Week 11: (too many places)
During this week, my cousin and her best friend came to visit Seoul for the first time and I haven't seen them ever since I was 12! My cousin was here visiting from Nov. 9 - Nov. 14. During this time our itinerary was jam packed! Because they were here for only 6 days technically, we decided to squeeze all of the touristy places that are in the same area together into 1 day. We did this for 6 DAYS!!!! Although our itinerary was so packed, I was so glad to be able to see my cousin and her friend because I have not seen them in forever and it was so nice to be able to catch up on our lives while being able to explore Seoul! Places we visited during these 6 days:
Week 12: Incheon My friends and I decided to go to Incheon for the day! However, we picked literally one of the worst day to go because it was not only rainy but it was also SOOOO cold. The subway Line 1 had a train that goes to Incheon so all you had to do was it on it until the very last stop. I would say the whole trip costs ~2,000won and it took about 1hr and 30mins. We arrived there a little bit late because we decided to meet around 11am so we were only able to go to 2 or 3 touristy area but because the weather was so bad that I honestly did not mind that. Where we went in Incheon:
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Week 9: Lotte World & Haneul Park
Our KUBA group organized an event for everyone in our group to go to Lotte World (Nov. 2) and the great thing about this is our tickets were discounted so instead of paying 57,000won for the 1Day ticket, everyone that came with the group only had to pay 20,000won! Because we visited the park during the month of Halloween, there was a lot of Halloween decorations and Halloween/horror themed rides as well. I say you should visit the park during this time if you like horror shows and haunted houses cause there was a few that were available when I went there with our group. So Ashley and I found out there was a park in Seoul that had a field of pink flowers and we made it our mission to go before they disappear (now that I think about it, they might be available for all seasons....). Highly recommend visiting it if you want to take a lot of photos for insta or etc. Address: 487-48 Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul Price: 6,000won for roundtrip shuttle rides! (if you do not want to hike up the hill to get to the park) Week 10: Cooking Class and Lantern Festival Our KUBA group had another event planned which was a cooking course (Nov. 9). The fee that everyone had to pay for the cooking class was around 20,000won as well. We learned how to make bulgogi and seafood pancakes and then we also got to eat what we made afterwards which was great!!! After the class, my friends and I decided to visit the Lantern Festival which was at Cheonggyecheo Stream/River. The festival began on November 1st and ended on the 17th so I recommend going before it finishes. The sidewalks do get a little busy during those times but it was a nice experience! Week 7: Study Week
The week before midterms were brutal! Like many students I had procrastinated and did not start studying until the week before therefore I was staying at our go-to coffee place (Holly's Coffee) everyday from 3PM to 3AM. Because I do not stay at the dorms, I would have to walk back home since I live off campus. And let me tell you, the walk was very lonely, dark, and scary since it is 3AM after all. But I was doing this walk 3 days in a row simply because there was too many chapters to cover and to go over and since I do study with friends, it does get distracting however I think that makes it more fun and bearable. Week 8: Mid-term Week Tuesday: Management Strategy Thursday: International Business Friday: Financial Management (Final) During this week I did not really enjoy any events because I was so focused on studying. I was also falling asleep left and right because sleep deprivation is real!! I also just ate a lot of food around the Anam area since I was staying in the area for the whole week :( Week 8 BONUS: Halloween in Itaewnon! We went out for the night as a "treat yourself" day for midterms and it just happened to be the day before Halloween! Definitely recommend going out to either Hongdae or Itaewon if you want to get the Halloween experience here in Seoul because people here take it more seriously than we thought. There’s also booths where you can get your face painted so if you don’t have a costume, do not worry! Week 5:
One of my goals of coming to Korea this semester was to be able to attend music shows and concerts and I was finally able to make it become a reality. A couple of my friends and I decided to purchase tickets for OffRoute Festival which was on October 5 and 6. We purchased tickets for both days in the beginning because we did not know the timetable of when the artists were going to perform. Everyone of us wanted to see Jay Park live so we just took the chance and bought the 2 day tickets even though it was 150,000won! I highly recommend going to music festival like these while you're in Korea if you listen to K-R&B or K-Hiphop! At the actual festival there was a Nike booth where you could play games and win small prizes for example: customizing your nikes, sticker packs, shave ice and coffee. Week 6 October 9 was Hangul Day so we had the day off! My friends and I decided to visit Nami island for the day and it was well worth it despite having a long night the previous day. It took us 2hrs to get to Gapyeong which is where Nami island is located. I recommend taking the subway as it was super convenient if you take the "Gyeongchun" line from Cheongnyangni station (you would not need to transfer). However, be prepared to stand if it's a nice day out because a lot of people tend to go hiking so the train might be packed. Once you arrive at Gapyeong station there should be an bus stop that can tell you all the information about the shuttle bus you can take to go around the place and how to get to Nami Island, Petit France, and Garden of Morning Calm etc. Because we arrive at Gapyeong a little late (12PM) we did not have a lot of time to go to different places. Therefore, we just went to Nami Island and Petit France. You do need to pay an entrance fee for both places but I think its worth it if you like to take a lot of photos. Also I did not know that Nami Island is just one attraction if that makes any sense. Petit France is not inside the island like how Ashley and I had thought. We were super dumbfounded when we got to the place that we had to pay entrance fees for all the places we went to because they're in different places in Gapyeong. Week 3:
The actual day of Chuseok was the 13th of September however we also had the 12th and the rest of the weekend off as well in preparation for the holiday. During the actual Chuseok holiday itself which was September 13th (a Friday) our group of friends decided to go to Everland! We booked our tickets online because we wanted to skip the lines and also the ones that were sold online were cheaper than what it would have been at the actual park! Thinking about it now, I feel like going on a public holiday was not a good idea because it was packed with people especially families and young adults. In the end, we all were only able to ride 5 rides out of the whole park. I definitely recommend going to Everland however, it will be best if you avoid going on a public holiday. The journey to Everland was rather painful as well. It took us more than 2 hours to get to the actual park! We planned for everyone to meet at Anam Station (which is where KU is) at 8am but we didn't arrive until 11:30. We decided to take the metro to Yangjae station in order to catch the shuttle however, every shuttle that had passed us was packed!! There were 10 of us total so it was not going to be possible for everyone to get a seat on the shuttle anyways so we had to take 2 separate taxis in order to get there. The taxi cost around ~50,000 won but we split that among all of us so it was not that expensive. Tip: purchase your Everland tickets online from sites like Trazy because it usually comes with a "fast" pass for 1 ride of your choice and its cheaper too! Week 4: During this week, school went on like normal....however, I already had a midterm to study for! One of my classes is an intensive course therefore the midterm and final is a lot earlier than all of the other normal courses. My midterm for this class was on the 27th of September therefore I needed to start studying right away because I didn't really know what it was going to be like. This midterm covered 4 chapters so I spent the whole weekend studying for this exam since the class was only based on 2 exams (a midterm and a final) and attendance!!! I like to study at cafes and My friend and I found this really cute cafe in Gangnam and we just decided to go in. It was filled with dolls and it was literally the cutest thing :)) |