Category Archives: Asia

Bright Lights, Big City

I was lucky enough to visit Shibuya Crossing during Cherry Blossom season no less! Only a couple weeks in and I already checked off several things from my to-do list, but I will be blogging about each event separately as to give each one their due. In my adventure to Shibuya, I had several new American students and a Japanese student in tow so as not to lose my way.

Also known as the Scramble, Shibuya Crossing is one of Japan’s most identifiable landmarks just like Times Square is to New York City. There is a lot of noise, people and lights in every direction imaginable. Shibuya is the downtown part of Tokyo meaning that it is known for nightlife. It has karaoke, restaurants, pachinko, and bars and just about anything else that makes it a trap for tourists and locals alike.

Honestly, when I exited Shibuya Station and onto the streets of Shibuya, if it hadn’t been for the kanji, hiragana and katakana writing on the signs I would have felt like I was in New York City. Although the thing about Japanese cities is that the streets are clean, there are no homeless people, and there is no worrying over if your purse will get stolen. Shibuya has all of the benefits of a US city without any of the drawbacks.

In order to fully understand the essence of Shibuya, check out this video I took of the crossing!

7 Days ‘Til Liftoff

It feels so far away, yet so close at the same time.

I know I will be so busy this week, that I won’t even realize how quickly the day of departure is approaching. However, anytime someone mentions that I will be leaving for China soon, or asks “Are you excited?” My heart starts to flutter.

I can’t deny my excitement. I do not think I have ever anticipated the arrival of anything more in my life. I remember how excited I was to move in on campus this past summer, but I have been waiting to go to China since I was in 10th grade. It has been four years, and every time I think about how it will actually be happening in just over a week, I don’t even know what to do with myself. I feel a loss for words. I am thrilled. I am also worried about missing my flight, but who wouldn’t be?

When I signed up to take this course and go to China for nearly a month, I thought that leaving two days after the semester ended was too soon, but now I am so grateful. I wouldn’t be able to wait any longer if we weren’t leaving directly after the semester ended.

My biggest task over the next week will be packing. Forgetting something is not an option. I really need to make sure I check over what is going into my luggage thrice. There are a few things I already have packed…the essentials (playing cards, sunscreen, and chocolate).

I can’t wait to explore China, make new friends, meet new people, experience a new culture, and try new food.

For now, I guess I will continue to count down the days.

Did I mention I have never traveled outside of the country?

Wish me luck!

Location: University Park, PA

Take me back to Taiwan!

Last week, everyone in the CIEE Shanghai program went on their week-long trip. The four destinations were Hong Kong, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Taiwan and I was one of the twenty five student who went on the trip to Taiwan. It was honestly an amazing experience and I suggest that if you every have the chance to go, definitely do it! We had six days and five nights to travel around the island and be tourists.

On this trip we first flew into Taipei, then went south to Sun Moon Lake, continued south to Kending, circled back north to Hualien and Toroko National Park, and then finally spend our last night/day in Taipei before we flew back to Shanghai. There was a lot of time spent on the bus but it was still so much fun.

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You Can Call Me… Grape?

How would you feel standing up in front of a group of Koreans and telling your life story???

Monday night, that’s exactly what I did.

Perhaps now is that time when you are sitting there wondering how I managed to get myself in this situation. I’d say that’s a fair question.

Well… it all started when I joined the – don’t laugh – traditional Korean drum and dance club. It’s called pungmul -풍물. Have I ever played drums before? No. Do I have any rhythm? I’m white… so no. So why did I join? I joined for a few reasons. 1) I never had the chance to learn Korean drum, so what better place to learn than in Korea?! 2) It’d be a fun skill to say I learned while abroad 3) This could be a great chance to meet and interact with local koreans at my university. And lastly, 4) WHY NOT?!

One of the traditinal drums: 장구 – Janggu

From the very first club meeting I went to, I knew I made the right decision. The people there were so kind and fun, I immediately felt welcomed. And that’s saying a lot, considering hardly any of the club members speak English (and we all know I hardly speak any Korean). But the best part is it doesn’t matter, most of the meetings I just spend the time laughing and learning the instruments. We can still joke around and enjoy each others presence, and I’ve really enjoyed every meeting so far.

We had our first performance this past weekend! We went around to multiple restaurants in Sinchon 신촌, a popular area for young people that is located near our university campus, and played for the restaurant owners. From my understanding, this tradition comes from when 풍물 players used to go to farms in the olden days and play for farmers to bring them good luck in their harvest. We play for the restaurant owners to bring good luck to their business. In return, they gave us free food and drinks (!!!!!).

Where there is free korean food, you will always find Paige.

