Winter Travels

It’s been a hot second since I’ve written a blog post. A lot has happened since my last one: Travels. Work. Coronavirus. Staying in. For those worried, I am all right. I’m safe and healthy. Thankfully, South Korea has done an amazing job testing people and getting them the help they need. I’m currently working from home and school has been pushed back to the beginning of April—over a month later than the initial start date. Truth be told, I’ve gone a little stir crazy being inside for so long, but am now more comfortable being by myself, which is probably bad since I’ve become such a recluse that the thought of leaving my apartment to see people is not that appealing. However, since the number of cases has dramatically decreased in the country, I have more freedom to go out and do things, though I am always taking precautions. My friend and I took a trip to Seoul a few weeks ago for a BTS birthday cafe spree. Seoul was so empty! It was one of my favorite trips due to the lack of people. It’s nice to see so many people doing their part to stay healthy and not spread the virus. One unfortunate circumstance though is that the BTS concert in April was been cancelled and ya girl had a floor seat *cries for eternity*

But once again, I’m so proud of the way (most) Koreans have been taking this virus situation seriously and keeping the people’s health in concern. I’m praying for all those in the States and hoping that everyone stays safe and healthy! 

Let’s see, the last time I made a blog post, I talked about the things I missed in the States. This time, I will share the last couple months of vacation/home-work. Late January-mid February I was on vacation. My friends and I (ranging from a group of 4 to 2 to 6) went on multiple trips around Asia.

First stop: Seoul. I’ve been to Seoul so many times that I’ve lost count, but this was the first stay-cation I’d be taking in Seoul. My friends and I spent about four nights in the city, and many of our activities were touristy or BTS-related. The first day, we went to the Seoul Trickeye Museum and then the Harry Potter cafe. The former was very interesting and involved using your phone with the museum. You downloaded an app which would then show you the paintings “moving” or “coming to life” on the phone screen, giving an extra bit of fun to the museum. The latter was splendidly decorated in Harry Potter-fashion. Branches twirled around the doorways, old-fashioned books lined shelves glittered with small wizard-y trinkets. The food and drinks were designed after characters and objects from the series and looked quite nice. Despite the prettiness of the drink, it was rather normal tasting and way too expensive. Definitely would recommend this place if you’re a huge HP nerd and want to do something touristy. Otherwise, share with a friend to split the cost or take quick pictures then leave! Our group also went to a VR arcade (not a fan). I got super nauseous during my first ride and basically sat out the rest of the hour we were there. Definitely not my cup of tea. 

Second day, We went to the swimming pool where the BTS music video Young Forever was filmed near Seoul National University. We also went to the Seoul Museum of History (totally free to enter btw) and ended our day with a fun Korean cooking class. The lady was super sweet and I highly highly recommend cooking with her if you want to learn how to make Korean food. [Instagram: hello_k_cooking].

Next day, we went to the secondhand bookstore Namjoon visited back in 2016, Daeo Bookstore. There we met a super sweet Japanese fan who gave us goodie bags filled with BTS merch! It was such a heartwarming moment meeting a fellow fan. I also saw my first Korean movie—with subtitles—in a theater. It was Parasite, which I think everyone should see. Of course, food was involved during this trip. Lots of it. We also went to an escape room on the last full day and made it out with 12 minutes to spare! Once our staycation came to an end, my friend and I went to our next destination while our other 2 friends went to a different part of Korea.

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Our second stop? Japan. We have a friend that lives in Japan and works as an English teacher there. This was my first time leaving Korea since arriving back in August and it was a nice trip. My friend lives near the Kobe area and we stayed with her for a week. The first two days mainly involved lazing about due to our exhaustion from traveling so much (we are weak!). The third day, while our friend was working, we went to Himeji to see the castle and surrounding area. The castle was really cool and had a lot of ground to wander about. The next day, we went with our friend to her work to see what a Japanese high school is like. I was super impressed with the students’ English levels. They were having full conversations with me! Albeit they were a little shy. It was cool to see the difference between my elementary students and her high school students. A lot of the students were interested in continuing to learn English in college and use it in their jobs. The next three days were spent in Osaka and Kyoto. Osaka was—in my opinion—not the nicest. But it seems like I was not in the right area because everyone who’s gone to Osaka has loved it and thought it was super great! So next time, I’ll go to a different area. However, I was excited to go to the Osaka Aquarium. I love sealife and this was a spectacular aquarium. You start at the top (I think there were 8 floors) and wind your way down to see the different levels of sea animals. Next door to the aquarium was a giant ferris wheel. Since we went to the aquarium in the evening, all the city’s lights were on and the view was so pretty from the top of the ferris wheel. I was happy with those two places. 

