Fall at Soonchunhyang and Korean Holidays

Entering Soonchunhyang University (South Korea)

Ft. Korean Thanksgiving - Holidays

Communication before entering school:

The morning of my flight to Korea, I got a notification that my flight will be 3 hours late! I was worried that the school facilitated bus will leave me because I will arrive 10:00 pm instead of 7:00 pm. I emailed and facebook messaged the hosting universities study abroad director but did not get an answer before leaving my flight. Fortunately, the incoming and returning exchange students had a big group chat and they were able to contact the director. Upon arrival, I found out many of our flights were delayed and we took the bus together to enter our dorms at 11:30 pm. Overall, the communication between other exchange students and program director is great!

Entering a suite of 12 students:

I have always anticipated the dorm room experience as I live at home in Hawaii. When arriving in your dorm, only the foreign exchange students (around 3 per suite) will be present, then a week later the Koreans will come over. It was an interesting transition, but fortunately, they had good English conversation skills. I also brought them some Hawaiian Chocolate Macadamia Nuts to share with them.

One month later… KOREAN THANKSGIVING (추석 - Chuseok)

This is a very important three day holiday where they gather with families in celebration of full moon harvest every fall. At this time, it is normal to visit ancestral graves and maintain it by picking up the weeds. A representing dish is songpyeon, which is a type of rice cake prepared with rice powder, assorted with different fillings such as sesame seed, red beans, other beans, chestnuts and so on. Upon the start of the holidays, the global office of the school shared some songpyeon and rice drinks.

This year, the holiday was on October 3-5, but they extended the holiday observing days in school starting Oct. 2 (Monday) to Oct. 6 (Friday). The following Monday, October 9 was Hangul Independence days, celebrating the writing system of Korea, thus practically having a 10 day holidays (weekends included).

My plan for the Korean Thanksgiving:

Three days, Two night stay in Hongdae, Seoul. Hongdae is one of the districts that are great for foreigners to stay in. I got an affordable Airbnb with two friends with a great park and stream where families hang out all day and night. Also, got a needed classic American Breakfast there :) And finally got to see the annual Fireworks at the famous Han River.

Bungee Jumping in Gapyeong, north of Seoul. I went with my suitemates and his friends as it is $40 to bungee jump. It was held at Nami Island, a famous water park. It is 4 hours away from my school, but 2.5 hours away from central Seoul. It was a great way to try new things and feel adrenaline.

Jinju Lantern festival, one night stay. I made a Korean friend in HPU when they are visiting to learn English for a week. When I met with her in Korea, she told me to visit this place and I decided to bring friends and meet a fellow Korean student. It is far south of Korea and I took an express bus there.

Meet a suitemate in Gyeongju, a historical place where he grew up. Straight from the lantern festival, I took another express bus to the east of Korea to visit a city full of historical landmarks and villages. My suitemate was a great tour guide and we rented a Hanbok,  traditional clothing of Korea.

Holidays are over… STUDY TIME!

After this holiday you have a week to review as it is midterm time! Classes here are really interesting, and I will tell you more all about my studies in the next blog post. Within the next two weeks, I have final exams and last week of classes. Experiencing the change of seasons from Summer to Fall to Winter is keeping me motivated. Let’s work hard and see you guys again!

Quick Thoughts: After Study Abroad

The semester is almost over and Spain will soon become a memory for me. I find myself, in these last two weeks, looking ahead to what needs to be done this summer and next year and...
Before I get ahead of myself (which has definitely happened before), I've had to keep in mind one of the most immediate feats for when I return to the States--reverse culture shock.
I'm not so unfamiliar with this experience as I have had to undergo this process every time I went from Hawaii to Cali, and also from Belize to the States. But I know that will play a huge part in how I deal with stress and with the upcoming school year. So here are some tips for those who are facing big transitions after time abroad OR for those who are interested in studying abroad.