When I showed up for the performance, I had no idea it was going to be such a big ordeal. Our club has about 10-15 consistent members, but for this performance, we teamed up with other universities and played, so that there was around ~75 people. And at first, I was literally the only non-asian. My friends from my program are Korean-American and Chinese-American, but they could still blend in. But me? Whiter than white? It was the first time I was really aware of my whiteness, as strange or shocking as that seems. It was the first time I was really reminded that I was a minority, and it was… an interesting experience to say the least.

We lined up in parade form, and played all around 신촌. The drums aren’t exactly quiet as you can imagine, so it wasn’t long before people would turn to look at us and take out their cell phones to record. It was so much fun!

We ended the night by heading over another popular young area in Seoul, called Hongdae 홍대. There we found a spot in the street and put on a full performance. Afterward, all of the university students went out and ate and drank together! With the help of my good friend soju, I was able to actually hold some conversations in Korean, which I count as a success!!! The entire experience was one I’ll never forget.

That’s all good and fun, but now may be the time you’re wondering why I had to get up in front of everyone and tell my life story?! Get to the point already!!!

In this club, everyone goes by their nickname. They don’t call each other by their real names… ever. And in order to get a nickname, you stand up in front of all the members and tell them your life story. Your family, your friends, your dreams, your failures, your ideal man or woman, your favorites books and movies, etc etc etc. The whole ordeal takes about an hour, but it was SO much fun! Through all this, you really get to know each member. Then, at the end, potential nicknames are thrown out and everyone votes!

My nickname is 포도! Literal translation is Grape, but it comes from ‘포장되지 않은 진실된 도음” Which basically means someone who is sincere and pure in all their help, since I am someone who really enjoys volunteering and hope to work for an NGO one day. I absolutely love it, and when I was given the nickname, I truly felt like I was part of the club.

Aren’t we the cutest club you ever saw????

(((Credit to the lovely Ashuka Xue for the pictures in this post! Thanks for the memories girl)))

Location: Seoul, South Korea

My Japanese Bucket List

Whether you are young or old, everyone has a bucket list! I just turned 21, but studying abroad in Tokyo has been on my list for two years and I am excited to finally cross it off. I leave tomorrow. I want to see everything, do everything, eat everything and experience everything. I only have four months so it’s going to be tight. Here is my list of all the wonderful things I hope to cross of my list.

Visit Shibuya Crossing. I want to visit Shibuya Crossing and absorb the energy, the smells and the sounds and, of course, to make sure I remember everything I will take thousands of photographs. I have been to Time Square, so after this I will be able to say I have visited two of the busiest and most iconic travel locations in the world.

Climb Mount Fuji. I am not an outdoor girl, but I have climbed Mount Nittany at Penn State because it is tradition. It would seem a shame to travel all the way to Japan and not even attempt to go hiking on Mount Fuji.

Experience Kabuki theatre. I love Broadway, Off Broadway and live entertainment. In Japan Kabuki is a traditional cultural entertainment experience that I would not dream of missing.

Visit Okinawa. Much like we visit the shore in the summer, Okinawa is the beach destination for the beach-loving Japanese. While I am not a sunbather or surfer, I can still appreciate the beauty and the sounds of the rolling waves.

Travel on a bullet train. Surprisingly and disappointingly, there are no bullet trains (called Shinkansen in the Japanese language) in the United States; therefore, I must experience the ultimate speed of a bullet train, which travels up to 320 km/hr!

Go to a sumo wrestling match. Watching a sumo wrestling match while in Japan would show me a piece of their culture as well as one of their most historically beloved sports. It will surely be an amazing experience as it is the only country to practice sumo professionally.

Go to a Japanese baseball game. After a little research about sports and popular events in Japan, I learned that the Japanese also love baseball. I am interested in seeing the similarities and differences of what goes on during a Japanese baseball game!

Visit a temple. I wish I could visit every temple in Japan, but there are simply too many to squeeze into four months! Hopefully, I will be able to visit Sensoji Temple and the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo as well as Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto.
Go to Tokyo Disneyland. I discovered that Tokyo Disneyland is extremely close to my university and it would be ridiculous not to visit a traditional American destination that binds us together.

Go to a Starbucks and order in Japanese. I have taken three semesters of Japanese and feel that if I can correctly order a complex coffee at Starbucks then I must know a good amount of Japanese. Also, I am interested in the similarities and differences in the food, drink and atmosphere of a Japanese Starbucks.

Eat as much sushi as possible. In the land that created so many fantastic dishes, I hope I can try as much traditional Japanese food as possible.

