10 things I love most about Korea - Day 5: The Food

I know some of you were probably waiting for this, and wondering why it didn't come sooner on the list, given my love for the stuff. So here it is:

The food

Funnily enough, I am actually not the best person around to give an accurate account of the many food options here in Korea, for as many of you know, I don't eat spicy food or seafood. And what does Korea love? Spicy food and seafood.

Alas, I will do my best to do it justice by revealing to you some of my favourite meals and places to eat in Seoul. Seoul is, of course, massive and I have only been here for just over a month so my experience is amateaur.

The great thing is that there are so many places to eat here. Countless. They are mostly Korean places, with some Japanese and Chinese. Each has its own speciality, ie. seafood, samgyeopsal, noodles, pizza. If you like everything, you'll love Korea.

Korea shares some fast food chains with Sydney, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut and Dominos, and there are also Korean-influenced places we have in Sydney such as Tom 'n Toms.

My roommate and I tried to locate an Italian place during our first week here and we had no luck whatsoever, which was a shame because I was craving a massive pasta dish. However, we were silly to think that we could search properly with just the two of us. We have since discovered many, as unfortunately a lot of the good places to eat are hidden away in dark corners or on random levels of buildings. The key is to make a Korean friend who knows the area well. Or, to just open your eyes -we have since discovered that there is an Italian place, Crazy Brown, on campus right outside our dorm. It has since become one of our favourite places to eat mostly because of THEIR BROWNIES. If you come to Seoul, go to Crazy Brown even if only for the brownies.

My roommate posing on one of the most popular streets in Sinchon. This street has bars, clubs, karaoke, restaurants and random pop-up stalls with giant fluffy plush toys.

The brilliant thing about Korea is that there is so much food that is very cheap. I have become a massive fan of rice burgers. There is a rice burger place 2 minutes from us and I crave one every day. When someone merely says the words 'rice burger' to me, my cravings become real and I will not rest until I have had one. Each rice burger is around $3, which is great because I know in Australia, they would be at least twice that. For those of you who don't know what a rice burger is, it's a burger made of rice. There are various filling wedged in between two rice... bun-like things.

Meals at the more popular/classy restaurants are a bit more expensive, but never more expensive than what you would find in Sydney. Also, you will be provided with food or snacks or complimentary side dishes at most places you go (hey, more food, who's complaining?). For example, at numerous bars, I have been given complimentary crackers, chips and nuts, and even popcorn at this really classy Jazz bar called Jazz 9 (definitely a recommendation of mine).

My friends recently scored a VIP table at club Octagon in Gangnam (a popular club frequented by K-Pop starts Taeyang and 2PM), and they were given complimentary food, which looked like this:

Yes, that is cheese, fruit, pastries and pasta. And yes, my friend is getting hit on by a Korean guy in this photo. Unfortunately, my roommate and I were unable to sample these delightful treats because we decided to leave and visit Nap City, but we hope the opportunity will present itself again.

Moving on, my favourite thing about the food in Korea is all the cafes. They have so many yummy pastries, but more on that later.

A bagel and iced cafe latte from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on campus. I am never a bagel person in Australia, but I crave them in Korea.

A box of macarons from A Twosome Place, a popular dessert cafe (thank you to Ki Joong for buying them for me!!).

The desserts in Korea deserve their own category! The variety is amazing. There is a popular Korean dessert called Bingsu, which is made of condensed milk, crushed ice and sherbet. It comes with various toppings. Below are photos of two different flavours of Bingsu!

Coffee-flavoured Bingsu.

Berry Bingsu.

These are samples of some of the amazing desserts you can get in Seoul. There are so many dessert cafes, and so you have to make sure you do your exercise here to balance out your sugar intake!

Another popular type of food is street food. You can find street food almost anywhere: outside train stations, at large outdoor-markets such as Myeondong, outside clubs, on outdoor shopping streets, at festivals... The list goes on! Typical street food may include kebabs, dumplings, large chunks of fruit, hotdogs or anything deep-fried.

An example of a typical street-food stand: busy, fatty and served by ajimas.

