seoulfulcity

[seoulfulcity]

October 2, 2018: Let’s Have Some Kimchi

It’s been almost two months since I left Seoul and had to start adjusting back to my life in Los Angeles. Having experienced multiple culture shocks throughout the summer, I feel obliged to write about my own stories with how I tackled the different environment I had to adjust to in South Korea; and my experience with reverse culture shock after coming back home made me realize that it would also be an interesting blog to write about, since I believe that I was not and will not be the only one to have lived through it. So, in the next few blogs, I will talk about the South Korean culture shock and reverse culture shock.

안녕하세요,

What is culture shock? University of Iowa defines culture shock as “pronounced reactions to the psychological disorientation most people experience when they move for an extended period of time into a culture markedly different from their own”. It is the feeling of not belonging whenever someone transitions to a new place, a new city, a new state, or a new country. It is more than just adjusting to the timezone difference, but encompasses all the changes and adjustment in language, food, weather, people, history, politics, and daily routines. It might be a familiar feeling to those overcome with wanderlust - a feeling that drives their minds to stay open, a signal for more exploration, and a means to gain more knowledge about a country.

I am from Los Angeles, which has the highest population of Korean immigrants and Korean-Americans in the United States. I am from an area in Los Angeles that is packed with Asian restaurants, and in which the Korean culture is ever so palpable. Koreatown, which houses the largest Korean population outside of the Korean peninsula after China, is a well-celebrated enclave within Los Angeles. It offers the most delicious restaurants and cafes that are outside the generic American fast food chains and Starbucks; and with the rise of Korean presence in the entertainment industry, the Korean culture is becoming much more celebrated than it already was.

With that said, Korean culture has been part of every Angeleno’s life - mine included. Frankly, I do admit that I enjoy listening to Korean music and find myself having a stronger preference to Korean dramas more than Western songs and television shows. I have a general knowledge of basic Korean etiquette within a home, in a restaurant, and in basic social setting. So, that basically gives me a free pass with the culture shock after arriving in Seoul, right? Wrong! No matter how much Korean dramas or films I’ve seen, or however many Korean barbeque restaurants I’ve eaten in, none of those had ever prepared me for the culture shock that I had to endure in South Korea. Here is my list:

1. Subway Culture

Los Angeles thrives on its car culture. There is a very big stigma regarding public transportation usage, and Angelenos will always rationalize not walking to go to the store that is only ten minutes away.

Fun fact: it’s sunny in Los Angeles all year, though we have a huge population with vitamin D deficiency, since it seems like the only times Angelenos go out and feel the sun is when they leave their cars.

I don’t have to hide the fact that the public transportation in Los Angeles is not to be trusted at all. Silver Line buses arrive 10 minutes late on a regular basis, and sometimes would be almost an hour late. Subway lines, such as the Red Line and Blue line would sometimes miss a schedule entirely. If the Metro schedule tells you that the Metro Rapid bus 770 would arrive at your stop at 1:15 PM, expect it to be there at either 12:48 PM or 1:39 PM. Metro drivers don’t have any regards to schedule or timing, so that’s probably why Angelenos don’t trust the public transportation at all. It’s also very difficult to go from point A to point B without having to take multiple subways and buses, since not all of the locations are accessible via the public transportation.

Contrast that to the Seoul subway station, in which the stigma is basically non-existent. They have less than 15-minute intervals between subways and buses, which minimizes the possibility of crowds, long lines, and insane wait times. Everything is accessible via the subways alone, and with a huge population of citizens incorporating public transportation into their daily lives, the funding for the maintenance of the stations and subway trains is insane.

The floors are very clean and I’m not worried holding on to the metal bars in the subway trains. Expect the subways and buses to arrive on schedule, so you don’t have to worry about missing your ride, even in the middle of the night going home after a long day at work (seriously, the buses in Los Angeles stop working at 9 PM, and it’s so difficult to work around that schedule when I’m trying to stay in the library all night to study - Uber and Lyft are options, but the prices do add up).

Not only the subways are very timely, the people of Seoul themselves are very orderly. There are designated seats for pregnant women (colored pink), the elderly and the disabled people (the seats closest to the subway doors on each opposite end). In Los Angeles, these seats are mainly for priority. If there are no pregnant women, elderly, or disabled people around, the seats would be taken until they arrive; not in Seoul. Even when the subway trains are packed at rush hour, these seats will remain empty until the designated occupants take them.

Important: Don’t disregard this rule since you will be met with angry comments and shame from the Korean subway riders, and that’s never a fun experience.

Also, people form lines to walk up the stairs after getting off the subways in a neat and tidy manner. They don’t rush to walk or run in front of someone with the fear of missing their subways, because once again - Seoul subways have a set schedule that it’s very rare to miss your ride. If you know the time of when your subway leaves the station, expect them to leave at that very minute.

Side note: while taking the escalator, stand on the right side and walk on the left side.

The social life within the subway stations are also reminiscent of Tokyo and Hong Kong’s. There are stores, restaurants, massage parlors, and even a mall in all of Seoul’s subway stations. While waiting for the subway, you can buy croquettes (크로켓) with different fillings in a bakery, heat up some cup noodles or doshirak (Korean lunch boxes) and eat them at the dining sections in the convenience stores, or you can even shop for some clothes, wallets, jewelries, and bags. Try using the subway stations in Los Angeles, and all you’ll see are unpainted gray walls, a group of homeless men stationed by the Tap Card machines, and dirty floors that seem to not have been cleaned since the station was opened.

2. Accessibility

It’s without a doubt a common knowledge that Seoul is obviously a small city, despite its booming economy and huge population; but a small location means that everything is within a walking distance, so that calls for a celebration (let’s pretend Singapore doesn’t exist, since my friend told me you can walk Singapore from end to end in a day).

Everything is spread out in Los Angeles. If you want to buy some snacks at a 7/11, you might have to drive about 10 minutes for the closest one. A quick coffee break? The closest Starbucks is a 5-minute drive! Planning to eat before headed for a night out? The next few eateries are just 20 minutes away via car. Don’t be fooled though! 10 minutes by car is very close for an Angeleno, since everything is far apart from one another. This is not the case in Seoul, and this is very apparent at night.

Night life in Seoul is very accessible. Clubs and bars line each other side-by-side, with a convenience store or two stationed right in front of each one to accommodate the drinkers who can’t afford to buy another glass of alcohol inside the bar.

Convenience stores are another culture on their own, since unlike Los Angeles, they are used as a means for quick social gatherings. Convenience stores in Seoul have a designated dining area, equipped with microwaves and hot water dispensers for whatever item you bought. Since they’re open 24/7 and are ubiquitous, people can just stop by at any time and sit down to eat, may it be to enjoy their time alone or to talk to their friends over cup ramen or tonkatsu.

On top of the clubs, bars, and convenience stores, there is also a large number of pojangmacha tents, although they have been in rapid decline recently due to the rise of trashes they leave. “They don’t look nice and make the city look dirty”, my Korean friends would say. Pojangmacha (포장마차), or temporary tents that serve quick bites and, most importantly, soju, are also found alongside the streets of Seoul if you don’t plan to sit down in a loud bar.

And what’s a Seoul night life without its noraebang (노래방), or the Korean version of karaoke. In Korean, norae (노래) means “song” and bang (방) means “room”. There are two main types of noraebang (노래방): one you pay by the hour and one you pay per song. An hourly rate would be as low as ₩8,000 ($7), or you can opt to pay per song for only ₩500 ($0.45) per song. Compare these prices to the hourly rates in Koreatown in Los Angeles that start from $25-$30 an hour.

Noraebang (노래방) in Seoul has never-ending options of songs to sing along to. Korean songs, Top 100 Western songs, Chinese songs, Japanese songs, Filipino songs, Vietnamese songs, Indonesian songs, Spanish songs, Russian songs, you name it.

Walking along any streets in Seoul, may it be in Hongdae, Myeongdong, Gangnam, Anam, Kondae, there will be the word noraebang (노래방) in flashing neon and LCD lights. You can purchase your soju in a noraebang (노래방), although a little more expensive; but, don’t fret. A convenience store is always there just a few meters from the entrance ready to save your wallet and contribute to making your musical nights much more memorable.

If you and your friend circle are not the types to socialize in a convenience store or a noraebang (노래방) - fear not! There is a huge industry on PC bang (PC방) in Seoul. In Korean, PC means “personal computer” and bang (방) means “room”. PC방 is an Internet gaming center that caters to the gamers, the introverts, and the social media fanatics. You may gain access to a PC방 through membership or one-time uses.

For membership, you just need to apply for one and they would give you a card for your login information, which charges you by the hour every time you use the computers.

For one-time users, you pick up a card on the reception that gives you the login information, which gives you access to the computers. The timer starts once you login, and you pay for the total amount right after you logout and give the card back to the receptionist.

The hourly rate is not very expensive. Expensive PC방 are equipped with large screens and more advanced software for the gamers, which have prices ranging from ₩1,200 to ₩1500/hour, or $1 to $1.30. Personally, I don’t need big screens to write my blog or do my assignments in, so I opt out for the regular computer screens, which costs me about ₩900 to ₩1,200 an hour, which is equivalent to $0.80 to $1.

Once again, Seoul thrives on accessibility and since South Koreans spend an average of five hours playing computer games per day, there will be a need for food - and yes, there are a lot of choices of food. There are snack bars, dining areas, and the receptionist even delivers food to your computer. You have options from chips, to finger foods like fries, and to full-course meals like a tonkatsu and bulgogi set. And of course, there are the never-ending supply of soju, if needed.

Soju is very cheap in Seoul, and many convenience stores would sell them for about ₩1,200 to ₩1500, which is about $1 to $1.30 (soju is cheaper than bottled water, just saying). Because of the accessibility of the drinking areas and soju, South Korea’s culture revolves around drinking (sometimes heavy drinking), therefore there are a lot of places where you can sit down with a group of friends and drink after work.

Many of these drinking places are around college campuses to cater towards the students vying for a social circle or are finding ways to de-stress themselves from the university responsibilities. In Los Angeles, the drinking culture are only within certain cities: mainly West Hollywood and Pasadena, two cities on opposite ends of the county. It is very difficult to gain access to social areas when you’re situated in the middle of the county or away from West Hollywood and Pasadena - once again, these cities are very hard to access via public transportation.

Not in Seoul. Even if Anam is considered empty compared to the lively Hongdae, which caters to the students of Hongik University, and Itaewon, which caters to the foreign population, Anam is still packed with social areas that are meant for students and teachers to drink in.

My favorite part is having to drink with friends and getting back to our dormitory or our housing by walking, which proves how close everything really is. Plus, if you are looking to experience Seoul drinking culture, Hongdae and Itaewon are easily accessible via public transportation, so finding the means to get there is never a problem.

Frankly, there will be nights where you just don’t want to go out and stay in (perhaps by yourself or with your friends), and Seoul’s delivery service culture is surreal. Almost every restaurant, if not all of them, have a delivery service that is easily accessible by a tap of a finger. You may call or make an order online (Korean reading skills are required if it’s not ordered through a phone call), and the food will be swiftly delivered via a motorcycle in less than half an hour.

They even write you cute little “thank you” notes in Korean as a token of appreciation, and those always brighten up my day. One of the post-it notes that came with a chicken wing order said “주문해 주셔서 감사합니다. 맛있게 드시고 행복하세요!!^^” (Jumunhae jusheoseo gamsahamnida. Mashitge deushigo haengboghaseyo).

The post-it note translates to “Thank you for ordering. Eat deliciously and be happy!” Translation courtesy of Minki-hyung (민기형).

Accessibility is staple South Korean culture: from convenience stores lining up next to each other blocks on end and to Seoul’s fast delivery service, there’s never an excuse to not spend a day in the country without Korean food and a bottle of soju... or two!

3. Confucianism Culture

There’s one C word you have to fully understand once you land in South Korea, and that is Confucianism. The whole Korean culture revolves around this - from greeting, to talking, to eating, to drinking, and to socializing.

Eldest Culture - when eating and drinking, the eldest member on the table always has to be served first. Don’t pick up your chopsticks, utensils, or drinking glasses until after the eldest does. When drinking alcohol, younger people should never point the bottom of their glasses towards the eldest. Drink facing away, and with both hands.

Refusing an Offer - when someone older than you offer you food or drink, you may not refuse that offer. This is a nice gesture of friendliness, especially if you’re drinking together for the first time. If you refuse the offer, that means you’re refusing the friendship and Koreans take that very personally.

Maknae (막내) Culture - the youngest is always asked to pass down the food or to refill everybody’s drinks. Be familiar with the term, maknae (막내/pronounced mangnae), which means the youngest of the group. Since the Korean culture relies heavily on age order, there are many traits and responsibilities that come with being the maknae (막내) of the group. He/she is expected to be polite, obedient, and respectful to the people order than him/her. Once labelled the maknae (막내), he/she will perform everything his/her elders ask him/her to do. The elders will take care of their maknae (막내) in return.

Don’t be surprised when the first question a Korean asks you when you meet is “몇 살이에요” (myeot salieyo?/how old are you?). This is the main means of establishing where they are in the conversation, since Korean verbs are distinguished based on age and politeness (whether or not they conjugate the verbs as if they’re talking to someone older, someone of the same age, or someone younger).

Addressing people older than you differs based on gender.

If you’re a male, you address older males as 형 (hyung); and older females as 누나 (noona).

If you’re a female, you address older males as 오빠 (oppa); and older females as 언니 (unni).

Basic Dining Etiquette - Korean chopsticks and utensils are longer than its Chinese and Japanese counterparts for a reason. Don’t lift up your bowl to eat your rice or noodles. Absolutely no slurping either.

Korean Table Setup - there is a setup that all Korean tables follow (from the left side to the right side): rice bowl and banchan (side dishes), main dish, spoon, chopstick, then soup. Hot foods, such as soup, are always placed on the right; while cold foods are placed on the left. Banchan, and kimchi, are placed behind the sauces by the rice bowl.

Non-verbal Politeness - don’t ever give or receive anything with one hand. It always has to be done with both hands - if not with both hands, make sure to have your non-receiving hand hold your receiving arm. This goes for shaking hands and paying as well.

4. Fashion

Need I say more? Don’t ever leave your place and walk the streets of Seoul dressed like an American in sweat pants and t-shirt. Not only will you get the disapproving looks of the natives, but you will feel very foreign and different. Everybody knows how much the Koreans love to take care of their looks. From skin care to plastic surgery. If you take the time to pay attention to your surroundings in Seoul, you will notice how much mirrors there are: from restaurants, to noraebang (노래방) rooms, and even in the most random places like the subway stations. Hey! Gotta look good while riding the subway, right?

Korean culture revolves around being fashionable at all times. Don’t be surprised when you see guys wearing makeup, the young Koreans with their hairs dyed, or natives dressing in layers even under the hot and humid summer weather.

It won’t be long until you start wanting to join in the fashion game and walk around Gangnam feeling like you belong in Gangnam.

I have mentioned and talked about this extensively in multiple blogs, such as in “As the Sun Sets - The Final Golden Hours”, but South Koreans have an obsession with pastel shirts with a random English word written across the front side. Reddit User Mr_Bakgwei talked about this East Asian culture of how English looks “cool” in a thread asking the culture behind random English words. The user talks about someone he knows from Chaozhou, a city in Guangdong, China, who makes millions of shirts with random English words, despite quitting school after the ninth grade and does not speak a word in English.

Certain letters are considered “better looking than others, such as J, P, B, Y, and U”. If the word looks “cool” enough to be in a shirt, but contains the “less good looking” letters such as I and O, the designers would swap it out to a more acceptable-looking letter, such as J, T, and V. This is very prominent in shirts in East Asia, where South Korea lies, since you’ll find shirts that will say “Geometry”,  “Alaska Whales”, “Paragraph”, and “Babylonian”.

Initially, I find it very hilarious whenever I see someone wearing a shirt that randomly says “Veracity” or “Cheese”, but I do understand the hype surrounding random English words on shirts. Los Angeles does have a culture equivalent to this one where people wear clothes that have random French words written on it. Words like “Bonjour” and “Merci” are printed across tote bags and laptop covers. Francophilia, the love for all-things French, is a billion-dollar industry in the Western world. Stores like Forever 21 and Anthropologie would sell t-shirts in ridiculously high prices just because it says the phrase “C’est la vie” with a sketch of the Eiffel Tower on the corner. So, this East Asian culture on having random English words printed is not so new and foreign after all. I was just able to be in the feet of the French people when they see Americans wearing a shirt with words that mean so random to them.

I did go back home to Los Angeles with a couple shirts with random English words written though! I caved in to the culture, since some shirts look so nice. I bought clothes that said “Summer vibes” in English and “がんばって” (ganbatte) in Japanese, which is the equivalent to “Fighting” or “I wish you good luck!” with a knitted corgi on the top left side of my shirt. Japanese characters appeal to the Americans too, by the way. My friend in Korean class was wearing a shirt designed with an ad for a squid restaurant written in all Japanese today - so this culture is not just centered around English and French.

I walked around Seoul wearing those shirts feeling like a native.

When in Rome....

5. Cleanliness

Fun fact: public trash cans are a rarity in Seoul, so you better hold on to that trash of yours until the next convenience store. An American reading this would probably think that since there are little to no trash cans in the city, people will be littering every chance they get, but he/she is more than wrong. On top of Seoul natives worrying how they look, they also take a lot of time making sure their city is as clean and tidy. It’s very rare to see cigarette butts or bags of chips on the sidewalks, and this was something I really appreciated while being in South Korea.

Fun fact: Hongdae (pictured above) is always crowded, but it’s never as dirty as Itaewon (pictured below), which is the area in Seoul that houses most of the expatriates and foreigners. There is an unspoken stereotype on how foreigners are very dirty and like to litter a lot.

To further show how clean and organized South Korea is with their trash, in some cases there are trash cans in Seoul that are meant to separate everything.

For example, in McDonald’s in Anam (first picture below), there are seven areas to place your trash: bottles, leftover food, remaining juice and soda, soda cups, plastic lids, straws, and utensils. The bibimbap cup place I frequent in Anam has four areas (second picture below): one for the bibimbap cup, one for the leftovers, one for the water cup, and one for the utensils. In some cases, such as the Dokkaebi Night Market (도깨비야시장) in Banpo Hangang Park, there will be people getting paid to separate the trash for you. Just hand them your tray and cups, and the rest is history.

I find this culture so hard to adjust to - not that I litter myself.

That’s all I will be talking about in this blog, since I plan to expand on other cultural practices that are very unique to Seoul in the next posts:

“Tteokbokki Juseyo!” - an introduction to Korean street food

“The Visuals and the Vibes” - xenophobia, cafe culture, PDA, and the K-entertainment culture

“The Art of Coming Home” - my reverse culture shock experience

Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

[seoulfulcity]

August 31, 2018: Frontier House

So you’re going to Korea University...

The biggest worry I had was choosing the right place to stay and with enough browsing, I figured out that CJ International was my best bet: it's a new building, has a kitchen, refrigerator, and a gym within the building.

The other options like Frontier House, Global House, and Anam Hall didn't have those amenities, so the people staying in those dorms were always eating out, unless they knew someone in CJ International who can refrigerate their leftovers for them.

Although CJ International was the best option, there was another factor that made me hesitant to take on CJ.

It was up the CJ hill.

There are two ways to get to CJ from campus - the steep hill or the Frontier stairs, and they're both not good options.

The steep Global hill: the steep hill is accessed from behind Incheon Memorial Hall which eventually leads to Global House. The picture below was taken on top of the Global hill. The gray building on the very right side is the Global House; the beige building in the middle is the Anam Hall, and the gray building on the very left is the Frontier House. The bottom of the Global hill lies the Frontier House and from there, you have to climb up another steeper hill to get to CJ International.

The Frontier stairs: a 112-step stairs that are accessible from Anam-dong, which the entire campus of Korea University is situated in. If you plan to opt out from the Frontier stairs, the Frontier hill is accessible by continuing to walk up the street, to the left of the stairs. Ask anyone who has dormed in Korea University what they hated the most. I am very sure they'll mention "the stairs" as their number one.

The Frontier hill takes you to the CU convenience store, which serves as the fork in the road leading to the CJ hill on the left side and the continuation of Frontier hill to the right side.

On the way to CJ International are Men and Women's dormitory buildings reserved only for the Korean students; so if you're reading this in English as an international student, chances are, you won't be applying for either one of these dorms.

Continuing up the Frontier hill at the end are both Anam Hall (to your left) and Frontier House (to your right). Those staying in Global House have to climb up a third hill past Anam Hall and Frontier House.

If you ask me, I think Frontier is the better option because the amount of people staying in CJ complaining everyday is insane. Anam-dong and the CU convenience store are more easily accessible from Frontier and Anam Hall than they are to CJ International and Global House, since they're both high up in the hall on opposite ends.

I stayed in Frontier House, since CJ International filled up very quickly. Enroll early if you want a CJ room. Most of my CJ friends enrolled from February to April for the summer program starting in June.

Frontier House is separated into two buildings. When facing the stairs and Anam-dong, to your right is the women's building and to the left is the men's building.

There are three main rules in Frontier House: no drinking, no eating, and nobody of the opposite gender.

People usually get food delivered into Frontier, and most of the time, the Resident Assistant and the security at the lobby let them through, and sometimes they don't. If the RA or the security stops them from going up with their food, they ask the students to eat it outside Frontier; soju on the other hand can be sneaked in a backpack.

But since genders can't mix in the dorms, a lot of the students meet outside Frontier to eat their takeouts and drink soju with their friends of the opposite gender. Outside Frontier is everybody's meetup place, no matter which dorm they're staying in: CJ International, Global House, or Anam Hall.

The rooms in Frontier House have the same blueprint as the other dormitory buildings, though with two beds on opposite ends of the wall. Each area of the room gets their own desk and their side of the closet.

Here's a YouTube video of a quick tour of the dormitory: Frontier House Dorm | Korea University

What to bring: your own hamper, trash can, hangers, bath towels, bathroom floor mats, and basic shower necessities.

Since I stayed in the summer, a pillowcase, a Korea University blanket, and a bedding were provided for free, though students usually pay about ₩20,000 during the semester.

Each room gets their own Wi-Fi, if you're wondering. The Wi-Fi user and pass codes are taped at the lobby where the security is - it's best to take pictures of all the pass codes, since there's a high chance you'll be lodging in one of your friend's rooms at some point in the semester. Save them the time yelling out all 12 numbers whenever you visit them.

At the start of each semester, previous students usually leave their hangers, pans, hampers, and trash cans for the next tenants to use. They're available at Anam Hall while supplies last.

Frontier House has a lounge and a balcony on each floor where students can socialize, meet up to do group work, or get some fresh air.

Washing and drying rooms are in basement 2 (B2) next to the reading lounge a big room with many long tables to do quiet school work in. They're both accessible 24/7, though the washer and dryer don't work from 3-6 AM.

You need a pre-paid card to use the washer and dryer for ₩1,000. The machine is right in front of the elevator once you step out. A 30-minute wash is ₩1,000 while with the same price gives you 50 minutes of drying. Just follow the instructions given. Don't worry, there's an English translation. There's a vending machine for a detergent and dryer sheet together for ₩500.

Since Frontier House and Anam Hall are found in the lowest point of the CJ and Global Hills, the two dormitory buildings have the easiest and fastest access to Anam-dong and Anam Station. Anam Hall also has the cafeteria where students can purchase meal plans, though the cafeteria is accessible for three buildings, except CJ, without having to go down a hill. Those staying in Global House can access Anam Hall through one flight of stairs just past the security guard.

You guys have no idea how bad the hills are in this campus. I suggest you really avoid this because you're going to have to climb up these hills everyday.

To get to campus from Frontier, you can go up Global hill to access the back of Incheon Memorial Hall or down the Frontier stairs or the Frontier hill into Anam-dong. Those living in CJ International have the option to climb up a different 100-step stairs instead of walking up both Frontier and Global hills; or they could go down Frontier hill into Anam-dong.

From the Frontier stairs and Frontier hill, everything else is accessible: PC bang (PC방), restaurants, Anam Station, Anam nightlife, convenience stores, and all other entrances to Korea University.

To access the closest entrance to Korea University in Anam-dong (without hills), keep walking straight until you see the place with bright yellow sign, just in front of the cheap kimbap restaurant all the locals frequent:

Turn to your left on the yellow sign, then turn right on the first turn, away from the 7/11 store. You will see Korea University then.

Compared to the Global hill, this way has no hills at all, though it takes longer. This route takes about ten to fifteen minutes, while entering the campus from Global hill takes less than ten minutes.

In the end, I believe Frontier House is just more accessible to everything - it's closer to Anam-dong and is at the bottom of both steep hills. Plus, you get a great view of the area.

It is also the largest dormitory on campus, so there's a high chance that you and your friends will be staying in the same building.

Read: it's easier to hang and socialize in each other's rooms at night without having to break sweat by leaving the building and climbing up hills.

Have a great time in Korea University! Go tigers!

[seoulfulcity]

August 4, 2018: As the Sun Sets - Bad Choices Make Good Stories

They really do.

안녕하세요,

Saturday, August 4, 2018: Valentino woke me up with a text to go to his room to meet his younger brother before he finally checks out.

It was noon on a Saturday and I forced myself to get up and shower before meeting up with Matt on the second floor and headed to Valentino's room, where two huge luggage laid flat on the floor and Valentino's once-messy desk was slowly becoming empty.

Valentino, the guy whose vibe I really enjoyed in the Group 3 chat when we both landed in Incheon International Airport at the same time; the same Valentino who I had dinner with the first night in Seoul, together with Minki-hyung (민기형), Sophie, and the rest; the same Valentino who brought Matt into my room after our first dinner together whom I really did not expect to be really close with. Matt and Valentino were my Seoul mates from the very beginning, and it was that morning when we were finally separating.

Matt wasn't showing it, but both Valentino and I knew he was going to cry. Being from Maryland, he was going to be across the country from me and Valentino, where both of us live by Los Angeles. I wasn't sad that Valentino was leaving with his family for a Japanese trip, but I was just realizing that the life of the party would be gone.

Matt and I wanted to eat at the chicken steak place one last time, but Lina messages the chat that she wanted her final meal in Seoul to be naengmyeon; so, Matt and I agreed to give into her needs since we still had the rest of the day to have chicken steak.

After saying goodbye to Valentino, we headed outside Frontier to meet with Bonnie, Lina, and Jordan. Valentino managed to finish packing and caught up with us outside Frontier to introduce us to his parents, before we left for naengmyeon.

Florence, Joyce, and Leonard caught up with us at the naengmyeon place a little later. We ordered bibim-naengmyeon (비빔냉면) for everybody and extra meat. We made fun of Matt wearing the same shirt he had been wearing ever since KUISC started in June. Matt, who always took broke naps the entire day just so he can save money and have enough energy throughout the entire night; Matt, who would go MIA in the chat until someone mentions an event with free food and be would arrive sweating after running in the humid Seoul weather; Matt, who wore the exact same black shirt that said "Bad Choices Make Good Stories". In most, if not all, of our pictures together, he would be wearing that exact same black shirt.

That shirt had seen a lot of fun times being in Seoul, and there was not anything else that could describe our experience in the city together: from drinking soju and yelling at a noraebang (노래방) until 6 AM to being drunk and lost in Itaewon and Gangnam at 4 AM.

Bad choices make good stories. The shirt is definitely right about that.

After having naengmyeon, we walked around Anam to buy Korean cosmetics to take home. Our Singaporeans stopped by a milk tea place to get teh tarik, while Jordan got calamansi juice. The group separated after and headed back to Frontier, while Florence, Lina, and I decided to take the subway to Myeongdong to buy our extra luggage. We were planning to transfer to Line 4 headed to Myeongdong Station when we saw a store in Dongdaemun Station selling luggage. Lina and I managed to get a rolling suitcase and a hiking backpack, respectively, for ₩10,000 each.

Since we got our bags, we decided not to go to Myeongdong and go around Kondae instead, since I found out that Super Junior's brother, Jongjin, was opening a café in Kondae called Café Armorie. Florence said she knew the area around called Hwayang, even though we had no address. We visited Yesung's Mouse Rabbit to ask the workers about Café Armorie but they didn't know either. We were planning to head back to Anam when Minki-hyung (민기형) messaged us that be and Wendelyn were on their way to Kondae to eat, so we decided to stay and meet with them at Subway instead.