I take off on my plane tomorrow (Monday) at 11:25am and arrive at Narita Airport at 2:45pm on Tuesday. I will let you know if I survive the 14-hour flight. Wish me luck!

Oops.. My American is Showing

One of the reasons why my transition to Korea was surprisingly so easy was because I had studied the korean culture for various years before arriving. It made the transition almost flawless. I knew some of the language, the traditions, the mannerisms. Had you thrown me into the middle of say… Morocco, Brazil, or any other culture that I haven’t had the chance to really study yet, I probably would’ve had a much harder time.

That being said, there are still times when Korea throws me off. But I’m all for it, because when you’re uncomfortable that means you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone, and when you’re out of your comfort zone, that’s when you truly begin to grow.

So my last post was all the praises I had to give to this great country, and now here’s all the times I’ve been aboard the struggle bus. (more like driving the struggle bus…)

1. Squat Toilets
WHY. Why why wHY WhY why WHY? A squat toilet, in simplest terms, is a glorified hole in the ground. It boggles my mind. In a country so developed as Korea… why are squat toilets still around? Don’t get me wrong, there are still many normal toilets, but every once in a while you find a squatter (is that even a real term? I just made it a real term). And you find it in random places, like some subway bathrooms or even bathrooms in my class buildings! It makes it feel as though it’s Russian Roulette every time you push open a stall door…

2. No Trash or Water. Anywhere.
Dear Korea, why do you hate trash cans? Why do you hate water fountains? Why do you hate me???? I told my friends that finding a trash can is basically like playing ‘Where’s Waldo?’ One of biggest mysteries of the world is how Korea is so spotless when they HAVE NO TRASH CANS. I generally can walk for a solid 20-30 minutes with trash in my hand before I finally stumble across trash cans… or a water fountain, too. As a result, if you ever see me around Seoul, it’s almost a guarantee I am dehydrated and my pockets are filled with wrappers.

3. Gym Shoes
I pulled the classic “dumb foreigner” card the first week I was here, and I still get embarrassed when I think about it. It was a struggle and a half for me to get a gym membership, and when I finally managed… I got turned away my first day trying to go. I feel as though it was a sign that I should just take the semester off working out and get fat off korean food, right?!?!
Why did I get turned away, you ask? Because I didn’t have another pair of shoes. Yup, Korea (or at least my university gym) requires you to have outside shoes, and inside gym shoes. Don’t worry friends, I have cheated the system and bring my other pair of outside tennis shoes in a bag so I can change into them as soon as I step inside the gym. (Don’t tell anyone)

4. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.
So you know in America how they have cross walks? And side walks? And red lights that people actually pay attention to? Yeah well Korea doesn’t really care about that. Pedestrians are the last thing on the driver’s mind. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to dodge a motorcyclist who was driving on the sidewalk. Yes, the sidewalk. It’s a dog eat dog world out here, guys. Don’t worry mom and dad – I’ve made it so far!!! The danger is what makes the walk to dinner or shopping that much more exciting!!!

5. CCTV
You’ve all read 1984, right? “Big Brother is watching you.” Well there’s basically that here in Korea, which is something I had NO IDEA about before coming. There are virtually no police anywhere, and Korea is a crazy safe country. How is that possible? Because there are cameras everywhere. All over the streets, in restaurants, in the dorms. They’ll catch you if you do anything wrong. CCTV is watching. They’re always watching.

(If you ever want to see my freak out, just reference CCTV in my presence. It makes me feel like I’m the protagonist of the next big dystopian YA novel)

So those have been the biggest struggs thus far on my journey. And I’m sure there will be more. Bring it on, Korea! I’m ready for them.
(Except CCTV…)

Wait, it’s only been two days?!

If you can’t tell by the title, I honestly can’t believe it’s only been two days! I arrived in China Monday night and orientation started bright and early the next day. We’ve been so busy yesterday and today that it feels like we’ve been here for a week. Everything is just so new to me that I just want to take in as much as I can.

So how was that flight?

Between only getting three hours of sleep before heading to the airport and then going on a 16 hour flight, I somehow managed to stay awake for the whole thing. I think it was because the plane had movies and tv shows to watch during the flight. I managed to watch two movies and too many episodes of NCIS.

16 hours later after I made it to Hong Kong I had the wonderful experience of having my plane being delayed an hour and a half. I already had a two hour layover and I found that I’m not one to wait too long between flights. Although the Hong Kong airport was AMAZING (so many stores that I couldn’t even believe were in an airport like fancy clothes, handbags, jewelry and even a Disney store….let me repeat that…A DISNEY STORE!!) I realized that I just get too excited about getting to my destination and I can’t wait for too long. Also I realized that once you’ve seen the whole airport there’s not much to do after; who would’ve thunk? But once I was on my connecting flight to China I finally realized how tired I was. They gave us food and I was asleep soon after.