The next day, we saw the Osaka Castle and history museum. I was a big fan of all the miniature landscapes the museum had. I love small things. The next day the group split up (3 of my friend’s friends had joined us) and my two American friends and I went to Kyoto! Kyoto was soooo pretty! We first stopped by this rather fancy Starbucks where you could sit on traditional tatami mats while enjoying your coffee or tea. After that, we wandered down the streets which were filled with little shops and cafes. All of us are huge Ghibli fans, so we stopped by the Studio Ghibli store. I bought a little Kodama, which I sadly forgot to take pictures of while we were at the shrine! Speaking of shrines, we went to the Fushimi Inari Shrine and walked around there for a while. There were many people there, so taking pictures was hard, but worth it once we got those shots. After the shrine, we went back to our friend’s apartment to enjoy our last night in Japan.

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Third and final stop: Busan. This would be my first time to Busan since moving to South Korea nearly five months before. My friends and I took a bus from our city to Busan and I was surprised by how fast it was! The first day there, we went to the Young-Do observation deck near Busan Tower. There were shops and restaurants around the observation area so we grabbed some food and looked out around at Busan. Once it hit evening time, we made our way to Busan Tower and watched as the tower changed lights. To go up to the tower, you had to take an escalator or a looooooooooon flight of stairs (can you guess which one we took?) and once reaching the top, we were met with a beautiful view of the city lit up at night. On our way back to our hotel, we walked by the Gwangan Bridge, which was of course lit up with pretty lights during the night. (I’m a huge fan of lights at night).

Day 2, we went to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, which was right on the ocean side. It was a very pretty place, especially with the waves nearby. This was during early February, when the virus was starting to get worse, so we all wore our masks. “Safety first, safety second, coolness third” —Jungkook, BTS. Around the temple area, there were a lot of stands with jewelry and religious knick knacks you could buy, and LOTS of food. I had a potato tornado and a nicely fresh hotteok (my first!). The hotteok was so delicious! It was filled with brown sugar and pumpkin seeds. Next, three of us went to the Busan aquarium while the other three wandered around Haeundae beach. I adore aquariums so I was super excited to go! Before we entered, our forehead temperatures were taken and we were given hand sanitizer. I really admire how South Korea takes preventive measures against the virus, but still allows people to enjoy their time out. Once we were done at the aquarium, we met up with our friends and wandered around Haeundae beach before getting dinner at a pork belly place.

Day 3! First, Gamcheon Culture Village. We really just walked up and down the streets here. As Google describes it, it is a “picturesque attraction featuring a village of colorful houses, painted murals, shops and cafes.” Which it really was! The Little Prince is very popular in South Korea, so they had a statue of the boy that you could take pictures with. The line was quite long for pictures, and to be frank, I wasn’t a big enough fan to warrant getting a picture (still a good book though). After Gamcheon, we went to the Running Man Theme Park, where we participated in short games and “missions” in order to compete against one another. There was also a silly, interactive “museum” on poop next to the theme park. At this “museum” of sorts, we became food (an apple I believe) and went through the digestive process to see how we become poop. It was a super silly place to go and definitely one to stop by if you like those sorts of things. That concluded our set plans for the trip, so we just wandered around Busan, ate some yummy food, and went back to our hostel for our last night.

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All-in-all, it was a whirlwind of almost 3 weeks of traveling! I was definitely glad to be back in my city by the end for some relaxation. It was super fun to travel with my friends, visit a friend in another country, then rest for a while more before work starts.

Despite all that traveling, work still has not technically begun for me. I’ve been mostly working at home due to the virus. Thankfully, our numbers have been quite low the last couple weeks and things will hopefully go back to normal soon. I hope everyone out there takes care. Remember: wash your hands! Wear a mask if you can in public! And stay home otherwise!