Time was running out for Lina though. It was 5 PM and she needed to be at Incheon International Airport by 8 PM, so she gave us a final hug and left her lipstick mark on our arms before heading out.

Lina, the girl who read Angel-in-Us Coffee as "Angel Anus Coffee", followed Valentino. Now our circle was officially getting smaller.

Minki-hyung (민기형) wanted to eat at Yoogane (유가네), which served his favorite chicken galbi (닭갈비), so Wendelyn, Florence, and I sat down with him. Just as when the food arrived:

"yesung1106 posted a picture" I opened his Instagram page and it was a photo of his fuzzy slippers with the location: Mouse Rabbit

"Florence-" I stood up. "I might want to go to Mouse Rabbit right now". Florence stood up, hesitant to come with me and run to Mouse Rabbit, which was a few blocks away. "But... but the food just got her-", she paused. "Whatever. Let's go".

We ran down the stairs of Yoogane, past the sex store with an emcee yelling at the people passing by to get a free condom and visit the place, and across Kondae to Mouse Rabbit where Florence and I scoured all three floors of Yesung's café.

"It's probably an old picture that he just posted," she tried to reason. "I hate your bias," I tell her after flicking a magazine titled "Maps" on a desk with Yesung's face on it, before shamefully heading back to Yoogane.

After the meal, we walked to Starcity to buy some groceries; I had a list of souvenirs that my friend in Korean class back in Los Angeles wanted, and I managed to grab a few chocolates and snacks but that was all I could find. Sorry, Vallery.

Korean supermarket culture is also getting free samples of the most random food, such as ramen, naengmyeon, dakgangjeong, and so much more.

After paying for my chocolate, I placed it in a large cardboard box and carried the whole thing in the subway and the 1017 bus back to Anam. That was my last bus ride in Seoul.

Minki-hyung (민기형) also told me that 144 in Gangnam and Dongdaemun could take me back to Anam like I was going to need that information for the next few weeks. Sad to say that I was actually leaving the next day, hyung (형).

It was 9 PM and we headed to the chicken place in-front of the unlimited meat and soju restaurant, but we had to leave since it was hot and stuffy in there; so, we settled for Norang Fried Chicken (노랑통닭), where the bell sound is someone saying "ding dong" in an adorable way. Bonnie, Jordan, Leonard, Deedee, Cara, Matt, Joyce and Hyungki-hyung (형기형) joined us in the night.

Valentino took a subway from his hotel in Dongdaemun to Anam to give everybody caps with California written on it - a souvenir from his mother. Valentino was actually staying in Dongdaemun to tour his family around before heading to Tokyo, I just found out during dinner. After we were finished with our chicken, Davy stopped by with his luggage before saying goodbye.

"What's in the box?" Everybody asked me all night.

I unwrapped my huge cardboard box to reveal one pack of chocolate - everybody rolled their eyes. Typical me.

As a small person, Cara tried to fit herself in the box and managed to do so, so she cheered the group one final time by pretending to be a random cardboard box in the middle of the street and started moving to scare the random Koreans passing by.

I needed to finish packing with the new hiking backpack I purchased with Lina and Florence in Dongdaemun earlier, so I had to leave and say goodbye to everybody. I was planning to leave early morning with Peter to Incheon International Airport, so I was certain this was the last time I'll see my Seoul family.

Water hell! I never expected to make so many friends, but it had been great, everybody. Thank you.

Sunday, August 5, 2018, midnight: Even though it was very dark outside, I stopped to take pictures of every corner of Anam on my way back to Frontier. These were the last times I would see these places. La Vida, Bar Gotham, GS25 - the same places I saw during my second day in Anam when we ate at the now-closed-down barbeque place. I passed by the intersection from Anam Station Exit 3 that signaled that we were headed home after a long night out in Chunja; also walked past the same GS25 that fed into our alcoholic cravings in the middle of the night since the CU convenience store by Frontier didn't serve alcohol; the loud cicadas that always made me fearful of taking the Frontier stairs up, resorting to me walking up the hills instead; and the ugly humid Seoul water that never failed to open up all my pores and made my entire body sticky.

All of it. This was the final time I get to appreciate all of it.

I got back to my room in Frontier to my roommate shoving the final shirts into his luggage, since he was waking up at 5 AM to check out. I laid all four of my luggage on my bed and shoved as much as I could in and managed to fit everything with no problem, which I was appreciative of.

Matt and Jordan were also leaving at 5 AM, so I texted Matt if I could hang out with him and walk him outside Frontier before he leaves to ICN. My flight was not until 8 PM, but we had to check out by 11 AM that Sunday, so we all needed to be out of Frontier before noon. I planned to leave with Peter to the airport at 9 AM and just sleep at the departures area until my flight.

Sunday, August 5, 2018, 2 AM: I met with Matt at the first floor lobby since he was just coming back from Anam, and to my surprise - everybody was walking towards the men's Frontier building.

"We're all going to Matt's room. It's the last day, what would they do? Kick us all out?"

Wendelyn, Cara, Florence, Matt, Minki-hyung (민기형), Davy, Joyce, Bonnie, Leonard, Jordan, and I managed to fit ourselves in Matt's dorm where we played more drinking games, like "Give me tempo. Ready go".

I thought Davy was on his way to the airport at midnight, but he wanted to stay with us as much as he could, since his flight wasn't until later in the day.

I messaged Peter on Kakao to join us; after he finished packing, he knocked on Matt's door, in which Cara asks "who is it?"

"Cara!" Jordan blurted out. "I mean, Carl!" The group laughed. Carl?

Oh, yeah. I forgot the biggest offense is bringing someone of the opposite gender into Frontier.

But, no. The person behind the door was Peter, and he was more than willing to play drinking games with us with Matt's remaining soju mixed with juice, American penny, seaweed, almonds, and chips as punishment.

I really wanted to say goodbye to Salli and Carol that night, but they were out in Chunja with their friends, and I could not afford the time to be drinking in my final hours in Seoul; so, Carol walked up the Frontier stairs to meet me outside to say her goodbyes. She was staying in Seoul until December and was sad to see everybody, but her, leave.

At 4 AM, Matt showered and was ready to leave with Jordan. Minki-hyung (민기형), Bonnie, Leonard, and I waited at the second floor lounge for everybody to come. Minki-hyung (민기형) felt warm, so he opened the balcony door, felt the humidity, and closed it.

Buzz. Buzz. There was a buzzing on the floor.

Minki-hyung (민기형) looked down and saw a cicada hugging his foot and started yelling. I got scared and ran back to Matt's room screaming "Cicada!" which people heard as "Security!"

Cara jumped under the bed, while Florence, Wendelyn and Joyce leaped into the bathroom as I was laughing on the bad, unable to say the word "cicada" properly.

It was a hilarious final moment together since my fear of cicadas and the misunderstanding lead Cara, Florence, and Joyce hiding in Matt's room. Jordan could not get out of bed from laughing.

Sunday, August 5, 2018, 4:17 AM: We said our goodbyes to Matt and Jordan before they headed out of Frontier. The rest of the group headed back to their rooms and goshiwon, knowing that this was the final time we'd see each other.

There goes Matt and Jordan.

I went back to my dorm just in time for my roommate to be leaving. I helped him out of the room and jumped right in bed to get a few hours of sleep before checking our at 9 AM. The first time in the last two months that I had an entire room all for myself.

Sunday, August 5, 2018, 7 AM: My alarm went off.

This was it. I was checking out today.

I showered and got ready. I went straight to the CU convenience store down the Frontier hill to get two rice balls, two samgak kimbap, and a doshirak tray to take with me to the airport. Even with about two hours of sleep, I was very much awake and energized, knowing that I had the whole day to rest after arriving to the airport. I had four overweight luggage with me, so I was terrified with the outcome of the check-in. I really did not want to pay an extra ₩100,000.

I checked out, turned in both my key card and the AC remote, left my luggage at the lobby downstairs, and waited for Peter in his room, who was finishing up his packing. We both went downstairs and I ordered a taxi to pick us up and drop us off to Seoul Station to take a train to Incheon International Airport. Downstairs, I bumped into Ben, who wanted to wish me a safe trip back to Los Angeles, since he was planning to stay in Seoul for a couple more days in an Airbnb with Anthony and Bonnie.

Even though my flight was at 8 PM, Seoul Station lets those flying with Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Jeju Air to check in 24 hours before the departure; and since I was flying with Asiana Airlines, I was able to check in before 11 AM, rather than wait until 5 PM for the official Asiana Airlines check-in at the airport to open. I checked in my backpack and my biggest rolling bag, while the receptionist didn't ask about my hand carry - so I lucked out. I was able to bring two hand carry instead of one. I ate my doshirak meal as I waited for Peter to check in. My boarding pass slipped into the hole between the chairs with no way of getting it out, so Asiana had to print another one for me. They had me go through immigration and right after, Peter and I were on the AREX train from Seoul Station to Incheon International Airport Terminal 2. While on the train, Lina texted us that she should have bought more cigarettes to Singapore, since the machines didn't detect it and charged her a high tax.

When we reached Incheon International Airport, Peter and I bumped into Deedee and we went through security together. I was stopped since the guard noticed I had two hand carry instead of one and weighed it. 8 kilograms excess!

She escorted me to the Asiana Airlines booth where the receptionist told me it was going to be expensive and I should try to remove extra weight.

I'm sorry, I have all clothes in both my hand carry, so that would be a problem.

I saw the security guard was distracted, so I ran inside with both my luggage and managed to go through check without anyone questioning about my hand carry.

Don't do what I did, fellow reader. That was a mere stroke of luck.

I met with Peter and Deedee inside, where Peter bought Korean alcohol for his uncle in Beijing. Peter was laying over in Beijing before flying to Hong Kong to travel around with Darren and Angela before flying back to Beijing to stay with his family for two weeks before flying back to New York just in time for classes to start on August 27, while Deedee was flying back home to Shanghai.

While inside, we met Jean and her boyfriend, who were taking the same flight with Deedee; but since we were all together, we decided to take a final picture with the same bear I took a picture with the first time I landed in Seoul back in May.

Peter and I said goodbye to Deedee and Jean before I introduced Peter to the Asiana lounge in Gate 42. We lingered there for half an hour until 2 PM when we went to Gate 30 so I could send him off to Beijing.

That was the final Korea University Summer International Campus goodbye.

I went back to the Asiana lounge and met up with Simi. I ate a rice ball, then took a nap and woke up just in time to catch my final sunset in Seoul.

Water hell!

It had been great these last two months. I had the chance to mingle and experience a whole new world on my own and really learned a lot of Hong Kongese, Macanese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture, history, and language. I came to China not knowing how to write any Chinese characters, and I left the country much more knowledgeable with the Chinese languages.

Japan made me appreciate its history so much more than I did back in Los Angeles. It is a country with a beautiful language, a magnificent culture, and wonderful people. My time in Japan was nothing short of wonder and excitement and I hope for you, fellow reader, to have your own adventure around the country one day.

Then, South Korea. It would be naïve of me to say I planned to experience Seoul on my own, since I did expect to meet a couple friends throughout my stay; though, I did not expect to always be with 15+ people wherever I went. There was never a dull and lonely moment in Seoul - every time I took a trip down at a convenience store, everybody would go in front of Frontier to socialize with me; every time somebody was planning to get a quick bite, the whole Kakao group would show up.

I really did not expect to venture around Seoul with a group as big as ours, and everybody contributed in making it worthwhile. Our inside jokes were understood among all 15+ of us - nobody was left behind. Nobody. Everybody had a purpose in making our days and nights memorable.

I love you all so much, and I really hope to see you all in the future.

To my Singaporean loves: Florence, Jon, Joyce, Lina, Pong, and Wendelyn.

To my Australian mates: Adrian, Anthony, Ben, and Bonnie.

To my American homies: Angela, Cara, Cindy, Darren, Harley, Jordan, Matt, Peter, Salli, and Valentino.

To my Chinese family: Davy, Deedee, Erin, and Esther.

To my Korean brothers: Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), Hyungki-hyung (형기형), and Minki-hyung (민기형).

And to Carolina, Leonard, Sophie, and Thai.

Thank you for always accompanying me and making sure I was never alone the entire time in Seoul. Thank you for letting me be part of your memories within the boundaries of Anam.

Thank you for introducing me to your cultures and letting me appreciate and celebrate our differences.

Thank you for all the "butterfly" the "water hell", and the "Hongdae now?"

Thank you so much for taking part in making my 2018 summer the most memorable and life-changing experience.

And thank you for allowing fate to bring all of us to each other and I hope fate lets us bump into each other in the near future.

Thank you for everything.

And for good times' sake... WATER HELL!

정말 감사합니다,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. Joyce put together a video of our time in Seoul: KUISC SUMMER 2018 - WATERHELL

[seoulfulcity]

August 3, 2018: As the Sun Sets - In Banpo

Golden hour is over; we threw our caps in the air during the evening of graduation; now we were watching our final sunsets in Banpo Hangang Park.

Night is falling and our time in Seoul is ending.

안녕하세요,

Friday, August 3, 2018: Water hell!

I was supposed to go do a tour around the Blue House (청와대/Cheong Wa Dae), the official residence of South Korea's president, Moon Jaein, at 2 PM. We were supposed to meet in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace at 1:30, and my plan was to go earlier and tour around the palace, since it's already been six weeks, yet I still needed to visit the most popular tourist spot in Seoul.

I woke up at 11 AM, just in time for Davy's Cheong Wa Dae tour to start, and checked my phone to see how hot it was.

"Feels like 114 degrees".

Well, that was the end of my day. I suppose I could always visit the palace on my next visit in Seoul. If it survived thousands of years, I was certain it will survive just a few years more.

My phone lit up with messages from Kakao Talk.

Our Naengmyeon Homies group chat was living up to its name. Valentino wanted to leave at 11:45 AM as he was still finishing his draft to send to the KUISC director in regards to Minki-hyung (민기형) not getting his certificate for participating in the buddy program. They said that since he missed the Boryeong Mud Festival (he told them he was sick, but we know he went to the booze cruise with us), he lost participation points, therefore rendering him unable to receive a certificate. Of course Minki-hyung (민기형) was very upset, so as a group, we started sending the KUISC director emails proving why Minki-hyung (민기형) deserved that certificate and the Best Buddy award that was given during graduation.

Even though Minki-hyung (민기형) didn't win Best Buddy award, the whole auditorium knew how popular and special he is to our group since we were the only ones to cheer for him every time his face showed up on the KUISC highlights video.

Valentino said Cara woke up vomiting but was still willing to get bibim-naengmyeon with us; so, we met up in front of Frontier House and went to the usual naengmyeon place, just by the cheap kimbap restaurant.

During our naengmyeon meal, Cara nonchalantly grabbed the mini trash bin on our table and vomited. Only I and a Korean lady next to us noticed her vomiting. Valentino, who was sitting next to Cara, looked over the table next to her to see the Korean motioning him to check on Cara with her eyes.

After the meal, we decided to mix our credit cards on the table and pick one card to pay the bill with, and I didn't realized I whipped out my Frontier key card; Cara also did the same, but after we left the restaurant, she noticed that she forgot her Frontier key card on the table and she pushed me to ask if they have it on the counter, which they did.

Water hell! Did I just have a déjà vu moment?

On the way back to Frontier, we talked about how much we would miss Sulbing and authentic bingsu in Seoul, so we stopped by Anouk, a bingsu place just next to the Frontier stairs. We got the God of Bingsu for ₩18,000 with green tea, black choco, and red cherry flavors.

While waiting for our bingsu, we started creating memes from last night's drinking videos, such as Joyce saying "water hell" really fast.

We would make terrible memes incorporating "water" and "hell" together so much that Hyungki-hyung (형기형) asked the group chat:

Hyungki-hyung (형기형): wth is water hell

In which Cara corrected him with "water hell is water hell"

Our table erupted in laughter.

Matt also took a picture of the sign in Anouk directing where to get water and attached the word "hell" by it, and also posted a link to an apparent email he sent to the KUISC director in the group chat, just for it to be redirected in a never ending page of "water hell" repeated over and over.

Water hell, right?

We went back to our dorms and I sat on the lounge in the third floor just to cool off and I started realizing how empty it was becoming. It used to be loud and busy, with Ben's music playing in one end of the floor and guys singing across the other end.

Naengmyeon and bingsu left me tired, so I slept through the rest of the afternoon.

I woke up at 7 PM to the group chat in Banpo Hangang Park for the Dokkaebi Night Market (도깨비야시장). We've been talking about going to Dokkaebi Night Market since we saw the posters in Line 6 during the first weeks in KUISC yet nobody had decided when and where to go, since the night market was every weekend in four places: Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Cheonggyecheon Stream (Mojeongyo Bridge-Gwangtonggyo Bridge), Yeouido Hangang Park, and Banpo Hangang Park.

I wanted to go to Yeouido Hangang Park since it's the biggest out of the four and I haven't been to the park and took a picture with the "I Seoul You" sign; but Minki-hyung (민기형) insisted we go to Banpo Hangang Park because he's never been there and it's still as lively even though there's less people than Yeouido Hangang Park. This was going to be our last hangout in Seoul together.

I arrived at Banpo Hangang Park at 9 PM and bought pork tteokbokki and earl gray chocolate latte at Oppa truck with Carolina before heading to the center of the park just next to the Banpo Bridge with her, Matt, Florence, Minki-hyung (민기형), Jordan, Harley, Peter, Darren, Cindy, Angela, Lina, Maite, and Davy. Angela's roommate was kind enough to let us borrow a picnic blanket, so we sat down and played music with Matt's speaker.

Of course, since iKON just released their mini album Continue the day before, I blasted "죽겠다 (Killing Me)" during the night.

After being six weeks in Seoul, I never had the chance to try dakgangjeong (닭강정/sweet and spicy chicken), so I went back to buy a sweet dakgangjeong (닭강정) at Double 8.

Wendelyn joined us after; Valentino and Cara wanted to join with us too, but being too far from Frontier made them not want to go and asked us to meet with us around Anam later instead.

Darren, Angela, Cindy, Harley, Jordan and I went to the opposite side of the bridge to Sebitseom (세빛섬), which are artificial islands with different centers and buildings, such as for arcade games, performing arts, etc.

We took the bus and subway going home, where Davy taught me and Lina some tricks to work the Rubik's cube, although we both did not pick up any new knowledge.

Erin messaged us that she was giving away her remaining 10+ SF9's Sensuous albums from when she bought 40 albums to try and get a fan sign pass to meet the boy group.

When we reached Anam, everybody dispersed but Wendelyn, Florence, Matt, and I headed to McDonald's to meet with Valentino and Cara. Peter volunteered to pick up the box of SF9 albums at CJ International from Erin and kept it in his room until I picked it up later that night. We stopped by the arcade place where Wendelyn was trying to win a white bear plush. There was a guy next to us on the Pokémon claw machine trying to get bulbasaur, which was on the verge of falling. He left to get his money changed and I tried my luck to get the Pokémon plush - which I did.

My first ever claw machine win.

Matt had to drag us out of the arcade place because we were so close to spending a lot of money to get Wendelyn her white bear.

At McDonald's, I had Valentino sign my taegukgi (태극기) since he was leaving in the morning to reunite with his family in Seoul, before leaving for Japan.

They all headed straight to a noraebang (노래방), but I wasn't worried about not going because I would still see them the next day. I went back to my dorm to start packing and picked up the SF9 box from Peter, which included a Blackpink poster and BAP's Ego album. Thanks Erin!

Sophie wanted one copy of the album for each version, while Valentino, Matt, and Cara each wanted one for their own. Carolina asked to keep the remaining albums so she could mail them back home in Brazil.

I finished packing my main luggage within minutes, just for me to finally realize that I needed to buy another one. I was so terrified that I might be charged excess because the main luggage only had souvenirs and extra materials I collected and bought from all the way in Hong Kong two months ago. I really needed to get an extra bag to fit in my clothes.

It was barely 2 AM and everybody was still at the noraebang (노래방) and Lina wanted to meet up with me in front of Frontier so we could head to meet with the group together; but first, she needed to pick up a few things from Maite at the Global House. Maite was leaving in the morning and gave us a Don Q Pasion Puerto Rican rum since she couldn't take it back with her to Puerto Rico.

Sophie. Thai. Jon. Maite. Four gone, more to go.

Lina needed to stack up on the cheap cigarettes in Seoul for her to take home to Singapore, in which she bought a total of 21 packs from two convenience stores. The poor guys working probably had so much questions by the way their eyes reacted when Lina told them to give her 21 packs with her basic Korean skills.

Her biggest worry is getting them through the Singaporean customs since the country places a very expensive tax on cigarettes.

So, Lina and I were on our way to the noraebang (노래방), when we bumped into Darren, who was headed home and invited him to join us.

"I can't. Maybe next time?" he said.

"There will never be a next time," Lina responded. That phrase hit me how close we are to perhaps never seeing each other again.

That was the last time I would ever see Darren.

At the noraebang (노래방), Matt and Cara were screaming love songs, while rocking their head back and forth as if they were hosting a screamo concert. Wendelyn, Valentino, Asra, Salli, Joyce, Florence, and Peter were sitting around Matt and Cara, while drinking soju bottles and Maite's Puerto Rican rum. Salli was so excited to pour everyone a cup of the rum, since, as another Puerto Rican, it was her favorite alcoholic drink.

We all knew that it was going to our last noraebang (노래방) session together, so when we ended our final one with the most iconic song of the last six weeks.

김범수의 "보고 싶다"/Kim Beomsu's "Bogo Shipda/I Miss You".

Matt, Tino, Cara, and Peter hailed a taxi cab to take them back to Frontier House since they were feeling lazy walking back up the Frontier stairs (and the taxi cab was only ₩3,000), while Lina and I walked on the way back. She picked up extra cardboard boxes so she could place her excess luggage in it and ask Florence to mail them to her home in Singapore.

It was four in the morning on Saturday, August 4. I was leaving South Korea the next day.

When I returned to my dorm, Matt messaged us a copy of the email he sent to the KUISC director regarding Minki-hyung (민기형)'s buddy certificate, which showcased how much he went above and beyond his responsibilities to make sure we had the best six weeks to the point that he wasn't even our buddy anymore. He was our friend who had partaken in every single adventure with us in KUISC and outside the program.

Minki-hyung (민기형) welcomed all of us (group 3 or not) into the circle and we really appreciate him immensely.

The group chat became emotional and started reminiscing the funny memories we had created with Minki-hyung (민기형) in the last six weeks. We really hope to reunite with him one day, but until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. The homecoming event for the students who just came back from studying abroad is tomorrow, so I hope to use that event as a means to relive the good times and as a reminder to never forget everyone's contribution to making this year's summer worthwhile.

P.P.S. I hope to finish writing and post the fourth and final blog of the "As the Sun Sets" series, which is the last blog of my entire study abroad adventures within the next few days. I plan to follow up with a few blogs on the homecoming event and some informational blogs regarding the study abroad program.

[seoulfulcity]

August 2, 2018: As the Sun Sets - For Graduation Night

Libertas, Justitia, Veritas. 자유, 정의, 진리. Night was falling and it was finally graduation night for the Korea University International Summer Campus six-week program.

안녕하세요,

Thursday, August 2, 2018: I didn't realize there was a limit for how many can sign up for graduation because there were people on the group chat who didn't sign up - Valentino, Matt, Jordan, Cara, among others; and they had to physically go to the KU ISC office to write their names down.

I woke up at 11 AM with messages from Thai asking me to eat lunch him since he was leaving tonight to catch the final subway at midnight for his 6:30 AM flight to Hanoi the next day, Friday. He wanted to go have a coffee in Gangnam since he said he never had the chance to walk around and explore the place - so, I looked up good cafés around Garoso-gil, a street in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam that's lined with cafés of different themes and aesthetic. I initially chose Remicone, which offers ice cream with cotton candy and was planning to café hop right after.

But, Joyce had a different idea. She had found Café Vincennes in Seodaemun which offered breakfast food and coffee. So, Thai and I got ready and planned to meet up in of Frontier before heading down to Anam Station to meet with Joyce. Since Thai stayed in Global Anam House, he had to finish getting ready earlier than me since he had to climb down the hill from Global Anam to Frontier. I put on my pink shiba shirt to match with my pink shiba T-Money card before heading downstairs into the hot and humid Seoul weather.

When Sophie left last week, she wrote me a letter that mentioned how much time we've spent with each other that she started recognizing me just by the way I walked. In the past six weeks, I didn't realize how much I had been seeing Thai that I knew which one he was in the sea of people outside Frontier just by the way he stood. This was going to be his last time out of Anam and one of the last times I would ever be with him for a meal, when we've all been eating together in the last month and a half.

First Sophie left us, now Thai. Our Seoul circle was slowly ending.

Thai and I went to Anam Station and waited for Joyce in downstairs under the raging ventilation, before she arrived with a bag of three milk tea bobas she brought us.

"I got you guys milk tea", Joyce surprised us. I haven't had milk tea since I left Los Angeles, so it was a really sweet and kind gesture for her to buy us one to drink while on our way to Café Vincennes.

After a subway and bus ride, we reached an empty Café Vincennes, where we had the choice to sit anywhere we please. We ordered pasta and pancakes and I had Thai and Joyce sign my taegukgi (태극기/South Korean flag) in Vietnamese and Chinese respectively. As Joyce was filling our glasses with water at the station by the entrance, I joined her and took a handful of napkins since it's very hot outside. She called me a "natural Chinese" and laughed about it for quite some time before receiving our food.

It was 3:45 PM and my Korean class starts at 4:50 PM with our graduation gown fitting at 6 PM. I was not planning on attending my last Korean lecture, so I felt no rush on finishing one of our last meals together.

Café Vincennes has a horse next to the door outside for decoration and I had not paid enough attention of its existence until we left the café and I saw a figure reminiscent of a large at the corner of my eye and jumped in surprise, scaring both Thai and Joyce. The two of them did not stop making fun of me about it throughout the ride home - we took the 7612 to Hapjeong Station, but Joyce got off at Hongik University Station to buy some macarons and had me Thai go home and prepare for graduation earlier. She was planning to arrive later after everybody received their gowns, so the lines wouldn't be as long.

I was debating whether or not to go straight to Inchon Memorial Hall to get my gown or go back with Thai to our dorms and freshen up.

We both arrived at Inchon Memorial Hall at 5:50 PM, ten minutes before gown fitting started, so Thai went ahead to his dorm while I headed towards the hall. The sun was blazing and the humidity was making each pore in my body open up, and I did not feel comfortable at all; so, I caught up with Thai and decided to take a cold shower and change to nicer clothes.

I bumped into Jonathan who was wearing his usual red sportswear and red cap, so I thought to myself, "maybe I shouldn't wear nicer (and warmer) clothes after all".

Matt and Florence left to Inchon Memorial Hall by the time I reached my dorm and complained about how long the line was. Joyce was smart - waiting until the very end was probably a good idea, since the actual ceremony wasn't starting until 7 PM.

Valentino, Thai and I left together and bumped into Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) wearing the Korea University cap and gown also. He told us to head upstairs for them since the line was nonexistent before leaving Inchon Memorial Hall.

We got upstairs and signed it to get our caps and gowns; Minjae (민재) was working with the gowns and I took a picture with him as soon as I wore mine thinking that it would be the last time I would see the first person I met in Seoul.

The three of us headed to the auditorium and sat with our friends in Rows I, J, and K.

Row I: Teresa, Darren, Matt, Jordan, Angela, Cara, Florence, Pong, Wendelyn, me, Valentino, and Joyce

Row J: Peter, Cindy, Minki-hyung (민기형), Hyungki-hyung (형기형), and Jon

Row K: Thai, Erin, Adrian, Ben, Anthony, and Bonnie

We took group pictures while sitting down and Bonnie handed me her Winwin T-Money card before the ceremony began. This was it. Our Korea University International Summer Campus program was ending tonight.

There were some speeches given, such as one about Korea University being the tiger (KU mascot) of the tiger (South Korea) of the Four Asian Tigers (South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong). He also talked about how Seoul is the capital for many things: the capital of the country, of social interactions among people of different nationalities, of Korea's culture, of Asia's fashion, and of the world's technology.

They also showed videos summarizing our time here in Seoul, which included Minki-hyung (민기형); every time Minki-hyung (민기형), our whole side of the auditorium erupted in cheers, yelling for his name.

