Jeju Island

Jeju Island is a famous vacation spot in Korea! There is a Wikipedia about it I’m sure, so look it up! Friday morning, my sister, mom, aunt, one of my cousin, and I got up super early and hopped on the plane to Jeju from Busan. Another cousin and her fiancé will be joining us later. We landed in the morning, and we got our caravan. The island is beautiful! Never have I ever seen such clear water in my life! It was a little too cold for us to swim, but we managed to soak our feet in a bit. We road around the island with the beach on our side, and we came to a famous Jeju Island restaurant. They are famous for our black pigs, and it was delicious! From there we ventured to the inside of the island where we rode go-karts and horses. Too much fun!

From the horseback riding, we went to a green tea farm, and had green tea cake and ice cream. We went to see some water falls after the green tea farm was done. There we met up with my cousin and her fiancé. It was starting to get dark after the waterfall, so we had dinner. We bought some drinks and sea urchins on our way back to our cabin, and we ate and drank, and next thing I know, it’s the next day.

Saturday (September 7, 2013), the family left early for breakfast, which consisted of hot soup (to cure the hangover) and other seafood! We headed to one of my cousin’s favorite part of Jeju Island; it’s a sister island called Udo. We took the car on a ferry, and my cousin and I rented out 4-wheelers and rode around the Udo. We had their famous peanut ice cream and rode around in the open air! We capped it off with Chinese food for lunch and headed back to the main land. After we arrive on the mainland, we proceeded to hike a small mountain in Jeju Island. The scenery was fantastic, but the hike was too hot and humid. We took so many pictures.

From the mountain, we went a part of the island where a famous Korean Drama was filmed, so we did the walk around the cliff and lighthouse, and the site definitely stuck in my mind. The Beyoncé wind was blowing through the cliff, and the waves crashed against the rocks facing the water. To finish off our successful Saturday of touring, we had a nice BBQ with the famous black pig in Jeju Island. It was so good, and I ate way too much!

Sunday (September 8, 2013), another early morning, we woke up, and we had a lovely breakfast of ramen noodles. We took our caravan and went to a famous kayak place in Jeju Island where they are famous for their clear kayak. The water is so clear you can see through both the water and kayak. When we got to the kayak place, it was so bumpin’ that we had to wait till 11:30am to ride it, so we took a dip in the famous Jeju Island Bath and came back to kayak! That was the cap off of the entire trip on this island. We took the flight back to Busan, and I was on the KTX back to Seoul!

Seoul Sunday Before Classes Started

Sunday (August 31, 2013), I was full-blown sickness. I needed some meds, but the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed… Also, it was Sunday so no pharmacy is open. Around one o’clock, I finally got up, and walked to the common room to make a powder drink for food. It’s the only thing I have for food at the moment (So sad). As I make my “food” at the common room, Francise asked me if I want to go to 남대문, which is a huge flea market in Seoul with really food and goods for dirt cheap. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to get some good soup for my throat and headache. We headed out at 2 pm. It was a good group of people going, and we were ready to shop, but no one did the research... A little delays in the start at the station because we had to take the time to figure out how to get there. While this was happening, I am having a full-fledged hot flash, and it wasn't even that hot. The alcohol and sickness was just oozing out of my sweat, and I was nobody’s prom date. I looked a hot mess! We got to 남대문, and we first ate! I had this really really really good chicken soup, which was perfect for my cold. It was a blend soup with a full chicken and inside the chicken they stuff rice and dates. I enjoyed every bite!
After the meal, we walked around 남대문 for a couple hours, and we were ready roll out to another part of our adventure. We are meeting up with the girls for the light show! We got back to the dorms and freshened up a bit, and we rode the metro and walked about an hour and a half, and we finally got to the bridge where the light show was. Oh I was able to find a pharmacy that was open inside the metro and got some meds! By this time everyone was starving, I mean STARVING. There were 13 of us in total, and so we found a delivery boy and ordered six fried chicken and 4 beer. They told us 40 minutes… That 40-minute was the most painful 40 minutes of my life. I was so hungry, so I was a complete biatch! The water show was uneventful and anticlimactic, but it was cute.The food came after what felt like forever minutes of waiting. We chowed down on some chicken and beer. I don’t know if it was delicious because we were dying of starvation, or if it was actually delicious. Nevertheless, I had a good meal, and we came back home, and I went to bed.Classes finally started. I stressed enough to get into all my classes and trying to argue with professors to let me in the class, and that was the rest of my week.Story of my Jeju Island trip coming soon!!!

