These past two weeks have been filled with studying, studying, and even more studying as midterm season came and went. In total I had 3 exams and 1 group project presentation this week. For Korean Wave and Popular Culture my group and I gave a 1 hour powerpoint presentation on Neo Culture Technology and SM Entertainment. 2 out of 3 of my actual exams were proctored closed book exams so we had to follow Yonsei's protocols of taking online tests with two devices. One device has our exam page (LearnUs) and the first zoom screen and the other device was placed somewhere to view us, our hands, desk space, and the screen all together on zoom. 2 out of the 3 exams had 50 minute time limits while the other one was 110 minutes. One thing that I like but also hate about Yonsei professors is they give scores back from exams straightaway or within a few days (because I am the type to delay looking at a score for as long as I can).
That being said, it was definitely a very brutal past two weeks but I am relieved that the week is over and that I can relax just a little bit before going into finals study mode. I can definitely say with complete confidence that SKY schools (the three most prestigious schools in South Korea; Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University) are SKY schools for a reason and academic expectations are sky high (sorry for the pun). I think going through that kind of rigor is a good experience for the future because it pushes me to do better and test my limits academically. With midterms week finally over, look out for more frequent updates about my different adventures in South Korea! Bye for now ☆
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This week on Thursday my friends and I took a day trip to Incheon to go visit Chinatown, Wolmi Island and hunt fo K-drama filming locations. Then on Friday I visited Seoul Forest Park with a new friend I made through Yonsei mentors club. Chinatown: Incheon is about an hour train ride away from Hongdae. We left at around 10:30 in the morning after I finished my 9am class and got there around 11:30am. Chinatown was pretty big and there was a bunch of street food and restaurants. Unfortunately a lot of the regular stalls looked closed most likely due to Covid but nonetheless it was still a good experience to see. In Chinatown, there was also a cute fairytale village (Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village) where the whole section was filled with fairytale characters, street art, and fairytale themed stores/restaurants. While we were there we ate jajangmyeon and jjamppong at a popular Chinese restaurant. The jajangmyeon was only 6,000 won and it tasted really good. What more perfect way for me to eat jajangmyeon in Korea for the first time than at Chinatown. After finishing lunch we walked around a bit through the fairytale village then decided to get some street food. We got a fried dumpling bao and a cream filled pastry (mine was cream cheese). Both items were about 2,000 won each. A friend was also able to buy sugar cane juice which tasted really good and was made fresh right in front of us. To end our trip to Chinatown of course we couldn't leave without buying any mooncakes!! There was an array of different flavors and I believe they were also only 2,000 won each. After leaving Chinatown, we wondered around a little and ran into the big jajangmyeon statue as well as the Sinpo International Market. The market was like your usual traditional market here in South Korea filled with all sorts of booths selling street food, clothing, ice cream, mochi, pastries, etc. Near the market were streets filled with restaurants and shopping stores. After taking a look around waiting for night fall before heading to Wolmi Island we went on a hunt to find Goblin filming locations. Goblin is a very popular Korean drama that aired in 2016. We found 2 film locations a yellow bookstore called 한미서점 and a house in Jayu Park that's shown in episode 13. We got lost a few times but I think that's just all part of the fun in exploring. Wolmi Island: After exploring Chinatown and Incheon, we headed to Wolmi Island by bus. It was very cold but very pretty with all the night lights. On our way to Wolmi Amusement park, we ran into yet another K-drama filming location but this time for It's Okay To Not Be Okay which is one of my favorites of all time. It was a cozy looking restaurant with greens growing on the side of the building. We thought about eating there but the prices were incredibly high for us(above $100 for dishes) so we decided to trek on in our adventure. We made it to the amusement park and I have to say it was probably the most entertaining amusement park I have ever been to. It is on the smaller side but there is this one ride that is famous on YouTube that spins you around and is self controlled by the staff. The whole ride I believe is about 20-25 minutes long and the conductor essentially makes conversation with the riders and it's just very lively. We did not ride it this time but I hope to try it one day in the future. We did end up riding the Viking and it was really fun. I think rides go on for longer here compared to Hawaii because we were on it for a good 2 minutes. Outside of the amusement park there was a bunch of street food vendors. We ended our day by getting dinner near Chinatown after the amusement park then headed back to Hongdae before it got too late. Seoul Forest Park:
On Friday, I met up with a friend that I had made through my university's Mentors Club. We planned to go to Seoul Forest Park and then get lunch. Unfortunately it was raining that day, but we still decided to go and I'm glad we did because there was such a calming feeling from seeing the park in gloomy weather. The park was very large and I do hope to come back one day in better weather so I can have a picnic on the grass with friends. Right outside of Seoul Forest Park were streets upon streets of shops, restaurants, and cafes. It was a very trendy area and filled with a lot more things than I had expected it to have. After exploring the park, my friend, Audrey, and I got lunch at greendoor then tried croffles for the first time. Croffles are basically a mix of croissants and waffles. The place that we went to was recommended by another friend and it was actually super good and the best one I've had so far. If you ever want to try it yourself I believe the croffle cafe was called Aroundday. I highly recommend it :) Well that about wraps up my week, see you in my next update! Bye for now ☆ Important apps that I highly recommend that you have while studying abroad in South Korea:
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Sharon ♡Thank you for checking out my blog! For live updates about my time abroad you can follow my instagram Archives |