Sunday ( Free Day~)

So in the morning I ate breakfast with my friends and I went to Myeongdong with my friend Nick :) we walked around for a while. We decided to see a movie called Snowpiercer since there wasn't much open in the morning. This was a really funny experience. Umm so Nick is Chinese/Malay and everyone here thinks that he is Korean so the box office guy kept speaking to him in Korean. Then I told him that he wasn't Korean in Korean so then he just talked to me in Korean haha :) here we get to choose our seats beforehand but I just let the office guy choose them. Apparently they are the best seats and cost a dollar more haha. So we got drinks and went to our theatre. The movie had already started and it was dark so we weren't exactly sure where our seats were but I think someone took them so we ended up in a two seater seat called the "Sweet Box.." I don't know if the guy thought we were a couple and that's why he chose that seat for us but whatever. It was really comfortable and we could talk easily because there were dividers on both side of seats. We were legit laughing over the seat for 20 minutes and then laughing about the movie. It was in English with a few Korean phrases but they had subtitles. It was a creepy post ice age movie that was pretty good :) glad i saw it. After we went shopping for about 10 minutes and head back to the hotel. After I got changed and everything I went out with a friend to the art mural town and since he spoke Korean it was so helpful. He could ask for directions and order food easily for us :) oh yeah we ate patbingsu first and then went up the hill to the art mural town.. It was a long walk.. I think with him I walked probably 4 miles.. Haha~ mm the art mural place was so interesting~ a lot of artists were painting on the walls that day and we got some good pictures :-) we walked for a while afterwards and then headed back to my Hotel area for some chicken~ after this I met up with Nick again and we went to Dongdaemun where they were supposed to have Disco Pang Pang and street markets. They had lots of stores but no disco pang pang :( I did buy Some souvenirs and we went to the stream to listen to some live music :) we headed back around 9:00 since our curfew was 10:00 and we stopped at 7-11 for some snacks :) the next day we were off on our 4 day trip~ 

Friday and Saturday

These were the days that I stayed with a host family. My eonni (she was older than me so this is the term for it) and I met at the orientation at Yonsei Univeristy. Her mom drove us to an Italian restaurant in Itaewon where I got beef pasta (it was seriously the best pasta I have ever had..). Her mom then took us to Lotte World, an amusement park with a mall, subway station, underground shopping mall, and supermarket attached to it. We went on the Giant Loop, Atlantis, Gyro Twist, and a Tree Ride. Then we had some coffee in a coffee shop, ate at a traditional Korean restaurant, and went to the underground mall to buy clothes. I bought 3 really cute shirts, some makeup, and some accessories for a really good price :-) we also bought couple bracelets. Afterwards we went on the subway to her house~ we went in for about an hour and then we went out again to Paris Baguette to buy Bread and some snacks. We met her younger brother on the way~ we came back home and her brother ate dinner and then I handed out the gifts that I bought :) I think the brother really liked the cookies~ 

So in Korea students have to study a lot and go to school on weekends depending on the classes, so my eonni had to go to math academy on Saturday. She did her homework that night and I stayed in the living room with her while she did it and kind of slept on her XD. We were really close~ we slept in the living room and watched a movie~ 

Saturday I woke up first and got ready for breakfast~ my eonni finished her homework and then we had lunch quickly and her parents drove us to her lessons. I spent 3 hours learning math and the teacher was really funny~! I think he was really surprised when he saw me in his class since I was the only foreigner in his class.. Translating Korean and doing math at the same time made me really sleepy so I had a hard time staying awake~ his assistants handed out coffee at the end though so I stayed awake ;) after this we walked to a Korean restaurant and had beef soup~ it was really unique. The beef was still on the bones and my host mom cut the meat off of the bone for me and put it in my bowl~ that was so sweet of her~ I had to say goodbye to my eonni now because she had to take a test~ and my host family took me back to the hotel~ I went out to karaoke and coffee with one friend and then I called it a night~ i also planned what I'd do during my free day tomorrow. 