Bye Hong Kong!

Look at that sunset

Fast forward a bit

After meeting some CIEE people at Pudong airport, we took a bus to the dorm on campus. Once I got there I met my host mom and she took us to her apartment. With my home stay I’m living with three people (grandma, mom and daughter) and it’s been interesting. My host mom speaks English so that helps when I don’t know certain words but my host grandma doesn’t. Considering I’ve taken 5 semesters of Chinese I’m actually not doing too bad at speaking with her, but I don’t always understand what the daughter is saying. She’s 8 years old so it’s like talking with any other 8 year old except I’m trying to do this in Chinese and she only knows a little English but it’s been fun.

Alsoooo, the apartment is 20 minutes from campus and I’ve actually managed to figure out how to get to and from campus within the two days I’ve been here. I think that’s an accomplishment! But one thing I noticed here while trying to get around is that the drivers just do their own thing. I don’t think I’ve had so many cars drive so close to me while I’m crossing the street or walking around campus.

just walking around campus

And we’re still typing

So far orientation hasn’t been too bad. I already knew a few people from previous Chinese classes at Penn State so that made things a little easier when I went around to talk to people. I’ve met a bunch of new people and we’ve all added each other on WeChat. WeChat is a messaging app that’s used here so we all got it to talk to each other. Even with orientation going on, there are already events being planned. Tomorrow morning I’m going to Zhenru Temple for the lantern festival. I’m not too sure what to expect but it should be pretty cool. The only thing is that I have to get up super early (we have to meet at 7am!) and I’ve been hit by that whole jet lag thing. If I’m not busy doing something, I get pretty tired.

And on that note I should head to bed and try and get some sleep. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings in this update and I’ll see you at the next blog post!

Location: Shanghai, China

Jung (정) in Jeonju

정 – combination of compassion, empathy, and bond on a very soulful level. It is a connection that is formed between people.

정, pronounced Jung, is a word that doesn’t exactly have an English equivalent, and when I learned it in my korean class last semester, I didn’t fully understand what it meant. Now I do. Jung isn’t just a word – it’s an experience. It’s a feeling.

This past weekend, I traveled to Jeonju, South Korea.. about a three hour bus ride from Seoul. I wasn’t too excited for it. To be honest, I was just exhausted at this point. Our program had us go go go nonstop from the moment I landed in Korea, and all I really wanted was one solid day to rest and overcome my jetlag. Yet here we were, off to Jeonju! So drink an extra cup of coffee and pack your bags!

I hadn’t even heard of Jeonju prior to this excursion. Aside from Seoul, I had only heard of a handful of other cities in Korea.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU. JEONJU WAS WONDERFUL. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS WONDERFUL. So many people were dressed in 한복 (hanbok), korean traditional dress. There was a traditional village, side by side with the modern buildings. We even went to a Buddhist Temple, Paper Museum, and learned traditional korean drum & dance… all probably sound incredibly boring to you but I promise it wasn’t. Not even a little. I loved everything about Jeonju!

But what I loved the most was the atmosphere, and the people. It was just entirely different from Seoul. Like night and day. Seoul is great, and I love it a lot. But it’s crazy busy to the point where it can be overwhelming. People are all on a mission. They’re going to work, they’re going clubbing, they’re going shopping. They energetic and busy and all over the place at every hour of the day.

But Jeonju is more slow pace. They have smaller shops. People are out and about just for the sake of it. I referred to them as the “little Jeonju people” at one point.. because that’s what they were to me! Just sweet little Jeonju people going about their day. The city (if it can even be called a city?) was so cute and quiet and lovely.

On Friday night for dinner, my group of friends and I were struggling to find a place to eat… which never really happens in Seoul. In Seoul, you turn down one street and there is ten food places. You turn down another and there’s fifteen more. In Jeonju, the food places were a bit more spread out and hidden. When we were passing by one, an 아줌마 (ahjumma – older lady) came out of the restaurant and gestured us towards her. We quickly learned that she didn’t speak any english, but she was so sweet and excited to see a group of foreigners that we really couldn’t say no.

We entered and saw that we had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor at one of the low set tables. I love when I encounter experiences like this. It’s cool to come across parts of a culture that are so different from my own, and I’m always eager to give it a try.

We ate bulgogi, which is marinated beef and happens to be my all time favorite food in the history of ever (yes, ever). I was stoked when I saw they had it. When we finally got all our food, I was more than ready to dig in!