1. Take your time with adjusting. Don't try to do it all at once because believe me, there will be more to get used to than you realize. You'll have to not only readjust to American culture, but also to your family and friends.
2. Accept that this experience has changed you. I'm not saying that your core personality or root of self has changed, BUT after living in a different culture, possibly speaking a different language, and other experiences abroad, may have had an effect on how you see the world and how you interpret cultural differences. You may even have changed your routines and priorities upon your return. You may get bored or be put off by the fact that the people you left behind (friends and family) have more or less been doing the same things. You may feel upset or frustrated because your loved ones don't fully understand your experiences and new behaviors. THAT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL. It happens to every traveler.
3. Be patient and gracious with yourself and with your loved ones. Tension and stress happens, but these two things make it way easier for yourself and for others.
4. Set super-short term goals! These are for all my people who may struggle with anxiety or depression under deep stress. One. Thing. At. A. Time. I have already set mini daily goals to keep myself sane and centered, and to also build healthier habits. For example, I noticed I would pick at my fingers every time I got stressed, worried, bored, lazy, etc. So I began disciplining myself to stop. Overcoming that daily (2 days in a row so far lol) has actually made me more productive and forces me to rely on the fact that I'm not in control, and that what will happen will happen.
5. PRAY. Lastly, for my Christians out there, you all know we a Savior, Father, and Friend who knows us and cares about us. Don't forget to pray about everything, even the little things. I know for me, looking to God for guidance, strength, assurance, and peace has taken load after load off of my shoulders. Also it keeps me centered on the hope that is Christ, which trumps any sort earthly goal I may be worried about. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, so pray :)

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:31-34

Lights, Camera, Action: Living in a Fashion Capital

Ciaoooooo!

My name is Joselyn and I am currently living life in Milan, one of the most important fashion capitals in the world. What is it like living in such a prestige city you may ask...well, let's just say it's nothing like I was expecting but in a way much more than I could imagine. 

First off, I have just gotten adjusted to the idea of living in another country, one that I had never visited before or was the slightest bit familiar with and it only took me two months and I am leaving in less than a month, ironic right? Before coming to Milan I was extremely excited to be able to experience some place new that I've only heard about or seen pictures of however when I did finally arrive in Italy, the culture shock and unfamiliar surrounding was a bit overwhelming. 

Yes, culture shock is a huge part of studying abroad, especially if you're someone like me who's never been to another country before BUT I have adapted to my new home and can proudly say that Milan has stolen a piece of my heart. From walking to school, to seeing familiar faces each day, to getting to know other study abroad students and being able to be apart of another culture is truly an memorable experience. It's definitely one of the best decisions I've made so far even when I was told it would be impossible to study abroad my senior year but here I am! 

Shortly I'll be writing a post about traveling to other countries right after I have visited my 10th country while studying abroad (that was my goal), so stay tuned!

xoxo,
Joselyn
#Hawaii2Milan

Reminiscing the Month Spent in Korea

     There is still so much to see in Korea, that I definitely have to come back in the future. I have only been in Korea for about a month and 4 days, and I had a really great time! It was really fun! Studying abroad is worth it, and I definitely recommend that students should go study abroad. I gained new experiences, new friends, and tried a lot of new things. Plus, I met a lot of cool people from 20 different countries, including people from the mainland United States of America.

Countries Such As:

Vietnam, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau, China, Taiwan, England, Finland, Romania, Mexico, Australia, Turkey, Serbia, Venezuela, United States of America (Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, California), and Korea, because local Korean students part of the program volunteers helped made us feel very welcome. ^_^

     I am back home now, and I am currently reminiscing my time spent back in Korea, it was amazing, but it felt so short~ I really would like to come back again in the future. The next time I go back, my Korean will (hopefully) be a lot better. I didn't experience the culture shock as I thought I would because I did kind of had an idea of what Korea would be like. It was a good image, and about everything turned out as expected. It could have been better though, if I had some coffee (and then instantly be not tired) I would have went out with my friends to go see more places of Korea, because there is honestly so much more to see. And I thought that I should put it out there, but after two weeks of learning Korean, it felt so good to be able to read Korean, but I still need to figure out what I read. I needed to expand my vocabulary, and understand the grammar. I remembered in the past me and my mom would go to the Korean Supermarket in Hawaii, to buy lots of groceries, and cute snacks that were unique to Korea, and I thought that the characters were so strange with the circles, but knowledge is power, and it feels great to understand that the circles mean either "ng" (at the end of a character) or is just a silent space holder in the beginning of a character. :)

     Another thing was that it took some time to get used to hearing Korean (instead of English) all around me, plus it is very quiet around the streets even in the daytime because people don't talk loud at all, and majority of the people I do see walking around are listening to music with earbuds.
     Also, when my friends told me that Korea will be more humid than Hawaii, I didn't really understand what that meant, but now I get it. I also did a lot of walking, exploring and eating. Based on my experiences, I felt that Korea is hotter than Hawaii, and in the subway stations it would be hot, but I can still handle it, and then once I got in side the subway train (because it had air condition) it felt great, but then after a while of being in the train, it started to get cold, and finally when I left the train, it got hot again. But for one thing that I was super glad, that I took care of myself, drank lots of water, and ate food all day, therefore I did not get sick at all.