Then Crimson Velvet (the winners from the Red Velvet flash mob) performed Red Flavor and Russian Roulette together the deafening cheers from the crowd. The Korea University A Capella performed their renditions pf the cheers introduced during the orientation, and we performed our final "Forever" dance, where everybody wrapped their arms around each other's soldiers and did multiple (and violent) bows.

After the speeches and performances, we finally tossed our graduation cap into the air and that marked the end of the program.

We tried to get everybody together at the saw time for a group picture before separating to take pictures with our other friends. There was a stand set up just outside the auditorium that has 2018 Korea University International Summer Campus written across, so Salli and I took a picture in front of it.

I separated from Salli so she could take pictures with her roommate, Asra, and their other friends; while I met up with my group in a lecture room just by the buffet tables, where they served the same food from Sophie's graduation two weeks ago: madeleines, cupcakes, brownies, sandwiches, and cinnamon drinks. I took the South Korean flag pole from the corner of the lecture stage and placed it by the Korea University logo as an added aesthetic before we started taking pictures altogether. We took group pictures with all Americans (East coast on the right and West coast on the left), all the Singaporeans together, all of us together, individual and partnered pictures, you name it.

We had to return our caps and gowns by 9:00 PM, which we did at the final second before heading out to the unlimited barbeque with everybody, alongside other people's friends: Kevin, Daria, Lina, Maite, Joyce, Davy, Pong, Esther, Minki-hyung (민기형), Matt, Florence, Wendelyn, Carolina, me, Sean, Jon, Harley, Cindy, Angela, Peter, Thai, Jordan, and two other Singaporeans. I passed my taegukgi (태극기) around for everyone to finish signing. I got this idea from Brandon, an international student who studied in Ewha University five years ago.

Hyungki-hyung (형기형) joined us later in the night, just in time for Thai to leave the barbeque restaurant and head out to Incheon International Airport for his flight back to Hanoi. We decided not to buy the unlimited soju since we were planning to go straight to Chunja right after.

We said our goodbyes to Thai as he snuck in some soju bottles he bought from the convenience store in his luggage. Peter and Davy walked Thai to Anam Station under the humid Seoul weather.

There was some issue with the payments since Maite had to leave early in the night without eating, yet the owners counted her as one customer; so we had to pay for 25 heads rather than 24. Per usual, we went straight to Chunja. Salli, Minki-hyung (민기형), Harley, Cindy, Peter, Angela, Inseok (인삭/Michael), Jordan, Davy, Hyungki-hyung (형기형), Matt, Esther, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), Florence, Wendelyn, Joyce, Jon, Lina, Valentino, Cara, Carolina, and a lot more people joined us to celebrate graduation. The difference this time is instead of having three tables together, we had three tables separate for a total of six tables accommodating us.

Carolina, Salli, Jordan, Hyungki-hyung (형기형), Inseok (인석/Michael), Darren, Angela, and Harley played the usual Korean drinking games with me before ending the night with Darren drinking a whole pitcher of fruit soju after losing King's Cup.

Since Angela and Harley were turning red and sleepy, Darren and Peter wanted to walk her home; while Matt was already sleeping on the table across us, so I volunteered to walk him back to Frontier.

Although Peter was very tipsy, he was helping me keep Matt walking across Anam, while glancing to check on Darren, Angela, and Harley in front us. Matt left to use the restroom in the PC방 he frequented and we both left the four unnoticed. Peter called me asking where we went and I jokingly told him that I lost Matt. We reunited past the intersection after before going up the hills, avoiding the stairs, up to Frontier.

Peter and I got Matt settled in his dorm and stayed there to catch our breath and cool off, since Peter realized that he dropped his key card on the way. Darren joined us in the room later before meeting with Harley and walked back to Chunja to the remaining crowd in the place - still all of them. We looked for Peter's key card going back to Chunja, but to no avail.

Valentino's table had a total of 17 sojus and we did not get to see how many soju bottles we ordered, but we agreed that we drank a little too much that night. It was 2 in the morning and we were finishing our remaining soju bottles by playing truth or dare, where Lina tried to talk dirty to Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) without him understanding the innuendo; while some of us went outside to the 7/11 store to buy more bottles and snacks to get some fresh air. Valentino, Cara, and I sat together and talked about what would happen once we all separate after tonight, before Jon came over and gave us a final hug before heading out since he was leaving early morning that day.

Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) said his farewells saying that it would be the final time we would see each other.

The Seoul weather was humid and the vibe was depressing. Bonnie and Lina sat outside Chunja to smoke and talked about the same topic me, Valentino, and Cara were just discussing - the atmosphere went from a drunken party to depressive conversations after realizing this was our final Chunja night altogether.

The rest of the group stayed for noraebang (노래방), but it was so late that I could not stay up singing and screaming, so I said goodbye to those I would not be seeing anymore - Darren, Angela, Pong, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), and Hyungki-hyung (형기형).

I walked back to Frontier and changed into my pajamas, when Peter messaged me to ask his roommate, Grant, to check the key slot in their room if his key was there, since Peter doesn't have Grant's Kakao Talk - which I did.

No card in the key slot.

Grant told me that he was packing to check out at 5 AM, so he left his key card with his friend Tim for Peter to use to enter his room before heading out. At this point, Peter was sure to pay the ₩10,000 key card replacement fee.

When Peter came back from noraebang (노래방) at 5:55 AM, I waited for him at the lobby downstairs since a key card was necessary to tap and enter Frontier House past 6 PM. We knocked at Tim's door multiple times, but we were sure he was sleeping, so we both waited at the lobby until the security at the reception could let Peter into his room with a master key. Peter checked all his pants and his bed if he had left his key anywhere. No luck.

I settled in my room after to sleep, while Peter went back downstairs to tell the security that he had lost the key. One of the guards eventually pulled out a key card that was turned in during the night, which was his.

Peter was spared ₩10,000.

That was the end of graduation night! We had one last weekend together to fit in as much memories as we could. Until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. It's August 24, which basically means that it's been more than three weeks since graduation day. I've started my final year in college, and I actually met so many people who attended/came from Korea University. One girl in my Korean class just came back from a year in Korea University, while another girl from Korean club just came back from her Fall study abroad in KU. The Korean club on campus also assists international students to help them fit into the Los Angeles culture, and many of them are Koreans. I met one of them yesterday who studies in.... Korea University! We talked about Anam, the Frontier stairs, and Chunja, which made me remember the good memories those six weeks hold.

Such a small world!

Korea University uploaded the full graduation video on their YouTube page: 2018 KU ISC (6-week) Graduation Ceremony

[seoulfulcity]

July 29, 2018: As the Sun Sets - The Final Golden Hours

I like to think of this trip as parts of the day: sunrise, day, golden hour, and sunset.

The dawn of our trip began in the Middle Kingdom and its territories where the first golden rays of the sunrise peeked through our windows from behind the mountains, greeting us a wonderful morning 🌅

The Land of the Rising Sun then welcomed us to a bright sunny day throughout, where mornings were cloudy and chilly and afternoon skies were clear and endless 🌞

The golden hour reached us in Seoul, where time seemed to have stopped letting us marvel the beauty of our environment and experience. The golden hour is the most beautiful time of the day where the sun showcases its utmost beauty before night falls. The golden hour is my favorite part of the day - and it's better experienced with friends you meet throughout the day. 🌄

As we approach the sunset, there is a sudden realization how quickly the day went. From sunrise to sunset, we were just surrounded by beauty, and even though we all wish the golden hour lasted just a little longer, we were very content on all the experiences we've had and all the memories we've created throughout the day. 🌃

Our golden hour in Seoul is coming to an end, and now we try to make the most of our final sunsets together.

As the sun sets, we thank each other for being part of a beautiful day and wish that we would get to relive everything once again - some other day.

This next four blogs are about our last week in Seoul - full of bittersweet farewells as we all head back to spend the rest of the night where we are most comfortable - our homes.

안녕하세요,

Sunday, July 29, 2018: I was against studying for my oral final for my Korean class when I got back to my dorm from Busan, but I needed to practice so that was all I did until night fell, when the group planned to meet at Chunja.

Valentino notified the group about missing American foods, so the Americans met up in front of Frontier, without Matt who was probably broke sleeping at that time again, and walked to McDonald's while talking about American foods that we missed: greasy pizzas, Costco hotdogs, and authentic McNuggets. Valentino, Cara, Peter, Jordan, and I planned to catch up with our American foods when we get back home - I do love the Korean food in my Anam home, but I really just wanted a simple pepperoni pizza in lieu of kimchi, bulgogi, or potato pizza; though, I finally tried the Bulgogi McBurger, which made me miss the McDonald's in America even more. After our quick trip to America, we walked to Chunja to introduce the newcomer, Peter, to our 20+ soju-bottle Chunja nights.

We got the usual pitcher with syrup (lemon, strawberry, yogurt, melon, etc), mixed it with tonic water and soju and stirred the masterpiece that was going to be emptied within minutes. We took a quick starter shot to start the night in which Peter gasped.

"This is dangerous", the newcomer finally realized why we always end our nights in Chunja with more than 20 bottles - the concoctions were too delicious.

The usual drinkers came and initially took up three tables - Wendelyn, Florence, Valentino, Cara, Jordan, Thai, Joyce, Lina, Salli, Peter, and two of Florence's friends, Huixin and Doona and we ordered Corn Chicken, all of our personal favorite, to start the night.

We played more American drinking games than Korean games this time:

The Rock, Paper, Scissors game - people who don't have a match take a shot

Ah Sa No No - the person starting the game points at two people and the game continues with two people continuing to pick other people and the person who messes the rhythm takes a shot

Game of Death - one of my personal favorites where everybody points at two people at the same time and play the "bang" game. Whoever gets shot at after both their hands were down, takes a shot.

Noonchi (눈치) - a popular Korean game where the people participating stand and count in sequential order. The goal is to stand and shout a number without anybody else doing it with you (or you and the person/s take a shot). The last person to say the final number also takes a shot.

King's Cup, Ride the Bus - typical American games.

On the table next to us, Joyce and the other group were playing their own card games when Joyce lost and screamed. The Koreans across Chunja screamed to mimic her for fun, which led to another group of Korean students next to them screaming. The guys on the other corner of Chunja joined in the fun and screamed, and at some point, the entire Chunja had people screaming which made Joyce and our table laugh with how random and eventful that was.

Drunk Koreans are my favorite. The group of Koreans drinking next to us started talking to us and joining our table - two of them spoke with an American accent saying they're from San Francisco (Jason) and Austin (I didn't catch his name), which I called Jordan over to talk to the guy from Austin, since he's from Austin himself.

Valentino wanted to eat more McDonald's, so he, Florence, and Peter left to get himself and us staying in Chunja some fries to eat with our soju and maekju (맥주). The Chunja night ended with 17 soju bottles (disappointing, I know), though my night did not end since Salli, Peter, and I went to Chicken Bus to eat, you've guessed it, chicken! Salli offered to pay for our company, so I was more than excited to come. Peter was very tipsy (borderline drunk even), but he claimed that he was fine - no he wasn't. He vomited in the small trash bin on our table and slept just to wake up to randomly rap Blackpink's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and dance to Twice's "Heartshaker".

Jordan offered to get the bigger trash bin just by the counter behind us, but he knocked it over and spilled all the trash on the ground - I believed the patrons in Chicken Bus thought we were all drunk.

Monday, July 30, 2018: Meteor Garden was finally on Korean Netflix, so I stayed in to binge watch the episodes. KU ISC also emailed us the Google Doc to sign up for graduation, which I did and was surprised that we even have to since I thought it was a given that everybody would be attending. As fall semester was getting closer, I started planning what my elective classes to take - whether or not to start studying Chinese or continue studying Japanese, in which Andrea from my Korean class commented on the Instagram poll with "你得学中文。中文很有意思/Ni de xue zhongwen. Zhongwen hen youyisi." (You have to study Chinese. Chinese is fun), although more people voted for me to continue studying Japanese.

KU ISC emailed us a reminder of the video shoot that we signed up for last week and promised us free pizza and chicken. I sent the link to the group chat, and Valentino, Matt, Florence, Joyce, Jordan, and Minki-hyung (민기형) signed up fast (for the free food of course).

Before my Korean class started at 4:50 PM, I wanted to eat at the Cup Bibimbap place again, where Matt burned is mouth; this was the moment I realize this was first time I was eating on my own. Usually, I would post on the group that I would go out for a quick bite, and more than five people would come join me - but not today. It was a foreign feeling being alone in Anam.

I arrived to Woodang's Park Jong Koo's Lounge at the first floor to keep practicing for my oral exam, in which we talked about our daily Korean life and end the speech with a question and answer from the class.

Sophie messaged the group chat asking if people have read her farewell letter that was being passed around. Florence messaged me the pictures after saying I still haven't got a hold of Sophie's letter - sigh I miss Sophie. Korean class started and I was the last one to give my (horrendous) speech for the day.

After the class, we met up at the lounge again for the video shoot that Minjae (민재) invited me and Salli to be part of the week prior. The staff was surprised with how many people showed up - I supposed the sign up link wasn't meant to be shared around.

Florence, Joyce, Matt, Jordan, I, and the rest of the group were led to the Business School Main Building to film a lecture class on Neuropsychology where the professor talked about sunglasses that blocked the lights that stops the production of melatonin to fix insomnia and jet lag. Valentino did not end up showing up, but Minki-hyung (민기형) arrived late wearing a baggy shirt, a short, and flip-flops, but was later escorted out saying it was for KUISC students only.

He was upset in the group chat and decided to eat out on his own - Florence, Joyce, Matt, and I were laughing.

We were told to transfer to another lecture for two more lectures before being fed with pizza and chicken. We sat through a quantum mechanics and sociology infused lecture with the first one talking about hard and soft skills as investments to yield a revenue (whatever that meant). The final lecture was on optimization and business analytics. Maite and I were chosen to ask a question in front of the camera, but we both knew nothing about business analytics; so by the time we were asked if we were ready to ask the questions, a guy sitting next to Joyce (who people were saying was a celebrity) asked the professor a question full of business terms that I became lost after the first word.

After the lectures, we went to Dongwon Global Leadership Hall for our food - which was lacking in number since there were more people who came than planned (Thanks to me!). The staff asked us they could order more pizza and chicken if we were willing to wait half an hour more, which we gladly yelled "Yes!".

We received a Domino's pizza box with Park Seojoon's face plastered on it, a box of fried chicken, and a 2L soda. Each box had different toppings and we ended up with potato-topped pizza, so we walked around and grabbed a slice from each table: cheese, pepperoni, etc.

Balzhan, my Kazakh friend from my Korean class, joined us and we had Matt, Florence, and I read common greetings in Russian, for which Balzhan was laughing hard with how bad our accents were.

After the dinner, I went to sleep at 9 PM - the first time since I arrived in South Korea.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018: I woke up at 3 AM and texted the group chat that I couldn't sleep at 4:49 AM. To my surprise, Florence, Matt, and Thai were awake. Both Thai and Florence were studying for finals and Thai was doing laundry but the dryers didn't work from 2 AM to 6 AM, so he planned to stay up until then. Matt, on the other hand, was "reflecting on life".

I didn't get to sleep until 7 AM and woke up at 1 PM. I was planning to crash Florence, Erin, Valentino, Peter, and Cindy's Mass Media class today to see Peter's video project, that he had stayed up all night to work on even across the country in Busan; but the sun was blazing and it took me a while to get out of bed, so I did not end up attending.

I started to crave bibim-naengmyeon by 4 PM, so I ended up trying out the naengmyeon in front of the back entrance of Korea University, called Kamjatang Soondaeguk Naengmyeon (감자탕 순대국 냉면) before heading off to my Korean class to sit through the last nine oral presentations. Before finishing my bibim-naengmyeon, Valentino messages the group chat asking who wanted to eat fried chicken with him since he did not want to go alone, so I obliged and told him to meet me at the back entrance of the campus after his class. I did not want to sit through nine presentations, so I sat down Chicken and Hof with Valentino and told my Korean class group chat that I was napping and to message me when they go on break so I could sneak in.

Valentino ordered fried chicken, fries, and beer and talked about the dreaded weekend when everybody finally separates.

At 5:42 PM, my Korean class went on break and I ran to class and surprised my professor for being present (I skipped my class a lot). After the class, I spontaneously decided to go to SMTown at COEX Mall and Myeongdong to buy NCT 2018's album Empathy and iKON's Return. I could not wait until August 2 to buy iKON's new EP called Continue and wanted to get my hands on Return that day.

While taking Line 2 to Samseong Station, we passed by the Han River before entering Gangnam, which I was greeted by the beautiful Seoul sunset.

Samseong Station was plastered with posters and electronic billboards of idols - from Wanna One and Blackpink to those dedicated solely to Taemin and Kang Daniel. The entire Digital Media City Tunnel had Kang Daniel's face on ever corner.

I went in the SMTown Museum gift shop to purchase NCT 2018's Empathy, my first ever K-Pop album, while being tempted to buy the Taeyong and Ten's "Baby Don't Stop" T-Money for ₩4,000, which was very cheap since Myeongdong sells them for ₩10,000. I expected the SMTown gift shop to increase the prices, but I soon realized that I was wrong since Myeongdong was selling the same NCT 2018 album for ₩5,000 more. I did not end up buying iKON's Return because it was more expensive than Myeongdong's NCT 2018 price, so I settled going home with Empathy only. I roamed around Myeongdong alone for the rest of the humid night, taking a good look at everything before leaving knowing that would be the final time I stepped foot in my favorite area in Seoul.

I went home to study for my Korean finals for the next day - we were going to have a one-on-one oral exam partner with my professor and the written final. I was assigned with Balzhan and were given three scenarios to role play with (restaurant, supermarket, and making appointments). Though, I did not end up studying because I had popcorn and orange-flavored soju on my side and finished them instead.

Thai invited the group chat for some chicken delivery, in which the chat came alive with invites to go to the women's Frontier rooms with Lina or the 24-hour study rooms in the library with Florence and Wendelyn. Minki-hyung (민기형) asked the group if he bought chicken, would everybody gather together and enjoy them with him - Matt woke up to respond "Ya ill come".

In the end, it was late in the night and everybody was studying. My study session got more exciting when my phone lit up with a message from Peter at 1:36 AM:

I did not even understand what was going on, but I got up and changed out of my pajamas and ran downstairs outside Frontier where Darren, Peter, and Angela were sitting by the stairs and Grant was sitting alone across from us.

I hated Peter for getting my thirsty self down from my desk to outside with them within one minute, but we sat and talked until 3 AM about our plans after leaving South Korea. The three of them were going to Hong Kong together before Darren goes back to Los Angeles and Angela to Nebraska. Peter planned to fly back to his home in Beijing first and stay there for three weeks before going back to New York just in time for classes to start. Peter was going to have the room for himself that night since Grant left Frontier and climbed down the stairs into Anam.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018: It was the day of our written and one-on-one oral exams for Korean and I was assigned to Balzhan as partners to do the one-on-one role play together. We met in front of Frontier at 1 PM and headed out to Starbucks just across the intersection. On the way, we bumped into Erin and Minki-hyung (민기형), who was carrying a heavy parcel, which Erin said was forty of SF9's new EP, Sensuous. Erin was trying to win a meet and greet ticket to meet her favorite boy group - and she asked Minki-hyung (민기형) to help her carry the box up the Frontier and CJ International hills.

My Weather app said it felt like 111 degrees that Wednesday and I did no want to cross the intersection to Starbucks, so Balzhan and I settled for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just before the intersection where we worked on a script for all three scenarios for our role play.

Our Korean professor gave us three scenarios: ordering at a restaurant, shopping at a market, and making plans and appointments with our friends. She would give us one scenario and we have to act it while using the appropriate grammar rules and vocabulary of the designated units.

After writing and rehearsing, we agreed to eat brunch and I introduced her to the naengmyeon place Matt, Valentino, and I always eat at. Balzhan and I talked for a while, where she introduced me to Q-Pop, or Qazaq Pop, and also told me she wanted to start hanging out with Darren before he leaves back to Los Angeles.

I texted Peter as soon as she said it, and we both agreed to have her come along with us to Hongdae that night.

After eating naengmyeon, we headed to Park Jong Koo Lounge at Woodang Hall just until class starts to practice and study, when our phones buzzed at the same time showing an emergency warning regarding the heat in Seoul.

At Woodang Hall, we met with Teresa, Harley, and Rachel who were all studying and practicing for the Korean exams at the Aricafe in the first floor of the Media Hall, just one stairway across from Woodang Hall. Salli, Peter, Darren, and Angela joined us soon after.

On Instagram, Bonnie posted a story with a picture of NCT's Winwin on her T-Money card asking who he was and why he was on her card - I replied to her in all capital letters that I wanted that card.

Korean finals started on time and it was the oral exam first. Salli and Peter were two classrooms away from us and were partners for their own role play. Balzhan and I were fifth in line and somehow made it out alive after our professor gave us confusing instructions about our supermarket scenario in Korean.

Side note: I forgot what eraser and pencil case were, so that was an interesting part of the exam.

After the oral exam came the written, then we were done with the class. Our professor reminded us that there would be a fun and interesting final class tomorrow just before graduation, which I planned not to attend. The lecture was supposed to be about dialects and slang.

I went back to Frontier, showered, and changed before meeting with Peter, Cindy, Darren, Angela, and Balzhan to head out to Hongdae. We had Darren and Balzhan walk together in front of us throughout the subway ride there. I actually dropped my Rilakkuma T-Money card on the way. Sad, I know. I got that card back in May when I met with Terri and her friend Julie at Hongdae. That T-Money had a lot of stories of my time in Seoul, but I bought a new one - a cute pink shiba.

Upon arriving at Hongdae, we did not know where to eat so we settled with a kimbap restaurant Hahwetown (하회마을), which attracted our attention for having different options in their menu.

It was not a good experience though, the food was below mediocre (Peter ordered ramen and he actually got cup noodles kind of ramen).

When we left the restaurant, we bumped into Florence, Minki-hyung (민기형), Valentino, Lina, Jon, Leonard, Joyce, and Cara before we separated so they could eat food.

Peter, Cindy, and Angela wanted to shop around for clothes and souvenirs, so we stopped by multiple locations, such as Artbox, Playground Store, and Space Morris where I ended up purchasing quite a few clothes. At the Playground Store, I noticed how similar Korean clothes are, besides the whole random English words written at the front and random pictures of Pasadena, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Los Angeles at the back. English words can range from "Alaska Whales", "Paragraph", "Cheese", and "Babylonian", to full on receipt of a pizza order, instructions on how to use a washing machine, or the Wikipedia Table of Contents page on Cuba and its 15 provinces.

Korean clothes seemed to also have random minimalist images or short English words sewn on the left side of the chest.

After shopping, we went back to Hongik University Station and, once again, bumped into the rest of the group (in addition to Pong, who joined the group after touring her parents around Seoul). We all took the subway back to Anam together and headed to Chunja for another drinking night - Salli joined us later in the night.

We played the usual games of A Sa No-No, Fuck You, King's Cup, and Game of Death, with a few new games: Five-Ten and Six Shooter.

Five-Ten - it's a Chinese game of math. The players hold out both hands and can open one hand (5 fingers), both hands (10 fingers), or none (0 fingers). The goal of the game is for the main person to correctly guess the number of fingers open. If they guess it right, everybody drinks.

Six Shooter - My new favorite game. Two people compete, each with six shot glasses in front of them: 3 water and 2 soju. One person turns around while the opponent scrambles the shot glasses so the person does not know which ones are water and which ones are soju and vice versa. Starting from the right shot glass, the goal is to finish all six shots first, loser chugs a whole mug of beer.

Cara and Salli competed against each other, while Valentino made Jon chug a whole mug of beer. I also participated, but I don't remember who I was against (was it Peter? Darren?) - all I remember is that I won.

One of the culture shocks I had in Seoul is how everybody knows the choreography to any K-Pop song playing, especially Blackpink's new song "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du". Every time it plays, the people would always stop what they're doing to dance to the chorus.

"Hit you with that ddu-du ddu-du du", as the song played in Chunja, all five people on the table across from us started dancing, and it was one of the things that made me realize that I would never see these in bars in Los Angeles. It would feel different drinking back home and not seeing people getting up to dance the choreography to the songs - I was an Angeleno already preparing for culture shocks when he goes back home. I was still in Seoul and I was already missing Seoul.

Matt and Jordan came towards the end of the night and we had both of them finish the remaining pitchers. They were both out for the night and met up to join us at Chunja. We all went home together, but Bonnie, Peter, Jon, Lina and I sat in front of Frontier to smoke and talk - Bonnie's friend, Benjamin noticed us while he was going outside for some fresh air and joined us. Angela came back from Global House saying she wasn't drunk anymore and Salli joined with us before Jon, Lina, and Bonnie headed in.

I wanted to eat a doshirak lunch tray at the CU just down Frontier, and Peter, Angela, and Ben joined me. Salli drunkenly walked in and out of CU, which worried Ben.

After my meal, Angela went back up to Global, while Peter and I headed to Frontier. Salli was staying outside since she left her room key in her room and her roommate was not going to be home until later in the morning. It was five in the morning and Benjamin volunteered to accompany her until she gets back to her room.

Peter and I went back to our dorms.

This blog is the first part of the "As the Sun Sets" series, which documents my final week in Seoul. I named this blog the Golden Hour because, as mentioned at the beginning, the golden hour is the time where everybody is still gathered together, taking pictures of the sky, the vibe is fun while everybody enjoys each other's company.

It is not until when night falls that people start heading home and the circle starts diminishing.

The next blog is called "As the Sun Sets: For Graduation Night".

The sun is preparing to set and the day is almost ending, symbolizing how close the end of the program is.

Golden hour is over, and our farewells begin. It will be very bittersweet writing the next few blogs, so until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

From left to right: Valentino, Cara, Leonard, Pong, Joyce, Peter, Florence, me, Lina, Salli, Jon, Carolina, and Angela.

[seoulfulcity]

July 28, 2018: Take Me on a Train to Busan

Did I spend money for a weekend just so I could say that I took a Train to Busan? Perhaps. Did I see any zombies in Daejeon and East Daegu Stations? Disappointed to say no. Did I have fun exploring the city of Busan, though? You bet! This is a blog on my weekend trip to Busan.

안녕하세요,

Friday, July 28, 2018: I had a few hours to spare since I got back to my dorm at 4 PM from my North-South Korean border excursion, since my Mugunghwa train from Seoul Station to Busan Station was leaving at 9:50 PM. It was a shame that I did not get the KTX train ticket that was going to get me to Busan within three hours, but I settled for the six-hour slow train ride to save ₩40,000-50,000 each way. I had planned to leave with Salli together at 9 PM even though her KTX train ride was scheduled at 10:35 PM.

"Better be safe and early", she would say.

I saved a picture of the Busan subway map before heading outside in front of Frontier to meet with Salli with the cicadas chirping loudly in the dark Seoul night. We stopped by the closest GS25 store to withdraw some money and buy some kimbap to munch on the way to Busan, but there weren't any of the ones I wanted.

Friday, July 28, 2018 - 8:40 PM: We were on the subway line to Seoul Station when I asked Salli when her KTX train was scheduled to leave.

"21:35! 10:35 PM. I have an hour to just hang around". "Salli-"

I didn't think she knew her mistake. It takes about half an hour from Anam Station to Seoul Station via the subway, and this was our first time going to Seoul Station, so we did not know our way around or even where to board our trains.

I had 50 minutes to spare; though, Salli did not - and she hadn't realized it yet.

"21:35 is 9:35 PM. Not 10:35". A look of panic after the realization overcame her face. Would she make it in time for her train? She would, right?

Bonnie, Davy, Thai, Kyle, Peggy, and Deedee left together earlier in the morning, but Peter, Salli and I couldn't. Peter signed up to participate in one of KU ISC's cultural event, Korean Folk Village; while Salli was supposed to participate in another cultural event - volunteer teaching, where she teaches children in kindergarten and preschool basic English conversational words and phrases. I, on the other hand, roasted myself under the hot North-South Korean sun on top of Dorasan.

Peter thought the Korean Folk Village was boring, Salli missed her volunteer teaching opportunity, and I got home 50 shades darker with a Korean reunification flag.

