from: a slap on the wrist, to several thousand dollars worth of fines, to incarceration, to [almost always] deportation).

My internship duties have so far been during office hours (ie: 9:00am to 6:00pm), and have ranged from researching prospective partner universities, to social media updating, to other administrative odd jobs. So, when I heard that I had been chosen to be one of the lucky two interns to tutor English after hours, I was a little grumpy – evenings were my free time; I had no desire to sit around and correct professors’ English speaking when I could be doing fun stuff. Thursday evening, I met the International Education Director and a couple of my other superiors at 6:30pm with a forced smile on my face, and we walked off to the classroom together.

I sat down and was introduced to my students, and before I knew it, the hour of conversational English I was supposed to be teaching had already sped by. As I wrapped things up with five minutes to spare, I checked my clock again and realized we’d all still been enthusiastically talking five minutes after class was supposed to end. My students were energetic and fun; one had even come to class with a page-long self-introduction already prepared. As I wiped off the board (where I’d proudly spelt my name in Korean characters), one of the students said, smiling, “I think this is going to be a really fun class!”

I think so too – after all, how often as a university student do YOU get to grade the professors? It’s payback time, muchachos! Okay, okay, I don’t intend on stringently assigning or marking homework (unless of course, the professors request me too, like the other ones did to my colleague!). But the morning after, when I arrived in the International Office to do my shift, I was so excited for our next class that I prepared my first “lesson plan” (more like a loosely-organized set of discussion topics) on the subject my superiors assigned for our weekly class, which was “Hallyu” or the “Korean Wave”.

So, this is what I get to do in exchange for free housing and a monthly stipend – a pretty sweet deal.

Party Weekend!

On Friday night, there was yet another campus party. I’m not sure if the Korean students post flyers about these around the school (mostly because I can’t read Korean) or if they’re just word-of-mouth, but it seems like every week I walk past the familiar plastic tables and chairs set-up and see people taking shots, munching on Korean BBQ, and just generally havin’ a good time. This time though, a few of us exchange students heard about a couple campus parties in advance and decided to go check them out. I arrived a bit later, and everyone was plastered already (even though it was only about 10:00pm!). I’m not sure if the students running the event were holding it as a fundraiser, or just as an excuse to have a good time, but they kept bringing us free KGBs (canned lemon vodka spritzers).

After that, we made our way to the Beerking Pub, where the table behind us sent us a cheese fondue platter. No, we didn’t know them, and no, they spoke basically no English. They were just really nice 😛 After miming out our gratitude, followed by several heart-felt “kamsamnida”s (“thank you” in Korean), we gobbled up our free fondue and made our way to another bar. This place had a sort of self-serve concept; upon walking in there were several fridges filled with bottles of domestic and imported beers, which you were free to help yourself to. At the end of the night, you bring up the bottles to the cashier and pay for what you drank.

At 1:40pm, curfew was a meer 20 minutes away, and no, I did not want to wait until 5:00pm to go back home. So after some careful thought, I so maturely decided to depart with the smaller group who went back to the dorms and slept, instead of joining the larger group to go clubbing. Yes, I am finally starting to grow up!

International Fireworks Festival and Myeongdong Dance Party!

So Saturday night was the International Fireworks Festival held in Yeouido Park. Four countries competed: Italy, China, the US, and of course, Korea. While I arrived too late to see Italy’s display, I did catch the last three. Yes, Korea’s was the best; you know what they say about “home sky advantage”… or was it “home ice advantage”…? Anyways, it was great. It was also stupid busy, though.

Check out a video of the beginning of Korea’s performance here:

My photos:

The Korean team shot fireworks off the side of the bridge

After a useless 30-minute walk + a 45-minute cab ride that should’ve only taken 10 minutes in regular traffic, a few of us girls made it halfway to our destination (the Myeondong Street Party #2) and decided to abandon the cab in favour of taking the subway the rest of the way there. At this point half of our party of four was feeling a bit tired and wanted to head back to the dorms, so the remaining two of us bid them farewell and continued onto Myeondong.