Quiet is Over and the Storm is HERE

This weekend was a blur of intoxication and exhaustion. Study abroad is going to make an alcoholic out of me. I am back in Seoul after a week with the family! I visited my hometown, Masan, which brought a lot of memories. I left when I was 10, and I can still remember some of the roads. It was so hot, and they didn’t have AC! I was miserable because of the heat, but I was happy to see my family. The rest of the week was slow. We did a lot of shopping, eating, hanging out, and catching up. After all that, my sister and I ventured up to Seoul where she helped me move into my dorm! My roomie is French and he’s really nice! That night (August 29, 2013) I hung out with a friend of mine, and we drank, walked, talked, and ate. It was just very chill. Friday is where the real shit went down. I slept, ate, and just hung out in the common room most of the day Friday (August 30, 2013). When I woke up I ate and met up with my new friends from Yonsei University. This is the night I went hard… After taking couple pulls of whiskey, we headed for Hongdae, which is like parrrrrty central in Seoul! We met up with couple friends at the Hongdae subway station, and we walked to a park where everyone meets up and drinks! The walk is something else. The lights from the clubs, bars, restaurants, taxis, and street venders make the night seem like day. The sound of heels clicking (because everyone in Korea where heels), horns honking, music playing, people screaming, singing, talking, and yelling never gives you a moment of silence. Most people can’t walk straight, I mean it wasn’t even 12 am and people are already stumbling, lying down, and throwing up. Hondgae is real party central! When we got to the park, we grabbed couple beers and casually drank as we socialized with mixture of locals, expats, and everyone in between. It was crazy fun! We just let loose and had a great time! From the park we went to Thursday Party, which is a bar not a party… Drinks were decently price, and the atmosphere was right. We danced and partied! Mason, a newly found friend at Yonsei who lives across the hall from me, told me he wants to go to a club to dance and party with pretty boys, so just us two left the group to GET DOWN! A cab ride to Itaewon later, we were at a club called Pulse. The music was right, I was drunk, and the dance stage was empty, so I filled it up! I twerked and whipped me hair like there was no tomorrow. I was very disappointed that no one else came on stage with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This would be unacceptable in CSP world!!!!
After the dancing, it got too hot, so I left Mason in the club to get some fresh air. Once I step outside, I look over at the entrance, and there is a line out for days! I tried going back in they wouldn’t let me; they told me to wait in line. I said, “Bitch I don’t do lines!” Due to a lack of Mason’s phone number, and my phone battery dying, I could not communicate my absence to Mason, which caused him to wait outside of the club for 3 hours… Once again Mason, I’m so sorry. I just started wondering around the area, and went to the area called Homo Hill where guess what there are handful of gay bars right next to each other on a hill! Right next to Hooker Hill, which is where all the prostitutes work… I mean where else would Homo Hill be? I stumbled upon an underwear party and a drag show, and I felt at home! Well by this time I got hungry so I got some food with friends I made, and proceeded back to my dorm.
Saturday (August 31, 2013), it was resting day again because I was beginning to feel sick.. I just stayed in my dorm again and just hung out with friends and napped. At night, I had dinner plans with my sister and Seung-Ah 누나. My sister and I enjoyed a really nice home cooked meal with their family! Thank you again! I rested there with my sister for a minute while we figured out how to get my sister home the next day because the KTX train accident earlier Saturday the trains have all been cancelled. She booked a flight from Seoul to Busan, and I headed for Gangnam to meet friends! We made an excursion to a club called Ellui, but some kids forgot their ID!!!!! With a little lack in finances and being a little underdressed for a nightclub, I went to Hongdae again with the non-ID folks where we just chilled out and had shave ice. I went to bed that night in a semi normal time… (2am)
Sunday is to be continued. And yes no photos yet.

First Impression of Seoul

Mommy and sister are here! I was so excited to see them; I went three months without seeing them, and I was bored here for a minute since the lasik, so I missed them more than I thought I’d ever would!

My aunt, cousin, and I picked them up from the airport Thursday (August 22, 2013) morning, and after the initial shock of seeing my family was over, we got to the really important things. PRESENTS.

I got so much presents! Jackets, pants, sweaters, shirts, shoes!

With a newly energized battery, I headed out to Seoul! I guess I got too caught up with my mom and sister because I missed my train. I managed to find a train that left 30 minutes later, so I got to Seoul around the time I expected to arrive.

After my arrived to my future home, I got to my metro station in front of Yonsei. With a book bag and three days worth of clothes, I started my journey to the International House (I-House). It was so fucking hot, so hot that I sweated through my pants. Not only is it hot, the dorm was so fucking far! I struggled to find the dorm, so when I finally found my future home; I was drenched in sweat AKA not cute… Not a good first impression Seoul.

This new dorm of mine is a traditional one with all the floormates using one bathroom. It’s not as uncomfortable as I thought. I took a shower and got myself freshened up. No matter how cold my shower is there is still sweat running down my face. You have to have the room key inserted at all times for the room to run the AC, so it takes a while for it to cool down. The only place with consistent AC is the common room. I decided only way to cool down is to sit there and chill out.