Peter left in the afternoon at 17:29 and already updated us that he arrived safely in Busan by the time Salli and I were in the subway en route to Seoul Station.

Friday, July 28, 2018 - 9:15 PM: We arrived in Seoul Station - Salli and I scrambled up the escalators with the hopes of finding our way to the train tracks with some time to spare. Salli had a KTX ticket while I had Mugunghwa - neither of us knew where to go. Were we going to be in different entrances? Different stations, perhaps? My tickets did not indicate if my train was leaving from Seoul Station - this was only based on deductions, since the rest of the group boarded their KTX trains to Busan in Seoul Station.

Salli ran towards the direction where the sign says "KTX". Nothing about Mugunghwa.

Friday, May 28, 2018 - 9:20 PM: We ran through Lotte Mart and Outlet with our luggages for the weekend, past people casually walking into the station and tourists arguing with vendors about the price of a souvenir. Salli and I managed to find the entrance to the train tracks, where she boarded her KTX train in Gate 9, while my Mugunghwa train was at Gate 4. Between the two of us was Gate 7, the gate where Gong Yoo boarded the KTX Train to Busan.

No signs of zombie attacks at all. I comfortably sat down in car 3 and placed my duffel bag on the overhead bin, reminiscent of the ones in China and Japan where I had to carry all three of my huge luggage across the train car drenched in sweat. Not in this trip - I vowed to myself to never over pack ever again.

I did not arrive to Busan Station until 3:20 AM, in which I felt guilty for keeping everybody awake waiting for me so they could open the door to our hostel. The moon illuminated the sky in blood - that night was the blood eclipse and Valentino tried to get everybody to watch the red moon with him at the edge of the Frontier balcony outside the humid Seoul night - Cara, Florence, and the endless sound of cicadas joined him.

Our hostel was a subway stop away from Busan Station - Choryang Station, and since the subways were not working at 3 AM, I walked for a few minutes and found myself at the footsteps of Welcome Busan Guest House, where Bonnie was waiting for me. I stopped by the CU store in front of the guest house to buy samgak kimbap (삼각 김밥) and a rice ball before heading to the common room where everybody was hanging - Thai, Kyle, Peter, Salli, and Davy. They were all waiting for the blood moon which was due to be in maximum view at 5:21 AM. We ate and waited until 4:20 AM before heading out to see the moon, but we were out of luck. The moon was too low in the sky that all the buildings were covering it. Valentino also contacted us that they were not able to see the moon since it was hiding behind the Anam trees. We walked back to our hostel and slept in our bunk beds, separated in two rooms by gender - and it seemed that we were the only ones there.

Thai, Kyle, and Davy fell asleep as soon as they touched their beds, though Peter stayed up to finish working on his group video project for his Mass Media class. Poor guy.

Saturday, July 28, 2018: An alarm went off from the bed under mine. It was 9 AM and I was sure that it also woke Peter up, who was sleeping on the top bunk across the room since his blanket started rustling at the sound of the alarm.

The alarm continued without interruption. One of the boys down there were definitely heavy sleepers. I decided to close my eyes for a bit.

I woke up two hours later to the same alarm ringing - did nobody turn it off? No - it was another alarm. Kyle had set up multiple alarms to wake him up, but none seemed to be working. I climbed down my bed, got ready, and sat by my duffel waiting for the cue for all of us to leave.

"Shall we go out?" Thai texted the group chat. "Sure." I responded. Nobody budged. It wasn't until Bonnie knocked on our door and asked us if we were ready for all the boys to get up and headed for the door.

We decided to go to Gamcheon Culture Village after sitting down for five minutes to weigh the pros and cons of taking the subway or paying for a taxi. We separated in two - one Korean speaker for each taxi ride. I directed the taxi driver to our location with Thai, Kyle, and Davy with me; while Peter took control of the other taxi with Salli, Deedee, Bonnie, and Peggy.

Walking up the steep main street of a picturesque Gamcheon-dong, we took pictures of the various arts and rooms on our way. We found a Room of Darkness, where the whole room was covered with black material preventing any light from penetrating in. We took pictures with the fish mural on the wall before heading out to view the brightly-painted houses that Gamcheon-dong is known for.

It took us a while to take pictures, while some of the people in the group stepped away to buy customized bracelets and souvenirs.

The Little Prince is apparently big in Gamcheon, since there were references of the book everywhere. There was even a long line to take a picture with him and his fox overlooking the colorful houses. We took our time individually posing with the prince and finally, a group picture. There was also stairs painted as book spines, as if the person is walking up towards a whimsical world of literature. There were murals of old books leading to the Cheon Deok Su Well. I could not show how much I appreciated how artistic Gamcheon was.

Salli bought a bracelet with her name engraved in Korean, so I also bought one to commemorate the weekend trip. As Bonnie was paying for her own souvenirs, she realized she lost her wallet. We went back to the flower tea shop she was in while we were busy taking pictures and found her wallet - everybody was relieved.

Busan was very hot, although not as humid as Seoul; so I ended up splurging some money on fruit-flavored Icees in interesting containers. I bought one shaped like a human girl's body to take pictures with in front of sceneries where most couples pose in front of.

We actually got separated away from Deedee and Peggy and got lost. They walked down the hill, while Bonnie, Thai, Davy, Kyle, Peter, Salli, and I took the narrow and artsy route, passing by exhibits and actual residential houses. We came across what they call the "Stairs to See Stars" - people usually start getting dizzy and "see stars" walking up the steep 148 steps.

We reached the exit and contacted Deedee and Peggy to meet us at Toseong Station, so we could head to Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장) together.

The subway stations in Busan was obviously different than those in Seoul - the K-Pop and idol cultures weren't as ubiquitous and the stations were a lot smaller - Seoul stations have a life on its own, with vendors, convenience stores, and its own economy - though Busan doesn't have that. They're present, but not as strong as Seoul.

Oh, and the jingle was a lot better. Seoul stations play a jingle to indicate that the subway train was coming, and Busan played some sort of jingle reminiscent of classical music. I was impressed.

One of the stations in Line 1 was Pusan National University Station, the school I originally was planning to go to before I was made aware of Korea University being an option. I started thinking about how different my South Korean life and experience would have been if I had not chosen Korea University and stayed with Pusan National University.

We arrived in Haeundae to crowds of attractive native Koreans in Busan and foreigners. There was an event in the middle of the street where the emcees were jokingly arguing and spitting jokes in their thick Busan accent - so thick that Peter, Salli, and I could not comprehend what they were saying.

They were giving out free beers at the packed Haeundae Beach - Hite Extra Cold with Kang Daniel's face plastered in big posters. Naturally, we all went in line to get half a cup of free beer.

We walked around the beach to take pictures and look at the amount of people floating at the shore in uniformed-red-and-yellow floaties. The breeze was cool and chilly, though the sun was piercing. At the other corner of Haeundae was Nice Day Land 2018, an event with artists like Zion.T and Hoya due to perform.

Salli was scheduled to leave Busan at 9 PM back to Seoul, since she had responsibilities to deal with Sunday morning, so we left the beach to eat at a nearby food place to end our night in Haeundae.

Gukbap (국밥) is the staple food in Busan - it is hot soup with rice. Besides gukbap (국잡), Busan is also known for its seafood and milmyeon (밀면), which is a dish similar to naengmyeon (냉면) but with thinner noodles. To further authenticate our Busan dining experience, we also ordered live eels to be cooked on top of our assorted gukbap (국밥).

Salli bid farewell after our dinner, headed back to our hostel to get her luggages before leaving to Busan Station. Peggy left with her since she was feeling tired and sleepy; though the rest of us decided to fit one more beach in our itinerary - Gwangalli Beach (광안리 해수욕장). We stopped by the convenience store at Haeundae Station for Thai to get his second round of cream puffs and for Bonnie to buy her frozen cup ice cream. The frozen cup of ice cream had to be placed in a machine, where it pushes the ice cream out of the cup into the customer's other cup or cone, but Bonnie's ice cream was so frozen, her cup exploded in the middle of the transfer.

We arrived at Gwangalli Beach, where the full moon was illuminating the beach and the bright colorful Gwangan Bridge was the subject of everybody's photos of the night.

We watched couples releasing small firecrackers and lighting up sparklers and decided we wanted to join in on the fun too. Busan Art College was hosting a festival in Gwangalli, which was our main music of the night.

Bonnie and I purchased some questionable fireworks, sparklers, chips and soju from the E-Mart closest to the Busan Art College festival. A couple dropped a bottle of soju from the refrigerator, close enough that I would have gotten hurt if I were a step closer to them - I had thought this was a sign that I should not be buying bottles of soju. Though, I got two for all of us to share. I got a cardboard from a group of people giving away paper fans outside to use as our beach towel to sit on the sand with overlooking the bright Gwangan Bridge, and we drank our soju and munched on our junk foods before lighting up the fireworks.

The instructions were all in Korean, and none of us knew what kind of fireworks it was. Was it the kind where it flies in the air and explodes? Was it the one you had to shoot in the air? We were fearful of the end result, so we secured the firework on the hole we dug on the sand and lit it up, just for us to realize it was a sparkling fountain. It illuminated the surrounding area giving it a nice yellow picturesque hue with the Gwangan Bridge as its backdrop before the fire died down.

We had no luck with the sparklers though - I think Bonnie and I got faulty ones.

After the beach, we headed to the closest coin noraebang (코인 노래방) to finish the night. Bonnie went out to buy some more chips and soju, but our sojus were confiscated when Bonnie was coming back - so the nice lady at the reception gave us two extra songs for free.

Bonnie, Peter, and Deedee sang Chinese songs like "Fairy Tale/童話/Tóng Huà" by Michael Wong (Wáng Guāng Liáng/王光良).

We asked for our soju back when we were leaving, so we ended up with an extra soju bottle for the rest of the night.

When we got back to our hostel, we went to the CU in front to buy some food and soju to end our night with. We managed to get a total of five soju bottles, three flavored alcoholic canned drinks, a 2.5L bottle of milkis, and a lot of snacks.

I introduced to Bonnie, Kyle, Peter, Thai, and Davy games like "fuck you", while Peter and Thai introduced to us "Ride the Bus", in which Thai, Davy, and I were so lucky to win, since Bonnie, Kyle, and Peter had to finish the whole deck of cards and taking more than ten shots.

We ended the night with our faces flushing.

Sunday, July 29, 2018: I had to wake up earlier than everybody else since I had a 9:30 train ride from Busan Station to Seoul Station.

As usual, Kyle's alarm woke everybody up at 8 AM, but not him.

I took the same six-hour Mugunghwa train ride where I arrived in Seoul Station at 3 PM. Peter took the slower KTX train and arrived at 3:50 PM. I waited for him at Seoul Station before eating at Seoul Tonkatsu (서울돈까스) until Thai and Kyle joined us at around 4:25 PM. Bonnie, Deedee, Davy, and Peggy arrived at the same time as Thai and Kyle, but did not realize we were eating at the Seoul Tonkatsu in Seoul Station before going ahead and taking the subway back to Anam.

After our brunch, Thai, Peter, and I separated from Kyle, who attended Yonsei University (Yuck! I know!) and went back to our home for the final week, Anam-dong. That was the start of our daily farewells, which will be separated into four blogs.

As the Sun Sets: The Final Golden Hours

As the Sun Sets: For Graduation Night

As the Sun Sets: In Banpo

As the Sun Sets: Bad Choices Make Good Stories

Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. This was our group picture with the Little Prince and the fox.

[seoulfulcity]

July 27, 2018: Take Me to North Korea

안녕하세요,

Before I left Los Angeles, my mom and the International Studies advisor both reminded me to not do anything stupid and visit North Korea.

With that said, this is a blog on when I visited the North-South Korean border.

I have been planning to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) ever since I chose South Korea as the country I wanted to study in. North Korea had been the hot topic of discussion recently because of Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's heated exchange of words via Twitter and the recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea when the two Koreas marched under one flag.

On April 27, the Inter-Korean Summit happened where both Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae In crossed the border - Kim Jong Un stepped into South Korea and Moon Jae In stepped into North Korea.

On June 12 was the first US-North Korea Summit in Singapore when Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un finally met and talked about denuclearization of North Korea.

So, yes. North Korea had been under the spotlight throughout the year, and when's the best time to visit the border than being in South Korea?

I chose to visit the DMZ on July 27, the 65th anniversary of when both Koreas signed the Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom to cease armed forces, putting an unofficial end to the Korean war.

I was supposed to go with Florence, Wendelyn, and Esther, but everybody woke up late. Florence woke up a good half hour before the start of our trip under Seoul City Tour; Wendelyn and Esther did not wake up at all, despite of our never-ending attempts of messaging and calling them.

I waited outside Itaewon Station Exit 1, the exit that both Wendelyn and Florence both told me to write. The van picked me up and waited for five minutes until Florence arrived. We drove for about ten minutes before transferring to a bigger tour bus at 8:30 AM.

We drove by the Imjin River where the tour guide showed us why the edges of the streets were fenced by telling us the story of the Blue House Raid or the January 21 Incident in 1968.

1960s South Korea was just a big mess. The Vietnam War was ongoing where both the US and South Korea were sending troops to support South Vietnam, then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung was finding ways to reunify the Korean peninsula under his rule, and then-South Korean president Park Chung Hee seized power after the 1961 coup-d'état forcing the democratically-elected Yun Bo Seon out of office, ending the Second Republic's parliamentary system giving rise to a military government under Park Chung Hee.

Now, Kim Il Sung hand-picked 31 soldiers - the best North Korea could offer - with one goal in mind: kill Park Chung Hee. Since the United States was preoccupied sending military troops to support South Vietnam during the war, it was in Kim Il Sung's best interest to take over South Korea at this time and reunify the peninsula under his leadership.

Kim Il Sung said that by killing President Park, it will cause political chaos in South Korea and North Korea would go in to aid and provide support to their "South Korean brethren".

Well, the 31 hand-picked North Korean soldiers, called Unit 124, successfully crossed the North-South Korean border and swam across the Imjik River into Seoul. They were close to getting into the Blue House, but we all know they did not successfully kill Park Chung Hee and reunite the peninsula under Kim Il Sung, right? Please read more about the Blue House Raid because it's very interesting.

We reached the city of Paju, just south of Panmunjom, and parked at Imjingak, a park where the Bridge of Freedom lies. There was an old train on the track which was used by the North Koreans who were repatriating into South Korea during and after the Korean War. The area surrounding the bridge and the train were covered by the South Korean and reunification flags wishing for a united Korea one day, so the separated families can reunite once again. There also stood Mangbaeddan, an altar where Koreans can go and pay their respects and honors to their families who stayed in North Korea after the war.

After Imjingak, we drove to the Third Infiltration Tunnel. It is one of the four known tunnels dug up by North Korea to infiltrate into South Korea for a surprise attack on Seoul. There is said to be up to twenty tunnels running from North Korea to South Korea, though only four have been discovered. The tunnels can accommodate up to 30,000 armed men every hour, and all four discovered tunnels lead up to the capital city of Seoul.

Upon discovery of the third tunnel, North Korea denied the allegations and said it was part of a coal mine even though the tunnels are granite, which is igneous in origin (coals would be found in stones of sedimentary in origin). The tunnel was also found to have been sprayed with black paint to make it look like coal.

We were required to leave our belongings in the lockers and had to go through security to make sure no electronics were brought in. We had to climb down a 350-steep slope to get to the tunnel that crosses the North-South Korean border with helmets on. Upon reaching the third tunnel, the ceilings were wet with water and could only accommodate people who were within five feet tall - compared to South Koreans, North Koreans are noticeably shorter due to malnourishment. We walked until we reached the end to peak at the North Korean end of the tunnel, which was inaccessible to visitors, then we had to climb back up the same 350 meter-steep tunnel.

After the tunnel, went across the park to watch a movie on the Korean War, the Korean Armistice Agreement, the discovery of the four tunnels, and the booming country of South Korea. The topic of reunification to reunite the separated families and for a peaceful peninsula echoed throughout the film.

After the film, Florence and I took pictures with the DMZ sign and a reunification statue that depicted an Earth split in two with the Korean peninsula on both half. Men, women, and children are pushing the halves to make Earth whole once again.

After the visit to the tunnel, we drove up the Dorasan Observatory, which is the closest point of South Korea to North Korea. In the observatory, the visitors could see Kijong-dong, the North Korean Propaganda Village. The village was established in the 1950s, showcasing North Korea as rich and well-established, as an attempt to lure North Korean defectors and South Koreans to go to the North. South Korea built a flagpole on its side of the demarcation line, and North Korea retaliated by building a taller one next to the Propaganda Village.

The Flagpole War started where both countries decided to beat each other for the tallest flagpole, where South Korea finally decided to end it and have North Korea win. For over a decade, the North Korean flagpole was the tallest in the world, until Azerbaijan established a taller flagpole in National Flag Square in 2010.

From Dorasan Observatory, the visitors can also take a glimpse of the Kim Il Sung statue and can also take pictures with South Korean soldiers patrolling the area.

We bumped into Esther, who's touring in a different time schedule with us. Wendelyn was taking the late afternoon tour after waking up later than Esther.

We, then, headed to Dorasan Station, a train station established in 2002 by Korail that would start working once the peninsula is reunited.

Dorasan Station has a line that would lead to Pyeongyang, although the main purpose of the station right now is to instill hope for a future reunification. The station is very reminiscent of Incheon International Airport and Seoul Station, equipped with information desks, waiting area (much similar to Seoul Station), a marquee that showed the train schedule, and an entrance to the train that would make a trip to Pyeongyang.

We bought commemorative train tickets to Pyeongyang before heading out.

After the trip to Dorasan Station, we stopped by a ginseng place where an Indonesian woman talked to us about the benefits of ginseng and lead us to a room that sold different forms of ginseng, which brought terrible flashbacks of my time in Beijing with the fake tour Simi and I ended up with.

We were dropped off at City Hall right after, close to Gyeongbokgung and Namdaemun Market, where Florence and I walked around under the 110-degree weather.

We wanted to wait for Sophie, who was at Namsan Tower, to eat with her at Chanyeol's Viva Polo, but she wasn't able to, so both Florence and I settled for naengmyeon at Yukssam Naengmyeon (육싼 냉면) at Namdaemun, before heading back to Anam around 3 PM.

It was an educational day, although I was sad I did not get to meet with Sophie one last time since my train ride to Busan was later that night. Maybe I will see her next time, maybe when I book a trip to Vienna, Austria? Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I woke up craving bulgogi and kimchi today. I really miss Seoul. We would still role-play on the Kakao group chat about meeting in front of Frontier for a meal - Matt would ask to borrow my shaving cream, and we would pretend to plan on picking Valentino and Peter up from their rooms.

[seoulfulcity]

July 22, 2018: Back at One

안녕하세요,

Summer is finally ending and I could not have asked for a better circle of friends, a better school, and a better country to spend it in. I do want to go back home and be comfortably settled on my bed alone, fix my phone screen and glasses where they're considerably cheaper, and just have an American pizza rampage; although, as of right now, I am still in Seoul, South Korea and I have to make the best of the time I have left here. So, here's a rundown of what happened in my fifth week in Korea University.

One, you're like a dream come true...

Sunday, July 22, 2018: Per usual, I woke up late in the afternoon to Sophie asking if anyone wanted waffles (again, haha!) around Anam. She moved out from her dorm the week before and settled in Bomun, which was a good 20-minute walk to Anam, so she usually spent her day in a café waiting for us to finish classes and hang out with her. I agreed to get waffles with her and walked to Waffle Alley, just by Anam Station, exit 3 under the 103-degree weather.

The group had a bowling night planned at 6:30 PM that night and Sophie and I wanted to do something until then, since we did not want to go back to our places and stay in bed for the next five hours.

So, we both decided to go to COEX mall and walk around for a bit. We went through all the floors and chased around clothes on sale. We spent four hours wandering lost in the mall until we somehow found ourselves in an Apink fan meet.

Just a few days before, Sophie got lost in Gangnam and ended up seeing Taemin on his birthday at SM Town. I should get lost with her more often.

Cara decided that we should go to the neon bowling arena in Dongdaemun, the same one that Erin, Thai, Leonard and I were at a week before. Sophie and I met with Florence, Cara, Valentino, and Jennie, his little from UCLA, at Dongdaemun, ate Japanese food at Katsura (가츠라/かつら) at the food court, and started bowling.

We bowled for two games and I started very well during our first game, but the place began playing a reality show segment of Henry from Super Junior, and it distracted me throughout the last game, so I ended up falling behind really fast. After the second game, Valentino and Cara paid for an hour of unlimited arcade games for us to share in the same floor - they had dancing, fruit ninja, curling, archery, baseball, and soccer. We started the day not knowing what curling was and we left the arcade being pros at it.

After the arcade, we went straight to Chunja for a quick drink with Jordan and Salli. After everybody went back home at 1 AM, Jordan, Salli and I continued drinking outside Frontier House and invited Peter to join us, which he happily obliged. I told Salli and Jordan about his roommate, Grant, and how Peter actually agreed to be drunk so I could walk him back to his room and interact with his roommate. I invited the three of them to spend the coming weekend at Busan with me, Thai, Bonnie, and Deedee - both Salli and Peter were interested.

Salli was getting a lot of mosquito bites throughout the night and Peter offered to lend her his Off! spray - of course, Jordan and I followed him to his room, granted that we would see his roommate (see what I did there?).

Two, just want to be with you...

Monday, July 23, 2018: It was 102 degrees that day so I stayed indoors until it was time for my Korean class at 4:50 PM - and even then, it was still very warm.

Bonnie returned from her trip in Jeonju on Sunday, so she had been finding ways to save money on food; she wanted to borrow my cafeteria card to try the meals they have; and since I have never used my card for weeks now, I just handed it to her. We had less than two weeks left and I still had 30 meals left, since the meal times don't match with my schedule. I wake up past the lunch time and dinner is during my Korean class with 30 minutes to spare at the end - I was not going to run from Woodang Hall and up the Frontier stairs just to get dinner.

I met with Peter outside Frontier while waiting for Bonnie and her roommate, Deedee, to come downstairs so I could walk with them to the cafeteria. I wanted to eat with them that night, so we tried swiping my card twice, but it only worked the first time (with Bonnie), so I told her to go ahead and I could just eat at the cheap kimbap place. Thai was eating dinner inside, so the four of them kept each other company during the meal. That was the first time Peter met with Thai, Bonnie, and Deedee, who he was going to spend some time in Busan with.

I asked the group who was interested in eating at the cheap kimbap place with me, and Florence responded that she was already eating there, so I left my dorm to meet with her. On the way, I ran across Jordan, who also wanted to tag along. I did not expect a big group at the cheap kimbap place - Florence, Sophie, Matt, Wendelyn, and her friend Huixing were already eating there. Valentino, Lina, Minki-hyung (민기형), and Sophie joined in later. I ordered the usual tteok-ramyeon (떡라면) and the original kimbap. Jordan started imitating the Singaporean accents, which is inevitable once you spend some time with my friends - the same happened to Peter. My circle is very Singaporean, and their accent had become our favorite recently.

While waiting for everybody to finish eating, we pranked the group chat by switching names and pictures on Kakao Talk with each other - Joyce was so confused in the chat, so we all decided to turn the whole chat into Joyce - needless to say, she was so confused.

"WATER HECK?", as how Joyce would say it.

We debated where to go after eating out since we wanted to shop, so we decided to go back to Dongdaemun for the cheap clothes and souvenirs. We went to Hello APm just to find out it was eight-floors worth of women's clothing. Valentino was not feeling the night, so he went home early while the rest of us headed to the nearby Cheonggyecheon and met up with Darren, Angela, and Cindy who were also at Dongdaemun at the time. Peter decided to stay in to finish his Korean speech.

Side Note: Both our speeches are later today so wish us luck!

We spent some time just enjoying the stream, listening to the music of the cicadas nearby, and splashing each other with water like ten-year-olds.

Darren, Angela, and Cindy left earlier to catch the train, while we stayed to catch the bus at a later time.

Valentino asked me to get him chips before going back to Frontier house so Jordan, Lina, and I stopped by at the CU convenience store by the Frontier stairs to grab some chips and popcorn with crazy flavors we have never heard of before - injeolmi, cheesecake, soy sauce chicken, vanilla ice cream, you name it. Lina carried about six chips on her hands and dropped everything - the worker laughed, helped her out, and patted her on the head. When we left the store, we bumped into Jon, Sean, and another guy from Singapore whose name I don't remember. It was 1 AM and they were walking to Chicken Bus to get dinner - Jordan and Lina decided to tag along while I climbed up the Frontier stairs to hand Valentino his chips before heading back down and meeting the rest at Chicken Bus.

During the meal, I wanted to know more about Singaporean slangs, so I went online and tested Jon and Lina for their Singaporean slang knowledge - I learned so much that night. I hear phrases like "bo jio" and "blur like sotong", not including the usual lor and la at the end of every sentence that comes out of Lina's mouth. Pong would even mix in Singaporean slang on her texts and captions and I would sometimes have to read them over and over just to figure out if it was written in English or not.

When I came back to my dorm, Matt texted me to come over his room since he just came home and found out his roommate moved out. I ran downstairs to the second floor and knocked on the door - the wrong door! The door opened and lo and behold, Grant was behind the door asking me what I wanted.

I knocked on Grant and Peter's room! I apologized to him and moved to the next room, which was Matt's room, so we hung out and talked for a while.

Three, girl it's plain to see that you're the only one for me...

Tuesday, July 24, 2018: It was the ten-year anniversary since I immigrated into the United States from the Philippines. I haven't stepped foot in the Philippines since I left, much less visit Asia, and I found it funny that I was celebrating the ten-year anniversary back in Asia.

I woke up that day with my Weather app saying it feels like 110 degrees outside, so I did what I do best on hot days - I stay in and nap. I didn't leave my dorm until it was time for my Korean class, which seems to be the routine nowadays. Right after my Korean class, Yejoon (John/예준) walked around the Woodang Hall lobby wearing a cardboard box advertising the Korean Culture Seminar for tomorrow, Thursday. He was with the director of KU ISC, who asked me if I already signed up for the event, which I did - so he handed me a pumpkin cupcake, which I gave to Simi while in line for the North Korean lecture.

The lecture was held on the sixth floor of Woodang Hall by two North Korean defectors talking about their life before and after leaving North Korea, the defection process, and their thoughts on the US-North Korean summit and denuclearization hosted by PSCORE, People for Successful Corean Reunification - Corea being the spelling while the peninsula was reunited prior to the Korean war.

The first speaker was about twenty when she escaped North Korea to China. Her mother first defected with the help of a North Korean soldier (via payment - about $700 at that time), and she was following next. Unfortunately, the soldier she paid to help her escape was put into investigation, tortured, and was forced to reveal her name, so the North Korean government started following her with the hopes that they would capture her doing something illegal. The investigation died down after an important figure in the military was found to be helping other North Korean citizens defect, so all the attention shifted to that case. She successfully defected a few years later into China, before moving to Cambodia, which sent her to South Korea. The total price was about $7,000. PSCORE helped her settle a life in South Korea in addition to government funding and taught her English. It's been about ten years since she defected and she's now a freelance florist, after studying in England for a year.

The second speaker defected in 1996 and talked about politics more - how Kim strategized the whole summit to his favor and how Trump and Kim are the same pompous and all-for-show kind of leaders. There was a question and answer session that followed, and we also had another chance to meet with the speakers after the lecture.

I came up to the female speaker and asked her if she still identified herself as North Korean or if she considers herself full South Korean now. I have seen many videos and news that documented many defectors' struggles adjusting to the South Korean life and culture that they did not feel like themselves anymore - they wanted to go back to North Korea. I was curious if that was the case for her too.

No. She's full South Korean by heart and by blood.

After the talk, I walked with Simi to Anam straight from the lecture. Sophie messaged me saying she was in Cream Chicken and Beer with Jon, Pong, Sean, and Jordan, so I brought Simi to meet them. Lina and Thai caught up with is later on.

After the meal, Sophie and I met with Valentino, Inseok (Michael/인석), and his girlfriend at a nearby coin noraebang (코인 노래방). Simi met up with her friends outside the place and left to another coin noraebang (코인 노래방). Lina joined with me and Thai in a separate room since the rooms only fit four people (Valentino, Inseok, his girlfriend, and Sophie). After Inseok (Michael/인석) and his girlfriend left, Valentino and Sophie invited us to a bigger noraebang (노래만) where Cara and Esther were at. Matt, Minki-hyung (민기형), Florence, and Wendelyn joined us soon after.