That’s when the 아줌마 came up next to me, a huge grin on her face, and began to prep my food for me. I tried to tell her I was okay, I didn’t need help, but before I knew it she was holding the food up to my mouth and literally feeding me. When I took a bite, she laughed loudly and slapped my bum. I kid you not. I feel as though in that moment I gained a korean grandmother and all was right in the world.

That, my friends, is 정. We were also given free soda drinks for dinner without even asking, and they didn’t charge us any extra for the extra bowls of rice we ate. 정 정 정!

Ahhhh, Jeonju. I was very sad to leave so soon, but I will be back before I return to America. I miss the little Jeonju people already!

More information on the concept of Jung if you are interested!

Location: Jeonju, South Korea

Hello Everyone!

I’m so excited that I’m finally making my first blog post! I’ve been waiting so long to start my journey to Shanghai, China and I can’t wait to share it with everyone here! But first, let me take a selfie…just kidding, but let me introduce myself!

So who am I?

My name is Laura and I’m a junior majoring in Advertising and minoring in Chinese and International Studies. I love listening to music (I’m currently jamming out to Uptown Funk- don’t believe me, just watch!) and just enjoying life!

Why study abroad?

I’ve always wanted to travel outside the U.S. and this was the perfect opportunity to do that and also work on my Chinese skills! (And obviously the food, too!) I hope that by the end of this trip I’ll be able to speak Chinese with my host family without struggling too much and have a camera full of pictures and memories!

So are you ready?

With the minor amount of stress I’ve gone through the past few days making sure I have everything I need- well as much as I can pack in a suitcase- I think I’m all set. This is the biggest thing I’ve done in my life and I am ecstatic that it’s finally happening!

With that being said, I can’t wait to see you at my next blog post!

En Route to Seoul!

It’s been a long time coming, but I am FINALLY on my way to Seoul, South Korea! My past few months have consisted of me sitting at home pathetically missing Penn State, religiously keeping up with all the adventures on this geoblog, and enduring a constant stream of “North or South?” jokes by anyone who finds out I’m studying in Korea.

Unfortunately, traveling to the other side of the world isn’t exactly the easiest. Currently I’m on a four hour layover in Detroit – proudly wearing my THON hat – and then I head to Seattle for the night. Tomorrow morning starts my official eleven hour flight to Korea! (Thank God for Netflix, amiright?!)

I’m definitely a firm believer in journaling and blogging, so I intend on taking you all on this four month journey with me, if you let me. Like I said, this trip has been a long time coming. I’m not talking about the past two months at home by myself. I’m not even talking about since last summer when I got accepted to study at Yonsei University. I’m talking about since 2011 when I first became interested in the Korean culture. I used to stay up all night and just dream about visiting Seoul… and now I can’t believe that in just a day I’ll be living there! High School Paige is so jealous right now. It’s surreal and scary and crazy and ridiculous. If I’m being honest, I was starting to have cold feet this past week. Big time. But here I am in Detroit, so I might as well fly all the way!

I still haven’t figured out if the next few months will pass quickly or not, but I have decided that I don’t want to waste a single day. I only have four months. I want to make the most of every second.

I have two major goals, and I am determined to complete them:

1 – Have an entire conversation in Korean. I will never stop being amazed by people who are multilingual, and I hope to join them one day. I have been studying the language since my freshman year, taking four semesters. Although my 선생님들 (professors) have been angels sent directly from heaven, I still struggle with the language. It’s a really fun language, and I love learning it, but I get very shy when I speak it. I’m not capable of having a conversation in all Korean just yet, so when that day finally comes, I will let you all know. There will probably be lots of caps lock and exclamation marks in that blog post.

2 – Educate the rest of the world on how cool South Korea is. When I tell people I’m interested in Korea, I normally get a lot of Kim Jong Un jokes. (I mean, a lot). Which is all good and fun(ish), but then I realize that people genuinely don’t know a lot about Korea. I had someone ask me if I was going to have running water where I going! Seoul is comparable to New York City. It’s truly the city that never sleeps. Of course I could never blame people for not knowing much about Seoul or South Korea… I mean, thinking about it, there are so many countries in this world that I know nothing about. Up until a few years ago, I knew nothing about Korea as well. I just got a fortune cookie the other day that read “Every wise man started out by asking many questions.” So fear not friends, I will take you on this journey with me and by the end of it all, you’ll all want to travel to Korea for yourself!

Next blog post will come at you from the other side of the world! And I’ll be sure to incorporate a seoul pun title so painful it’ll have you all rolling your eyes. Until then, 안녕 (Annyeong)! 🙂

페이지 / Paige