Unfortunately, I have not won the lottery, nor am I immune to fat and sugar, so I have to be careful with what I eat and even though food is cheap, the cost adds up. So most night, I stick to my dormitory cafeteria. These meals are included within our dorm fee and so we pay nothing every night. Every meal, there is a Korean option and a 'western' option (although the 'western' option is loosely western). The Korean option usually includes kimchi, rice, some sort of soup and some sort of spicy meat. The 'western' option has included food such as spaghetti bolognese, udon noodles, cereal, fried rice, fruit, chicken schnitzel and various rice dishes to only name a few. A lot of students (especially the Korean students who have lived in the dorms for a couple of years) are sick of the food or complain about its quality, but I actually really enjoy the food. I think that most of the time it is delicious!

A Korean breakfast VS. a 'western' breakfast.

I have finally accepted that having rice for breakfast is a standard thing in Korea and I am now okay with it and mostly look forward to it (although it's always a gamble what they will be serving at the cafeteria).

One of the more delicious dinners: deep-fried dumplings, noodle soup with vegetables and rice.

So, that's a summary of the food here as I have experienced it. I look forward to trying new things every day although if I am being honest, I am probably looking at another rice burger tomorrow.

Signed in Seoul,

Kristin

PS. Most of the photo credit here, again, goes to Nam.

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

10 things I love most about Korea - Day 4: The Drinking Culture

This post goes hand-in-hand with my last post and is something that I definitely felt needed it's own section:

The drinking culture

The drinking culture in Korea is quite different from that in Australia. I crave the drinking culture here, mostly because alcohol is just a part of everything you do at night time, without necessarily meaning that you are going to get drunk. During the day time, people walk around in their business suits with places to go and work to do, all serious in the face. But then when night time comes, everything changes. I am trying to think of a way to adequately explain Korea's drinking culture, but unfortunately - like most things on this blog - I feel I cannot do it justice. You will just have to come here and experience it for yourself!

Rather, I will pick a few things I love about the drinking culture here and explain why I love them as best I can!

1. The fact that you can drink on the street: This is a strange thing to love, but drinking on the street in Korea is not as trashy as it sounds. There is no law in Korea that forbids street drinking, so it is a common occurrence. This does not mean that everyone gets smashed on the street (of course there are those few individuals who take it upon themselves to do so), but rather, it is sort of a pre-drinking place before you enter the club/bar. There are areas in each suburb which seem to have been designed for street drinking, and so I have had some great times on the streets with my friends, meeting strangers and having great chats.
   
   

   

   Street drinking in the busker's circle in Sinchon.

   Crowds for street drinking can sometimes get quite large. There is an area in Gangnam, in particular, which is exchange-student central. It is located outside a convenience store (of course) and without fail always has exchange students outside drinking. Whenever we go, we see new faces and have the opportunity to meet exchange students from many different universities in Seoul. It's awesome! The below three photos were taken in this area:
   
   

   

   People pre-drinking and socialising at our spot in Gangnam. I do not recognise half these faces. 

   

   A selfie, which I somehow missed. 

   

   Street drinking areas are often places for intense chats.

   On one occurrence, we spent three hours chatting on the street and only one hour in the club! On a Friday or Saturday night, it is a lot of fun on the streets because there is no loud club music, so you can have a decent conversation, and you can also meet random people (maybe with the help of a little liquid confidence). There are many characters in Seoul, and the streets are a great place to meet people and to just bond in general.
   

   

   On this occasion, in Hongdae, the three of us sat on the street in the same spot, literally just speaking in a fake Southern-American accent for about 2 hours and getting way too much enjoyment out of it, laughing at ourselves and saying hello to almost every person who passed by (the guys behind us judged). It was one of my best nights here and I will never forget it!

   In truth, I often have more fun drinking on the streets than in the actual clubs themselves, especially if we are playing Korean drinking games! Speaking of which...
   
   2. Korean drinking games: Aw man. Just. So much fun. I cannot wait to come home and teach you guys Korean drinking games. Whenever we go out drinking, I make a point of playing these games. And everyone is keen to play. They are not considered childish at all, they are just part of the culture. Drinking games make for awesome memories, many laughs and a great way to break the ice with new people. Often, I have found myself in a social scenario with new people, and drinking games are a great way to get to know them, because there is a drinking game for almost everything, including getting to know someone. These games are a lot of fun and you don't even have to play them with alcohol (my lecturer has played them in class with us before). They test memory, coordination, attention-span and confidence.
   