The party was good, but I don’t think it was as fun as the last street party, which was significantly busier.

Here’s a video of the prior dance party: (at 0:28 you can see two of my fellow exchange students dancing)

Wow, so yeah! That’s what I’ve been up to as of late. Here’s some random stuff:

RANDOM STUFF!

– Because I did the Chuseok homestay, I get to have a nice sit-down lunch with the President of CAU and all the other exchange students who did the homestay! It’s kind of like the school’s way of saying “thank you for going into someone’s house, eating their food, sleeping on their bed, and joining in on their family activities”. Yeah, I know 😛 Doesn’t make a ton of sense to me either, but hey! It’s an incredibly nice gesture, despite the fact that we’ve done pretty much nothing to deserve it 😛

–  A couple weeks ago, I found this post on facebook from a KTO-sponsored tour/shuttle bus company called “K-Shuttle: Must-see Routes”. They were looking for foreigners to blog about their K-Shuttle experiences on a bi-monthly basis. In return? K-shuttle would provide: a free three-day/two-night trip on one of their tours, plus two more free trips for family or friends, plus a free dinner party invitation for all the K-shuttle staff and country representatives. I wasn’t supposed to find out if I’d gotten the position for Canadian representative until Friday, but they informed the applicants today of who’d got in! Yes, I’d made it! So, this weekend I’m taking the tour outlined here: http://www.k-shuttle.com/rb/?r=en&c=45/47. I was really sad about not being able to travel for Chuseok, but this will definitely make up for it 🙂

Below is the information on the tour I’m taking this weekend:

– Oh, and I also bought a really cheap phone from the giant indoor used electronics market at Yongsan station. The only crappy thing is that the credit expires every month, so essentially I’m paying $10 every month even if I don’t use up all the minutes/texts Oh well. It was the cheapest option.

– In other news, wow. This month has gone by so fast!

Many people (mostly Koreans) have asked me why I chose to come study in Korea. So, I’ve decided to make a list of the Top 10 things I love about Korea. To follow, I will also have a list of the “Top 10 things I Don’t Like about Korea”, just for the sake of balance 😉

#10: Freebies!

Korea LOVES freebies. Above is a photo of all the free stuff I’ve gotten here. Most stuff is from cosmetic stores. If you buy some skin cream or makeup, usually the cashier will hook you up with some free face masks, skin cream/serum samplers, or cotton pads. Other times, two products – they can be the same or completely different – are taped together and have a “1+1” (which means “buy one, get one”) label on it.

I also got a free neck rest and world map from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) event I recently attended at Sookmyung Women’s University with some other CAU students. Other than that, most of the freebies I’ve gotten have been cosmetics (as you can see in the photo) or food, which you can’t see because I’ve already eaten it 😛 Many convenience stores do the same “1+1” or “2+1” promo on food. Ex: buy two cans of ice coffee and get a third one free. That’s the most common one I’ve taken advantage of 😛

The video below explores Korea’s culture of freebies in more depth:

#9: “Work Hard, play hard”

Wow – Korea really loves to party. However, Korea really loves to work insane hours as well! It’s not uncommon to see men dressed in business attire stumbling out of the bars at 5:00am on a weekday, only to have to return to work in a few hours.

This is also attached to Korean office culture, where an important part of staff bonding includes going out and getting wasted with the boss. One important thing to note is that it is INCREDIBLY rude to turn down a drink from your superior (boss, professor, someone older than you, etc). Many Korean fathers like to use this tactic to get their daughters’ boyfriends drunk upon first meeting them – what better way to see a young man’s true side is there??

Hungover? No, they’re probably still drunk!

This applies to Korean students as well, who are known to pull 14-hour days studying for exams. But after exams are over, the party begins! Maekgu (beer), anyone??

#8: Tourism!