Thursday

Okay so Thursday~~~ sorry I'm behind a lot~ today  we had another day of classes ( US-Korea Relations and Korean Development) after this we went to Gyeongbukgong ( the Royal Palace), King Sejong's Museum, and the Korean War Museum. We ate cold noodles and got to our hotel around 8:00 pm. We had free time until 10:30 so I went to Sinchon and Myeongdong with a friend where, yes I bought the backpack I saw~! It's super nice and feels strong. Plus it fits a lot of stuff in it.~ bought some snacks at 7-11 and then went to bed:) 

Wednesday~

Please be mindful while reading these posts that Korea is 13 hours ahead of EST so my Wednesday may be your Tuesday~ or my Thursday may be your Wednesday so that's why I'm writing in the past tense. Today we had a Korean language and history class in the morning~ they were really interesting~ for lunch they took us too.... OUTBACK!! Haha~ it's pretty much the same minus some food options. The pumpernickel bread was  really good~ of our meal options I chose the frilled chicken wrap. It was really good but really spicy~~!!! After this we went to a Buddhist temple in the middle of the city (it's modern and it's huge... So many floors~!) we did some activities and then we had lunch in the temple. After this we had free time~ this was the first time we could actually go out! Two of the Korean chaperones of our program took us to Myeongdong which is a huge shopping street! My friend and I went to the Lotte Young Department Store and there was an SM Popup store! Of course I couldn't resist and I bought a SHINee Sherlock Album and a Leeteuk Journal~ we also went to other floors of the department store~ I saw as nice school bag but it was 85,000 won ㅠ.ㅠ if we go again I think I might buy it because it was really nice and it was on sale~ I bought a cheapy backpack and a gift in the Main Street and also some sunglasses. We took the bus back (forgot to mention we took the subway to it) and now I'm going to sleep~ 

Tuesday~

Tuesday- this was the first official day of our program~ we went to breakfast at the restaurant attached to our hotel and then headed to Yonsei University where we had an opening ceremony,  an went to lunch at a buffet called Ashley's (Korean-American Style). After we went to a historical prison, Insadong, and a Kimchi making place. At night we went to Seoul N Tower which was HUGE and the views were amazing. Pictures don't do it justice~ it's so tall and you can see all of Seoul from the top (the lines for it are really long >__>). This night too we had to stay in and rest ~

Flying~

Okay~ so I'm writing this post a little late but I'm in Korea~ I have for 3 days now~ and I feel so at home with all of my group mates and hotel~ so Sunday was when I officially flew out. I had a 1pm flight from JFK to Seoul. I had a Delta flight at 7:10 am from Boston to JFK also. So my delta flight was on time but I wasn't allowed to use the shuttle connecting to the terminal I had to go to so I had to drag my luggage to the AirTran and transfer. I got my boarding pass, went through security, and went to the gate where we had orientation, got a coffee, and then boarded. I wasn't sitting next to anyone I knew so I just watched movies and played games. The food was just normal Korean airline food :) bibimbap, and beef, nothing incredibly good but edible. Because of the time difference we landed at Incheon Airport at 4:00 pm August 5th. We took our bus to the hotel, Vabien II and checked in. My roomie is Emma Philips and she is really nice~! Our room is awesome too~ it's a corner room so it was a little bigger; 2 bathrooms, living room, and bedroom with kitchen, walkin closet and make up tables. The first night we just slept~

Let the Countdown Begin~

*** I had this post typed up Sunday but somehow the app crashed before I published it so I'll be retyping it now***

안녕하세요 Seoulmates! 

There are less than 11 days left until my departure to South Korea! I'm super excited! This post will be my most recent news as of today rather than Sunday! Today I got my final piece of information for my trip! All of the paperwork and tickets are done and I finally got to choose my Asiana flight seats yesterday. I'm not too picky with my seats, but I'd prefer middle or window, so I'm trying to work it out so that my friend Izzy gets the window seat, I get the middle, and my friend Nick gets the aisle, because well he wants it! I can choose my seats but for some reason the travel agent forgot about a few people while she was booking the flights so I had a separate booking number than the rest, making it possible for me to pick my seat beforehand~ on the return flight all I saw were middle seats leftover so I don't know if we will all be sitting near each other but we'll probably be super tired so it'll all work out! I have my domestic flight all sorted out as well! I'm flying delta both ways. Terminal A in Logan and Terminal 2 at JFK. My flight leaves at 7:10 in the morning so I'm having to leave my house at 3:30 in the morning to comfortably get through airport security and get some coffee (yum). My flight arrives at 8:30 am so I have plenty of time to meet up with friends at our terminal until our chaperone arrives, possibly at 11 am, for orientation. Our flight leaves at 1:00 pm August 4th and we arrive in Seoul, Incheon Airport, at 4:10 pm August 5th (a 14 hour flight plus the time difference). From there on we go to our hotel with the Chicago group coming into Incheon at 4:25 pm. I'm happy that we're arriving first so we have some more free time to browse the airport stores and get through immigration. Plus, I really want to stop at the Dunkin Donuts at the entrance of the airport, where so many Hallyu (Kpop) idols have sat and had coffee. The rest of the week is filled with activities and lessons. We basically do things from 8am until 8pm and then curfew is at 11pm. I have a feeling we'll be out and about until curfew most nights because there is no end of things to do in Seoul and the stores and trains don't close or stop until well after midnight! I'm attaching my itinerary here but the first Sunday we have a totally free day to do whatever we want! That day there is a music program called Inkigayo but its really hard to get tickets to and we wouldn't be able to get enough for everyone in our group so it'll probably be an exploring day~ 