   

   

   At one of our favourite drinking places, a Japanese all-you-can-drink restaurant called MuSa.

   At this point, I would love to provide a list of all my favourite drinking games, but a) I like them all so it's hard to choose and b) they all have Korean names so no deal on remembering all their proper names. The most popular English-named ones here though are 369 and Baskin Robins - mostly every person you meet will know how to play these. Fun fact: Korea actually provides this weird pre-pre-drinking beverage that prepares the stomach to be able to handle more alcohol without getting drunk, and without getting a hangover. These can be found in every convenience store and explain why Koreans are usually able to drink more heavily than you think they can.
   

   

   My friends and I drinking at a communal area in Sinchon. We played Truth or Dare with some hilarious results. The group behind us were also playing drinking games, and they also had a guitar, which was awesome!

   
   The Seoul nightlife mixed with its drinking culture often has hilarious results and always provides a good time. So the final aspect of the drinking culture that I will talk about is:
   
   3. The streets and the people: At night time, a magic spell is cast over Seoul, which seems to bring out the friendliest and most festive sides in everyone. Walking the streets at night time is a vastly different experience from walking the same streets during the day. Everywhere you look, there is cheeriness and kinship. I often like to just watch (without being too creepy) groups of people drinking together. Groups of Korean friends are interesting to watch in that they interact in such a different manner from Australians.
   
   A group of boys/men, for example, will walk around with their arms around each other, or just with a hand on the other's shoulder, and when they sit together, they sit close and show lots of friendly skinship (the point in any relationship where there is physical contact). This warms my heart because I can just see the affection and camaraderie there and I must say it is one of the things I love about this culture. It sounds weird, for sure, and obviously not every group of friends does this but I find that it is more common than not. Women are the same, walking arm in arm and calling each other by affectionate names. You could probably notice it amongst the Koreans/Asians in Sydney. It's nice.
   
   

   

   Walking the streets on a bar-crawl with some of my dear friends. We've got some solid skinship on the right there.

   
   So the streets really are a nice place to be. Everyone is out to have a good time. One night, for example, I was sitting with one of my friends who was visiting for a few weeks. We were drinking on the streets in a communal area with lots of people, enjoying the vibes and applauding the buskers, when a group of 4 people (3 Koreans and 1 international) approached us and said that they would love to share a beer with us. So, we spent the night laughing, eating and playing drinking games with these complete strangers and it was so much fun! A lot of Koreans love meeting international people so I will admit that I have a nice advantage here. We stayed out with these friendly people until 4:30 (which is now a common bedtime for me, sorry Mom). In fact, we ended up hanging out with the international student from that group on 3 occasions afterwards (he has now gone home back to his home country but it was such a pleasure to meet you, Kyle, if you're reading this!).
   
   

   

   A photo taken in an elevator on that night. Nam wasn't there so I had to take the photo for once :p

   I will remember that group of people for a very long time! <3
   
   Furthermore, the fantastic thing about the drinking culture is that it is so cheap to join in! Alcohol is very cheap at the local convenience store, which is why so much street-drinking occurs, and there are so many all-you-can-drink places. One of the things I have also noticed is that the Korean culture generally means that a lot of the time, Koreans love to buy you drinks. My Korean friends have been so kind to me in that they are often quite keen to buy me and my friends drinks. Also, the age hierarchy in Korea means that it is typical for the oldest person within a group to pay for the drinks (this actually hasn't happened much but I have heard it's a Thing). Recently however, I have been happy that my Korean friends have finally started letting me pay for the drinks (cause you know, in Australia, everyone pays their own way so it's what I am used to). Koreans in general are really very kind to international students, but more on that later.
   
   

   

   Street-drinking in Gangnam!