I’ve consistently been blown away by the amount Korea has invested in tourism. The Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) is constantly putting on different promotions to try and attract foreigners to “the Land of the Morning Calm”, which is sadly often overlooked while many tourists choose to instead flock to more familiar destinations, such as China or Japan.

Korea has had a long history of being trampled over by foreign powers due to its strategic geographic position in East Asia. Barely a generation ago, Korean children were forbidden by the Japanese from speaking their mother tongue at school, and had to submit to worship of the Japanese emperor. Korea’s national animal is the tiger, although you won’t be seeing it at all nowadays – the Japanese exterminated them during one of their many lengthy occupations of the Korean peninsula.

Korea has been jerked around too much through the centuries. Now, as it rises as a formidable economic power on the world stage, this too-often underrated country is using its culture’s values of hard-work and perseverance to proudly present its touristic appeal to the world.

One of the KTO’s best practices is the “Free Postcard Service for Foreigners”, which is exactly what the name implies: foreigners can visit any one of the multiple KTO stations in Seoul, and mail up to seven postcards back home for free. This attraction serves not only as a fun activity for tourists, but also seems to be a clever form of marketing, as on the back of the postcards the KTO has strategically placed a number of its logos.

People back home can see how much fun their friends and family are having in Korea, and may even consider making it a destination the next time they go abroad.

The KTO and Seoul Tourism office also make fantastic use of social media. I can’t remember how many times I’ve gone to events or attractions simply because I’ve read about them on the Seoul Korea facebook page. They give you a local’s perspective into the many restaurants, shops, attractions, and other hidden gems that are around this energetic city.

So many great tips can be found on the Seoul Korea facebook page ^

#7: Soju

Yeaaaah…  What can I say! When you produce a hard liquor that’s cheaper than water (no, seriously) and is available in every single grocery store and convenience store in the country, it’s going to be on a foreign student’s list of Top 10 Things they Love About Korea 😛

For those who aren’t familiar with the bottle of liquid blackouts that is soju, allow me to describe it for you: only costing about a dollar, soju tastes like death and turns you into the sexiest, most talented, funny, and desirable version of yourself that you could only wish to be. The side-effects? Dancing horribly, singing worse than William Hung, and yes, quite often, vomiting everywhere and anywhere.

#6: Shopping!

Korea is a shopper’s dream world. With so many different styles of shopping to choose from, and with so many stores being open 24/7 some say that Korea is the best place to shop in the world.

Above is a photo of the luxurious Lotte Department Store.

If your budget isn’t big enough to allow more than “browsing” at the Lotte or Hyundai Department stores, then Myeongdong is the next-best-thing. Crowded with flashing lights and blaring music, this shopping district is always crowded with both Koreans and tourists alike. Be sure to go after sunset though; that’s when things really get going. You can find familiar international stores here (like Lacoste, Foot Locker, H&M, Uniqlo, ZARA, Polo, etc) as well as smaller Korean stores. This is the best place to go shopping for cosmetics, as many of the shops here have better sales (at least this is what I’ve found).

Migliore is a chain of giant indoor shopping markets. Each stall is owned separately. You need to be prepared to barter, especially if you’re a visible foreigner – like so many places in the world, merchants have one price for locals and another (much more expensive) price for foreigners.

The crappy part? You can’ try anything on, and most pieces are “free size” or, “one size fits all”.

You can even go shopping in the subway stations! How awesome is that?

#5: Technology

People say Korea is the most-wired country in the world, and I don’t doubt that for a second. Here, you can see a monk using his tablet (a Galaxy Note?) to take a photo of a map.

I love technology and I love how wired Korea is!!

People are also saying that Korean schools will soon be paperless…

I found this picture of a street photobooth on another blog. Basically, it’s a really cool concept: you take a photo of yourself on the street, edit it, and send it to yourself via email or text. Kind of random, but really cool!

This photo of a free cellphone charging booth is actually from an airport in Singapore, but they’re common in Korean airports nonetheless. You select the cord that corresponds with your cellphone model (iPhone, Galaxy, etc) and plug it in for it to charge. This machine is very secure, as it lets you actually lock your phone in there while you keep the key until it’s finished charging.