Salli caught up with us after a few hours and the two of us had two somaek (소맥) outside and got our own room to sing in, since she was uncomfortable entering the room full of strangers at the beginning.

After a few cups of somaek (소맥), she eased down and started singing with the bigger group.

I left the noraebang (노래방) early to eat at Thai's place, since he had his room all for himself - I bought a long kimbap, samgak kimbap (triangular kimbap/삼각김밥), and a banana milk. One of the most important things I will be missing once I leave Korea are the rice balls, the samgak kimbap (삼각김밥), and the doshirak (Korean lunchbox sets/도시락) - I didn't know how to open the samgak kimbap properly just until I visited Busan over the weekend, where Bonnie and Kyle showed me a step-by-step process.

Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) was supposed to move in with Thai for the rest of the program, but he got lazy, so Thai had been all alone since his roommate, Shannon, left. We were in his room video calling Matt in Kakao Talk, until it was time for me to head back to my place and sleep.

And four, repeat steps one through three...

Wednesday, July 25, 2018: I woke up to Sophie's messages that she was at Starbucks with her friend Namhee (남희) from her Psychology class. They just got back from sushi together, and she did not want to be alone with him the whole time in Anam, so she messaged me to come study at Starbucks quickly.

I finished writing my Korean speech with Sophie and Namhee (남희) before he headed out first; hungry, I asked Sophie if she could accompany me to the Chicken Steak, which she was more than happy to do so.

At the Chicken Steak, we talked about how she was leaving on Saturday and I leave for Busan on Friday, so we only had Thursday to see each other one last time. The environment was getting depressing, since she was the first one in our circle to fly back. We talked about meeting in Europe or America someday and how she was jealous that everybody is near each other but her - she was the only European in our circle. I had Valentino and Darren just a few cities away from me, while Matt, Cara, Thai, and Peter were just states next to each other in the East Coast, so visiting them would be easy if we meet in the middle. Then there were the Singaporeans, who live in a country so small, they're basically neighbors. My poor isolated Austrian friend, she was alone in Europe.

After my Korean class, I bumped into and shook hands with Minjae (민재), who tightened his grip and pulled me towards him to invite me to a video shoot on Monday - I accepted the invite, even though I had no idea what it was. He had me write my email down, so they could send me the information. Right after, I went to the cheap kimbap place to meet with Florence - she later arrived with Leonard and Tony after bumping into them on the way. Another thing I will miss in Seoul the most is this place - where can you ever get a huge portions of kimbap, tteok-ramyeon, and every other street food for a cheap price (less than ₩3,000)?

Everybody was meeting up to go clubbing in Gangnam that night, including Florence, but I was not in the mood to do so, since the food coma from the kimbap and tteok-ramyeon was kicking in. So, I crashed Matt's place and we both napped for the rest of the afternoon.

Thai woke me up saying he had Nene Chicken (네네치킨) delivered and brought it over to Matt's dorm. I found unopened fresh soju on his desk and contacted Peter whose room is next to Matt's if he was down for me to hang out at his place with my free bottle of soju. Peter welcomed me with dried mangoes while he was finishing his mass media video presentation.

Side note: it was already midnight and his roommate, Grant, hadn't been back for a whole day.

Jordan messaged the group that he wanted to eat, so I left Peter's room and to Jordan's room in the same floor as mine and offered him the rest of the fresh soju, which he hated. I, myself, also hated drinking fresh soju and I did not plan on finishing the bottle, but I knew of a person who could.

I messaged Darren, who was in the room next to Jordan and he gladly took the soju off my hands before Jordan and I headed to the CU store just down Frontier to get samgak kimbap (삼각김밥) and orange juice, while Jordan ate some pork cutlet doshirak (카츠도시락).

Jordan visited a phone case café in Seoul during the day, where he could customize a phone case. It made me think of how big the café culture here in Seoul was, since there was a theme for everything! I went back to my room at 3 AM to the messages that both Valentino and Cara were separated and lost in Gangnam - Valentino being separated from Cara and Jennie by the cops and Valentino doesn't have a LTE to send his accurate location with. Though, both Valentino and Cara arrived back to Frontier at around 4 in the morning, after a whole hour of Matt, Florence, and me worrying and trying to get them home.

Five, make you fall in love with me...

Thursday, July 26, 2018: I signed up for the K-Culture Seminar for 10:30 AM and I woke up at 9:45 tired and lazy to attend the event, but I pushed myself to go since this was one of the last events of the program. I arrived at the Woodang Hall lecture hall at 10:40 with Florence messaging me she was running late for the same reason.

The K-Culture Seminar poster advertised three discussion topics about Korean culture: K-Pop, K-food, and K-cosmetics.

Florence and Jordan joined me at the very right end of the middle row where the director of the event welcomed us and started the lecture with a dance practice. To fully experience K-Pop culture, we had to understand the hype around its choreography. So, three girls went on stage and the speaker, with a cap and a black mask on, taught us an unfamiliar choreography, which she made us repeat.

She asked people to demonstrate it with her and Jordan, along two other girls, went on stage to mimic what she showed us.

After the demonstration, she told us that she showed us the choreography to a Gugudan SeMiNa song, and asked if we wanted to see the whole performance with the choreography we just learned. She took off her mask and cap and introduced herself as Sejeong from Gugudan SeMiNa. Nayoung started singing from the far left of the lecture hall, then Mina stood up from the chair in front us, ripped out her cap and mask and started singing. Gugudan SeMiNa was right in front of our noses the entire lecture! Here's the official M2 video: 구구단 세미나 (gugudan SEMINA) @고려대학교

They performed two songs - repeating their comeback 샘이나 (Semina) twice. It felt odd having Gugudan SeMiNa be on campus, when I just saw them perform the same song at "The Show" earlier in the month.

Then we knew why the lecture was called a seminar.

After the performance, the presented Jordan and the two volunteers a gift card to Dookki (두끼), a tteokbokki (spicy rice cake/떡볶이) buffet in Anam) and told the audience they wanted 30 more volunteers to record Mnet's School of Rock in. They needed the volunteers to go to Dookki (두끼) and eat in front of the camera.

Without even finishing what they were saying, I stood up and grabbed Florence with me and were the first ones to go on stage. Erin, Adrian, Peter, and the president of the KU ISC buddy group, Heeyong-hyung (희영).

We walked to Dookki (두끼) and ate in front of the camera - then we play the waiting game until the Gugudan SeMiNa School of Rock episode airs.

After the free meal, the five of us including the guy from Hong Kong who I met in taekwondo class but can't remember the name, went to a nearby coin noraebang (코인 노래방) and sang a few songs before heading back to Korea University.

Throughout the day, Erin was practicing for her Korean speech later in the afternoon, and her little knowledge of the Korean language and pronunciation warranted a funny time within our group.

Annyeonghaseyo-imnida, as how she would greet us.

It was 2:50 PM and we bumped into Sophie on the way; with nothing else to do (since my class does not start until 4:50 PM), we both decided to crash Florence and Erin's Korean Mass Media lecture.

Florence, Erin, Peter, and Cindy were in the class together - Valentino was also enrolled, but usually comes in late, so I didn't get to see him until later in the lecture. That day, the professor talked about how the dawn of the Korean entertainment industry with Winter Sonata, Dae Jang Gum, and makjang drama stereotypes such as slapping (he even showed the famous kimchi slap). He talked about how the K-industry target Chinese and Japanese audience by incorporating the languages in the dramas or commercials, such as Reply 1988 and Kara doing a segment on Korean culture while speaking Japanese.

The lecture ended with a student presentation on Korean survival shows, which gave rise to artists like Monsta X, Stray Kids, iKON, I.O.I, and Wanna One.

Sophie left the class early to get ready for her farewell picnic, which was after my Korean class, which directly followed the Mass Media class.

Korean class dragged that day and I really just wanted to leave to start shopping for Sophie's getaway present in Daiso - I ended up buying a cute memo card for everybody to individually write on and a panda. I also bought the wrong cord for my portable charger since my cord was way past the turtleneck phase and had wires already exposed.

We had a farewell picnic for Sophie planned that night at the Lone Tree in Olympic Park. I was invited by Yejoon (John/예준) that day for bowling and watching Incredibles 2 and my Korean class was also having dinner at the meat and soju buffet I recommended, though I had to cancel on both invitations to hang out with Sophie for the final time.

I took the subway with Valentino and Lina, since everybody arrived there earlier. I had everybody write a small message on the memo cards secretly and away from Sophie from the subway ride up until the actual picnic.

Everybody from the group arrived to be with Sophie - Matt, Joyce, Cara, Valentino, Lina, Thai, Minki-hyung (민기형), Leonard, Wendelyn, Florence, Bonnie, Davy, and Tony. We blasted Korean and Chinese music while we munched on chips and cookies.

The humidity in the park was probably way past 100% and everybody was sweating nonstop. We moved up from the tree to the hills to get some breeze and watched the sun setting behind the buildings of the city.

We vowed to never come back to the park ever again with how bad the humidity was - that was the worst humidity I have ever experienced.

On the way to the subway, Leonard realized he accidentally threw his wallet along with our trash in the garbage bin, so he had to go back and rummage through the trash - Valentino actually wanted to help out, but he did not want to deal with the humidity. We waited for Leonard to come back and Sophie had to leave earlier to deal with her luggage, so I asked her to sign my South Korean flag thinking it would be the last time I would see her. Florence accompanied her back to Bomun Station (보문역) right after, so she did not have to take the subway back alone.

The rest of us left right after Leonard found his wallet and went to the same barbeque buffet my Korean class were at - Bonnie, Jordan, Valentino, Anthony, and Matt were with me and stuffed ourselves with meat. Later in the night, Florence and Sophie joined the group.

This was the last time I was going to see Sophie before she left on Saturday, since I had the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Busan planned on Friday.

Both blogs will be separate and should be posted soon. I just arrived back in Los Angeles and it's currently 7:25 AM and jet lag is keeping me awake. Minki-hyung (민기형), Cara, Florence, Joyce, and Erin are the only ones left in Seoul, and it's very heartbreaking to see everybody leave.

Though, I'm glad I am finally in the comfort of my own bed, even though it still feels very foreign to me. I suppose I would be making a post-study abroad experience blog if this feeling persists? I really miss Seoul, though I miss my friends even more. I hope we all reunite one day. Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. Valentino introduced me to Brian McKnight's "Back at One" during our early noraebang (노래방) days and I honestly have fell in love with it. I feel like every time I hear this song (together with 김범수의 "보고싶다"), it will remind me of my time here in Seoul (I wrote this bit while I was in Seoul, so it confused me why I still referred to myself as still being in Seoul).

P.P.S. My friend Bonnie started a blog on her experience in Seoul, so please read it since it's more informational, rather than personal: Lifestylust: Adventure Blog.

If ever I believe my work is done, then I'll start back at one.

[seoulfulcity]

July 20, 2018: Cruisin’ for a Boozin’

안녕하세요,

This cruise was just an excuse for us to stay up until dawn drinking nonstop, so I thank Hanyang University for giving us this opportunity, while we were in Seoul.

Friday is usually cultural activity day and the event saved for Friday was the Boryeong Mud Festival, which is held every year where attendees bathe themselves and play with others while covered in mud, which is said to have a lot of benefits for the skin. Boryeong is a two-hour ride south of Seoul and the event takes half of the day, from 10 am to 4 PM not counting the rides to and from Boryeong.

From the years prior, we were told that the bus ride home would take more than the usual two hours, since the majority of the attendees also leave during that time so traffic gets very congested. So, the attendees were looking at spending their whole Friday at the mud festival.

In contrast to our personal event on Friday, the Hanyang Cruise Party - or as we called it, the booze cruise, starts at 6 PM with unlimited free drinks for an hour and the cruise party lasts until 11 PM where it continues at the renowned Octagon Club until 5 AM with a complimentary free drink. People did want to attend both the Boryeong Mud Festival and the booze cruise, but from previous years' stories, they would be arriving back in their dorms at around 6-7 PM, where they have to shower and get ready, and then take another hour subway ride to Gangnam, where the ship was docked. They were not going to make it to the actual booze cruise, so people wanting to attend the booze cruise more than Boryeong Mud Festival dropped out from the latter: mostly Minki-hyung (민기형) and Matt. Thai, Joyce, Bonnie, and Anthony decided to opt out from the cruise and go with KU ISC to Boryeong instead; while Bonnie and Anthony headed straight to Jeonju for the weekend after the mud festival was over. Meanwhile, the rest of us stayed indoors until 6 PM for Hanyang's cruise party.

Darren (Minho/민호), Peter, Angela, and Cindy invited me to go out earlier in the day to eat before heading to the cruise ship together - they decided to try Cry Cheese Burger, a reminiscent of California's In-N-Out; and Darren, being a fellow Angeleno, was also very excited to see what Seoul's version of In-N-Out would taste like. Meanwhile, the rest of my friends were planning to leave closer to 6 PM.

The five of us going to Cry Cheese Burger left at 3 PM and headed to Gangnam under a 101-degree weather. I wanted to dress nicely, in a suit and everything, but the moment I stepped out of my dorm room, I started to become drenched in sweat - so I opted out for a nice dark blue short-sleeved buttoned shirt instead, which ended up looking similar to Peter's long-sleeved one.

Side Note: I constantly asked him why he still wore a long sleeve under that heat.

After wandering lost around Gangnam and collecting enough puddle on our foreheads from the humidity, we finally found Cry Cheese Burger. We all ordered the cheeseburger meal set, but I ordered an extra chocolate milkshake - which completed the usual In-N-Out meal I usually get when I was back in Los Angeles.

We received our meals and both Darren and I took the first bites to start our criticisms and comparisons with LA's pride that is In-N-Out.

It was surprisingly good - the cheeseburger was very similar to the ones back home, although the fries were a little disappointing. I could not be generous enough with my compliments with the chocolate milkshake just because I was sipping on it after being soaked by the 100-degree-Asian-summer sun. The meal set also got a big thumbs up from the other Angeleno.

The five of us took the subway to Apgujeong Station, where we had to walk another 10 minutes to reach the ship. The pathway leading to the ship had big signs pointing to the direction saying "Cruise 378: Hanyang x GSM Cruise Party"; it was hard to miss it.

We checked in and the girls gave us four vouchers for free drinks in the ship, and a complimentary sandwich and a bottled ice water.

The ship had four areas: the basement (where the finger foods were), the first floor (the main dance floor), the second floor (the bar), and the deck (where the other dance floor and performances were). Darren, Peter, Angela, Cindy, and I headed straight to the bar when we entered to see which drinks they were offering. They only offered four cocktails for the unlimited free drinks: rum and come, cranberry vodka, screwdriver, and tequila sunrise.

Since we had more than enough people, we each got a different drink so we could all try it. I am an avid fan of screwdriver - my first legal drink was the same cocktail in The Venetian in Las Vegas. Even with how much I liked screwdriver, the one they concocted for me in the cruise did not taste well. We also did not like Peter's rum and coke (yikes, that was the worst one), and Angela and Cindy's cranberry vodka was not the best one we've had either. I went back to the bar to try tequila sunrise and all five of us ended up enjoying it.

We found a table in the basement where we left our drinks and both Darren and I went back and forth from the basement to the second floor getting tequila sunrise until we filled up the table with drinks.

When we were lining up for another round, we came across my other friends who were also in the same line as us: Valentino, Cara, Wendelyn, Florence, Matt, Minki-hyung (민기형), Leonard, Erin and Jordan. Darren and I suggested which drinks for them to try and we walked them to our table in the basement where we finished the cocktails within half an hour.

It was still bright outside, so both dance floors on the first floor and the upper deck were empty while the party-goers were drinking as much free drinks as they could to feel that slight buzz enough for them to start dancing.

When night fell, the strobe lights and disco balls illuminated the dance floor and the crowd started gathering around the people dancing in the middle.

The ship did not move though - I expected it to cruise along the Han river. Cara said in cruise parties like these, the ships don't move to prevent adding motion sickness to the amount of people already vomiting from the alcohol.

Free drinks continued past 7 PM until the night at the ship ended. So, we were going and forth asking for tequila sunrise every ten minutes or so.

There was an itinerary to the event - a pair of Colombian dancers performed a traditional South American dance, followed by a hip-hop performance, and a raffle draw for scholarship money, bottles of champagne, and a table reservation at the Octagon from Hanyang University.

Per usual, none of us won.

The DJ played music that catered to the international population throughout the night, which had both pros and cons.

Pros - we were having fun screaming out parts of the songs while the fourteen of us huddled shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle in the middle of dance floor. We're a noraebang (노래방) group of friends, we love to yell out songs.

Cons - we were in South Korea dancing to Western songs. We had hoped they would play some songs in Korean, but we were out of luck that night.

At 11, we were asked to leave the cruise and head to the Octagon. The group who had the table reserved next to our photo (see above) left without opening their champagne bottles, so Cara and Wendelyn both grabbed each of the unopened champagne bottles and ran out of the cruise.

Five-finger discount, that's how Cara described it as.

We sat overlooking the cruise while taking turns chugging champagne from the bottle.

We debated how to get to the Octagon - some of us wanted to walk, while some wanted to take a taxi. We decided to split up instead, and Minki-hyung (민기형) lead the group planning to take the taxi to the closest big intersection and everybody followed him. We ended up being near the bus stop that had a stop next to the Octagon, so we all agreed to be rowdy in the bus instead.

On the way, we passed by a hotel where Se7en was staying in. There were lines of fans waiting outside until he came out waving at them in his car. He looked and waved directly at me until he closed down the windows, which impressed Peter because of how nice his vibe was.

After coming across Se7en, we took the bus and embarrassed Minki-hyung (민기형) with how stereotypically-loud we foreigners were becoming before being dropped off at the Octagon.

The infamous Octagon - I have heard so much about it within the local Korean community: from rejecting people who don't fit their rich and beautiful image to become very unwelcoming to foreigners. I have constantly avoided attending Octagon during my stay here in Seoul, or any clubs in Gangnam for that matter.

Octagon was huge - had multiple levels and two main clubs (EDM and hiphop). We were only given a voucher for one complimentary drink, which included a shot of tequila, a bottled water, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, etc.

I met up with Lina and her Puerto Rican friend, Maite, in the EDM dance floor. Everybody was in the hiphop area, while Darren, Peter, Angela, Cindy, and I stayed in the EDM area.

I did not enjoy Octagon at all. It got very crowded later in the night, too crowded that I could not even move to sway back and forth in the hiphop area or jump to the best in the EDM floor (plus, I just was not feeling both areas anyway).

So, I found myself going out of the club a lot - to catch some fresh air or to just get away from the crowd that was rubbing their sweaty bodies against mine.

I asked Peter and Lina to come to the nearest CU convenience store with me and everybody wanted to join in. I notified the group chat of our whereabouts just in case they look for us inside the club, and they all wanted to leave the club to eat at the CU with us.

We had ice cream, chips, ramen, kimbap, and soju together outside CU.

We shared stories and my friends finally got to know Darren, Peter, Angela, and Cindy in a quiet environment, outside the loud cruise and club. Maite had a heated rant about how Trump handled the Puerto Rican flood crisis when Hurricane Maria hit the country in September 2017, while the rest were taking turns sipping om Wendelyn and Lina's ramen broth.

We went back inside the club after chilling outside for an hour. Cara did Jordan a favor when he was getting thirsty and got him the expensive Octagon bottled water via the five-finger discount.

Salli joined us later in the night after Carolina and her friend were denied entry to Octagon. Since I already had a lot to drink in the night, I handed Salli my extra free alcohol voucher after winning it at the spinning wheel just after we entered the club earlier in the night.

In the hiphop room, there were two people, on the table next to the floor the 17 of us were dancing on, who have been heavily making out the entire night. They had an entire bucket of glow sticks and bracelets and we were slowly taking some one-by-one, and they never noticed with how occupied they were with each other.

Later in the night, the girl was performing oral sex with the guy out in the open, with all of is dancing next to them.

Without surprise, they were our topic of discussion for the rest of the night.

We had been sweating all night, which sobered us up very quickly; so Lina took initiative to take unopened alcohol from empty tables and made us chug them so we continue the night.

We all planned to stay until 5:30 AM when the subways start running again, but we had been drinking and dancing since 6 PM that we had to go home at 4 AM - 10 hours of partying, this was a new record for all of us. We all decided to hail for a taxi ride from Gangnam back to Anam.

Though, no taxi can stopped for us. A taxi cab would see us hailing but stop for a Korean behind us or deliberately ignore us completely. It took us about ten minutes to hail a taxi cab for one group, since nobody wanted to stop for the foreigners.

This was also an issue when Valentino was lost in Gangnam the week after at 4 AM and no taxi cab stopped for him. They usually opted for the Korean waving for their attention.

We returned back to our dorms at around 5 AM with a taxi fare of only ₩9,800.

This was definitely one of those nights we would remember during our time here in Seoul. Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I am currently alone on a night train to Busan for my final full weekend here in Seoul. I will be meeting with Bonnie, Thai, Peter, Salli, Davy, Deedee, and two people I haven't gotten to know yet - Peggy and Kyle.

Sophie is leaving back to Austria tomorrow morning and it had been an emotional reality check for all of us with how close this program is ending. It had been fun!

Florence talked to me about all of us separating today and it just made me realize how much I have grown so close with everybody - we even recognize each other's silhouettes and shadows. I never expected to get this comfortable with anyone during this program, let alone nine people, who are always down to do everything as ten, including myself.

It gets difficult to accommodate all of us in restaurants though, but hey! We're a really fun and rowdy group: Valentino, Matt, Sophie, Florence, Wendelyn, Joyce, Minki-hyung (민기형), Thai, and Cara; and to everybody else who would come join us every so often and make the ten of us become eleven, twelve, and sometimes even seventeen (cough, World Cup finals, cough).

We are already planning when to meet with each other when we visit the East Coast or Singapore in the future. I do plan to see both Valentino and Darren when we're all back in Los Angeles this summer.

[seoulfulcity]

July 18, 2018: Singapore Nights - Feeding Into Our Gluttonous Tendencies

"Korea University is only hosting an event for Singaporeans and no other country - that's how special you are to us". I love being Singaporean.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018: All I knew was the event had a buffet set up and Wendelyn supported my decision on crashing Singapore Night, an all-Singaporean event hosted by the university since half of the KU ISC attendees are from Singapore, even though I am not Singaporean at all. Maybe I look Malay and that's probably the closest to being Singaporean that I will ever be.

"Just don't talk or they'll hear your American accent". I guess I will be mute for the entire dinner.

Singapore Night started right after my Korean class at 6:30 at the Alumni Hall B1. I walked towards the Central Plaza and saw a group of well-dressed people, one of them was Clement, who I know was Singaporean; so I followed the group.

I was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, so I'm probably easily recognized as someone who did not get the Singapore Night email.

I entered the Media Hall with no problem, though, since they weren't check for IDs or signing anyone up. I saw Wendelyn and Florence and sat with them in table 16. They say they invited close to 250 Singaporeans to the event, and the hall was massive, holding 25 round tables fitting about 10 people each.

The stage had a banner hanging across saying "2018 KU ISC Singapore Night" with the flags of South Korea and Singapore on both ends of the stage.

Before coming to South Korea, I had never heard a Singaporean accent and Tracy told us about how unique and recognizable their accent is during our trip to Hong Kong.

I was four weeks into the summer program, and I was surrounded mostly by Singaporeans - I have not only picked up their accent, but I've picked up so much of their culture, their mannerisms, and their las and lors.

You get me, la? I'm basically Singaporean.

Since they were in their natural environment, my Singaporean friends did not bother to slow down their speaking and fix their accents for us Americans - Florence started speaking in her heaviest Singaporean accent (she usually impresses her fellow-Singaporeans with how easily she can switch accents and dialects depending on who she's talking to) and Wendelyn spoke faster than how she usually spoke. Mind you, Singaporean accent was very hard to decipher the first few days I was around them and it took quite a bit of exposure to get used to it, but the natural speed of their accents is so much more difficult to understand.

Joyce, John, and Simi's roommate, Edan, joined our table while Pong, Lina, and Jon (Jonathan) sat in table 17. When Jon arrived at the venue, he was so surprised to see me across the room and started mouthing: you're not even Singaporean! Captain Obvious, of course I'm not Singaporean.

The event started with speeches from the KU ISC director, the Singaporean ambassador to Seoul, and a Singaporean student, who Wendelyn made fun of for giving a speech in casual clothes.

His Singaporean accent and slang were also very heavy that Florence would tap my shoulder every once in a while to ask me if I needed translation.

Yes, Florence. I actually did need translation.

After the speeches, it was buffet time - but the tables were dismissed chronologically, so Florence and I were upset at the person who chose to sit at table 16. We were looking for people we knew on other tables where we can crash just so we can get food earlier.

The buffet had five long tables - one table for meat (bulgogi, chicken, pork), one for fruits (watermelon, peach, orange), one for desserts (different types of mousse and cakes), one for raw fish (raw salmon salad and different kinds of sushi and sashimi), and one for noodles and salad (pasta salads, japchae, buckwheat, different kinds of salad).

And as the true Singaporean that I was, I filled up two plates, dropped them off to my table and came back to fill up two more plates. Then, we feasted.

Thai and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) wanted to join in and we tried convincing them to, but Thai was not confident enough that he could pass up as a Singaporean; not Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) though, he wanted food and he will get food.

A second round of food was delivered and all five of the long tables were filled up once again. We told Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) to hurry before people finish the food and he arrived in no time. He sat with us and also feasted.

Then, we were asked to do a group picture and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) and I were forced to sit at the very front, knowing that we both don't look Singaporean at all.

That was it. This was the story on how Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) and I became Singaporeans.

See the official Korea University Singapore Night video here: 2018 ISC Singapore Night

Before separating for the night, we stopped by a nearby clothing store and went eye shopping (look at me picking up some Korean slang).

Salli and I met up right after and we wanted to go drinking with Jon, Lina, and Pong. They told us to meet at the barbeque place we ate at after orientation, but upon getting there, we found out that the barbeque place closed down!

I was very disappointed because the ahjumma (아줌마) serving the place knew who I was and the meat was actually very delicious - plus it holds a special place since that was the first restaurant our friend circle ate at as a group.

So, Salli and I went to Chunja (춘자) and drank there instead. We talked about boys, especially the one who I met at the airport when I landed in Seoul to start the program - Minjae (민재). Salli has a huge crush on Minjae (민재) and we wanted to drink with him that night, so I invited him over.

He said he was with his club at that moment but he will stop by in a bit.

We excitedly ordered another bottle of soju and maekju (beer/맥주). Joyce stopped by for a few minutes to chug half a bottle and was interested in seeing Minjae (민재), but it was already past midnight so she left.

Right after Joyce left, Minjae (민재) came over to have a drink with us and asked where Joyce went. Ha! The irony.

Minjae (민재) brought his club mates down to Chunja (춘자) and sat a few tables across from me and Salli. They both exchanged Kakao IDs before Minjae (민재) went back to his table and Salli and I headed out to a coin noraebang (코인 노래방) to sing Korean songs and changing the words "you" and "baby" to Minjae's (민재의) name.

Thursday, July 19, 2018: It was graduation night for the four-weekers and Sophie would not give me any details because she was scared we would do something stupid. She wasn't wrong though.

Early in the morning, basically around noon, Sophie needed a body wash so I had to meet up with her in my pajamas and my bed hair to give it to her - with my luck, Ian and Carolina joined and had a conversation with us. Ian mentioned how he was visiting Seodaemun Prison later today and I wanted to go, but I had a class from 4:50 PM, which makes it impossible to stay and explore the prison long enough for me to appreciate its history. So, I passed up on that one.

It was already midday and I haven't eaten yet so I asked Matt to come with me to the Chicken Steak place so he could try it, which he agreed to. After the bibimbap (비빔밥) incident, he had been very wary of the spicy food he was eating, but it was unavoidable. Matt got the spiciest chicken in the menu, while I got the good 'ole chicken steak with barbeque sauce.

Sophie joined in later, but she couldn't eat any of our food since they were both spicy.