   You may be wondering: How does so much drinking occur without people getting smashed? And how are people not passed out on the street everywhere? Well, there are many solutions to this problem. Nearby hotels are very cheap for this reason. Not to mention, Koreans are usually kind to their friends and so I have seen a lot of help going on, which is nice. Also - and this is crazy to me - there is this thing in Korea called 'blackout Korea' which means that Koreans can pass out anywhere on the streets for the night, and they won't have their phone, shoes or wallet stolen. This was unfathomable to me when I first heard it, because there is no way belongings would not be stolen if this happened in Australia. Alas, I have seen it with my own eyes: Koreans passed out alone, late at night, on the steps of a building somewhere, with their belongings in plain view, and later, when I come back, they are still there. Seoul is one of the safest places in which I have lived, and I mean that. But more on that later. I have so much more to say on this but alas, time does not allow. I am off now to have dinner at the dormitory cafeteria before my night class, and then, who knows where the night will take me! ;)
   
   Finally, here is a photo of me street-drinking in Itaewon with my two best friends:
   

   

   This was an elevated stage-like area in the communal drinking space and so there were about 100 people who watched us take this photo.

   
   Check in again tomorrow!!
   
   Signed in Seoul,
   Kristin
   
   Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

10 things I love most about Korea - Day 3: The Nightlife

It has been really hard narrowing down all my favourite things about Korea to just 10 things, but there is absolutely no question about what comes next on this list:

The Nightlife

Seoul nightlife is just... Unbelievable. I had heard many things before coming here about how crazy it is - how everything stays open 'til the morning, how young people are able to party literally anywhere, how it's impossible to keep up with Koreans... Well, I must say, having been here now for over a month, it is all true! Seoul will cast a magic spell over you. It has the ability to turn even the most hardcore study nerds into party animals. I've seen it happen and it's brilliant.

Many of my Korean friends have said that Seoul may not be the best place to live for your entire life, but that it is certainly the place to have a good social life. And if there's one thing Seoul is known for, it's the nightlife. Almost all clubs stay open until around 8am, you can shop on a weekday even past midnight and convenience stores are 24hours!

Partying hard with some friends we made at our local Gs25 (one of whom works there and we shamelessly befriended him).

This means that on a weekday, I can be sitting in my room late at night doing homework, then I will finish at 11 and say to my roommate, "Hey, feel like going out?" and we can walk 10 minutes down the road and experience the awesome vibes of the Seoul nightlife!

With some friends, walking the streets of Itaewon ^^

There are often lots of people in Sinchon (where I live), lots of neon signs and lots of buskers (dancers, singers and magicians). The buskers are amazing! I have often marvelled at the talent of Koreans, as well as their hard work to be the best. There is a well-known busking area in Sinchon - about a 5 minute walk from my University - that will have different talent every night. I have seen amazing singers, rappers and dance crews (I crave these dance crews). And you will find that they are all worth watching. So when you are done with study for the night, but not yet quite ready to go to bed, a night-time walk onto the streets of Seoul can often turn into a memorable experience!

Some standard places to go include:

• Restaurants (Korean, Japanese and Chinese are very common but you can also find Italian, Indian, Mexican etc if you are willing to search a little harder).
• 노래방 or "noraebang": This is the Korean word for 'karaoke' but even exchange students who have little interest in the Korean culture/language call it "noraebang". It is one of the most popular activities here in Seoul and you can go at any time of the day (including late at night). In fact, a lot of people go to pre-drink or even after clubbing. The vibes are chilled and there is a large variety of songs as well as pretty lights and comfortable seating arrangements. You will often find that even people who hate singing love noraebang. Not to mention, there are probably at least a thousand noraebang places in Seoul. Seriously, I have seen more noraebang places than I have convenience stores.
• DVD and PC cafes. The former are for watching movies (there is a large selection) and the latter are for PC gaming (the nerd vibes are REAL in these places).
• Bars, most of which are located down that alleyway, seventh door to the left, up the flight of stairs into the elevator and on the ninth floor up. You will just never find some of these awesome places unless you have a street-savvy Korean with you.
• Cinemas. I have only been once but they are pretty cool.

On the other hand, when you feel a bit more committed, you can make a night of it, get some friends together, share a cab (cause it's ridiculously cheap) and head on out to somewhere like Gangnam, which is famous for it's clubs (amongst other things :p). Clubbing in Korea is an awesome  experience and you are always guaranteed to have a great night if you put in the effort. My favourite places to club are in Gangnam, Hongdae and Sinchon (although there are so many cities I still have yet to try).

