Last weeks in Seoul

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

I´ve been rather busy the last couple of weeks. Time is passing by super quickly. I´ll only be in Korea for 10 (!!) more days.Can´t believe it. As the semester is coming to an end, I´ve got lots of group presentations and finals. Nevertheless, I´m still doing lots of fun things in order to use the remaining time effectively.

Japan

I visited Japan in two weeks ago. It was a fantastic trip. I decided to visit Osaka, Nara and Kyoto, as I´m interested in the traditional Japan and had to make a decision between eiter going to Tokyo or Kyoto. Flying to Japan is relatively cheap and very close. It takes 1.5 hours to fly to Osaka.

Osaka is a modern city which is famous for it´s great food. Not only is the food great, but so is the city itself. Here one can experience the “real” Japan and witness what Japanese people are up to in their everyday life. Osaka is a mix of modernity and tradition, like most of Japan. Osaka castle is the main attraction, and really forth a visit.

Next stop was Nara, which is very close to Osaka. Nara is known for having the largest Buddha statue and for it´s semi-wild deer that walk around the city center. Beautiful temples everywhere, Nara is basically a museum! Is stayed at a traditional Japanese house, thankfully I did not have to sleep on the floor. Neither sleeping nor sitting on the floor is very comfortable in my opinion.

Last but certainly not least on my trip was Kyoto. Kyoto is amazing. If you haven´t been there you have not seen Japan. There is such much (not exaggerating here) to see. Getting around with the buses is very convenient and I was able to see the most important sights in a rather short time. Even just walking around Kyoto is interesting as you will always come across a temple of palace of some sort! Kyoto is super crowded with tourists. When I was in Japan autumn was at its peak and the leaves looks so beautiful, therefore everybody was there! Even if the tourists sometimes were annoying (yes, I was one myself), one can escape the masses by getting up early and then being able to experience the true spirit of Kyoto.

Overall, the trip was amazing. I was there for 4 nights and was able to see the most important things. I traveled alone, which was no problem at all. Japanese are super polite and helpful. They will help you even if they don´t speak English, perfect when you cannot read anything on the signs. Travelling in Japan is easier than in Korea, as Japan has been exposed to tourists for a very long time and especially Kyoto is super tourist friendly. Since Korea now is my “normal” everyday-life, Japan did not seem that exotic. One thing that I noticed is that Japanese people are way more polite, love western things and are extremely fashionable. The amount of history and tradition is also very impressive. I definitely want to go back to Japan and visit Tokyo and see Mount Fuji. About money, Japan ist not that expensive as expected. Everything a tourist needs is affordable, so students can travel to Japan without any problems.

Even if Japan is beautiful, please combine your trip with a visit to Korea. We may not have so many palaces and temples here as in Japan (THEY DESTROYED OURS REMEMBER), but I think that Korea is very authentic and more exotic. It simply is very close to my heart.

Temple stay

After seeing so many temples in Japan and starting to run short of time, a friend and I decided to do a temple stay. In Korea it is possible to stay at a temple and experience the life of the monks there. Foreigners (non-Buddhists) do it for the cultural experience and Koreans in order to connect more to their religion and to solve their problems.

The temple was small and in the mountain (fantastic view!). Our guide spoke English and showed us around. There were only two guys and the rest women. The women were divided into two groups; one from for the adults and one room for the students. There were other exchange students at the temple stay as well.

We got told about Buddhism, very informative and without forcing us to convert. Then we had to do 108 prostrations, which was rather tiring and felt more like sport than meditating or praying. We had dinner at 5, really early but made sense when we were told that we had to get um at 4:30 in the morning (reminded me of the time that I was volunteering in hospital). After the prostrations, we had some free time. Later we met for the evening prayer, where everybody had to ring the bell and we did some meditation. Meditation is something that I have never been able to do, instead of thinking of “nothing”, I think about how my legs hurt from sitting in this uncomfortable position or how boring it is to just sit there with your eyes closed. Afterwards we made some bracelets and went to bed early.