After Chicken Steak, I got a haircut at the usual place called I'Hair, which is just a few minutes walk from the Frontier stairs. The booze cruise was going to be tomorrow and my hair is becoming long - long enough that it takes more than five minutes for it to dry. I'Hair is out go-to haircut place since there's an English-speaking worker from 10 AM to 5 PM, and all of the hairdressers are very young, hip, and stylish.

By young, hip, and stylish - I mean it in Korean terms because their talent revolves around making Korean hair look good. I am not Korean, so we might be facing a problem here.

My hairdresser was confused when I asked him to spike up the front of my hair, since my hairline does not let me do any other haircut. He was asking me which side I want my hair to be combed over - typical Korean look - but I kept telling him, via Google translate, to do it as the way I described it to him earlier. Poor guy, he was probably very scared of the English interaction.

The English-speaking worker who was responsible for Valentino's haircut was busy, and I would glance at her every so often to see when she finishes with her client. She asked Valentino if he was interested in getting a new haircut, rather than the usual "short on the side and trim the top of my hair" haircut; since Valentino was up for it, she gave him a perm.

During class, our Korean professor noticed Darren (Minho/민호) and I got a haircut and we actually found out we both got it cut in I'Hair - we just missed each other. After class, I messaged Ian for the graduation information to surprise Sophie and he gave me the time and location.

Woodang Hall, sixth floor - the same lecture hall where we did our Korean placement exam at. Thai and I met up and headed to the sixth floor and were greeted by four long tables of food - madeleines, sandwiches, kimbap, mousse, etc. I dove right in.

Thai texted the group chat to come over since there were free food, and both Wendelyn and Florence (who were already on the way to see Sophie’s graduation) arrived.

Surprisingly, Minjae (민재) was the one overseeing the food when we arrived so we had a small talk before going into the lecture hall, just in time for the graduates to toss their graduation cap into the air.

It makes me emotional how the four-weekers were already graduating, knowing that we six-weekers only had two more weeks until we take our flights back to our home countries and be separated from each other.

We formed an amazing bond the last few weeks, and I really wished that we would have stayed just a little bit longer, but life just didn't work that way. We have responsibilities to go back to and life is stagnant and stress-free while we are here in Seoul.

After the graduation, everybody went outside the lecture hall to take pictures and snack on the food prepared. Sophie did not want to take pictures with us because she was embarrassed, so we decided to have her, the graduate, take our picture.

I met Thai's roommate Shannon for the first time that day, and I got so angry that Thai didn't introduce me to him earlier. He was very handsome.

Matt arrived at the lecture hall for the free food, but we were all about to leave to meet with Davy at a barbeque place by McDonald's called Migak (미가가) but since I was already full from the graduation food, I decided to just tag along and socialize.

On our way there, we found Jon eating at a restaurant and tried to get his attention, but we didn't see Joyce was actually in front of the place and she thought we were waving at her.

Thai sent me the pictures I took of him and Shannon to apologize for not introducing us to each other earlier, but I was still upset. He was leaving back to Singapore on Saturday, so my chances of getting to know him were basically gone.

After the barbeque, Sophie went back to the dorm and we met with Valentino, Cara, Leonard, Minki-hyung (민기형), Hyunki-hyung (형기형) and Erin and wanted to drink at Chunja (춘자), but the bar was already very packed and could not accommodate 12 people.

Salli and Carolina's group also had to find a different bar since their group was big enough to not be accommodated at the same bar.

So, Valentino and Cara led us to Y Beer and Grill (Youngcheol Burger/영철버거), just across the closed-down barbeque place Salli and I went to the night before. Minki-hyung (민기형) actually just came back from his trip to Hong Kong. He arrived during Sophie's graduation, but it takes about two hours to get from Incheon International Airport to Anam, so he didn't join us until 11 PM.

Nobody was up to drink soju that night, but I was craving my nightly dose of the alcohol, so I met up with Darren, Angela, Peter, and Cindy at Osaka Blues and had a few shots of soju before sending a drunk-Cindy back to Anam Global House. Thai messaged me while I was still at Osaka Blues that he was at the CU store down CJ International having cup ramen with Shannon, and I wanted to sprint up the steep CJ International hill. Too bad I was in the middle of Anam, a good 10-15-minute walk to the CU store, so I had to pass up on the opportunity.

After we dropped Cindy at her dorm, we ended up getting ice cream at the same CU store where Thai and Shannon were, but the tables in the convenience store were already empty. Darren was sweet enough to pay for my ice cream since I helped him walk Peter up that one night - it was not necessary but I appreciated the nice gesture.

After the quick snack, Darren, Angela, Peter, and I went back to Anam to go to a coin noraebang (코인 노래방) and stayed there for three hours, until 5 AM, before we headed back to the same CU store to munch on kimbap for breakfast.

We bid farewell to each other and agreed to meet at 3 PM later in the day for the booze cruise. The booze cruise on Friday is on a separate blog.

Saturday, July 21, 2018: We didn't get home until around 6 AM on Friday so I slept in the whole day. My phone cord was so bent from the cruise so it wasn't working anymore, and now both my phone and portable charger were dying - I had to make a stop at Daiso to buy an emergency cord quickly.

I woke up at 3 PM, just to be greeted by a 101-degree heat outside according to my weather app.

Thai messaged me that his roommate, Shannon, already packed up and left and he had an entire room to himself for the rest of the summer. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) was planning to move in with Thai on Tuesday, and Thai was still trying to apologize for not introducing me to Shannon earlier in the summer so he was offering me his bed to sleep in.

Oh, Thai, you're a special human

Valentino, Sophie, Jordan, Florence, Wendelyn, Matt, and Joyce were at an Italian restaurant near Gong Cha in Anam called Moirita (모이리타); it had been more than two months since I had pasta, so I got spaghetti alla carbonara and enjoyed it until the last noodle.

After the Italian meal, we stopped by at Sulbing (설빙), the same Korean dessert we had just a week ago. Minki-hyung (민기형) joined me, Sophie, Jordan, and Valentino and had three showflakes: melon, Oreo, and chocolate cereal.

Thai went hiking up the Bukhansan from 8 am to about 8 PM and he got lost. He was actually deciding to sleep in the mountains until daylight; but a good Korean man found him and drove him back to Anam with little English spoken.

So, Joyce and I met up with him at McDonald's to see if he was okay and went out to a nearby barbeque place to eat.

Minki-hyung (민기형) was out drunk, spamming all three group chats (drinking chat, ISC Group 3 chat, and the cruise chat) asking who wanted to drink more soju and go clubbing with him. He agreed to meet with Joyce, Thai, and me.

Before Minki-hyung (민기형) arrived, the three of us settled with a barbeque place, which was written in all Korean and each meat fed only one person with a price ranging ₩17,000 to ₩20,000. We wanted to leave but the owners already set up all the side dishes (banchan/반찬) for us; so, we waited until Minki-hyung (민기형) arrived and got us out from the place.

"Don't go there, it's expensive", he said with his thicker-than-normal-Korean-accent-that-seemed-to-get-worse-whenever-he's-drunk.

He brought us to an all-you-can-eat buffet with unlimited samgyeopsal (삼���살) for ₩10,000 and unlimited alcohol for ₩5,000.

Matt, Florence, and Sophie joined in after. Joyce needed to ask the workers for extra plates for Matt, Florence, and Sophie so she asked us what was the Korean word for plate (jeobshi/접시), but I jokingly and confidently told her it was plateu, plate in a Korean accent.

Joyce once went to a milk tea shop with her friend and wanted to order a banana milk tea, so she said it in her casual Singaporean accent - the worker taking her order did not understand what she saying, despite multiple attempts of saying it as clearly as possible.

Her friend stepped in and said banana milkeu tea in a Korean accent, which the worker understood perfectly. That was then, when Joyce realized to accommodate the pronunciation of English words in Korean so communication would be easier.

So, Joyce went up to the worker to ask for the extra plates.

“Plateu juseyo” (Plates, please), she attempted to speak with a Korean accent with the worker, which she was greeted with mere confusion. Joyce repeated the phrase I taught her, but to no avail. The worker did not understand she was asking for plates.

I started laughing so loudly at Joyce from across the table when she finally realized I was pranking her, so she went up to Minki-hyung (민기형) and had him communicate her needs for extra plates.

I never let this moment die down for the rest of our program. Poor Joyce.

I left the dinner early and met up at Makgeolli House (막걸리딥) just down the street from the unlimited samgyeopsal (삼겹살) with Darren, Peter, and Angela. Darren had to leave home early because he was getting a headache from not having enough sleep recently. Sophie, Florence, Matt, and Minki-hyung (민기형) caught up with us right when we were about to leave. Peter, Matt, and I had another round of soju at the 7/11 next to Makgeolli House (막걸리집) and decided to go to a noraebang (노래방) and continue the night. I told Florence that Peter could be her competition since both of them are amazing karaoke singers. Minki-hyung (민기형) called it a night and went back to his place.

On our way to the coin noraebang (코인노래방) we frequent, we bumped into Jon and Lina who were smoking outside the coin noraebang (코인노래방) next to us, just under Bangkok Express.

So, Sophie, Peter, Angela, Florence, Wendelyn, Matt, and I sang until 2:30 AM. Since Sophie just moved out of her dorm, she needed to leave early to take a taxi to her hotel by Bomun Station, just a station away from Anam Station, or a five-minute taxi ride. Angela followed Sophie and went back to the dorm.

We decided to crash Jon and Lina's noraebang (노래방) and had Pong and two other Singaporeans in the room; we realized with the ten people in the room, seven were Singaporean and three of us (Matt, Peter, and I) were Americans. The Singaporeans sang their national anthem, Majulah Singapura, then recited the Singapore National Pledge, and then yelled out Kit Chan's Home, which was the first song released in the yearly Singapore's National Day Parade. Each year during the parade, Singapore releases a national song for the year, and Home is the most iconic and celebrated on.

Of course, the Americans fought back and ended the night with Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA.

Side note: once again, there are so many Singaporeans. Every night out is basically Singapore Night for me here.

We left the karaoke and still did not want to go to sleep, so we bought four sojus and climbed up the Frontier stairs with cicadas songs echoing through the night.

The cicadas just came out of nowhere recently, and coming from Los Angeles where all we have are bees and crickets, the cicada songs sound terrifying.

Matt, Peter, Wendelyn, Florence, Jon, Lina, Pong, and I played card games outside Frontier House and munched on chips. Valentino came down for a brief moment to chug some soju and went back to bed. The loser of the game was asked to buy more sojus and snacks, which ended up being Matt.

By the time the sun was already rising, we had ten soju bottles rolling around the floor. Someone from Anam Hall, the building across Frontier House, came down to tell us to be quiet since we were getting loud in Korean.

We stayed outside until 5:30 and I walked Peter back to his room so I could see his roommate, Grant, since I have a small crush on him. Peter agreed that I could get him drunk just so I could keep walking him back and interact with Grant. My friends are good people.

That was it for week four! I am currently in week five and I could already taste the crisp Los Angeles air (no, I don't miss Los Angeles at all). Sophie is flying back to Austria on Saturday, which I will be in Busan so I will miss dropping her off at the airport.

Our circle is slowly ending, and it's heartbreaking.

But since the four-weekers are leaving, my friends' roommates are also leaving (e.g. Thai and Matt’s), so we have more sleepover opportunities these last few days! How exciting! Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I flew to Seoul to experience Korean culture, but I believe I'm leaving the city as a Singaporean.

[seoulfulcity]

July 14, 2018: Chunja Nights - Feeding Into Our Alcoholic Tendencies

안녕하세요,

The fourth week was alcoholic week - it was the final week for the people in the four-week summer program, so everybody took advantage of it to make their social circles bigger and their last week in Seoul more memorable. Chunja (춘자) is a local-favorite bar that's packed during both weekdays and weekends, so these are my Chunja (춘자) stories.

Saturday, July 14, 2018: I did not wake up until 1 PM after a long night out with my friends. One of the things that makes me realize how special my group of friends is that we always come in packs. Back in Los Angeles (the same for everybody else living in New York, Singapore, etc.), it takes a few days and countless planning just to get at least two people to hang out for the day because of busy schedules and transportation issues - but that's not the same here in Seoul. I could message the Kakao group chat that I would be taking a trip down Daiso or planning to have a small meal in a nearby chicken restaurant, and 13 other people would join in. Everybody is here to enjoy their summer abroad, so there's no room for planning. It's all about spontaneity.

I usually have nothing planned the day after a night out to recuperate physically and mentally, so I was planning to nap after taping the South Korean flag (taegukgi/태극기) on my bare dormitory wall. The flag was too heavy for the tapes to keep it sticking to the wall, so every time I believed that the flag is adhered to the wall enough, it fell right back down.

Valentino messaged the group chat who would be down to grab a quick bite in a few minutes and I told him I was on board. I hopped into the shower and got my wallet ready - another meal wasted that was not my meal plan. Up to this day, I have not touched my meal plan at all - I think I still have $100 worth of meals left in the card, but I wasn't interested in going to the Anam Hall cafeteria alone all the time to get mediocre tray foods.

As I was getting ready, Matt yelled in the group chat.

"IT'S NAENGMYEON DAY!" He just woke up from his sleep and begged for me and Valentino to wait for him while he showered and got ready to eat some naengmyeon, ice cold noodles. Matt and Valentino know of a place that makes one of the best bibim-naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles/비빔냉면). The place was a very short walk from Frontier House called Seoul Ssam Naengmyeon (서울 쌈 냉면), and the guests were required to take off their shoes before entering to sit around a traditional table that was close to the ground. Valentino ordered three bibim-naengmyeon (비빔냉면) for us. We each got a bowl of noodles covered in ice and ingredients, a bowl of broth, and a plate of meat - so we jumped right in.

After eating, Matt and I went to a PC bang (PC방) to waste some time playing games and scrolling through Tumblr - I actually found out that day that Pandora couldn't be accessed outside the United States, so I was very sad. Even then, the headphones were not working so I could not listen to the top Korean songs in the Naver Music chart.

Sophie, who was in the Buzzer Beat Festival in Tiger Dome just next to our dorm, messaged me that NCT 127 was performing in an hour and I speed walked from Anam-dong, up the Frontier stairs, and up the Great CJ International hill to Tiger Dome just to see it packed with food stands and guests. The dome is too large for me to scale and look for a back entrance for where the artists might drive in, so I went back down the hill, stopped by at the CU convenience store and had some bulgogi meal and juice, and headed straight to my dormitory to start my nap that was long overdue.

I woke up at 11 PM, just in time for the Belgium vs. England World Cup match to start. I showered and headed to the usual spot, Chicken Bus, where Erin, Jonathan, Davy, Thai, Lina, Matt, and Leonard were all waiting for the game to start. I met Jon's friends Siang Nee (who goes by Pong) and his friend from India, whose name I don't remember.

Simi was having dinner with her roommate a few tables away, but her roommate was feeling tired so she left early - Simi later joined my table to socialize while we were rooting for Belgium to win.

Belgium eventually won, and some people in the table (cough Lina, Leonard, and Pong cough) had to do some drinking. It was still very early in the night, not even 2 AM, so Jon and Davy started competing who could finish a Rubik's cube faster to waste some time. Jon finished it in 1:58 minutes, while Davy beat him with 48 seconds.

The final match between France and Croatia was going to be midnight on Monday and I feel like half of my memories here in Seoul revolved around the World Cup.

Sunday, July 15, 2018: Thai, Erin, and I met at 1 PM to head to Dongdaemun for some shopping. Bonnie wanted to tag along but took a while to get ready, so she opted out to catch up with the three of us later in the day. We had lunch before heading to Anam Station (안암역) at Mua Guksu (무아국수) just a few feet away from Anam Station Exit 3. Leonard joined in and was interested in spending the day at Dongdaemun with us.

Sophie messaged us wanting waffles, but we were already halfway through our meal so she decided to join us instead. She bumped into Jon and Lina outside and invited them to eat lunch with us.

After the meal, Thai, Leonard, Erin, and I headed out for Dongdaemun.

Thai needed to buy a lot of Korean cosmetics, face masks, and albums from BTS and TWICE for his friends back in Pennsylvania. Erin spent some time going through every cosmetic shop in Lotte Fitin for face masks and facial cleansers, while Leonard and I took our time making fun of terribly written English phrases on hats and shirts.

After going through all the levels of the mall, we decided to play one round of bowling - Thai could not play because of his back from the incident with Leonard falling on him. Erin eventually lost and I won the game.

It was nearing 7 PM so we went around looking for a place to eat - Thai wanted meat, but Leonard just had meat so he wanted something different, and we all wanted to stay away from chicken. With our luck, every restaurant around only served chicken, and the meat places were beyond our budget. There were Mongolian and Vietnamese restaurants around but none of us were craving the cuisine, so we settled for a barbeque place nearby (and we didn't even order barbeque). Erin got raw beef bibimbap (비빔밥), Thai got an eel soup he hated and didn't end up finishing, Leonard got seafood soup, and I had some ssambap (쌈밥). Bonnie texted us that she and her roommate, Deedee, were finally at Dongdaemun and met up with them to eat. We walked around the place once again, and they settled for Isaac Toast and Coffee, famous for their toasts. Bonnie, Deedee, Thai, and I ordered some toasts and sat on the side walks, planning what to do with the night.

One thing was for sure - we needed to be back in Chicken Bus at Anam-dong before midnight to watch the final match between France and Croatia.

Allez les bleus!

Since we were out, we decided to visit the Namsan Tower (N Seoul Tower/N서울타워), which Erin already have so she took the subway back home. I showed Bonnie, Deedee, and Leonard the LED Rose Garden nearby before heading into the subway to Myeongdong to walk to the Namsan Tower.

We bought the round trip cable car ride going up and coming down from the tower. We took pictures overlooking the Seoul skyline that was beautifully lit up at night and the bright green tower itself before meeting up with Davy, who was up at the observatory. Before coming to Namsan Tower, I knew how much of a couple location it was - even from the stories Valentino told me, I still believed it was not as bad as Lotte World.

No, it seemed like all the benches in Namsan Tower were couple benches. Couple benches slant inwards with the middle bent so that the two people sitting down are pressed against each other. I first encountered couple benches in Japan, but they are much more ubiquitous here in South Korea.

I'm planning to write an entire blog just on the couple culture here in Seoul, because it is getting ridiculous. I cannot escape the culture - having to settle to huge portions, 1+1 sales, and couple shirts for myself just because it's odd to walk around Seoul alone. Sophie actually got the looks and some judgment for eating alone. Her server found it unusual that she had no guest coming and decided to set up a table for two for her, even though she kept telling the server that she was eating alone.

Being a couple attraction, it was inevitable for Namsan Tower to not have the love locks - reminiscent of Paris. The entire deck was decked out (yes, the choice of word was made to be punny) in love locks all written in different languages. We wanted to buy one from the souvenir store or the vending machine but the locks ran from $8,000 to $15,000 a piece, so we opted not to.

It was already 11 PM, so we left the deck to line up for the cable car, but the queue was too long that it would be faster hiking the stairs down. We ran back to Myeongdong station to catch the earliest possible subway that could take us to Anam Station just in time for the match to start.

We were supposed to meet at a bar that Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) suggested called Daddy J Bar, but when Florence and Sophie arrived there an hour before the match, there were no tables available for the seventeen of us that were coming. So, everybody settled for Chicken Bus, despite the initial fact that nobody wanted to go there anymore since we have been in Chicken Bus for every World Cup match.

Even then, Matt had been messaging us that the place was very hesitant to hold an empty table for us late-comers, so they had been arguing for the whole night about it.

We arrived at Anam Station at the stroke of midnight and all of us sprinted our way up two flights of stairs to an extremely-rowdy Chicken Bus. Matt managed to save the empty table for us, which was away from the television; so the group separated into three tables - the group who wanted to watch the match sat on the two tables closer to the television: Wendelyn, Lina, Thai, Sophie, Leonard, Florence, that Indian guy, Jon, Pong, Matt, Davy, and I; while the group who only wanted to drink and socialize sat on the far back table: Valentino, Jordan, Bonnie, Hyunki-hyung (형기형), and another guy with glasses whose name escaped me.

Most of us were betting for France to win, while Lina and Pom wanted to root for the underdog, Croatia.

Sophie sat in front of me with her laptop doing homework because she had a Korean presentation to prepare for, while Florence was getting busy writing Sophie's Korean speech. Sophie used to ask Minki-hyung (민기형) for help with her Korean sentences, but Sophie got in trouble once for having sentences with terrible grammar. Lesson learned: don't ask native Korean speakers to write simple academic sentences for you.

I wanted to see Hyunjic-oppa (현딕오빠) that night since I know he loved watching soccer and we haven't seen him all week, so I asked him on the group chat. He couldn't come because he had a lot of studying to do, but Hyungki-hyung (형기형) came and was wondering why we always asked for Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) and not for him. Yikes! Awkward situations are a no-no.

The table was getting rowdy and more beer pitchers were coming - I prefer to not drink beer by itself so I asked anybody if they wanted to down some fruit soju at the GS25 store nearby, which Valentino, Jordan, and Bonnie agreed to go.

France eventually won the World Cup and Chicken Bus emptied within minutes.

Monday, July 16, 2018: Per usual, I didn't wake up until it was already midday. I received an emergency alert saying that the weather is very hot and to not forget to hydrate - so I decided to stay in my dorm until it was time for me to go to class.

After my Korean class at 6:30, I was supposed to meet up with two journalism graduate Korea University students, Rachel and Jihyun-noona (지현누나) at 7:30 for an interview for the paper they have to publish. Adrian and I were scheduled to do the interview together, but since both our classes ended an hour before the interview, we decided to get dinner with Anthony and Bonnie at the nearby Mr. Pork Cutlet (Mr. Katsu/미스터카즈). We stopped by the third floor of Frontier House to drop off our books - the three of us are surprisingly staying in the same floor! Anthony's roommate, Jason, decided to join us, and while we were heading out, one of the guys in the same floor, Benjamin, bumped into us and we convinced him to eat dinner with us also.

I met Benjamin a few weeks back in the elevator asking me if I could hear the music he plays loudly. I stay in room 303 while he stays in the 310s, so I never hear anything from his side of the wing. That was the same way he met Anthony - he asked Anthony if he could hear how loud his music was.

Though, Anthony and Benjamin kept in contact with each other since they're both Australians - which I've noticed is very a common occurrence here. Singaporeans tend to stick together. Australians vibe better with Australians. Chinese people are usually in the same group filled with Chinese people; then there are the Americans, who are never in the same American social circle.

We arrived at Mr. Pork Cutlet around 7:00 PM with 30 minutes to spare until the interview. The place was packed so we had to wait a few minutes until the six of us were accommodated, and Adrian and I were getting worried that we would be late for the interview.

We both messaged Rachel and Jihyun-noona (지현누나) about our situation and they were very understanding and agreed to move the interview to 8 PM instead; so Adrian and I had our dinner without rush.

We were supposed to meet at the fourth floor of the Media Hall, just next to Woodang Hall. The interview lasted a little more than an hour and they asked us questions about Western perception of K-Pop: how we got into K-Pop, general stereotypes of K-Pop in both LA and Canberra, how our friends and family reacted when they found out we listened to K-Pop, reactions to men wearing makeup and the cute concepts for both boy and girl groups, and what makes K-Pop and idols different than Western artists. After the interview, the two girls thanked and told us that they might get it published by next year, so we exchanged e-mails so both Adrian and I could get a hold of the article when it does go up online. The two of them sent us off with Korean snacks: Soft Chocochip and 몽쉘.

I spent the rest of the night watching Meteor Garden (2018) and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (Kimbuseoga wae geureolkka/김비서가 왜 그럴까). I was getting hungry from watching the shows so I decided to try the snacks, which ended up being too sweet for me; so, I messages the group chat who was wanted the sweets and Matt replied within milliseconds of me sending the message and ran up to my dorm to take them.

Valentino messaged me that he wanted to watch Meteor Garden together and he had half a soju left. I agreed to meet with him to get some snacks at the CU right after.

We bought HeyRoo Soy Sauce Chicken flavored popcorn and choco banana corn and agreed to surprise Matt in his room. We stayed in his room for an hour, before I left to meet up with Sophie at the CU to catch up on things - Simi later bumped into us since she was wandering out while waiting for her laundry to finish.

Sadly, Valentino and I didn't end up watching Meteor Garden that night.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018: My Korean professor still did not teach us Korean grammar in English, and everything has been very routine.

We learned about different Korean cuisines for class that day and we started feeling hungry. I realized there were so much Korean food that I have not tried yet: doenjang jjigae (bean-paste pot stew/된장찌개), samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng/삼계탕), galbi-jjim (braised short ribs/갈비찜), kal-guksu (noodle soup/칼국수), and seolleongtang (ox bone soup/설렁탕) among others. In my defense, I am so tired of eating jjigae (찌개), so I never want to touch a jjigae (찌개) ever again.

I walked out of class with two of my classmates, Serena (French) and Balzhan (Kazakh) and we decided to have seolleongtang (ox bone soup/설렁탕) for dinner together at the nearby Dongwoo Seolleongtang (동우설렁탕). This was the first time I actually got to know the two of them, even though we've had casual and short conversations every now and then in the last four weeks. Balzhan is attending Yonsei University starting this fall for the next four years, so I am very jealous. She actually taught herself English, and she still does not feel comfortable having conversations in the language so Serena and I would go back and forth speaking to her in terrible Korean, in which she was more comfortable with.

Serena on the other hand speaks multiple languages: Spanish, French, Italian, and English. She's lived in Spain most of her life and she just recently moved to France less than a decade ago.

We left the restaurant and an ahjumma (아줌마) had to chase us down because Serena left her phone. Wow, Koreans are very honest. That moment reminded me of when Simi left her phone outside a subway station in Japan for an hour and she found it at the same place, untouched.

I suddenly don't miss America.

I went back to my room ready for a post-food nap, and my roommate entered and asked me, "why do you sleep so much?”

Well, then. Guess I'm not sleeping - so I decided to just sit around and wait for either Matt and Valentino to invite me somewhere, which they did.

Matt, Valentino, Cara, Sophie, and I met at Osaka Blues for some anju (안주), but without the alcohol. Then, we decided to go to Chunja (춘자), which was just down the street, to satisfy our alcohol cravings.

Florence, Wendelyn, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), Joyce, and Thai joined in. Valentino's friends Chase (Sehun/세훈) and In (인) were two tables away from us and gave us two sojus and decided to join with us later in the night.

We haven't seen Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) since the France vs. Belgium match on July 10, since his butterfly 🦋 was coming home from an Italian family trip. So, we wanted to get him drunk that night. We just found out about fruit soju (과일고주) they have where they give us a bottle of soju, a flavored juice in a pitcher, and tonic water. We had 23 bottles of soju and maekju (beer/맥주) at Chunja (춘자) that night, just to have an idea how red everybody's faces ended up to be - the count does not include the fruit alcohol we bought outside the 7/11 store. Valentino bought cards from the store so Cara introduced some more drinking games for us - a guessing game where we guess if the card is higher or lower than the previous card, the "fuck you" game where a person calls a player out and puts down a card and somebody can save the person by matching the shape or the number of the card, shit, and the "keep, swap, trade" game that Valentino introduced to us on the first day of the program.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018: I tried to wake up before noon that day and be productive for once and explore Seoul since the was rapidly approaching and all I did i this country was sleep and be an alcoholic.

I decided to visit the SM and YG Entertainment buildings and shop around GoTo Mall (Gosok Terminal/고속터미널).

SM Entertainment (Super Junior, Red Velvet, Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), SHINee) was actually just a few-minute walk away from old JYP Entertainment building, and since it was SHINee's Taemin's birthday, I expected to see a lot of fans outside with banners and pictures of Taemin's face, but I was disappointed. There was nothing.

I took the subway to Mapo-gu for the YG Entertainment building (Big Bang, Blackpink, iKON, Winner, Psy), but most of the place was under construction besides the main building. The streets and walls in front of the main office building was vandalized by words supporting mostly Big Bang and Winner, though I was disappointed that there were not a lot of writings cheering for Blackpink and iKON besides a few "Lisa" and "Bobby" writings.

YG Entertainment was located very far from Gangnam, in a completely different district and I just find the location odd. Next to the buildings are actual residential houses with a random Kimchi and Seaweed museums just right across.

I stopped by GoTo Mall (Gosok Terminal/고속터미널), but did not buy anything since most of the shops were catered to the female population; so I took the subway back to Anam and walked around the path I always take to go to school - I was having a realization that I will really miss walking around these streets and seeing all the bright restaurant signs advertising their food to the college students down below in Korean.