     For breakfast, I would go to the bakery nearby and purchase baked goods and pastries:) and sometimes in a rush of time, I end up eating instant ramen in my dorm (before class). For lunch, my friends and I, or sometimes I go alone, we would go to Emart and purchase food and other things that we may need. And on days when there wasn't any program activities, my friends and I would go around shopping or exploring parts of the city, Seoul.

     In one of the bookstores (Band & Luni's Bookstore), I went to the music section and saw that there were many western pop music, which was a surprise to me because I was expecting more kpop variety music. But there were also various sections, a part dedicated to western pop, a section dedicated to K-pop, and a section dedicated to Korean dramas OST (Original Sound Track). My friend and I went to several places (I don't remember the name of) to shop for K-pop albums, there were also so many items printed with my favorite idol's faces.

Some restaurants/fast food places that I have seen:

• Mom's Touch
• Lotteria (reminds me of McDonalds)
• Dunkin Donuts
• Baskin Robbins (ice cream place)
• California Pizza Kitchen
• Pizza Hut
• Domino's
• Subway
• McDonald's
• Burger King
• Natuur Pop (ice cream place)

Some Coffee places/cafes' that I have seen:

• Coffee Prince  (I saw it from afar, but we didn't go in that direction)
• Starbucks
• Ediya Coffee
• Angel-in-us-coffee
• Holly's Coffee
• Caffe Cucina
• Ivy Coffee
• Caffe Bene
• Caribou Coffee
• Zoo Coffee

Some interesting food/drinks I have not seen before:

• Banana Milk
• Mango Milk
• Strawberry Latte
• AND an actual Brand Name called: "No Brand"

  

Other places/shops I have seen:

• Forever 21
• Bandi & Luni's Bookstore
• Kyobo Bookstore
• NewBalance (shoestore)
• Luxury (Highest Singing Entertainment)  <--a Karaoke place
• Art Box
• Sewing Factory
• Tasty Market
• Line Friends
• Kakao Friends
• SM Town (specifically the @ the coexartium)

Cosmetic/beauty shops I have seen:

• Nature Republic (in Myeong Dong, famous tourist place)
• innisfree  (all lowercase on purpose)
• The Face Shop
• The Body Shop
• Etude House

Conveniences Stores I have seen:

• GS25
• CU
• Mini Stop
• 7-11

Some of the New things I have tried:

• Lotte World Adventure (an amusement park)  [https://youtu.be/LTwHaX90DxU]
• Korean Spa
• Stayed a night in a traditional Korean house
• Water Sports

And here are some of the other places we went to in Korea:

• Samsung Innovation Musuem (SIM)
• Amore Pacific - Story Garden (K-beauty)
• National Musuem of Korea
• The War Memorial of Korea
• Kyung Bok Goong (Emperor's Palace)
• National Folk Museum
• Korean Spa (Jjimjil bang) at SPAREX
• Dongdae Mun History and Culture Park (where there were nightflowers)
• Nam San Tower
• K Star Road
• Lotte Cinema (watched Now You See Me 2 in English in Korea)
• Bukchon-ro (a place in the city where there are traditional korean houses)
• Han River (it was a dinner picnic near the river)

Pictures of the two rooms inside the Korean Spa, 100 degrees and a 97 degree room. Super hot and moist inside.

Night Flowers at Dongdaemun

Me with my new friends

     There are some things that I have learned while abroad. Next time I come to Korea, I need to bring the extension surge protector with me, and a new travel adapter.

     While riding the subway, I noticed that almost 90% of people in the subway train is either listening to music or looking down in the screen on their phone doing something.

     In some restaurants, we had to order first before sitting down, and water is self serve. And in Holly's Coffee, I found it interesting how they separate their trash. First one is Recyclables, second one is other waste, and the third one is pouring in liquid and ice.

     It only rained for a few days during the entire time I was in Korea, and something I found interesting while I was there is that before entering the department store they have this small thing that you stick your umbrella in and then grab it out and your umbrella comes out in this plastic bag to prevent water being dripped all over the floor. It is different from the one I see in the buildings back home in Hawaii.

Nam San Tower

See what I mean? This was the invention I mentioned previously. You would stick your tall umbrella in the right side, and then pull it out with the plastic bag, so your umbrella comes out inside the plastic bag.

Lobby view of the Korean Traditional Spa place

Wet Napkin Dispenser at Lotteria

Deep Fried Ice Cream Street Food, it's hot and crispy on the outside, but then inside is cold ice cream. So unique flavor!

Update: I meant to post this blog the month after I came back from Korea, which is in September. However, time flies, and it's November 1, 2016, and I am finally uploading this last blog.

Thanks for reading, if you got down this far. :) All photos are taken by me.