Day 297, 298, 299, 300

Day 300, I can't believe it. There is only another 22 days left. I'll be reminiscing about this exchange in coming posts, but for now I just wanted to rant about my roommate...again...I've lost track of how many times this semester I've actually done this. I didnt do this once last semester, which just shows how annoying this new one is, always finding new ways to annoy. This time it's his snoring that sounds like a dying animal...And I swear because of that, I haven't had a good nights sleep in a month, but I can argue I really havent had a good nights sleep this entire second semester...at least not since he came along...

And if it's not his snoring that sounds like a dying animal or a bear, it's always barging into the room at 12, 1, 2, 3, or 6 AM, or watching dramas until 2 AM, or practicing for Korean idol (yes, he sings, but it's not too good) uggh >_>

*deep breath* only 22 more days...22 more days...22 more days...



Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
Incheon: Chinatown and area
Suwon: Hwaseong Fortress

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296

I'll start my post off talking about the school festival that was held here last week, 3 days of celebrations. It was a very fun atmosphere, booths all over the campus either serving food and drinks, international booths (they were really fun), or booths that were showing clubs and such. There was also live music and DJ performances, I didn't go since I'm not too into that. All in all it was a really fun 3 days last week, I'm sure it's the last type of fun I'll have in Korea before the exchange ends.

Now onto Johnny...He still "is coming" with me and Alex for Japan, but I really don't know. He's asked about our itineraries and accommodation plans 3 times now and he still hasn't booked his flight ticket, or for that matter, anything...Our trip is in 3 weeks too.
Johnny is a good person, but just his laid back attitude is bad (always late at least 20+ mins), it makes him lazy and unreliable.

And in the end something tells me and Alex, he's not going to come. It's fine with us though, because we both agree that if we have to wait for him, were gonna leave him at the hotel and go about the planned day.

Finally, onto my roommate. I can't wait until the end now, because I just can't stand him longer than that. The new problem I have with him is his snoring, and it sounds like a bear or a dying animal...

That's it for this blog post, I'm sure I'll post again on Day 300.


Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
Incheon: Chinatown and area
Suwon: Hwaseong Fortress

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 289, 290

Almost 300 days have passed since day 1 and I still can't believe it. And also heading into the final month now too.

Me and Alex went to Suwon yesterday to visit the Hwaseong Fortress that we've heard so much about. Going into this trip, I was excited since it seemed very historic, unique, and interesting. I need to change my attitude from now on...
When we get to the fortress and the main gate, it was covered due to renovations, so there goes the main reason why we came in the first place...Other than that, Suwon doesn't really seem to have a lot to offer. The trip was very underwhelming, we spent more time going and coming back than actually looking around. Suwon reminded me of Tianjin and I'm sure everyone knows how much I "loved" that city...

Suwon was the last major trip in Korea, since Japan is coming more and more on the horizon now. I also found out last week, that Johnny might be coming to Japan with me and Alex. Even though he said he would come, I still have my doubts because something tells me, he's going to cancel at the last minute, and it's not the first time he's done something like this.




Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
Incheon: Chinatown and area
Suwon: Hwaseong Fortress

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 286, 287, 288

It's been a busy couple days, which seems a rarity now especially in the final month of the exchange.
On Saturday, there was a lantern festival/parade in downtown Seoul, so I went with Marine, Alex, and a couple other friends. This festival is to celebrate Buddha's birthday which I forgot what day it was on >< but I think it's later this week. Anyway, the parade had countless people holding lanterns bound for a temple, if I needed to give an estimate, I'd say at least 10000 people, just in the parade, and countless more lining the sides of the streets everywhere. I was shouting and waving for at least two hours. Oh and this was at night from 7-930 so it was a cool atmosphere, a stark contrast to the humid days now...

In the end, we decided not to go to the temple after it was done, since there wasn't really anything to see. The parade was a "jolly good" time, pardon the old expression xD

And the next day on Sunday, I went to Incheon with some fellow classmates and the teacher, for the first time. We walked the Chinatown district and I was expecting a little more. Busan's seemed better, but Incheon's was famous for Jjajjangmyeon, having been introduced into Korea from there. So we visited the Jjajjangmyeon museum and saw the history of it and how to make it too. --> I'm not going to try and make it back in Canada...too hard...
We also saw the statue of General MacArthur and were even greeted by a former captain in the Korean army that was under his command. It was nice, especially seeing many old-timers looking at us young foreign students with curiosity.
What would a visit to Incheon been without a Jjajjangmyeon dinner? Me and Alex thought this trip would be  expensive, but apparently it was covered by the international office budget...Of course the teacher told us this budget is supposed to be used for something else...but free dinner trumps that! :D

That's what happened in the last 3 days, and there's still another trip tomorrow to Suwon.



Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
Incheon: Chinatown and area

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285

What a difference 10 days make. I'm not angry at my roommate anymore, and I feel very de-stressed now. I swear it's a love-hate type of relationship...

Anyway, the only interesting thing to report on in the last 10 days was my trip to Insadong with Alex to buy some gifts. It's a very touristy area and shops catering to them too, so when we were checking shops for gifts, we went into one that didn't stand out or anything, but I'll never go back there again. First, the lady told us that we could not touch the souvenirs that were on display outside, even though every other shop allowed it, and the things displayed outside weren't even that good anyway! Just cheap looking "metal" chopsticks. So, we go into the shop to check things out since it seemed a but interesting and as we were browsing that same lady just told us to get out. These were her words "Escuse me I'm tired., please get out and go to other shop to look."
They were other tourists buying things in there but they weren't "forced" to leave. That's a very good way to attract customers, especially tourists to a store...
I think she was just unhappy that we weren't going to buy anything, so she couldn't line her purse pockets with cash, putting it politely.

And yesterday, me and Alex got our JR passes for Japan. I was surprised at how easy it was, since I thought I would need a Korean to come along to help. Only another month and 3 days until Japan and the end of this exchange!

Those were the only exciting thing from the past 10 days, tonight I'll be heading to some lantern festival and tomorrow will be a trip to Incheon's Chinatown. I'll write about those whenever I come back on here again xD






Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 271, 272, 273, 274, 275

Well there isn't really anything to write about. I'm sitting in my humid dorm room, tired, and with 3 mosquito bites...I'm sure you can tell I'm not very happy about that, and coupled with my roommate too. I just don't have enough good things to say about him >_>

I'm going to see if there are any empty rooms left in the dorms, and hopefully I can get one. I thought I couldn't do this, but my limit is quickly being reached.


Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 268, 269, 270

Well this is a first in a long time, me updating this blog in only a couple days instead of 2 or more weeks...
But it's for good reason because I did do some interesting and fun things.

Yesterday I finally went and saw the Banpo rainbow bridge...actually it was the second time but this time I did see the water fountain performance and it was very romantic. The water fountain show was coupled with music too, so now I wish I had a girlfriend so I could bring her there and then we could sit on one of the benches there, watching the fountain show and while sharing some chocolates ^^ But I went with Sackdavong and a couple of his Korean friends and one was surprised to have never heard of this bridge before, while the other got an idea on how to confess his feelings to a girl he just met. Anyway, I'm glad I finally went there and saw the bridge show...if only Murat and Chen were here too since they wanted to see it last time but like me, couldn't.

And the other thing I wanted to write about was a Seoul friendship fair that was held today. It showcased the many ex-pat communities Seoul had to offer, ranging from Kenya to Indonesia, there were booths and performances everywhere, plus some food booths too. Ahh I wish I brought some money for those because the German and French sausages looked sooo good and it was barbecued too...TT how I miss North American style barbecue...

But only another month and a half left though! :D

So that's it for this post, I'm sure if I forgot something I'll write about it in the next post.




Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang

Day 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267

Looks like I've been neglecting my blog again... but that's because of midterms and warm if not hot weather... Yes it is hot here again, with temperatures of 30 degrees almost everyday but I feel bad for Calgary which is getting dumped with rain xD

Anyway I can't believe 260+ days have already passed and the time of this exchange is nearing an end. I'm excited for that since it's been an excellent personal growth experience...and vacation ^^

Oh and I should write that me and my roommate did smooth things out about the AC and window thing. The compromise was easy to come to because of the temperature rising, the dorm room is much more warmer and humid....another reason why I want the exchange to end soon.

Well that's it for this post, oh wait I do want to wish Ada a safe trip to Japan for her Senshu program. I hope we can skype since we'll be in the same timezone and continent!



Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo, War Memorial of Korea
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)

China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong

DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang