Day 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326 Final Post

Well, final post.

I'll keep it short and simple, but before that I just want to thank Dr. Hong for coming to dinner with me, Alex, and Haitou last night. We talked about many things and it was a very good last dinner with the Dr. especially after he had treated us to lunch on so many occasions.

Now onto the final post. I don't really have a lot to write about, doing this on the last day is somewhat bittersweet. I experienced a range of emotions from sad to happy, angry to bored, while on this exchange however the second semester was a lot more stressed than the first. Most of it was due to my new roommate who I dont ever want to see or hear from again after this. I really could care less what happens to him after.

I do want to mention my first roommate, Seungho, though. He was the best roommate I've had and probably will ever have. I wish him all the best in the future and I'll keep in touch with him for sure.

I also want to thank Murat, Su, Alex, Chen, Marine, Haitou, Mengju, Seungho and all my Korean friends that I've met this year. Without any of you, I'll admit that this exchange would've been a complete hell for me. Also, I want to thank Zeb, Dan, Thomas, Eva, Lindis, and everyone in my tour group for North Korea, they made it so much more unforgettable than it already is.

Something tells me we'll all see each other again someday, and I'll look forward to that!

I better get packing soon, since me and Alex are off to Japan tomorrow and I won't be updating from there for the next two weeks. And that reminds me, my first post. It was finally landing in Japan after 17 hours or so.

And before I forget, I want to thank Wendy and Karen for being there for me when I needed it the most :D

I'll see you and everyone else in two weeks!

I'll never stop saying this, but it just felt like yesterday I came here, and now it's over... So...thank you Korea for being my unforgettable, second home this year, I will be back someday! I know I'll miss this in a couple weeks after I return to Canada.




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 315, 316, 317, 318

Finally finished converting all of my money to Yen now, but it was a little sad too since it was the last time I would see Myeongdong. I only discovered some new streets I'd never strolled before in Myeongdong, just a couple days ago TT But I'm sure that is the place I'll go first when I come and visit Korea again.

Now time to finish off the reminiscing of this exchange. The last memorable thing I will talk about is my China/North Korea trip back in February.
Just like the other things I mentioned, I'll never forget these two, simply because they were unreal.
I will admit, China was very good but I was expecting more. It's the 2nd largest economy in the world and yet some places I visited are still clearly not up to par for an economy that size. But those were far and few. I need to thank Su again for accompanying me for my entire trip in China, without him, the trip would've been much more boring, overwhelming, and lonely. I'll never forget Tienanmen Square, Mao's mausoleum, the Great Wall, the Peking duck dinners, and Su's family treating us at a restaurant in Tianjin. There are just too many things in China to talk about that I won't forget, so I'll just leave it at those.

 And of course after China, there was North Korea. I don't even know where to begin for that. There was just so many things to talk about from there. I never thought I'd be able to go to a place like that and once I was there, it was surreal; standing in a place where it seems you've gone back 20 or so years into the past. The two things that stood out for me on the entire NK trip was us paying homage to Kim Jong-Il on his birthday in Kim Il-Sung Square, and the DMZ from the North. For us paying homage to Kim Jong-Il in the presence of thousands of people, felt like our tour group were foreign dignitaries since we literally cut in front of everyone and were escorted to the stage where flowers for the "Dear Leader" lay under his portrait.
And the other standout thing was the trip to the DMZ. Completely different from the South; much more heavily fortified and seemed like the North was always on a "ready to attack at any moment" mode.

And so that ends my reminiscing of my entire year long exchange. I can't believe there is only one week left. I don't know how many times I've said this, but it just felt like yesterday that I arrived here.
I'm happy and sad though, sad of course because I'm leaving, but happy because it's almost time to go home.





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 310, 311, 312, 313, 314

Well I'm back to finish off the reminiscing for semester 1 of the exchange. I'll be talking about the DMZ and Busan.

I don't even know where to begin for the DMZ. I'd always read and heard about it on the news or internet before, but never visited, so it was somewhat surreal to finally go there. I won't forget just standing meters away from the North Korean side and seeing a couple North Korean soldiers on the other side staring back with binoculars. I also wont forget going into the UN blue houses on the Joint Security Area where officials from both sides can meet for negotiations.

Then after we toured some infiltration tunnels the North Koreans had dug into the south and also a train station that was built during the sunshine policy with the hope of connecting Pyongyang and Seoul. Dorasan station just sits there now, still not having been used once...

The DMZ is one place I'll never forget because it's completely unique int he world.

And now moving onto Busan, another place I'll never forget. 11 people went on this trip and somehow it did work out, but it was fractured and splintered since the people broke off into 3 different groups...I learned my lesson not to have 11 people ever come on one trip, unless you know that all of them have the same thought process. But my group, consisting of only me, Su, and Murat covered the best places of Busan. We went to Chinatown and the downtown shopping area. There was also a gaming convention in town that Murat went to and he did snap some good pictures of him and the gaming girls there xD

Oh I cant forget about Haeundae beach, one of the most popular tourist destinations for Koreans during the summer. Too bad we didnt really swim or anything since we went in October or November, it wasn't cold at all though.

Also I want to briefly mention Chinatown. Out of all the ones I've visited, the one in Busan seems to come the closest to Cantonese food that you'll find in Calgary. Eating at the restaurants there felt just like home. The dishes we ate there were something I'd expect at Dim Sum, and I miss that so much TT

But only 11 more days!

And before I end this post, I need to thank Jinu and Melissa for meeting me last week! Good luck to both of you in your lives and careers and we'll meet again soon, I know!


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 305, 306, 307, 308, 309

It's time to continue my reminiscing of the first semester, this time the trip to Jeju.

Jeju is one of the things I wont forget about Korea, probably because it was the first sub-tropical island I ever visited xD. Even though for most of the Jeju trip, it was raining, the first 2 days were good. With the good weather, we managed to climb Mt. Halla. I can honestly say, that might've been one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. And for those wondering, the hardest being the time I climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan.
I think our group only wanted to climb Hallasan after Alex read in his guidebook that it was "easy"... well after 7 hours and sore legs and ankles, along with a few close calls with slippery rocks, we made it up and back down alive. I wont forget seeing Murat sit at the bottom waiting for the rest of us, eating chips. Yes he literally flew up and back down the mountain, before everyone else.
I'll remember Jeju for that and the apparent tropical storm that passed by or very close to the island. I'll never forget the downpour, stepping out even for a second, and it felt like you were being dunked into a pool.

That's it for Jeju, next time will be the DMZ.


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 301, 302, 303, 304

There really isn't anything interesting to write about from the past 4 days, besides preparing for presentations and final exams. But I'm not going to post about my time here anymore, unless there is something post-worthy, since there is only 19 days left. I will begin posting my thoughts about the first semester and reminiscing on some memorable moments from then.

So I guess the first memorable moment was coming to Korea on Day 1, it was a completely foreign and alien for me since I had never been here before. I had thought that Korea was just like Japan, but the minute I stepped off the plane, I knew I was completely wrong.
And I can't forget to mention that from this airport pick up I met Seungho, Melissa, Murat, Marine, Chen Yahjie, and Mark for the first time. I won't forget the first dinner/meal I had in Korea either, it was an omelet rice (or bibimpap?? xD) at a restaurant near the university. I won't forget the first night in the dorm room either, no blanket or pillow, just a mattress with a cover...it was fine though since it was 30 degrees plus humidity outside.

And yes I did include pictures, though these are already on my Facebook...

My next post will be about the trip to Jeju Island. Until then...

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