The last quarter of 2019 was travel-heavy. From New Jersey and New York to Korea, I tried making the most of my time as a remote grad student before graduation. Here’s a recap of my trip to Korea.

Getting rid of jetlag is easier moving ahead in timezones than moving back, at least in my opinion. Therefore, it didn’t take long for me to shake jetlag off; I was able to make most of my time there from the get-go. The first week was spent studying (I was finishing up the last course in my master’s program), meeting up with old friends, and visiting different areas of Seoul.

I stayed with my grandma who lives in a small city halfway between Seoul and Incheon. The combined bus, train, and subway ride to Seoul is anywhere between 1.5-2.5 hours depending on how far I’m going. This sounds extremely long, even when taking the rapid trains, but it’s actually a fairly normal commute for most people! I spent most of the rides watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on my phone.

Tip: you can buy SIM cards for your phone from major cellphone companies at Incheon International Airport or you can reserve one ahead of time. I reserved one using Klook, and the plan came with unlimited data; super useful when needing to navigate and for entertainment on long commutes! All I had to do was find the right company kiosk, show them the reservation, and they changed the SIM card and settings for me!

I visited popular tourist areas like Myeongdong and Hongdae, shopping and stopping by a sheep cafe. I consumed many matcha lattes this entire trip, but I’ll spare you all the images of them. I visited the Mecantopolis Mall where they had colorful umbrellas suspending from lines. The entire center was pretty to walk through, and I showed my friend with whom I was video chatting. When we hung up, I picked up triangle kimbap from the convenience store for a late lunch before heading to my next destination: Sky (Haneul) Park (하늘공원) located in the World Cup Stadium area.

This is the look of someone getting annoyed by all the people who keep getting in the shot. I may have cropped them out when they were at the edge of the frame.

There was an overlook that gave you a view of the World Cup Stadium…

…and I may have set the camera on a sign (very dangerous, I know) and hopped on the edge of the fence of the overlook (also very dangerous) to capture myself with the view. Note to self: buy a travel tripod and bring it with you.

Apparently, pink muhly grass peaks in October so the park was crowded with people taking pictures of and in the pink muhly. I myself couldn’t get in for a picture with my camera; I had to make due with a phone selfie that was out of focus. The color and texture is so pretty. If only they existed year round in the Midwest, I’d have sessions in them all the time.

I also met up with a friend from college! He was a Fulbright scholar and his project was to teach English in Korea. As I curated images for this post, I realized we never took a photo together! The only evidence I have of us meeting is a picture of his ID card and that was mainly to send to mutual friends so we can tease him about his ID picture haha. We met at Garosugil (가루소길), a street famous for its plethora of cafes. Maybe I was in the wrong part of the area, but I didn’t see as many cafes as I imagined there would be. It was still fun to visit since I’ve never been before! We got a little bored and ventured to the Coex Mall where we visited the Star Library. I’ve only seen pictures of the place so it was cool to be there myself.

Additionally, I met with a friend from high school! She was at U of I for freshman year, but had to go back to Korea and was finishing her schooling there.

I made it a point to hike up (small) mountains and visit places I haven’t been yet. This particular mountain is called Mebongsan (매봉산) and there was a little tower you could go in and get this view of the Han River.

Later that evening, I went to Namdaemun (남대문), a neighborhood known for its night market. The little nooks and alleyways came alive with lights that contrasted with the dark night sky, a variety of delicious smells wafting from hole-in-the-wall restaurants and food carts. The little shops lining the way had bursts of colors, some bright and others soft. Namdaemun’s market is especially popular for all the textiles that you could buy in bulk. It’s hard to imagine now with social distance in place all the people passing by you within six feet and not cringe away; but at the time, the streets were bustling with people! Employees on their way home, either hurriedly or leisurely strolling, tourists exclaiming their wonder as their heads turned rapidly, taking it all in.

It’s not a trip to Korea if you haven’t had the street food. I had tteokboki () spicy rice cakes, and hotteok, a sweet pancake filled with melted brown sugar and pieces of nuts. These two are considered snacks, but I wasn’t particularly hungry.

Jeju Island

Day I

The following weekend, my aunt, grandma, and I went to Jeju Island! It was my first time there, and despite it being monsoon season, the weather was forecasted to be perfect (which it was). The skies were clear, the temperature was a mild high-60s to mid-70s, and not a single drop of rain in sight.

The first place we visited was a park with a bunch of cool stone statues and gardens. Our taxi driver told us it was a wonderful underrated place to go, and when a local tells you where the great places are, you go. It wasn’t crowded, and I love botanical gardens! A wild peacock even strutted across the path in front of us!

