Preparing to say "goodbye" to Korea

Hello, again! It's been awhile. I've never been so stressed about preparing for exams as I did for KLI, but they're over now and I'm beyond relieved. I received my results today and I'm happy to say that I passed! I received the exact same score on my final as I did on the midterm, 79%, but I was very pleased with my speaking (which I got a 85% on) and writing portion (which I got a 91% on) of the exam. While I'm very, very happy I'll never have to go to a KLI class again, I'll miss my classmates, especially the ones I became close to throughout the semester.

Saying goodbye to my KLI class.

My last school lunch at Yonsei. I'll miss getting these 5,000 won dosirak meals.

I also finished up my internship at PSCORE. I had a great time meeting such passionate individuals and I'll definitely miss my co-workers. I'll also miss being in an environment where people are familiar with and have an interest in the same events I am, such as Korean reunification and the situation with North Korean refugees in South Korea. In sum, I'm happy I chose to complete an internship this semester and it has been fulfilling in numerous ways.

The certificate I received from PSCORE.

I'm 2 days away from traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia, and I'll be writing a post about those when I get back. For now, I want to reflect on my time in Korea, and how being here has changed me as a person. I thought I was independent before coming to Korea, but engaging with a foreign country by yourself gives a whole new sense of the word. Traveling by myself no longer bothers me, finding a place to live by myself no longer bothers me, going grocery shopping and cooking food in a foreign country by myself no longer bothers me, and the list goes on.

I've also become to know myself a lot better than I did before. I've come to know the type of people I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with, things that make me truly happy in life, and what kind of future I want to have. My strengths have been challenged and my weaknesses have surfaced, but I'm glad this awareness has increased because it has prepared me for a post-graduation adult life.

Lastly, Korea, like other countries I've been in, has reminded me that the world is a small place. Humans are humans, and despite cultural contextual differences, we ultimately share core values, desires, and needs. The more people I meet, the smaller my world gets, and I come to realize how I'm really not that unique from other people.

To sum up my mixed feelings about leaving Korea, I've written a list of the items I will miss about Korea and things I look forward to being reunited with once I get back to the U.S.

Things I will miss about Korea:

• FOOD. Seriously can't emphasize this one enough.
• Public transportation
• The convenience of living in a mega-city
• Being able to practice my Korean by not even really realizing I'm doing it
• My one-room apartment. It has served me well throughout the year.
• My Korean friends
• Pretty much unlimited access to shopping EVERYWHERE
• Artbox (maybe it's a good thing I'm saying goodbye to Artbox because I've spent way too much money there, haha)
• Korean ATMs

Things that I look forward to in the U.S.:

• Friends, family, boyfriend
• Comfy bed
• Dryers
• Polite people (people that hold open doors, say "Sorry" when they accidentally bump into you, etc.)
• Nature. Allll the nature.
• My job at the Asian Studies Center. I never realized how much I would miss working.
• Breakfast food
• Craft beer (yay for finally being 21!)
• James Madison College and being challenged in content classes again
• Not being stared at all the time

Like I said, this isn't my final post of my blog, but this post does mark the wrap-up of my classes at Yonsei and saying goodbye to the student life there. I've been taking these last couple of days to say goodbye to the friends I've made here and buy any last minute goods I want to bring back to the U.S. Just the other day I went to Artbox again to buy some goodies. 

Some of the sticky notes I bought from Artbox.

Last night I also said goodbye to my friends from India, Hisu and Ji Young. I met them in Itaewon where we ate at Vatos and then Hisu and I ended the night in Shiva Pub, a hookah bar in Sinchon. I know I won't see them again for a long time but we'll make a future meeting possible. I'm just very grateful I was able to reconnect with them in the first place since I've been here. Never underestimate the friends you made growing up because they may end up being an important part of your life in the future. 

Saying goodbye to Hisu and Seo Ha. 

Well, when I see you again I will have marked off two more countries from my travel-to list. I also wanted to say that I'm actually quite proud of myself for keeping up a blog consistently this year. I didn't think I would have the motivation to do it, but I'm really glad I did end up writing it because I'll have it to look back on and reminisce in the future. Anyways, I will see you in roughly a week!