A photo taken inside Vera, a club in Hongdae. This place started pumping at midnight and stayed crazy until daylight. It was actually the most ridiculously-packed club I have experienced yet.

So, I have come to love going out at night, even just to a dessert cafe, for instance. Even on my University campus, cafes stay open until 10pm and students go home as late as midnight. There are always people laughing and chatting and I love being surrounded by all this happiness ^^ Because of this, my sleeping patters are somewhat messed up. I am nocturnal here and I love it!

Nam and I in a dessert cafe in Sinchon. It was empty so we took the opportunity to be shameless.

More tomorrow!!

Signed in Seoul,
Kristin

PS. All photo credit in this blog post goes to Nam because he is amazing and takes a camera everywhere.

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

10 things I love most about Korea - Day 2: Convenience Stores

Number 2 on the list is something that is very important to me, mostly because it sufficiently summarises most of my time here in South Korea:

Convenience Stores

...Are just that. SUPER convenient. Probably a little TOO convenient. They sell all the sorts of things that you might need last-minute, at a REALLY cheap price. I have one right under my dorm in my University and it has probably claimed most of my money. 

Each convenience store also has a seating area (some more classy/done-up than others) in which you can sit and eat your ramen/rice triangle/sandwich/apple juice/whatever, as well as microwaves and boiling water to heat them up!

A pair of unsuspecting exchange students enjoying their Gs25 snacks!

The microwave game is strong in between classes.

So, if you are home late at night and are super hungry (and Gonzaga curfew allows it), you can get some ramen on-the-go AND have a place to sit (some bowls of ramen are only a dollar). They also have alcohol for amazingly cheap prices (beers $1-$5, soju $3). Problem is, the money you spend here adds up. So be careful! (I still feel like it's worth it. Funnily enough I have had some of my fondest memories in the convenience store downstairs with my friends). 

A view - from the window of a campus cafe - of the Gs25 below our dormitory.

Allow me to introduce some of my favourite products, which can be found at most convenience stores here:

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Binch. It is a chocolate biscuit snack sent right down from heaven and the Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal is the bane of my wallet.

Spaghetti ramen - one of the many ramen selections in convenience stores - is one of my personal favourites. It is tomato sauce based and not spicy at all.

The items on this shelf are all delicious (my stealth photo taking is peaking here), but my personal favourites are the sandwiches they have here (so fresh!) and the rice triangle things. Each colour of triangle has a different filling and with 30 seconds in the microwave, they are perfect! My favourite is the tuna mayo ^^

I can't quite explain why I love the apple juice here so much, but it is unlike any apple juice I have tasted in Sydney! It tastes more like, apples. Yep, you're going to have to come and experience it for yourself because there is no way I can do it justice. It is so good that my friends and I have genuine cravings for it throughout the day.

Behold, packaged pineapple. Sold individually, a slice of packaged pineapple is an excellent way to start the day! I find that eating an entire pineapple is lethal to your teeth/tongue, so this quantity is perfect! They are delivered fresh every day and are so incredibly juicy... You can see that they are much more popular amongst students than the apples sold next to them.

This beautifully delicious froyo cone is made cooler (hehe) by the fact that it is Frozen-branded! The yoghurt is soft and fluffy, encased in a crunchy waffle cone ~

So there you have it! A glimpse into Seoul convenience stores through the eyes of an exchange student. We love these places. There are always interesting characters to meet, lots of snacks to eat (dat excitement when a new snack is released) and the prices are so cheap that you can afford to have them on a regular basis :D Like Sydney, Seoul has many 7/11s, with other common convenience stores being Gs25, MiniStop and CU.

Finally, here is a picture of me late at night with my two best friends, enjoying the wonder that is Gs25:

That's all for now! Tune in again tomorrow!

Signed in Seoul,
Kristin!

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

10 things I love most about Korea - Day 1: The Subway System

I have been in Korea since the end of August and I have fallen in love with it's culture and it's way of life. I have been blown away by many things here, and in many ways, Korea has completely surprised me in terms of what I was expecting VS. the reality which I am now living. I wish you could all be here to experience this wonderful country. There are many things I miss about Australia, but there are also many aspects of Sydney life which I am glad to be rid of!