Anyways, in honor of this trip I'll be making a video soon about the program and about myself on my Dedicated Korea YouTube Channel "FindingSeoul". I'll also go over my itinerary briefly there. I'll be making videos during my trip, mostly from my hotel room, and I'll edit and post them when I get back since we have limited Internet access. I'll post it here when it's complete! (May take 2-3 days to be edited) 

What I'm up to:

1) Summer reading ㅠ.ㅠ : I still need to read Treasure Island and the Jungle. I'll start them tomorrow! 

2) Packing: I have decided to pack the morning before the trip and buy whatever I still need that afternoon since I have nothing else to do that day but look over my travel info~ 

3) Host Family Gifts: I still haven't gotten them yet but because I don't know who's in my host family I think I'm going to go more generic and get something big for all of the family members, whoever they may be :3

4) Harvard Minority Recruitment: I got an email a few weeks ago and I've talked to a recent graduate from there about her experience and about how much I love their Korean program :3 

5) EF Tours Global Citizen Contest: I'll be entering this year! And it's in China! I have my entry concept complete and I'll share my finished product In late September! 

6) School: Technically school starts September 3rd ( my birthday; still not happy about that)  but I have a summer reading test August 29th. I have to do the work for that as well after my trip! 

Cultural Corner: 

 Kpop songs I'm listening to: 

~ Infinte's Destiny 

~ Exo's Wolf 

~ SHINee's Dream Girl & Why so Serious 

~ Park Nam Jeong's Missing You (1989) 

~ Kim Jong Kook's One Man 

~ Super Junior's Opera (Japanese version) 

~ BTOB's Wow

TV Shows I'm watching 

This is the middle of the summer so kdramas are ending and there are some I just don't like that much or haven't started. I'll post the dramas I'm watching/ will watch and mark their country 

~Goddess of Fire, Jung Yi (Sourh Korea) 

~Mischievous Kiss (Japan- ended) 

~Love, Now (Taiwan) ( they speak Mandarin Chinese; more simplified I believe, I'm currently on episode 46 but it's getting sad so I don't know if I want to finish the Other 26 eps...) 

~ Can You Hear my Heart ( South Korea) (I hear its really good! Will start) 

~ Gu Family Book (South Korea-ended) *well made

*This is it for my dramas but for beginners looking to find a good drama but who know a good bit about Kpop, I recommend Dream High Season 1 and Heartstrings because they have some idols in it. Boys over Fowers is also a classic drama! For period dramas you can watch Dr Jin, Fate, Dong Yi, or Yi San ( the first two are newer). For modern monarchy dramas King 2 Hearts, My Princess, Goong and Goong S are for you! For movies I can recommend My Little Bride (cute arranged marriage story) and that's it for now because Korean movies are not for everyone and there are so many that you ave to find ones that you'd like yourself 

Juli's Lesson for the Day: Aegyo 

Aegyo is a Korean term for acting cute. This can include cute actions, voices, gestures, or doing whatever a Person considers really adorable. Aegyo is something very popular in Korea for males and females alike. Couples do it for each other and idols do it for their fans. Currently a popular style of Aegyo has emerged called Gwiyomi. This literally means little cutie and its what we'd call song Aegyo where you sing, and perform the required gestures. This Aegyo is also called Counting Cutely Aegyo because what you do is literally do addition. 1 + 1 ( holding up one finger on each hand) = Gwiyomi ( this is where the person would do the cute action with their hand) and they keep going up ( 2+2, 3+3...) ilhoon of BTOB is credited for the creation of the gestures and getting this Aegyo viral. If you search his name with Gwiyomi you will find a video of him performing this! 

Here is a chart of Kpop situations common to all Kdramas! 

And here is my meme for the day~~ 

Yeah... The amount of times idols get confessed to my the same sex... Too many to count. Some idols share tales of these events on tv too! Kangin of Super Junior had a particularly funny encounter with this in high school..can't blame the guy though...haha 

That's all of now! I'll keep you updated on my packing and videos! 

You'll find your Soul in Seoul~ 

- 박주리