korea adventures
Weekly updates about the things I'm up to. Mainly so my grandma doesn't worry too much about me.
This was my first week in awhile which I didn't have a midterm! However, I still have papers to write for three of my classes. I'll also be going to Busan soon, so I have been working hard to get those papers done. Compared to back at home, I have so much more free time due to a combination of less activities, not having a job, and the class structure (less busy work, more larger projects/papers). I've been using a lot of my mornings (later afternoon in Hawaii) to network, interview, and apply for jobs. I know that I will not have this luxury once I go home.
I started my Monday pretty early, since I was meeting with someone back at home. I practically did nothing all day until I had class at 3:30PM. For lunch, I bought my favorite ricotta salad from Salady. I've also been obsessed with this bakery near the Gwanak-gu office. I bought a chocolate covered pretzel, and it was really good! The pretzel wasn't a regular pretzel, and it had sesame seeds inside of it. After classes on Tuesday, I went to dinner with a friend in Sharosu-gil. She is from Japan, so she wanted to eat Japanese food. In Sharosu-gil, there are many different types of restaurants, and we found a place that had ramen. For dessert, I bought a rolo ice cream from the convenience store. Before I started class on Wednesday, I went grocery shopping at my usual grocery store. It was quite an expensive trip because I bought a tiny jar of peanut butter for almost $7... I've also been craving Auntie Anne's pretzels, so I ordered a cup of cream cheese filled pretzel sticks. I also bought a roll of kimbap from the LaBab near the Gwanak-gu Office. I've walked past that LaBab so many times, but this was my first time trying it. After classes on Thursday, a friend invited me to cook. She is part of a diversity committee through SNU, and the school occasionally provides them with groceries to make diverse meals. The theme of the dinner was French food, so we had ratatouille and crepes. I helped cut the vegetables for the ratatouille and mix the batter for the crepe. It was also Peppero day, so we ate Peppero! Peppero day is basically another Valentine's day in Korea that was created by the company. On Friday, I had a virtual lunch event with people back at home. I wanted to eat something a little different, so I bought a black bread with cheese and tomatoes from the same bakery near Gwanak-gu Office. A lot of places near my goshiwon do not open until 11 or later, so it was hard to find take-out when I was looking for food. After that, I rode the train to Namdaemun Market. The market had so many different vendors selling everything you could think of, including a lot of fake luxury brands, clothes, skin care, jewelry, and food. Looking inside of the shops made me feel quite overwhelmed and somewhat claustrophobic. It was basically like Ohana Hale Marketplace in Hawaii, but like a thousand times more crowded. At Namdaemun Market, I tried hotteok for the first time, and it was so good! Hotteok is Korean pancake, and there are both sweet and savory flavors. The sweet one was filled with red bean, and the savory one was filled with vegetable japchae. After exploring almost every aisle at Namdaemun, I walked to Myeong-dong to eat at Din Tai Fung. The last time I ate at DTF was back in 2019 in Taiwan, so when I found out there was one in Korea, I had to go back to get my all time favorite chocolate XLB. For dessert, I went to McDonald's and had a strawberry oreo mcflurry and churro. We also shopped around Myeong-dong for a bit to find winter clothes. On Saturday, I went ice skating with SNU buddy. This was my first time going ice skating in a few years, and it was a lot of fun! The ice rink we went to was called Waikiki Mokdong Ice Rink. We bought tickets from a machine which allowed us to skate for two hours and rent skates. I thought it was interesting that we were required to wear a helmet while skating. In the middle of the ice rink, younger children were having classes. They were very talented, so it was cool to see them do a lot of tricks. After ice skating, we went to a Coffee Bean to relax. I totally forgot that it is the holiday season, so it was a nice surprise to see my hot chocolate in a holiday themed sleeve. On Sunday, I went to Icheon with SNU Buddy. It was quite a long way from my goshiwon. I rode the train to Gwang-byeon station, and from there, we bought tickets to ride a bus to Icheon. It was a direct hour long bus ride to the city, and we had to take a taxi to get to the pottery village. Public transportation outside of Seoul is not as frequent, so it was more convenient for us to take a taxi. Once we arrived in the pottery village, we ate lunch at a Korean restaurant. My SNU buddy said that the town is known for good rice, so I had a bibimbap. I thought the rice was good, but I especially enjoyed the banchan. After lunch, we went to a pottery class. We all made different things, but I made a small bowl. The workers were extremely helpful and spoke English very well. One of the workers said she is going to Hawaii next month! After our class, we walked around the village. Icheon is known for ceramics, so there were a lot of small shops selling ceramic goods. It is such a peaceful town with beautiful architecture. We also ate at a cafe that was beautifully designed and had a nice view of the sunset and mountain.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStudying abroad at Seoul National University! Archives
December 2021
Categories |