I have compiled a list of some of the things I love most about Korea. If you were to ask every foreigner in Korea to make a similar list, I can guarantee that they would each be different from one another. My plan is to publish 10 posts over 10 days, so stay tuned!

My list is obviously from the perspective of a Sydney-dweller, and so Sydney readers may find this an interesting read!

The Subway System

This is number 1 on the list because my goodness, it is the first main difference you will notice in terms of convenience. Anyone who travels with CityRail should come to Korea. It's as simple as that. When you come from a country with smelly, constantly-late, crowded-so-much-that-you-lose-oxygen trains (I love you, Sydney), you cannot help but crave the Seoul subway system. To summarise: the trains are NEVER late, they come every five minutes, you don't have to wait in line forever to buy tickets, and because it's Korea, everything is really fast-paced and people walk like they have purpose in life (even the ajimas), so you don't get stuck behind slow people. I will miss how easy it is to get around here!!

Like Sydney, Seoul has different lines - each a different colour and a different number. But unlike Sydney, there are not multiple platforms per station. Rather, there is just one, with a different train on either side. So, you can either go one way down the line, or the other way. Then, if you need to transfer lines, you can just hop off one train and onto the next, without having to buy a new ticket or anything! So you can go from station to station for a very cheap price. It makes for super easy travel and it is almost impossible to get lost. There is also a Subway app available in both English and Korean for your convenience - no internet required!

How the Subway app looks on the HTC One. The app is simply called 'Subway Navigation'.

The other most convenient thing about Seoul travel is the T-Money card. This has somewhat the same role as the new 'Opal' card in Sydney, however the difference is that it has been around for a while and it works on almost all forms of transport. So, I can beep onto the train in a second, onto the bus in a second, onto a ferry, and the card even works in taxis! You can reload the card at any convenience store or at card top-up machines, which can be found at any subway station. I will also point out that T-Money cards are the only way to pay for/get onto public transport, so everyone has one and so everything moves really fast! And because the trains come so frequently, the platforms are rarely crowded.

What a standard T-Money card looks like.

You can also customise your own T-Money card, which I think is pretty cool!! As long as you don't lose it, it is something that you will hold onto for a very long time. So, might as well spend the extra money!

A T-Money card with EXO on it!

The trains themselves are quite fast, and every subway operates within it's own glass tunnel (sort of like those glass tunnels in aquariums), so there is no danger of people falling onto the tracks (it is actually almost impossible). Very safe! People on the trains also usually mind their own business, so there are rarely distractions. Conversations are quiet and the only distracting thing is the fact that there are only a few seats and so if you are sitting on a seat, you will have someone's crotch in your face. Also, if you are a foreigner, prepare to get stared at a lot!!

Finally, here is a selfie taken on the subway with some of my best friends in Korea^^. You can see how touristy we look in comparison to all the other subway-travellers:

That's all for today's post! I will post again tomorrow!

Signed in Seoul,
Kristin

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

My adventures in Everland

I recently went to the amazing Everland Amusement Park in Seoul and I made a video to document the day. Pretty much everything I want to say about it is in this video, including footage from the park itself! Take a look!

Signed in Seoul,
Kristin

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Romance City.

Yesterday, I experienced such beauty! I spent the day in the wonderful Sam Chung Dong. It is the kind of town that would definitely be featured in one of those cheesy Korean dramas. Proof of this were the multiple couples you would see everywhere; holding hands, gazing longingly into each other's eyes, wearing matching couple shirts, using selfie sticks... It was like a fairytale.

Some of the beautiful buildings in Sam Chung Dong.

The ambiance of the place was just......... Happiness. Happiness everywhere. I do not think it would be possible to be sad at the place. There were cute cafes everywhere, shops with socks for 70c (I spent more time than I care to admit cooing over these cute socks), international restaurants, markets, people staring at me because I'm Caucasian, romantic music EVERYWHERE, Korean traditional-style buildings and beautiful views from mountain tops.

A cute little cafe on the corner of a street in Sam Chung Dong.

Right next to the town of Sam Chung Dong, there is also In Sa Dong, which is a lovely little area for shopping. There are markets, cafes and very similar features to Sam Chung Dong just without as many couples (still SO MANY couples though).