Busan

I took my last trip in Korea over the weekend: a short journey to Busan. I now officially have a month left in Korea, which has been leaving me with a bunch of mixed emotions. Before going to Busan, on Friday I stopped by a huge "festival," if you would call it that, hosted by the Ministry of Unification in the Korean government in Gwanghwamun Square. At least 100 NGOs related to North Korea and Korean reunification were represented, including PSCORE. In addition to receiving a ton of free items, I also learned even more about North Korea and reunification, which I didn't think was possible at this point. For example, the Korean government currently doesn't archive defector information/interviews, and instead only NGOs do. Additionally, the problem of housing during reunification was presented. Which model would housing in North Korea follow? Would it privately owned or publicly owned? Would North Koreans pay rent? Would they have a high security deposit (key money) like South Korea? I never seriously pondered these questions before.

The festival in Gwanghwamun.

Another view of the festival. So many tents!

We took the KTX to Busan on Saturday, which was a great choice. Instead of a 7-hour bus ride, we took a 2.5 hour train ride on a super smooth train with bathrooms and plenty of sitting room. In other words, it's well worth the money to take the KTX to Busan even if it's for just a weekend.

Riding the KTX.

We left at 7:30 and arrived around 10 a.m., and we took a bus to the famous Gamcheon Cultural Village. We got off the bus and had to walk uphill, not a first for having lived in Korea for 9 months. The village is pretty much known for its artsy, colored buildings, so we climbed to a nice spot on a hill and took in the view. On the way we were greeted with several Koreans who wanted to take our photo, again, something not new but definitely more pronounced in the south. 

Gamcheon Culture Village.

Outdoor exercise equipment. Imagine if they had these in the U.S.

After walking around a little while, we headed to where our hostel was so we could check in. We stayed at the Popcorn Hostel, which is located a couple of blocks away from Haeundae Beach, Busan's and Korea's most famous beach. We took the subway down to the beach area, ate lunch, and checked in to our hostel, which was very clean and new. Korea is definitely on its hostel game. We then headed to a famous cliffside temple, Haedong Yonggungsa, by taking a cab. Unlike the majority of Buddhist temples in Korea, this temple is located by the coast. The temple wasn't anything new as far as architecture goes, but I did enjoy the ocean and the calmness that it produces. I'm surprised not more temples are built by the coast for that reason.

Haedong Yonggungsa.

Another view of the temple by the coast.

After visiting the temple, we took the cab back to Haeundae and ate dinner. Unfortunately, Lea and Marisa aren't big seafood fans, so as much as I wanted to eat the famous Busan seafood, I didn't really get a chance and instead compromised by getting Western food dishes with a little bit of seafood in it. If I go to Busan again I definitely want to focus on eating the food because it was something I really wanted to do but missed out on. After dinner we took the subway a couple of stops over to Gwangalli Beach, the beach known for its nightlife. We enjoyed the view of the lit-up bridge and then had some drinks at a nearby bar. It was nice being able to take it easy for our Busan trip instead of running around all the time.

Gwangalli Beach.

The weather on Saturday was rainy the whole day so I was pleasantly surprised when the weather turned out to be beautiful on Sunday. Our whole Sunday was spent chilling on the beach, which coincidentally had a sand sculpture festival hosted on it. Artists from around the world and Korea came to create giant sand sculptures for the public to see for free. There were also several tents selling food and crafts. The beach was very nice and reminded me of any other beach, but I felt out of place because there aren't that many nice beaches in Korea. I would love to live in Busan just to chill at the beach all the time and enjoy the water, something you definitely cannot do in Seoul.

Haeundae Beach.

Chilling by the water.

One of the sand sculptures in the festival.

Another sculpture.

Another view of Haeundae Beach.

I really liked Busan because it was so much more relaxed than Seoul. People cared less about looks and everyone was just more easy-going. Seoul can get so suffocating sometimes, so it's nice to escape once in awhile. Like I mentioned in a previous post, if I come back to Korea I definitely want to live in the south. Visiting Busan reaffirmed that commitment.

After being at the beach, we ate a late lunch and then headed to the train station to catch our 8 p.m. train. Despite not doing everything I wanted to do, at least our transportation was nice and on time the whole trip. I really love taking the KTX so much more so than the bus, and if it wasn't so much more expensive, I would take it all the time. I spent the train ride back memorizing my Korean speech and playing games. I arrived back in my apartment at 11 p.m. where I soon passed out from a long couple of weeks of traveling. I'm actually really looking forward to this weekend so I can sleep in for once, haha.

Like I said, traveling to Busan was my last trip in Korea. However, I'll be planning for my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia and studying for finals (which are coming up in 2 weeks, yikes), so I'll still be busy. I'm not sure when my next post will be, probably after finals, but until then, see you later!