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
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