I recommend this town for anyone who is:

1. In a relationship.
2. Loves Korean culture.
3. Loves cafes (there are not only many but also each cafe is very different from the next).
4. Wants to buy souvenirs for family/friends back home.
5. Wants to live vicariously through the love of other couples.

Thanks for reading! 

Signed in Seoul,

Kristin

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

My K-Pop Adventure in Gangnam

A few days ago, it was my roommate's birthday. So, given that we are both hardcore K-Pop fans, we decided to spend the day tracking down the headquarters of some of the biggest labels in K-Pop!

Now, given the size of Seoul, we deemed it impossible to visit all the K-Pop buildings in one day (and thank God we came to that conclusion early), but thankfully there are 4 main K-Pop buildings in Gangnam which seem to have been designed for a fangirl's convenience. Take a look at my video below to get your head around the size and scale of Cube Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, FNC Entertainment and SM Entertainment.

It was amazing standing right in front of these buildings and it was kind of silly how star-struck I was by them. As you can tell from the video, the streets were quite deserted thanks to the national holiday 'Chuseok' (추석), so it was very fortunate that we decided to go on that day. Yes, there were fangirls, but I cannot imagine that there would be any less fangirls on a regular day.

In fact, we met a lady in front of the SM Building who told us that on a regular day, there is usually a line of fangirls outside the building and that they will stay there all day in the hope that they might catch a glimpse of their 'oppas'. We asked her if it was common to see the stars arriving or leaving and she said that there will be large black vans coming and going without fail every day. Unfortunately, the tinted windows mean that it is unlikely the wait will be worth it (although we probably cannot speak for the teenage fangirls, whom I imagine would crave a window-tinted oppa).

We hope to return soon to the buildings, in order to conduct a comparison between the K-Pop streets of Gangnam on a national holiday VS. a working day. We also will soon be visiting some of the other big labels in K-Pop so, stay tuned!

Signed in Seoul,

Kristin

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

So here I am in Seoul

... And life is far too amazing. I feel as if I am in an awesome, super-prolonged dream and am expecting to wake up any moment now.

When you prepare for something like this, you begin to imagine that all the worst things will happen: like maybe you will fail your subjects, or your plane will crash, or you won't have access to your money, or you will be super lonely and won't make any friends (the list goes on). Well, rest assured that my subjects are far too interesting for me to fail, my plane made it safely across the Pacific, my money is well taken care of and I have made more friends than I can keep track of.

So, I have been here for ten days and so far I have gone to maybe 12 cafes, 6 restaurants, 5 bars and 1 shopping centre (try and guess where my priorities lie here). I have also scored 20 KakaoTalk IDs and have come home after 4am on three separate occasions. I have also been to the campus convenience store more times than I could ever possibly count (putting a convenience store right below my dorms was probably one of the best decisions Sogang has made financially).

Overall, I am so amazed at the city of Seoul. There is just... so much to do... at any hour of the day...anywhere. I do not like the fact that I could stay here for a whole year and still not get to see/do all the amazing things I want to see/do. For the first few days, I made so many mental notes saying, "right, have to come back here later" whenever I passed something awesome, but by the fourth day I realised that there was just too much and that if I tried to keep track, I was going to have a bad time.

I also have to keep telling myself that I am here to study and that it's okay, therefore, to stay in at night time or to waste a day reading books or hanging with my roommate (not that hanging with my roommate is ever a waste of a day). But then, I also use the Y.O.K.O (You Only Korea Once) excuse all the time to justify crazy and random things that I might normally never do (not like, drugs or anything, just stuff like spontaneously going out at random hours or multiple times in one day or surviving on 2 hours sleep in 48 hours).

I could talk forever about the city that never sleeps, so I will pause here and let you discover Seoul for yourself over the next four months. I plan to document everything of interest here so watch this space!

This weekend is the Korean holiday "추석" (Chuseok), which means that there are no classes until Thursday, and a lot of places are closed until then (I have heard that Seoul becomes a ghost town during this period, which i absolutely cannot imagine nor believe). We exchange students must band together during this time because we are the only ones without family here and all of our Korean buddies will be gone so we will be relying on our own loose senses of direction and mostly instant ramen for food.

It is also my roommates birthday! So we've got a big day ahead!

Signed in Seoul,

Kristin

Kristin is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Korea Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.