DAY II

We visited a few beaches. The water was so clear and a vibrant turquoise color. I’m not a huge beach person (I prefer mountains), but I love being next to water. It was incredible. We also visited a cave. We couldn’t go too far because the path became rough for my grandma, but we went far enough to see a good chunk of it. Afterwards, we went to a park that had a maze; it reminded me of the Triwizard Tournament in the fourth Harry Potter movie. We managed to make it out in less than the average time. Do I think I can survive the third task in Harry Potter? Absolutely.

Although we had fun on this trip and enjoyed the quality time spent together, the beginning went off to a rough start. It was easily one of the worst airline/airport/booking experience I’ve ever had, and I once had a flight that delayed twice and eventually canceled (7 total hours in the airport after the original departure time). I used Expedia to book flights because Google Flights wasn’t working and booked a rental car through Avis. However, the bookings didn’t go through. I’m still not sure what exactly went wrong; it could have been trying to use an American site in Korea or the process to book flights is different in Korea. I “booked” the tickets and received what I thought was a confirmation email. It was all in Korean and I didn’t want to read/Google translate through the whole thing so I sent a screenshot to my aunt and she asked if I had confirmed it. I replied yes, thinking she meant this email was the confirmation email, but obviously everything got lost in translation. When we arrived at the airport, there was no reservation. We had to book flights on the spot, which was 3x more expensive than the tickets that I had “booked.” My brother and I planned on paying for all three tickets as a present, but it was much more than we had planned. But our troubles didn’t stop there. When we landed in Jeju, we took a bus to get to the car rental place about 10 minutes away from the airport. Same thing happened there: no reservation. We weren’t the only ones who had the same problem though; I overheard a group of Europeans trying to explain in English that they had booked through Avis too, but the counter lady told them there was no reservation under any of their names. There weren’t any rental cars left so we had to wait for the bus to take us to the airport and figure out if other rental car companies were available. Everything was booked. You can imagine how irritated and tired we were getting at such an early time of the day. Eventually, we were able to flag a taxi and pay a flat fee for him to drive us exclusively the next couple of days. The only booking that actually went through was our Airbnb; at least we had a place to stay!

In Incheon, my aunt took me and my grandma to a park next to the sea. It was too cold for us to walk around, but we went up to the observatory where it had great views of the sea. It had a glass walkway where you can see what’s right below your feet. It wasn’t the most exciting thing, having a fear of heights; I bolted off that walkway. Afterwards, we had a pasta dinner in the restaurant. We asked for window seats just for the view; it was beautiful. There weren’t many people around either so it was a quiet, relaxing dinner.

Okay, one last matcha latte shot. At least this one includes a crepe cake from Billy Angel Cake Company.

I love cats and loved going to the cat cafes. These cats are much friendlier and cuddlier than my cat. I might have messaged my dad about bringing one back home and even went as far as looking up how to fly one with me. But I don’t think these cats were up for adoption.

Hong Kong

My friend Katherine lives in Hong Kong as a teacher and since I was already on that side of the world, I spontaneously decided to visit for a weekend! Shout out to my aunt who paid for the ticket as a gift. She’s my best friend’s older sister, but she’s always been like an older sister to me, and has been a Bible study leader and mentor as well.

Most of the clothes I brought were geared towards autumn weather and not quite appropriate for the Hong Kong heat, so I bought a pair of shorts while in Korea and also borrowed a pair from Katherine. We took buses, metros, and boat rides all over: Sharp Island, church, Avenue of Stars, and lots of yummy places! It was short, but I loved getting to spend quality time with Katherine in her space, explore a new country, and get to know her boyfriend, Ryan, better! (Spoiler alert: they got engaged later that year and married the next. Welcome to the family, Ryan!)

I had a few more days left in Korea before returning to good ol’ America. That last week, I spent a lot of time in the older parts, ambling through palaces and streets lined with shops showcasing traditional goods. Gwanghwamun, Anguk, and Jongno houses the major palaces and traditional architecture. I wandered down Bukchon Hanok Maeul where houses that still kept these original designs were located. People actually lived inside them so tourists had to be quiet. I don’t particularly enjoy historical K-dramas, but I loved the rich history that traditional structures held. If you dress in a hanbok (한복; traditional Korean clothing), you can get into Gwanghwamun for free! I went to a rental place nearby, and it was worth the experience.

Tip: When visiting Korea, download the KakaoMetro app and NAVER Map app. Best way to find subway routes and GPS your way around. Google Maps will not be helpful here. It’s always best practice when traveling to a different country to download the most popular maps app of that country; you’ll get the most accurate maps.

Sifting through pictures and taking a walk down memory lane, I miss the hustle and bustle of Korea. It was a good trip before the next chapter of my life began, and I can’t wait to go back!