I invited the group to eat either bibimbap (비빔밥) at Gyeongdae Cup-bap (경대컵밥) or my favorite Chicken Steak. Wendelyn was close to the back entrance where I was standing so she met up with me craving bibimbap (비빔밥).

Wendelyn showed me the email about the time change for the Singaporean party later that night - an event hosted by Korea University only for Singaporean students since half of the KU ISC population are Singaporean. I first heard about the event during the K-Pop flash mob when Florence met up with one of her mentors and asked if she's attending Singapore Night - I asked Florence if I could come and she told me only Singaporeans could attend.

I wanted to try my luck tonight and try to get into the event as an American - Wendelyn was very supportive of the idea and told me to just don't talk or they would hear that I am not Singaporean.

Matt later joined in from Frontier and ordered bulgogi bibimbap (불고기비빔밥). We got some soy sauce and red pepper to mix with our bibimbap (비빔밥) and there was a sauce in a red container on the counter with a sign taped on it in bright red characters: 캡사이신: 엄청 매워요!! (Kaelsaisin: Eomcheong maewoyo!!/Capsaicin: CRAZY HOT!), but Matt being the Matt that he was, covered his whole bibimbap cup with the sauce before saying "I should have tasted it before putting it on".

His whole face turned red at the first bite and his tongue went numb. He would get up every two seconds to refill his cup of water and updated the group of his slow death.

He somehow finished his bibimbap, but he was having a mental breakdown outside the store before Wendelyn bought him a carton of Hershey's chocolate milk.

Poor Matt - this became a running gag for the rest of the week.

Read about Singapore Night, the graduation ceremony of those doing the four-week program, and the rest of week in "Singapore Nights - Feeding Into Our Gluttonous Tendencies".

[seoulfulcity]

July 13, 2018: Taekwondo, Nanta, and More Chicken Bus

안녕하세요,

I had two cultural events planned on Friday, taekwondo and the Nanta cooking show, and I was running on only three hours of sleep - I knew I was going to be cranky all day. Friday was a jam-packed day which is the reason why I have a separate blog just for it.

KU ISC holds cultural events scheduled on Fridays with limited spots. We are required to register for the events the week prior to the event on Thursdays. There is a maximum capacity of 200 for taekwondo, so it took a while to fill up the event. The other event at 9:30 AM was the calligraphy class - we were given the option of either taekwondo or calligraphy.

We were not so lucky on the second event, or so we thought. Florence, Joyce, Sophie, Thai, Davy, and I were out last Thursday eating budae jjigae (부대찌개) at Biya at 9 PM, the time for registration. We missed the mark and registered at 9:01 PM and the Korean cooking class filled up very quickly. We settled for the Nanta show for that day at 1 PM.

Friday, July 13, 2018: I woke up 8:30 AM for the 9:30 AM meet up for taekwondo class that day. I got ready and walked up the hill past CJ International to the Tiger Dome by 9:20 AM.

We had to check in and had us memorize our belt number for the commemorative black belt we get at the end of the course. I was assigned to belt number 131 with my full name written in Korean: 크리스토퍼.

We lined up to get our dobok (도복), the taekwondo uniform, and dressed up in the locker room. We were asked to line up and sit down to watch the students with black belt show some tricks by breaking woods in different ways.

We warmed up with a partner by stretching out, doing high fives with each other while jumping and spinning, and running across the gymnasium back and forth; then it was our turn to learn some taekwondo skills. Sabeom-nim (사범임), the Korean word for a taekwondo teacher, taught us three important kicks in the martial arts: front kick (ap chagi/앞 차기), side kick (yeop chagi/옆 차기) and back kick (dwit chagi/뒷 차기). We practiced for an hour before having to line up to do the kicks with the students with black belts.

After the session with the students, we were separated by gender and were assigned partners to practice the kicks with. I was assigned to a Singaporean on the first round before rotating and ended up with someone from Hong Kong to practice alternating kicks with. I ended up with a Korean buddy in the last rotation named John (Yejoon-hyung/예준형) who tried to carry a conversation with me. Yejoon-hyung (예준형) is known in Korea University as a Bowling Master and invited me to go bowling with him one of these days. He also works at an escape room in Hongdae and suggested for me and my friends to go when he's working so we get a "special", whatever that meant.

Yejoon-hyung (예준형) was my partner to break wooden boards with. We had to show sabeomnim (사범님) how we break the board in half and alternate with our partners.

Fun fact: it's actually easier and than I thought - I expected some pain at some point.

We finished at 12:30 noon, just in time for us to meet at ROTC, in front of the Tiger Dome, and take the bus to watch the Nanta cooking show.

While collecting my commemorative black belt, I got a splinter on my right foot, which started bleeding profusely. It took a while to remove the splint since I had nothing to work with but I got it out nonetheless.

I left Tiger Dome, walked down the hill past CJ International, and hiked up the hill to Frontier House to leave my belt and folder in my dorm before going back to Tiger Dome and board the bus.

Most of the buses were packed, so I boarded the empty fourth bus and contacted my friends who were going to go in the same bus with me. Matt, Davy, Florence, Minki-hyung (민기형), Joyce, Wendelyn, Balzhan, Deedee, Bonnie, and I ended up taking over the back of the bus.

We reached Hongdae for the Nanta cooking show within thirty minutes. Frankly, I did not know anything about Nanta besides it being a show about cooking, so I was not really very excited about it besides the fact that I was together with my friends.

We sat on the back of the auditorium where the stage welcomes us students from KU ISC before starting the show.

The premise of the show was about three great cooks getting assigned to prepare a meal for a wedding that was happening in an hour. The manager had a nephew who was visiting him and asked if he could help, although he was very messy and clumsy. With the tight schedule and an inexperienced surprise cook, the show was one hell of a comedy show.

During the middle of the show, the performers went around the audience to look for a bride and groom. The female performer heard us yell at her to choose Minki-hyung (민기형) to be the groom, which she obliged even against his wishes. The performers dressed him and his bride up in traditional Korean wedding outfits and had them eat soup.

Minki-hyung (민기형) looked so uncomfortable, awkward, and confused on stage which added to the comedy since the crowd bursts out in laughter whenever he would react in a confused manner.

After the show, we met up Lina and Jonathan to congratulate Minki-hyung (민기형) for his wedding and walked around Hongdae to eat lunch.

We settled for Meat-ing Meat Buffet and Salad and stuffed ourselves with meat, side dishes (banchan/반찬) and took soju shots. There was about 13 of us, so we were separated into three tables: I was seated with Minki-hyung (민기형), Lina, Jonathan, and Matt.

Towards the end of the meal, the five of us were at seven soju bottles and we were getting rowdy from the drinking games. The workers had to come to us multiple times to tell us to be quiet and slow down on the drinking since there were families around.

Sophie joined our table from the dorms just as we were leaving. We walked around Hongdae and watched people busking to BLACKPINK's “DDU-DU DDU-DU (뚜두뚜두)”, EXO's “Growl (으르렁)” and BTS's “Fire (불타오르네)”. Most of the people in the group wanted to go to Yeouido Park (여의도공원) to meet up with Valentino and Cara and take pictures with the I SEOUL YOU sign after; but I was running on a few hours of sleep so I wanted to go back to my dorm and take a power nap.

I arrived at my dorm around 5 PM and did not wake up until 11:45 PM to 200 notifications on Kakao Talk group chat asking everybody to go drinking at Chicken Bus.

I leapt out of bed, showered, and sped walked to the location to about 14-15 people drinking and eating chicken.

I joined in to play Titanic with Cara, Erin, Wendelyn, and Florence and purposely sank the soju shot just to chug the entire mug of beer to start the night. I walked and sat on the opposite end of the table with Leonard, Thai, Minki-hyung (민기형), Sophie, Lina, Joyce, and Jonathan to play Never Have I Ever, Piccolo, and Heads Up for the rest of the night. It wasn't until later in the night when we realized Valentino and Bonnie never woke up from their naps and missed the night out with everybody

It was Minki-hyung (민기형) last night with us for a week since he was flying to Hong Kong in the morning for vacation, so he left the gathering early and we said our goodbyes.

Not long after, we walked back to Frontier House, with all the Chinese and Singaporeans singing and yelling Chinese songs. Thai joined in and played Cambodian songs with me and Leonard later since we were feeling left out While on the Frontier stairs, Leonard decided to scale up the stairs, as if he was rock climbing. When he reached the final board, he fell and landed right on Thai. The board fell and narrowingly missed my head. Thai started complaining about his back and we helped him walk up the stairs. Leonard and Davy walked Thai up to Global House while the rest of us stayed in front of Frontier House to talk and get rowdy - loud enough that we woke Bonnie up, who was sleeping on the upper floor.

We decided to go down the slope to the CU convenience store and get rowdy over there, away from the dorms and the sleeping students. Erin, Matt, Florence, Wendelyn, Jonathan, Lina, and Bonnie sat in front of the CU convenience store to talk about Asian squats, Miss A, NCT, and whatever drunk conversations were happening. Matt was actually reunited with his high school friend, who happened to be studying in Korea University during he summer also, and she told us stories about how Matt would struggle in Chinese class and he would look over at her for answers whenever their teacher would ask him questions.

We went back to our dorms late 3 AM for me to find a blue shower mat in my shower. I thought my roommate went out of his way and unnecessarily bought a shower mat, but we later found out everybody had one.

It was an eventful day, I must say. I will really miss everybody once I get back to Los Angeles.

I am currently writing this on the Saturday of our fourth week and we have two weeks left in the program. The four-week students had their graduation on Thursday and it makes me much more scared whenever I think about how close I am to never being with the same friend circle ever again. I suppose this will make me appreciate every single time I spend with them from now on. Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

[seoulfulcity]

July 12, 2018: We’re Halfway There

안녕하세요,

I am finally halfway through the summer program, and the words my friend Valentino once said during the first week is starting to become reality: "Once we reach halfway through, it's going to go by fast". Now, I'm dreading the last half of the program knowing that I will be on a plane ride back to Los Angeles in a blink of an eye.

Happy three weeks here in Seoul! It's been an eventful week so this is how it went down. This blog recaps the events from Monday to Thursday only. A lot happened on Friday which necessitated a post on its own. Happy reading!

Even though I'm already halfway through, I still have not taken the time to explore the city and visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites or even done any touristy things like visit Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) or even the Namsan Tower (N서울타워). I hope that it doesn't become one of my biggest regrets during this trip, but my mindset is that the bond I have with my friends right now is not something I could experience ever again but I can always go back to Seoul as a tourist in the future.

Monday, July 9, 2018: Florence messaged me on Kakao back in July 3 if I wanted to go to Super Junior's Ryeowook's fan meet since he was being discharged from the military on July 10. Being broke as we both were, we decided to just visit the cafés that were supported by Ryeowook fans: Café Ego, Café 333, and Andy's Coffee.

We decided to visit Café 333 and Andy's Coffee since they were both located in Hongdae.

Café 333 was our first stop and the place was decked out in Ryeowook's pictures. The counter had a welcome sign for his discharge, and tables were decorated with pictures of the idol. We ordered mocha and chocolate lattes and received a Ryeowook banner and two photo cards on top of the Ryeowook sleeve that came with our lattes.

Then we headed to Andy's Coffee just down the street from Café 333 where we ordered coffee and strawberryade. The coffee place gave us Ryeowook transparent fans and another cup sleeve with our orders.

After our trip, we walked around Hongdae and found the place where they filmed a scene in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Yeokdo-yojeong Kim Bokjoo/역도요정 김복주) where Joohyung (Nam Joohyuk) was feeding Kim Bok Joo (Lee Sungkyung) with barbeque from the money he "found" on the floor.

We returned to Anam-dong a few hours after we started our day and I realized I have not eaten either breakfast or lunch yet, so I treated myself to one of my favorite places, once again. Remember that bossam (보쌈) place called Ssago (싸고)? I came back there for the third time since I arrived in Seoul, and even then, I was still learning new things such as Koreans actually referring Sprite here as cider (사이다). Odd.

It rained again that day, but it was not as humid as it usually is - the rain was freezing and I was out in Hongdae in a t-shirt and shorts. So, Florence and I went to Spao and bought myself a nice breathable summer sweater that's appropariate for Seoul's humid weather.

I also found out that Singaporeans call umbrella "brolly" thanks to Joyce. I am learning so many new things from Singaporeans, especially coming from being clueless about the culture just three weeks ago - I did not even know what a Singaporean accent was!

In Korean class, I told my professor that I was going to an event hosted by ISC to watch SBS's "The Show" rehearse and perform, so I will be missing class together with two other students, Andrea and Aubrey. The South Korean series is hosted by CLC's Yeeun, NCT's Jeno, and JBJ's Longguo. I got the line up on Monday which consisted of Apink, fromis_9, UNB, Golden Child, ONF, Kim Dong Han, MYTEEN, Jessi, Yoon Mirae, among others. KCON LA recently announced the lineup for this year's event which includes both fromis_9 and Golden Child, so I'm basically saving myself from spending an extra $100 to go both concert days to see the same groups I'm seeing here in Seoul for free.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018: SBS's "The Show" begins at 6:30 PM KST, so I had the whole day for myself - as expected, I did nothing. We were supposed to meet at the SBS Prism Tower lobby at 5 PM, and it takes about 40 minutes to get from Anam Station (안압역) to Digital Media City (디지털 비디아 시티); so I left at 3:30 to gave myself some extra time just in case I get lost.

There was a long queue outside SBS Prism Tower for ONF and MYTEEN fans. I was told that these fans don't have tickets and are hoping to go in to see their favorite groups perform, while I was in the lobby researching about the groups performing because the only thing I know about everybody was that they were Korean.

Heck, I thought fromis_9 was a boy group.

I was honestly only looking forward to see Jeno and Longguo with my own eyes.

My friends start slowly arriving and one of them went to a coffeeshop nearby that had Longguo on the cup sleeve, which made me more excited for the show to start. Salli and Carolina arrived and I didn't know they were even accepted to go to the show, so I spent the rest of the time until 6:30 with Andrea (Guatemalan), Aubrey (Chinese), Salli (Puerto Rican) and Carolina (Brazilian) teaching each other different Spanish dialects, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese words.

We were seated at 6:17 PM and the show started on time until 8 PM. BABA performed first, then TARGET, fromis_9, elris, Kyungri, Golden Child, MYTEEN, Kim Dong Han, Migyu, Jessi, ONF, The East Light, UNB, Gugudan SEMINA, Yoon Mirae, and Apink. Apink ended up winning that night - no surprises there.

Salli, Carolina and I took the subway back to Anam-dong together where Carolina told me about the Hanyang University Cruise Party - a booze cruise with unlimited drinks for an hour and ending the night at one of Gangnam's most revered clubs - Octagon - famous for being very selective with its guests. Octagon rejects most foreigners and men who are not up to standards with its rich beautiful image. Koreans usually get in for free and foreigners pay ₩30,000. The booze cruise was only ₩30,000 if we buy it before July 11 at 10 PM as a group of more than six people. One individual ticket is ₩45,000, and the tickets get cheaper the more people in the group.

Well, we managed to get more than six people within ten minutes and we bought the tickets together thanks to Wendelyn's credit card.

The three of us were starving when we reached Anam-dong, so I introduced both Salli and Carolina to, you've guessed it, bossam (보쌈) in the same place called Ssago (싸고). As you might have known by now, I am becoming obsessed with it.

After dinner, we went ahead to the Baskin Robbins place where I told both of them about the cute worker I saw last week. We checked the place out and no luck - though we ended up getting Pus in Boots cups and milkshakes to end our night.

I could not sleep later that night and I was still awake until 3 AM just in time for Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) to get ready and meet up at Chicken Bus to watch the World Cup semi-finals with France competing against Belgium. I was awake already anyway so why not, right? I met with them downstairs. Matt and Sophie joined with us in front of Frontier House before going down the stairs to Chicken Bus. Later in the night, Wendelyn and Florence met with us at the restaurant itself while the game was playing.

Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) were betting for Belgium to go into the finals, while Matt and I placed our money on France. Matt and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) made a bet to pay for the winner's entire alcohol consumption for that night. We watched the game Korean-style with chicken and maekju (백주), or chimaek (치백), until the game ended at 5 AM, just in time for daylight to break.

If you've watched the 2018 World Cup finals, then you know that Matt and I won the bet.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018: I slept in until 2 PM that day and had no other plans besides updating my Blackpink blog. I went to the nearby PC bang (PC방) to play around and edit my Tumblr page and my past blogs in the late afternoon. I type my blogs on my phone and the Tumblr app has very limited options on setting up my page and my posts. I did not know the culture around PC방 prior to arriving, so I had to do some research.

1. PC방 are ubiquitous in Seoul - meaning that there is a PC방 in every corner of the street, almost as many as noraebang (노래방) places. Some PC방 are membership only, so you need to sign up and make an account to use the computers. Some, such as the one I go to, would hand you a card with a number on it and you log in using that card number.

2. They're insanely cheap! The PC방 I've seen can go from ₩500-₩1,500 per hour, so sometimes whenever I have nothing to do during the day and all of my friends are in class, I hang out in a PC방 and scroll down Tumblr or watch Are You Human Too? (Neodo Inganini?/너도 인간이니?) in DramaCool since both Viki and DramaFever are not working here in South Korea.

I logged out and caught up with Matt, Florence, Sophie, and Minki-hyung (민기형) at Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe (설빙) just next to Chicken Bus and Seorae Korean Barbeque. They ordered Green Tea Snowflakes and Mango Snowflakes, while I got the Chocolate Brownie snowflakes.

Sophie asked me what I ordered and after telling them, everybody started laughing.  Minki-hyung (민기형) made a guess earlier what I would be getting and he guessed right - I was becoming too predictable.

And when I got my order, I did not realize how humongous the portion was.

I keep forgetting that I am in South Korea and not America - the portion sizes here are way bigger since most of the cafés and restaurants are catered for couples (again - couple culture dominates Seoul).

Going back to our dorms, we bumped into Valentino and Cara where we stood in front of the cheap street food restaurant everybody constantly buzzes about (Goreun Aetsal/고른 앳살) for a good hour.

Thursday, July 12, 2018: It was exam day for me, and it was my first one too. So as the good student that I am, I decided to dedicate my whole morning studying - in Donghae's Haru & One Day Café.

I planned to spend a few hours studying for my Korean exam on basic conversational sentences while sipping on Donghae's drink then head to the nearby Kondae (건대) shopping and food district to eat out.

I ordered a glass of lemon juice, took advantage of Donghae's Wi-Fi, and studied.

For ten minutes.

Then I sat there for the next hour looking at fans come and take pictures with the giant Audrey Hepburn portrait hanging on the wall. I was very distracted that day and decided to just walk around Kondae (건대) and look for something to eat.

I scoured through the whole place under the 96-degree weather and found nothing - I was craving pork or beef that I did not have to cook and was within my ₩10,000 budget, but to no avail. Most of the restaurants I've found served pretty much all chicken or meat you have to cook yourself and other menu items I was not craving.

Kondae (건대), the area surrounding Konkuk University, has plenty of Japanese restaurants, which is very lacking around Anam-dong, the area surrounding Korea University. Sometimes, I just want to take a break from Korean food and stuff myself with something different - Japanese, Mexican, Vietnamese, you name it.

I went back to Anam-dong to try out the cheap street food restaurant by the campus to see what was the hype about. The menu was all in Korean, but luckily I know enough for me to differentiate ramen (라면) from tteokbokki (떡볶이).

The prices were very cheap - regular kimbap (원조김밥) was ₩1,500, tteok-ramyeon (떡라면) was ₩3,000, and Busan fish cakes (Busan eomuk/부산어묵) was ₩2,000. Having spent some time around Myeongdong and Hongdae, I knew these prices were within range. One stick of fish cake in Myeongdong was about the same price, so I expected to be eating a plate of kimbap, a bowl of tteok-ramyeon, and a stick of eomuk.

Bad idea - I really keep forgetting that I'm not in America anymore.

The portion sizes were humongous and the three plates took up the entire space of my whole table.

It looked like I was about to film a mukbang video.

I messaged my friends who were nearby to crash at the place and help me finish my food - Florence, Matt, Lina, and Wendelyn came to rescue.

Florence and I ran out of the restaurant to catch our 4:50 Korean language classes right after the rest arrived.

We took a different route and entered the Media Hall where they had a TV situated at the hallway leading to Woodang Hall - and they were playing the K-Pop flash mob dance we filmed a week prior.

The class was starting in a few seconds and my professor wanted us to be on time for the exam since she was not extending the exam time for us if we come late.

Well, the exam was easy - it was actually a quiz. I was mentally preparing for a midterm-type exam since everybody else was studying for midterms.

I finished it in six minutes and lecture continued per usual.

After class, I invited my friends to go to Dongdaemun with me to walk around and maybe buy some clothes and souvenirs - Joyce, Valentino, Matt, Sophie, Wendelyn, and Cara joined with us and took the subway together to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (동대문 역사문화공원). We walked up and past the LED Rose Garden and met up with Thai and Davy, who just came from eating live octopus at Gwangjang Market, then we headed to eat street foods by the Migliori Mall.

We took the bus from Dongdaemun back to Anam and met up with Minki-hyung (민기형) for some makgeolli, rice alcohol famous for its hangover headache, at Tosokjumak Makgeolli House (토속주막 막걸리) just under Monaco Bar. I have never had makgeolli before, but I had an understanding that makgeolli is sipped from a bowl with both hands, but I did not know that it was actually served in kettle pots! The ahjumma (아줌마) serving us placed two kettles next to me and I did not know what it was for - I asked the group if they ordered tea and Minki-hyung (민기형) laughed and told me that it was the makgeolli.

We played drinking games for the rest of the night - such as taking a sip if we say the word "you", rotating our names and responding to the name of the second person to our left, placing everything on the table with two taps, and removing the little man from everything we picked up and called him Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠).

We left the makgeolli place at almost 2 AM and I bumped into my drunk friends from my Korean class - Darren, Peter, Angela, Cindy, and Sharon. Peter, Cindy, and Angela had too much soju for the night and we walked them back to Frontier House and Anam Global House. We spent a whole hour outside the CU Convenience Store just under the hill from CJ International and Frontier House trying to get Peter off of the streets and back to his dorm.

Darren and I managed to get him to his room and back to our dorms by 4 AM and Darren messaged me that he was treating me with a drink sometime for my help - earlier in the night, he was lightheadedly telling me how high his alcohol tolerance was and I wanted to challenge him since my tolerance is also in the higher side.

So, I'm looking forward to the night when we actually find out whose tolerance is actually higher - hopefully we find out this week.

My week 3 blog ends here, and I will be starting on my Friday blog hopefully today.

It's Monday of week 4 and I am looking forward for this weekend since this Friday is the booze cruise - I invited other people for the event, those I haven't had the time to hang out with or the people I met for a few minutes but want to get to know better.

I am dreading the end of this summer program. I have noticed that I've been taking my time absorbing every moment, looking at the faces of the friends I've made here and the buildings that have been part of my daily walks to school and realizing that I only have two more weeks to go to make the best out of this amazing chapter of my life. I really hope that one day, I will find the time to reunite with each and every one of them and relive these moments together.

It would be very easy to reunite with the Singaporeans since their country is so small and more than half of my friends are Singaporean.

This gives me the biggest incentive to visit Singapore very soon since I expect it to be one big reunion. Until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I will not miss the 112 steps going up the Frontier stairs and the neverending hills around this campus. Oh, my God! I will not miss it at all.

P.P.S. The couple and PDA culture here is still insane.

[seoulfulcity]

July 8, 2018: Blackpink in your Area

안녕하세요,

I was already on my third week here in Seoul and I still haven't gone out and explore the city at all. So I did what a regular international student would do here in Seoul - I went on a K-Pop adventure.

I wanted to visit the idol cafés all around the city, but upon further research, I found out that many of them are so spread out in opposite corners so I had to narrow everything down to the accessible areas and save the rest for another day. For example, I wanted to visit the filming locations of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Yeokdo-yojeong Kim Bokjoo/역도요정 김복주), especially Bok Chicken, but the locations are just too far from the ones I had planned to go that day.

On Sunday, July 8, I visited four idol cafés and restaurants: Yesung's Mouse Rabbit, Donghae's Haru & One Day, Chanyeol's Viva Polo, and Jongsuk's 89 Mansion. I decided to just visit the cafés that day and maybe take my time and sit down to study in each one during exam week.

The directions to each café is linked on the titles.

First stop: Super Junior's Yesung's Mouse Rabbit (Mobit) Café

My first stop took me to the area around Konkuk University called Kondae (건대), which was packed with clothing stores and street foods. This quick walk made me realize how empty the day and night life are around Anam-dong, the area surrounding Korea University. Street vendors would yell across the street for the people to buy tteokbokki (spicy rice cake/떡볶이) or cheap clothes from them, compared to Anam-dong where it is quiet most of the time, with a group of friends laughing in a corner once in a while.

I managed to find Mouse Rabbit after a couple minutes of being lost and getting distracted by the nice clothes in the shops around Kondae (건대). The exterior of the café was not very impressive and it was situated in an isolated area. I entered Mouse Rabbit, looked at the price list and left. I was not about to blow ₩10,000 on a latte when I had other cafés to visit - sorry Yesung.

I left Mouse Rabbit and headed to Donghae's Haru & One Day, which was one subway stop away.

Second stop: Super Junior's Donghae's Haru & One Day Café 

Following the instructions on the blog, it was very easy to spot Donghae's café - it was right in front of the exit! I liked the exterior look and the vibe of the café and the interior was also really nice. Donghae has a big portrait of Audrey Hepburn hanging on the wall, contributing to the minimalist and relaxing ambience of the place. I could really see myself studying in a place like this - honestly, who needs to study in the library or Starbucks in Seoul when you have idol cafés. You're still drinking overpriced coffee, you're still sitting on a coffee table overlooking the busy streets - the only different is that you have a higher chance of meeting an idol when they do decide to visit their cafés.

Third stop: EXO's Chanyeol's Viva Polo

Well, Chanyeol's mom owns and runs the restaurant, but this place was Chanyeol heaven! The blog I abe linked doesn't mention this but when you do take the subway, make sure to take the one going to Sangil-dong (상일동) and not Macheon (마천). Line 5 splits in Gangdong (강동), so make sure to get off there if you end up taking the wrong train (heading to Macheon/마천) and just board the next one, which is usually headed to Sangil-dong (상일동) since they both alternate.

From Donghae's Haru & OneDay, it took me a good 40 minutes to wait and ride for the subways, so Chanyeol's place was the most "out of the way" location I had during the day.

Viva Polo is located on the second floor, so you have to take the stairs up, but the whole stairway has pictures and drawings of Chanyeol plastered all over with written notes and presents left by the fans of the EXO member. Unfortunately, I arrived there around 3:40 PM and they close the restaurant for break from 3-5 PM. I had more than an hour to spare, and I did not know what I would do until then since the location of the Italian restaurant was not in a very popular or lively area so I decided to just head to Gangnam for Jongsuk's 89 Mansion Café.

Final stop: Lee Jongsuk's 89 Mansion

Being a new café, there's not a lot of blogs out there that tells you how to get there - and it was quite a walk from Sinsa Station (신사역) - you might want to save the directions on your map for this one beforehand.

Most of the blogs I've found were just about the café itself and how luxurious and pretty it was. Situated in Gangnam, it's obviously pricier than Mouse Rabbit and Haru & OneDay - Jongsuk is really out here charging me ₩16,000 on egg bacon benedict. I wanted to sit down and enjoy the place, so I ordered a lemonade for ₩8,000 and watched the beautiful Korean men work their magic with my lemonade.

I think Jongsuk has a criteria on how his workers want to look like - it's all about the image here in Gangnam, and Jongsuk joined in on the trend.

89 Mansion is divided into two sections - the café is on the first floor and the restaurant is on the second floor. While my lemons were being aded (HA!), I went upstairs to see the restaurant, and I stayed there long enough to take pictures of the words painted by Jongsuk himself and the picturesque red frame to the right of the stairs before being asked to go back to the first floor because I only ordered "café drinks" and not "restaurant foods" - okay Jongsuk.

I am planning to go back there soon to try out the food though, since everything is so beautiful and fits my aesthetic.

I spent a whole half day travelling from café to café that I forgot to eat my lunch, so while on the way back to Sinsa Station (신사역), I stopped by a Vietnamese restaurant called Hanoi Plate.

I have been missing home lately, and the biggest things that are making me homesick are the Mexican and Vietnamese food. I come from an area in Los Angeles that is really famous for the good Mexican and Vietnamese food, and having been eating Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food everyday the past month, I realized how much I actually missed my good food from home.

The Mexican food by Anam-dong don't look appetizing - I feel like they've never even seen Mexican food before.

I saw the words bánh mì written by the name of the restaurant and I sprinted in. Bánh mì is my go-to food back home - there's a Bánh Mì Chè Cali branch right next to my house and I stop by everyday to buy myself a bánh mì sandwich for my school lunch and snack. It's my stress food - so better believe I sprinted into Hanoi Plate the moment I saw those two Vietnamese words.

I didn't realize they specialized in North Vietnamese food, so I wanted to try something new - Bún chả, grilled pork and noodles. The meal was so delicious that it made me miss my local Vietnamese foods back home some more.

K-Star Road Adventures

Since I was already in Gangnam, I decided to just head to the K-Star Road and take pictures of the JYP Entertainment (GOT7, 2PM, TWICE, Stray Kids), Around Us Entertainment (Highlight), and FNC Entertainment (CNBLUE, F.T. Island, SF9, AOA, N.Flying) buildings and see the GangnamDols just down Apgujeong street. There's a map of the area that shows you where the entertainment buildings and specific GangnamDols are located.

JYP Entertainment just moved to a new location four days prior to my visit at the building, although the pictures and notes in the Dunkin' Donuts in front of the old JYP building were still present.

Just next to JYP building was the Around Us Entertainment building, managed by Highlight themselves after refusing to renew their contract as Beast with their former label, Cube Entertainment, and leaving the company back in 2016. Since Cube has copyrighted the group name Beast, they decided to rename themselves Highlight in 2017.

Then I visited FNC Entertainment, which was just behind the Around Us building. Two guys in face masks and caps walked by and groups of girls were waving at them and trying to talk to them, and to this day, I still don't know who they are. Maybe they're trainees? Maybe they're rookies? Maybe they're backup dancers? I will never know.

Facing JYP building to the left is Apgujeong street, which has the GangnamDols lined up leading to the Galleria. GangnamDols are these bear statues dressed up in K-Pop groups' iconic logos and colors. There were seventeen GangnamDols during my visit and I expect it to grow larger throughout the years: they had a GangnamDol for BTS, EXO, SHINee, Super Junior, 4Minute, 2PM, Girls' Generation, CNBLUE, VIXX, miss A, BLOCK B, among others.

I decided to take the long way and walked to Apgujeong Station (압구정역) instead of going back to where I got off at Cheongdam Station (청당역) since I wanted to take the time and appreciate Gangnam at night - the bright lights, the way people in Gangnam interact with each other, and how they dress their dogs. Halfway during my walk, my Kakao Talk notified me of a text from John:

EXCUSE ME, JOHN? WHERE ARE YOU? I DID NOT EVEN KNOW BLACKPINK WAS HOLDING A FAN MEET? SEND ME YOUR LOCATION NOW! It was 8 PM in the posh area of Gangnam where everyone minds how beautifully they look when they walk, but I was running to Apgujeong Station (압구정역) drenching in sweat. It takes about 30 minutes to go from Apgujeong Station (압구정역) to Yeouido Station (여의도역) without counting the wait between transfers. I was looking at arriving about 45-60 minutes after John sending the text of Blackpink arriving at IFC Mall. To make matters worse, I didn't even know where IFC Mall was! I had no idea how much walking I would be doing to reach the mall. I didn't even know where in IFC Mall the event was held at. Welp! At least I'm trying. I had no other plans anyway and I had four hours until the last subway leaves for the night. I reached Yeouido Station (여의도역) at 9:05 PM, almost an hour since John sent the text. There were two towers - IFC Towers 1 and 2. I went in IFC Tower 1 to a crowd of people leaving. I missed it. I missed Blackpink. I walked to the center of a very-quiet-and-empty second floor of the mall and asked one of the massage workers about a Blackpink event.

"It might be over", she broke my heart.

Well, I guess I would just head over to the food court area, have dinner, and call it a night.

I noticed a crowd were gathering at the edges of the open area on the second floor, looking down at the first floor. I was curious to see what they were so fixated on - Blackpink was still doing the fan signing!

Both the stairs and the escalators going down to the first floor were blocked, and by the looks of the crowd downstairs, I had a better view of Blackpink from the second floor - so I stayed and watched the event from above.

Jisoo and Jennie were on the far corner of the table, while Lisa and Rosé were closer to my area, so throughout the night, I tried to get both their attentions.

Lisa heard me multiple times but could not locate where the voice was coming from. She would look up side to side and wave at the area where she thought the voice was coming from, but no.

After the fan signing, they were asked to sign four Blackpink sweatshirts to give away as a raffle for the people sitting down in the area.

I stayed there until 9:45 PM when they left. It was my last chance to get their attention, so I kept calling for Lisa's name.

She looked around and gave the "where is that voice coming from?" look and hand motion. Rosé located me though, and looked up to smile at me.

No luck with Lisa.

Jennie and Jisoo followed Lisa and Rosé exit the stage, and no luck with the other two members.

I guess my night ended well. I took the subway back to Anam Station (안암역) and got myself chocolate sundae and fries at McDonald's.

I should keep doing K-Pop activities if nights like this happen, I guess? Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I actually just received my confirmation to attend SBS's "The Show" rehearsal at the SBS Prism Tower tomorrow! KU ISC opened the tickets to only 48 students three days ago, and I was lucky enough to check my phone right after I woke up from my nap to get the ticket! I am really looking forward who I will be seeing rehearse tomorrow!

[seoulfulcity]

July 7, 2018: A Humidity and Noraebang Cocktail

안녕하세요,

This week started off really wet with 100% rain and thunderstorm and a humidity that never went below 95%.

Sunday, July 1, 2018: I had to shower multiple times in the day because I could not even walk down Anam-dong without being drenched in both rain and sweat. Although, all my pores opened up and I had good skin for a few days.

The day was pretty slow - I met up with Anthony, Bonnie, Valentino, Sophie, Matt, Jason, Joyce, and Thai and was introduced to Bonnie's roommate Deedee and her friend who showed us that you eat raw spam in China. We ate at a barbeque place next to Chicken Bus called Seorae (서래 갈매기).

Later that night, Valentino, Matt and I met up at Valentino's room to watch Train to Busan (Busanhaeng/부산행) on Netflix; but since we're in South Korea, it did not give us the option of English subtitles so we watched Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War (Taegukgi Hwinallimyeo/태극기 휘날리며) on YouTube instead.

Monday, July 2, 2018: It was a regular night that started with Minki-hyung (민기형) taking me, Matt, Florence, Wendelyn, Sophie, Thai, and Joyce to have chicken galbi in a place called Chuncheon Dakgalbi (춘천닭갈비) where the owner called me "greedy" for setting up two side dishes (banchan/반찬) for each table and claimed that it was too excessive and we wouldn't be able to finish it. Culture shock, I guess? Since, Korean barbeque places in Los Angeles give us a set of banchan (반찬) per person, rather than per table, most of the time. Hyunjic-oppa (현진오빠) joined us towards the end of our dinner.

We went to a karaoke (noraebang/노래방) place nearby ending our night at one in the morning. There were nine of us for a total of ₩14,000, so we decided to have two people not pay and have the other seven of us pitch in ₩2,000 each. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) had a bright idea and asked the worker at the noraebang (노래방) to draw two of our school IDs from a hat to decide. Minki-hyung (민기형) and I did not end up paying for noraebang (노래방) that night.

Tuesday, July 3, 2018: The sun started shining and puffy white clouds filled the sky. Everybody decided to go outside to enjoy Seoul without the rain for the first time. I walked the entire Anam-dong with no idea where to go or what to do just because I only wanted to be outside. The humidity was still unbearable though. It stayed within 90% throughout the day, so I gave in to the Asian mini fan culture and bought myself one from the nearby Daiso store.

Walking back from Daiso, I saw a really attractive worker in Baskin Robbins, so I bought a Puss in Boots milkshake and stayed in to study for my Korean class enjoying my view.

I was getting over budget very fast so I did nothing special that night besides another soju night with Valentino, Matt, and Cara in a place called 88. Valentino finally got around and visited Myeongdong to buy his sim card and his Korean starter pack that included a black face mask, a hat with the South Korean flag (Taegukgi/태국기), and a white pair of Adidas shoes.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018: My actual ISC buddy never had the time to meet with us until this week, so he scheduled a lunch with each of us individually to get to know each other. His name is Hyungki-hyung (형기형) and it was his first time being a buddy for the summer program. He had a part-time job for the summer, so it was difficult for him to find the time to meet with us as a group. He asked me what I have not tried in Seoul yet and suggested bossam (보쌈), spiced belly pork in a restaurant that specializes in it called Ssago (싸고). I enjoyed it so much I later dragged Matt and Valentino to the same location later in the week.

After my lunch with my actual buddy, I decided to skip my only summer class to tour around Seoul and visited SMTown Museum in COEX mall with Sophie. Luckily, my Korean professor did not give out any paperwork or homework that day so I didn't miss much. Sophie and I walked around COEX mall before going into SMTown Museum and just missed the 3 PM EXO show in the theater. The next show was going to be at 7:30 PM with SHINee, and I was not willing to wait four hours and pay an extra ₩10,000 to watch a live concert.

The SMTown Museum ticket was only ₩18,000 and it had areas for each SM artists. At the main lounge were bookshelves of all the albums and an entire timeline for each SM group, such as EXO, Super Junior, TVXQ!, NCT, SHINee, Red Velvet, Girls' Generation, and f(x). Then they have an entire section dedicated to each SM group which includes the outfits they wore in their music videos and concerts.

We returned back to Anam later in the afternoon and met up with our friend group to spend the night together again. Florence showed me a machine in Daiso that dispensed customized stickers with your name on it. So, I got one with my name (크리스) and Korea University (고여대학교) in Korean. I also introduced Florence and Valentino to my favorite restaurant in Anam-dong that specializes in chicken steaks (Dakgup Neunshin/닭굽는신), which is near the KU entrance by Anam Station (안암역) on the second floor of Namu Playstation Console Game Room. If you ever get to visit Anam-dong, make sure to visit this place. It's a regular and casual hangout for the KU students, if you want to be surrounded by local Koreans and not by foreigners and tourists.

In South Korea, you decide if the restaurant is good or not by their kimchi - so my kimchi tasting skills have been really improving.

The kimchi at the chicken steak restaurant was still my favorite one though. I ate at that place the second day I arrived in Seoul after orienting myself to the campus with Tommy, and met two girls from Venezuela and Romania who have studied in Korea University for four years, and told me the fun fact about kimchi being the deciding factor on how good the restaurants are. They both agreed that the kimchi at my favorite chicken steak restaurant was one of the better ones.

Since it was Fourth of July, the Americans in our group (Valentino, and Matt, and me) dragged the group to a coin noraebang (코인노래방) to sing American songs, especially "Party in the USA". It was ₩500 for two songs, so we did not pay by hour and worry about wasting time finding songs. We stayed in the coin noraebang (코인노래방) for five hours and only spent close to ₩9,000 the entire night.

We tried looking for fireworks or sparklers to light up by our dorm or even the Han River, but to no avail. Our friends back in America were posting fireworks snaps and celebrating Fourth of July with American and Mexican foods, and it made me feel a little homesick; I still did not want to go home though.

We ended the night at McDonald's, since what was more American than McDonald's anyway?

Thursday, July 5, 2018: Another regular day. My Korean professor still taught the class in full Korean, cafeteria food was still filling, and my wallet was still trying to take a break from all the spending.

After class, I went to the CU convenience store next to Frontier House to grab a quick snack and bumped into Simi! We haven't seen each other since orientation day, so it took us a while to catch up with each other. I invited her to the Seoul Summer School Festival in a club in Itaewon called B-One Lounge Club Friday night, which was a huge club party for all the international students from the big universities in Seoul - Yonsei, Hanyang, Ewha, Seoul National, Korea, Hankuk, Sungkyunkwan, Hogang, Chung-Ang, Ajou, and many more.

After the conversation, I met for dinner with Davy, Sophie, Thai, Matt, and Joyce for some budae-jjigae (부대찌개), which is a sausage stew with gochujang (고추장), red chili paste in a place called Biya, which was basically next to the Frontier House stairs. Thai and Sophie could not stand eating spicy food, so they both settled in for the unlimited tater tot side dish. Thai also drowned the jjigae (찌개) with water and ramen to hide the spicy taste. Thai and Davy were disappointed since they asked Minki-hyung (민기형) for a hotpot location, and Minki-hyung (민기형) suggested to eat at Biya (비야). I guess he had a different idea of what hotpot is because jjigae (찌개) did not end up satisfying Thai and Davy's hotpot cravings.

After the dinner, we went around Anam-dong and settled in a restaurant, which specializes in seafood, called Shingshing Oring Eobada (싱싱 오링어바다), just under O-Bar Whiskey and Beer, to drink some apple-flavored sojus since the previous bars we checked out did not offer it (apple-flavored soju is our favorite drink).

Matt bought a 1.5L Milkis bottle from a nearby GS25 store and brought it in the the restaurant to mix with the apple-flavored sojus, since he wanted us to taste this easy-to-make cocktail.

Matt ordered shrimp tempura in horrifyingly-embarrassing Korean that our cute Korean waiter was laughing the entire time Matt was talking. It's funnier since Matt is Korean but does not speak a word of the language, so everybody he interacts with here in Seoul expects him to be fluent with the language. They start laughing or let out a sigh of disappointment whenever he says a Korean word in a heavy American accent. He had an experience with an Uzbek worker in a 7/11 store nearby where he asked for a cigarette in terrible Korean and the Uzbek worker laughed at him and spoke to him in fluent English to stop Matt from further embarrassing himself.

After mixing our first round of apple-flavored soju and Milkis, the cute waiter came over with his translator app and told Matt to not bring in outside drinks to the restaurant "from now on" so he mixed the Milkis with our sojus under the table throughout the rest of the night.

We went to the same coin noraebang (코인노래방) right after.

Friday, June 6, 2018: I was running on a few hours of sleep since we got home very late from the noraebang (노래방) and I had to wake up at 7:30 AM for the K-Pop flash mob hosted by the school. After getting home, Sophie asked me to help a drunk student she ran into back to his room in Frontier House since only guys can enter the building. The guy was very stubborn and I was very exhausted and needed to rest. I dropped him off after a good hour of him drunkenly eating his ramen and told his roommate, who was surprisingly still awake at that time, to knock on my room if he needed any help.

We learned the choreography to Red Velvet's "Red Flavor" in the Tiger Dome (Hwajung Cheyukgwan/화정체육관) from 9:30 to noon to perform the flashmob three times on camera at the main plaza in Korea University. The school gave away BT21 goods, signed CDs from Blackpink, SHINee, BTOB, and ONF, and four tickets to see KBS “Music Bank” live that afternoon to those who participated in the flash mob.

After the flash mob, I napped until it was time for us to go to Seoul Summer School Festival. I met with Matt and Valentino for a quick dinner at the bossam (보쌈) place I had lunch in with Hyungki-hyung (형기형) earlier in the week.

Valentino had both his phone and wallet stolen from the night before when he went out with his fraternity friends in Made bar in Itaewon. He fell asleep and woke up early in the morning with only his phone case left. So, both Matt and I have been helping him out paying for things and offering our phones so he kept up with our group Kakao Talk conversations, etc.

We met with Minki-hyung (민기형), Thai, and Sophie at Anam Station (안암역) after the dinner and headed to Itaewon just in time for the event to start at 11 PM. Bonnie, Joyce, Florence, Wendelyn, Lina, Simi and her roommate Edan, Salli, and Carolina were going to catch up with us later in the night. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) and Hyungki-hyung (형기형) couldn't join us because they needed to study and do homework.

Valentino was initially denied entrance to the club because he was wearing his Adidas jogging pants, so he had to take the subway back with Sophie to change to a more acceptable pants. We left the club to drink some soju by the GS25 store next to the bar and met up with Bonnie, Wendelyn, Florence, and Joyce who were in line. Just behind them were Lina, Bruno, and Davonte, who I was meeting for the first time.

Lina actually messaged the group chat saying she wanted to get to know and hang out with us more, so that was why I was familiar with her - although, we didn’t see each other for the rest of the night after that. Not long after that at midnight, Simi and Edan came, while Salli and Carolina arrived around 2 AM.

Every time I went outside, I always took the chance to get some chicken skewer (dakkochi/닭꼬치) from the ahjumma just next to the entrance of the club - so much that she knew which sauce I wanted spread on my skewer. Hint: it’s teriyaki sauce.

I introduced the non-Americans to the cocktail called Adios Motherfucker (AMF), which is known in the US to black people out. Minki-hyung (민기형) finished the drink in one sip and Florence had to take him home at midnight - an hour after entering the club.

We left B-One a little past 5:30 AM in broad daylight. We had more skewered teriyaki chicken outside the club and headed back to our dorms.

It's currently 6:32 PM and I woke up just four hours ago, basically sleeping through breakfast and lunch; so I'm writing this blog waiting for the cafeteria to open for my first meal of the day at 7:30 PM. Luckily, I did not wake up with a headache, although my legs and feet are currently sore from seven hours of standing up and dancing.

Recently, I've been wanting to take a break from Korean foods, especially chicken and every form of soup. Every single restaurant around here serve mainly those two and I just wanted to eat something different - perhaps Japanese or Mexican food? I aimlessly walked around Anam-dong to look for a non-Korean restaurant to eat at and came across a tonkatsu place where they served a Japanese-Hawaiian fusion plate in Eunhwasu Sikdang (은화수 식당). After the filling meal, I bought a pack of banana milk and sweet bread from a convenience store and sat down to eat at the Central Plaza overlooking the Main Hall of Korea University that was beautifully lit up at night.

Michael (Inseok/인석) messaged me to meet Valentino at the Frontier House stairs since Valentino lost his phone and had no way to contact any of us since Kakao Talk wanted verification from his phone number attached to his account. Jordan and Matt joined us a while after and had banana milk and bread together.

It is Nay's birthday and they're all planning on going out to a bar in Hongdae tonight. Jordan was headed to Itaewon in a bit to visit some gay clubs also.

I think I might sit these down to take some time to recuperate. The night life here in Seoul doesn't stop, apparently. Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」

Update: I just met up with Thai, Davy, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), Hyungki-hyung (형기형), Wendelyn, Matt, Valentino, and Florence for chicken and soju in Chicken Bus (치킨버스) and to watch the World Cup match between Sweden and England. I left earlier in the night to sleep, while Thai, Davy, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), and Hyungki-hyung (형기형) stayed in the place to finish the game. Wendelyn, Matt, Valentino, and Florence headed to Hongdae for to continue drinking for Nay's birthday.

[seoulfulcity]

June 30, 2018: Lotte World 🦋

안녕하세요 🦋,

We were really drunk the night before Lotte World, so there's that.

The Lotte World field trip was on a Saturday morning during our first week in Seoul, and what would regular legal-aged students do in their first Friday night in a different country?

Naturally, we socialized.

Friday, June 29, 2018: Valentino, Wendelyn, Cara, Thai, and I met up Friday night for some drinks, while the other people were club hopping in Itaewon, Hongdae, and Gangnam. Earlier in the night, Valentino and Cara talked to the Koreans and the KU cheer team sitting around us if they could join our table and mingle with the local students; but the Korean culture is apparently not very welcoming to socializing with the outsiders, so their offers were all rejected. Sophie, Nay, and Minki-hyung (민기형) caught up later in the night. Minki-hyung (민기형) brought a buddy he was assigned with from two years ago and had her talk to us about the program. Her name was Klang, and she was very impressed with how much the ISC program has changed since she participated when the program was still in its early years. She mentioned how they did not have enough opportunities to do cultural activities, such as taekwondo or K-Pop flash mobs, and go as an entire group to big events like Lotte World.

We drank until it was time to go home and wake up early to leave for Lotte World, an hour subway ride from Anam Station (안암역). We were required to be at the entrance, wearing our KU ISC shirts, by 11 AM to get our tickets - so that meant that we had to leave before 10 AM and it takes me about an hour or two to get ready in the morning.

I calculated how much sleep I was going to get that night and I was already feeling cranky.

We managed to gather our group to take the subway together. Minki-hyung (민기형) and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) led the group with me, Sophie, Thai, Davy, Tony, Florence, Matt, and Leonard. Leonard was out until 5 AM in Octagon, one of the best clubs in the world, in Gangnam. He was talking about paying ₩30,000 to get in while Minki-hyung (민기형) laughed at him for paying an entrance fee since Koreans get in for free.

Leonard, who was from the Netherlands, was not very impressed with the news. Minki-hyung (민기형) then educated us about the clubs and bars in Seoul and how selective they can be, especially in Gangnam. They can reject anyone based on their outfit, appearance, skin color, and gender. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) stood next to me agreeing to everything Minki-hyung (민기형) was saying. Sigh. I guess I'll stick to the bars in Anam, Hongdae, and Itaewon which are known to be more welcoming to foreigners (waegukin/외국인).

We arrived in Lotte World, showed our KU ID to the ISC staff and received our tickets. Valentino and Bonnie texted us saying they were going to catch up with us later since they woke up later in the morning, so we entered the indoor amusement park.

It was my first time in an indoor amusement park, and I've heard so much hype surrounding Lotte World - from my Korean friends back home, the online Korean community, and from K-Dramas. At the main center of the indoor park was an opening that oversaw the ice skating rink just a floor down, and the whole park was themed like a fairy tale from different countries. Each section of the indoor park had an ambience reminiscent of another country, such as Spain, Morocco, and France.

An outdoor theme park was accessible from the second floor, called Magic Island, which was very similar to Disneyland.

Minki-hyung (민기형) had us ride La Conquistador, a Viking-ship ride that swung back and forth. After the ride, we went outside to Magic Island since it was supposed to rain later that day. We went in line for the Atlantis, and just as we were getting closer to riding the attraction, it started pouring. Everybody ran back to the indoor park.

Drenched in rain, we queued for the French Revolution2 VR, a virtual reality roller coaster where we had to wear virtual reality (VR) goggles to amplify our ride experience. Valentino notified us that he was waiting at Gong Cha with our other friends, and we caught up with them right after the ride. We headed out for lunch within the park with the original group that took the subway together, Valentino, Wendelyn, Joyce, and Bonnie. Minki-hyung (민기형) and Hyunjic-oppa (현작오빠) met up with some fellow buddies, who chose the place for us to eat in - at the park's food court. There are so many names being thrown around here, but we were a big group!

After lunch, all sixteen of us went outside again to line up for the Atlantis, since it had long stopped raining. While in line, we taught Minki-hyung (민기형) about the proper usages of words like "bae", "hun", and "headass". We also taught him the different ways to use "butterflies in my stomach" properly 🦋.

Long story short, Minki-hyung (민기형) could not pick up the abstract metaphor, so it ended up being a really funny inside joke with the whole group. Now we call anyone we find attractive, our butterfly 🦋.

Prior to riding, our large group had to separate to ride the Atlantis, since each car could only sit eight people. I understood why it was the most popular one with the younger population after the ride, and all of us enjoyed the ride and wanted to go back in line to try it again - but the line was so long, it almost stretched around the entire surrounding area of the park.

We then headed to the more extreme rides of the park, those of which Minki-hyung (민기형), Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) and three of their fellow buddies had never ridden before because of how fearful they were. The first ride was called Gyro Swing, which was a rotating swinging ride. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) was so close to leaving the line to join the other girls who were not in line with us - Joyce, Bonnie, Sophie, and Florence.

During the line for Gyro Swing, Valentino, Matt, and I educated Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) about fuck boy culture, what they say, and how they dress. Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) returned the favor and taught us common Korean texting slangs, like ㅆㅂ (ssibal/씨발/fuck), ㅂㅅ (byeongshin/병신/derogatory word for crazy), ㅇ(ng/yes), ㄱㅅ (gamsa/감사/thanks), and so on.

After Gyro Swing, I dragged everybody to ride the Gyro Drop with me, which was a rotating seat that took you to the very top of the attraction overlooking the entire Magic Island, and dropping you to the base of the ride. Riders had the option to wear VR goggles, but we wanted to have the full experience, seeing the city at the very top.

This was Minki-hyung (민기형) Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), Leonard, and Sophie's first times riding an attraction like this. Minki-hyung (민기형) and Sophie made a pact that they would do it together - Minki-hyung (민기형) later ran away from the line and Sophie had to drag him back in.

Closer to the entrance to the ride, Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) was getting really quiet but kept telling everybody he was not scared. Poor guy was probably terrified. Sophie was nearly in tears with how scared she was.

Then it was our turn. Valentino, Minki-hyung (민기형), and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) agreed to yell out lyrics "보고싶다" ("Bogo Shipda"/"I Miss You") by Kim Bumsoo (김범수) to ease down the nerves while the ride was slowly rising to the very top. Once we reached the peak, the seats continued rotating for five seconds , showing us a good view of the park before dropping us straight to the very bottom.

Minki-hyung (민기형) ran out of the attraction excited that he finally overcame his fear.

Next to the Gyro Drop was the Bungee Drop and Leonard, Wendelyn, and I lined up for that smaller bungee ride, while the rest (Joyce, Matt, Davy, Sophie, Deedee, Florence, Tony, and Thai) lined up for the Swing Tree, a chair swing ride next to Bungee Drop. While they were swinging, I met with Darren, Angela, Peter, Sharon, and Jado in line for the same ride and had a conversation with them until they had to board the ride. Meanwhile, Valentino, Leonard,  Minki-hyung (민기형), Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠), and those who were not riding the Swing Tree were nearby eating their flavored crushed ice. I joined in and purchased blueberry-flavored crushed ice to cool my body down. After that, we decided to start heading home.

It was 4 PM and very humid, and all of us felt disgusting with the sweat from the humidity. Thai, Davy, and Joyce decided to stay outside Magic Island; while Valentino, Matt, Sophie, and I went back inside to the indoor park to eat Panda Express before leaving. The rest of the group headed straight to the subway.

My sister works at Panda Express back in Los Angeles, and I always get free food from her, so smelling the recognizable Panda Express aroma really made me miss home.

Later in the night, Sophie and I met up for a dinner around Anam-dong (안암동), and later caught up with Davy, Joyce, and Thai having a sit-down Korean street food night while watching the World Cup with France competing against Argentina on Davy's phone with the commentators speaking in Chinese - Thai and Sophie don't speak Chinese at all.

The Wi-Fi on Davy's phone started acting up and getting slow so I brought them to the soccer chicken and beer (chimaek/치백) place from a few days ago called Sseondeo Chicken (썬더치킨) and stayed to watch the game in a bigger screen. Davy and Sophie left after the game ended around midnight, while Joyce, Thai and I stayed until 3 AM to drink for Joyce's birthday. We had deep conversations about American, Singaporean, and Vietnamese cultures and how different our morals and upbringings were.

Five sojus later at 3 AM, the store had to close and we walked Joyce to her place in Anam-dong (안암동) and Thai and I walked back to the dorms. On the way, Joyce tripped and sprained her ankle, but she did not realize it at that moment with how tipsy she was - everything must have been spinning much that she did not realize her ankle was painful, since she woke up the next day asking the group chat if anybody knew about a nearby place that sells Eastern medicine for her swollen ankle.

That concludes my Lotte World day. It was not meant to be an informational blog post telling you about which rides to go to, or at what times to go to avoid the crowd. This blog - this whole Tumblr account really - was meant for me to read in the future to remind me of my experience in Seoul. I don't understand why I'm pressuring myself to post information regarding the program, its activities, and such.

Also, I love writing my inner thoughts, such as these last paragraph, for my own future reading. I don't think I need to write down "Author's Note" or "Side Note" anywhere since you, fellow reader who's not me, were not really meant to read any of these blogs - but hey! Stay if you still want to keep reading!

Anyways, I am posting an informational blog about the dorms here in Korea University. I suppose that was one of my biggest concerns and I know I wasn't and won't be the only one to ever worry and research about it. Keep an eye out for the next blog! Until then!

고마워요, Chris 「크리스」