august 26-sept 1
DAY 8: KBBQ AND SOBEK!
| This day was absolutely monumental because it was the first time trying Korean Barbecue pork and beef while actually in Korea! We had a slightly difficult time trying to get the fire going, but once we figured it out the cooking went really well and the food was absolutely fantastic! For a sort of 'post meal after-party' we headed to a Soju and Beer type bar that was good for a lot of people. The bar was really cool and super near to my place--so very convenient! The atmosphere was fun and we even got to learn some fun Korean games from an SNU exchange student from last semester! |
DAY 9: HOMEPLUS & YOU ARE HERE CAFE
For lunch we met up with a newly arrived exchange student from Italy! We met up at a slightly random station and ended up at a Homeplus store in Mullae Station (which is basically the Korean equivalent of Walmart). Luckily the store had a great restaurant that even served Kimichi Jiggae (Korean spicy tofu soup) and my favourite-- Purple rice!!! After lunch we headed to a cafe that I'd wanted to visit for a long time since my arrival to Korea: the You Are Here Cafe is owned by two Canadian Youtubers that live in Seoul and an online Korean learning website! The cafe had the absolute best Korean Blackberry milkshake and a beautiful garden to enjoy it in :D | |
DAY 10: HANGANG PARK & ITAEWON PARTY!
| Through the middle of Seoul is the Han river which separates the city into North and South. Along the river is a spectacular view which I managed to catch just around sunset! I walked the riverside on an absolutely beautiful day, where the clouds were perfectly outlined in perspective to the sun so it was a completely breathtaking sight! Following my walk along the riverside was our first party! An international student party was hosted in Itaewon district and I had a great time after meeting up with a bunch of other international students that both lived in my area but were from a wide array of countries! |
DAY 11: SNU BUDDY ORIENTATION & GROUP 8
At SNU we have a system called 'Buddy' which is basically Korean students at SNU who volunteer to show the ropes to a lot of international students divided into groups! I was assigned Group 8 and I had a great time firstly going to the 'Orientation' where they give you a quick run-down of the types of events they host, and afterwards we acquaint ourselves with other students in our group over dinner! We ended up having 2 rounds of drinks (first round beer, second round beer and soju) after dinner and it was a total blast getting to meet so many cool and fun people from such a huge variety of countries (though mostly German and French!) | |
DAY 12: KIMCHI FRIED RICE & SINCHON CHILLING
| Since we spent the last few days partying we had a late start but didnt forget to have a fantastic lunch! I had a really interesting Kimchi fried rice with cheese on top and it was great but a huge portion! Afterwards, we met up with some International students from the Buddy Group 5 and hung out in the Hongdae/ Sinchon area. We made a trip first to the You are Here Cafe (where I had a Mango milkshake this time) and after we walked to Sinchon where we stumbled upon a 'Ska' musical festival! For dinner we stopped at a Chinese restaurant and I finally got to try some Jjajangmyeon! In Korea it seems to be common for students and young people in general to hang around busy street areas while watching buskers play live music. We ended up sitting in the middle of Sinchon listening to a guitar and piano group play some great covers! |
DAY 13: GWANAK MOUNTAIN HIKE, CHICKEN & BEER
At 10am we decided to wake up and go for a morning hike! What we didnt expect was the sheer number of elderly people (all decked out in very professional hiking gear) to treck up the mountain with us! Gwanak Mountain is where SNU is located, but it also hosts many different hiking trails! We climbed a trail that led us to a temple that had a beautiful view of the city as well as the school campus. Later on in the day we had our official SNU Orientation hosted by the Office of International Affairs. Afterwards a bunch of people from Group 8 hung out and totally bonded as we had lunch at an on-campus restaurant then after some dessert. Later on in the night we even got some Chicken and Beer => my first time getting it in Korea! | |
DAY 14: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
| Today was my first day of classes and it was also my first time using the SNU shuttle bus system! At first I was scared I wouldn't be able to find it, but I ended up just following the people and it worked out perfectly. The lineups are crazy in the morning but there are so many buses that come shuttle you to school that the line is constantly moving. I managed to squeeze in a run on the lower field of campus in the morning before lunch and before classes and it was absolutely amazing! Since the school is surrounded by mountains the scenery was superb :D |