aug 19-aug 25
On Aug 19th I set course for Seoul from Tokyo, on the short but pleasant trip! Japan Airlines is so awesome that they even gave me an inflight lunchbox during the 2 hour flight, which Air Canada never does on my cross-Canada flights from Montreal to Vancouver! I arrived in the afternoon, and was lucky enough that a friend of mine's parents had already arranged for my studio apt lease for the day of my arrival, as well as a family friend to pick me up from the airport! These two things combined made my stay in Seoul much more comfortable and less scary as I do not speak Korean.
DAY 1: ARRIVAL
DAY 2: SINDORIM, HONGDAE & HELLO KITTY CAFE
| When I arrived, I checked the SNU Exchange Students facebook page and it turned out that 2 other exchange students were in Seoul as well! We planned to meet the next morning, where one of the other exchange students (who had already been in Seoul for two weeks) showed us around Sindorim and Hongdae. Both are very popular areas with lots of shopping, places to eat and great sights of 'popular and young' Korea! In Hongdae we even stopped at a Hello Kitty themed Cafe and a Cat Cafe :P Hongdae is at Hongik University Station (which is on the same subway line as my place (SNU Gwanak Office Station). |
DAY 3: SNU CAMPUS, EHWA CAMPUS
This day was filled with more administrative things, like getting to school and asking the Office of International Affairs questions about the campus, orientation and getting my Alien Registration Card from the Seoul Immigration Office. Advice for anyone who will be staying in Korea past 90 days (school or work) get your Alien card right away because the lines are long! I was number 232 to register for my card, and it took me a 2 hour wait just to see someone! My next mission was to get a SIM Card, and I chose to go the easy way and just by the 35,000 won (35$) SIM card for foreigners where you can just top up how much data and minutes you want. I had to buy mine at Ehwa campus (because I have an iPhone) so it was a nice chance to get to see another school! | |
DAY 4: COEX, BONGEUNSA TEMPLE, GANGNAM
| After getting access to Data, as well as the random wifi hotspots throughout Korea offered by Olleh (Korea Telecom) I was able to finally communicate with my family during the daytime without having to bombard people for wifi passwords all the time. I spent my time on the southeastern side of the river and hung out in the Gangnam Area. Coex is one of the largest malls in Seoul but unfortunately the entire mall was under renovation so there wasn't much to see. Luckily the massive and beautiful Bongeunsa Temple was open so I got a chance to wander the beautiful grounds! |
day 5: war memorial, itaewon
Right beside the US Embassy is the Korean War Memorial Museum, which is a gigantic property laden with war themed art and ships, as well as a very thorough museum exhibit on earlier wars in Korea all the way into Japanese Occupation and the Korean War. I only managed to see the first and second floors before having to meet one of the other exchange students in Itaewon (a more Americanized region). We decided to have a drink and dinner there, and from the looks of it, Itaewon is definitely the place to be! The community was vibrant and full of exciting things to see, eat and buy (I definitely look forward to going back there a lot!). | |
DAY 6: WAR MEMORIAL CONT, SUNGNYEMUN GATE, CITY HALL & DEOKSUGUNG PALACE
| Following the great times in Itaewon, the next day I made it my mission to complete the exhibits at the War Museum, so I spent the morning seeing the remainder of the exhibits then met up with an exchange student to explore some historical monuments together! We saw most of the areas around City hall, including a large dedication to the lives lost during the Ferry Tragedy. Thousands of yellow ribbons and wishes of condolences were tied to posts standing outside of city hall. Across the street was one of the Palace structures: Deoksugung Palace where we got so see a bit of Old Korea. |
day 7: SNU CAMPUS & FRONT GATES
After walking for hours the other day, I decided to spend most of my day on SNU's campus so that I could get used to where my classes would be, as well as getting familiar with the bus system. While spending my afternoon at school I even learned how to walk back home from campus! Additionally, I used my downtime to catchup on my Avatar: Legend of Korra (Book 3 Finale) and of course learning Korean and relearning the Korean Alphabet and Numbers! I found that shopping was made much easier when I could actually understand numbers with the vendors :P an important skill to have. | |