Oh yeah, and there’s WiFi EVERYWHERE! It’s so awesome.

Check out this ABC news report from 2010 on how wired Seoul is:

#4 – K Fashion

Another thing I love about Korea is its fashion…

In short, Korean fashion (for women) has the following qualities:

• It’s fairly conservative: shoulders are rarely ever shown, cleavage is pretty much never shown. However, legs are almost always shown.
• Heels are often worn to accentuate the legs, regardless of the occasion (ie: Western women normally just wear heels in the office or at the bar, while Korean women will wear them anytime they please, ex: with a pair of denim shorts and t-shirt to school).
• Muted/neutral colours are favoured.
• Few accessories are used – just a nice pair of shoes and “designer” bag will do the trick.
• Layering is essential. If it’s hot outside, the AC will be blasting inside, and vice versa.
• Perfect skin is seen as being the most important part of looking good. Everyone can have their own style, but having a clear, slightly pale (or very pale) face is the most desired part. Having a small chin, pointed nose, and large eyes is good too, but that’s now venturing into Korean beauty – a whole other topic unto itself.

This is quite a bright colour; I think most Korean girls would wear this tunic in white, grey, or black instead.

So Korean! I love it..

Also very Korean – clean, neutral, and very preppy. Note the 2.55 Chanel bag she’s carrying – understated elegance. I love Korean fashion so much.

#3 – Everything is cute!

This is kind of a random topic, but yeah, most Westerners will understand me when I say that everything in Korea is just so gosh-darn cute! Above is a photo of the sheep café I want to visit in the Hongdae area of Seoul.

Look at these cute kids in their hanboks!

Airport mascots! The KTO facebook page just posted this photo earlier today; I guess these mascots are at the airport welcoming people as they arrive. How cute!

The interior of an Etude House shop, a Korean cosmetic chain. SO CAAAYUUUUUTE!

Cute Korean policemen!

Hell, even poop (“unko”) in Korea is cute! This is slightly weird to me, though..

#2 – Korean food!

Okay, I won’t even get into Korean food right now, as it will take WAY too long! I’m saving it for another blog post.

Basically, eating in Korea is delicious, cheap, and a very social experience! Normally involving beer and soju, too 😉

This photo shows a bunch of Korean foods, and is from Clouddancer blog.

#1 – Korean PEOPLE

While this list was supposed to be “in no particular order”, I must say that Korean people are the #1 thing I love about Korea. I have been treated like royalty since I’ve been here, and haven’t really done all that much to deserve it!

Somebody once told me that once you make a Korean friend, you make a friend for life. While my life is far from being over (at least as far as I can see!), I’ve found this to be incredibly true. The friends I made at Seoul Women’s University last summer have been so kind to me in helping settle in here.

My roommate is Korean, and her and I have been getting along so well. Her friend – who I’ve never even met before – recently gave me a present for Korean Thanksgiving (“Chuseok”) because she heard I was a foreigner and thus probably wouldn’t be getting many gifts! They were some tasty, chewy, crunchy, sweet things; I have no idea what they’re called but they were delicious. In fact, she gave me so many that my roommate suggested that I share them with some friends… Yeah, sorry friends, I am keeping them all for myself 😛

Above is a photo of a Korean girl that I met a few weeks ago at a party – she studied abroad in New Zealand and had the cutest Korean-Kiwi accent ever! We got along really well and will probably party together in the future.

I will never forget my awesome roommates from BIP last summer ❤

So, that’s my list of the best things in Korea! I will expand on the food section in a later blog post, and will also follow up with a list of the 10 things I dislike about Korea, although I imagine it will take me a while to find 10 things that I don’t like about living here!

To any other foreigners who may be reading this, I’d be interested in hearing what your favourite parts about Korea are!

For now, I’m off to do some homework… Yes, in the middle of Chuseok! My professor is so cruel 😥