There I met other students from different universities all over the world! I mean all over! Germany, Italy, Cali, Michigan, and more, I was the Atlanta hoodrat! We did the usual introductions and hellos. We are all in the process of getting to know one another because well, we don’t know anyone!

I slipped out of the dorm to grab dinner with an old CSP friend, Jacob! It was nice seeing an old friend in such a new place for me; this was my first time in Seoul. After pizza and a beer, we sat for a coffee and talked about our travels! He’s going to Hong Kong (well he’s there now).

I came back to the dorm and still my roommate was not checked in… Do I have the room to myself? Nope because he just texted today, August 26, 2013, and he told me that he is my roommate.

Moving on, that night, I met some more people, and we decided to start our abroad program right. Party it up! We went out to explore and got to know the bar scene and restaurants near the Yonsei Campus! It was cute!

We came back at 2am, and after a shower, I was asleep. When I woke up I was ready for orientation! I don’t know why because the auditorium was hot, and all I heard was blah blah blah… We met couple other people during orientation though. I met a girl from Emory and another from Georgia Tech!

We went on break from the orientation for lunch. It's getting hard to keep up with all the people I've met on this day, but let's say it's not few. A group of us headed back to the orientation. Nothing changed, I still heard blah blah blah, so we headed back to the dorms to get ready to go out! We decided to sign up for the mentor program before heading out to dinner, and we went out for dinner! After what seems to be a couple pitchers of beer, soju (Korean liquor), and chicken, we headed to a place called Bar Fly. We got too turnt, and it was as if I step back into CSP 2013. Twerking and all.

Some people were ready for round 15, but I was sort of done; I have get back to mommy and sister for the week!

This time I didn’t miss the KTX to Busan! 

I don't have any pictures... I will take them soon don't worry. I just need a little break from tourist life...

This is Some Boring Stuff...

Okay here’s the thing, hot doesn’t describe the places where I’ve been… Busan/Yangsan has had record break temperature this summer. China issued the second highest heat alert across the country… What the fuck! I felt the coolest summer in Atlanta for this shit! Why is it so damn hot?

I just want to go outside for an adventure, but I don’t want the sole of my shoes to melt on the asphalt! Along with the heat, there is an energy shortage in South Korea. Ummmmmm one of the most IT savvy country in the world is running out of electricity, so now most public buildings must keep their buildings at only 28 degree Celsius… I’m not going to convert this… Just know it’s hot!!!

So malls, shopping centers, grocery stores, banks, and government buildings are so hot! Too hot! Home is the only escape, so I stay home. I eat, sleep, watch TV, Skype family, and eat some more. I got fat, and not like "oh you put on a couple pounds", no bitch its like, "Damn gurl, you been eatin huh?" Also, I got so bored that I scrapbooked my entire China Summer Program, and Bangkok trip. My brilliant idea is to scrapbook the year of my adventure!

Staying home gives me a lot of time to think… I’ve been thinking too much I think…

Had my first real meltdown since leaving home. Yesterday (August 17, 2013), marks exactly 3 months since I left for my year long adventure… I think my meltdown was triggered by the scrapbooking… I really just wanted to go home and see my friends! Annie, a dear friend of mind, was having her going away party. She’s closing this chapter of her life in Atlanta, and is moving back to New York City… I couldn’t even be there to say good-bye. I really love you Annie, I'm proud to have not only met you, but call you one of my best friends! There are other things that plagued my mind, which makes me very sad. How people are getting together for school partying it up one last time, the Atlanta Rainbow Trout getting their bronze medal at IGLA (congrats BTW), how much I miss loved ones, and more. I just really wanted to go home. I’d hoped that I would go to bed and wake up in Duluth. I want to hug and laugh with my friends and family, I want to live the regular life I lived before I started traveling, and I want to be completely comfortable! These are the things I want! I felt as though I made a mistake in going abroad for such a long period of time. It is just so different from what I expected of myself and of this trip. I thought I was just more equipped to do this. I just thought it would be so much easier I guess. Thank god for facebook chat and Eric Reynolds, I leaned on him for moral support, and he help me out of some real dark shit. I woke up today feeling better. I told myself that I am truly blessed, lucky, and fortunate to have these experiences! This is just the quiet before the storm. Before of my mom and sister coming to see me, before the school year starts, before I start traveling again, and before it’s over. I understand now that this is hard; being away from friends, family, the people you love, and it will get harder, but it will get easier too.

On a happier note, I’m getting a shit ton of presents when my sister and mom comes!!! YAY WINNING!

I know I'll give you perceptions of this country.

My current perception of this country is this… I don’t have one. Perceptions are not the way to experience the culture. I’m just going to let you read all the experiences I have, and you can judge for yourself!

I know the current content is kinda boring, but it’ll get better once I start getting busy! It’s just how I feel right now.

Just a lot of reflections.