I now only have one more week left in this beautiful, wonderful, awe-inspiring city that I have began to call home. Granted, the fun won’t be ending then because I’ll head to Japan for a few days before my long flight back to the States, but still… I can’t help but reflect on this past semester.
My sister said something that really helped me the other day. I was upset because this week is a mixture between endless studying for finals and squeezing as many goodbyes in as I can. I told my family “There are too many ‘lasts.’ Life is too sad. You meet too many great people who can only stay in your life temporarily.” To which my sister replied, “But you’re better for meeting them.” 🙂
So, instead of sitting around moping about my limited time in Seoul and with my friends, I’ve decided to name my top 10 BEST moments of study abroad!
10. Seeing Epik High Live
Epik High (에픽하이) has been my *favorite* korean rap group since 2012 when I first discovered Tablo’s solo album. The amount of times I’ve listened to them while doing work or walking to class or in need of a pick-me-up or while hanging out with my friends is probably embarrassing. Never, not in a million years, did I ever expect to see them live. Never did I expect to be just a few feet away from the people that had such a huge effect on my college years!
9. Akaraka
The huge school festival that I attended last month. Good performers, good cheers, good company, good memories. You can read my full experience here!
8. Namsan Tower Lock!
Namsan Tower is a huge tourist spot. I went to it the very first day in Seoul. It overlooks the entire city and is incredible. There’s a part where couples will leave locks expressing their love for each other. So, instead, my study abroad friends and I left a lock with all our names on it. Now our friendship is forever. (Totally not corny at all…)
7. Trying on Hanbok
My friend Jiwon’s aunt owns a Hanbok store in the city, so about a month into the program, a group of us went to her store to try them on! Hanbok 한복 is Korean traditional dress, and I’ve always thought they were beautiful and longed to try them on one day. His aunt was nice enough to let us play around in the store for a few hours and take enough pictures to last us a lifetime, bless her soul~
6. DMZ
I’ve been very, very interested in North Korea for the past few years, and even started a club at Penn State that raises money to rescue North Korean refugees. So I was beyond excited to visit the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone – border between North and South Korea). We could see over to the other side, and were even able to cross the border and “stand in North Korea.” It was an experience I’ll never forget, to say the least.
And now, for dramatic effect, I’m going to put my top 5 memories under a read more~
5. Volunteering
My program offered a series of volunteer opportunities. Every Thursday evening I went to mentor (the cutest) 10 year old girl for an hour, and every Friday morning I taught senior citizens english with four other girls. They were both such fun and memorable experiences. It was great to interact with koreans of all ages!!
4. Korean Baseball Game
OKAY. DEAR READER, IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA IN YOUR LIFETIME, YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO GO TO A BASEBALL GAME. It was, hands down, one of the COOLEST experiences. The energy is /ridiculous/. Each player – every. single. one. – has their own cheer that you do when they go up to bat. They even have cheerleaders that come out and do kpop dances for each inning. The best part was there was this guy who was kind of like a mascot… but a person? Anyway, he was in head of the cheers and he was so full of energy and so entertaining. I couldn’t even tell you what happened during the game, I was too caught up with everything else. Huge thank you to my korean friend Minji for inviting me and getting us tickets in the cheering section!!
3. Out-of-Seoul Excursions
Outside of Seoul city, I have now been to Jeonju 전주, Gapyoung 가평, Sokcho 속초, and Busan 부산, South Korea. All the different places have such a different feeling to them. I can’t explain it but they’re all so different from each other. And each has fun memories attached to it. Becoming close to my friends in Jeonju, going to the 맥주 festival and bungie jumping in Gapyoung, hiking and seeing Buddha’s statue for Buddha’s birthday in Sokcho, or going to the beach and visiting my friend who I hadn’t seen in two years in Busan. It’s cool to get out of a big city and see another side of Korea. When I leave this country in a week, I’m going to feel content with how much I’ve seen and explored.
2. MT at Han River Park
Without a doubt some of the best memories I have in Korea are with my drum club. The meetings, practices, and performance I will forever keep in my heart. But one of my favorite nights with them was the night of our MT. MT stands for Membership Training, and it’s very big in Korea. Clubs will go off campus for a night and hang out with each other, eating and playing drinking games until the next morning. We went to the Han River Park 한강장, filled ourselves with 고기 and 소주, went to bed way too late and woke up way too early. Everything about the night was perfect. I realized how much these people mean to me, how much I’m going to miss them, and how lucky I was to know them.
1. The Friends I Made
Your life is only as fun as the people in it. Seoul is an amazing place, but it would not have been nearly as incredible if I did not meet the people I did. I’m so thankful for everyone who came into my life these past four months. Many of them I never would have had a chance to meet in America, and for that alone I’m so glad I studied abroad.
여러분, 너무 너무 감사합니다 <3