Getting up at 4:30 was a slight pain, but doable. We did the morning prayer, it was rather difficult not to fall asleep for some people. Then to our surprise we would go an have some “rest”, we all slept until breakfast. For breakfast we had rice, which I can actually eat without complaint after being in Korea for about 4 months. The monk showed us how to eat and how to clean our bowls. This was rather complicated, as there is a specific ceremony. We had to clean our bowls with water and then drink the water, at first disgusting but Buddhism teaches us that we just think that it is disgusting but actually it is´t (aha).

We then had to clean our room and went for a short hike. The view was really nice and we meditated whilst looking over Seoul. t was quite cold so we didn´t stay to long. After walking back to the temple we had a traditional tea ceremony. We were allowed to ask the monk anything. He was really nice and answered all our questions. I was surprised that monks may have a family and that Buddhism is not against technology (THERE WAS A BEAMER IN THE TEMPLE).

Overall, the temple stay was a very good experience and made me understand Korean culture more. I did not find enlightenment or so, but I felt quite relaxed after the temple stay. If you are interested in Korean culture a temple stay is really good, as you gain insights about Korean Buddhism.

Today, I had my last lecture, Which feels very weird, but at the same time really good, as I can´t wait for university to be over with. At the end of the semester there is always so much to do, that you simply just want a break. Even if I am happy that I just have to write 3 more exams (I have 5 in total by the way) and I look forward to seeing my friends and family back home, I am very sad to leave Korea, as I´ve met great people and experiences so memorable things here.Before going back to Germany, I´ll go to the DMZ (border between Korean and North Korea), visit the opera and ballet and see all my favorite places in Seoul one last time.

10 more days to go…

Have a great Advent season, as Christmas is basically non-existent in Korea!

Trip to Stonehenge and a Weekend in Scotland

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Evgenia

Hello!

Last time I posted here, I mentioned that I was going to visit Stonehenge and Bath. So that trip happened a couple of weeks ago. Also, a week after that trip, I made another one. As it is obvious from the title of this post, the trip was to Scotland, where I spent 3 days.

Stonehenge

I believe that there is no need to explain what Stonehenge is. Most people must have heard or seen pictures of it. At least it is considered as one of the most famous sites in the world. 😉

This trip was organised for students by the same company that I went on a few trips with before. It took us around 2,5 hours to get to Stonehenge by coach. We had pre-booked tickets, so as soon as we arrived there, we went to explore the site. The ticket to Stonehenge includes an audio-guide and a bus ride from the visitor centre to the stones. Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to come close to the stones. So we had to enjoy the view from about 10 metres distance.

Stonehenge is probably not the most exciting place to visit in Britain, but I really enjoyed it. So I would recommend going there just to see it with your own eyes. However, I must say that it looks bigger in the pictures. 😀

We were given around 1,5 hours to explore Stonehenge, which was enough to walk around, take pictures, and even drink a cup of hot chocolate in a local cafe. After that we headed to Bath, which was only around an hour ride away from there.

Bath

This town is named like that because many years ago the Romans found hot springs in that area, so they decided to build a temple and baths there. That is how the settlement appeared in that place. Nowadays, the town has a few wonderful sights. Among them are the Roman Baths, the Pump Room, Bath Abbey, Pultney Bridge, the Royal Crescent, and the Circus. My friend and I did not go inside the baths because the tickets were quite expensive, but instead we took a stroll by the river, visited other sights, and had lunch in a local restaurant. After a long and exciting day, we headed back to Coventry.

Weekend in Scotland

Accommodation and transportation for this trip were arranged through the same company as my previous trips. So the only thing I had to do was to find interesting places to visit and create my own itinerary. Also, I should mention that all together, we were around 270-300 students from Coventry, Birmingham and Warwick universities going on that trip on 6 coaches.

Day 1 (Friday)

We left Coventry very early on Friday morning. The plan was to go to Glasgow for a few hours to do some sightseeing and then head to Edinburgh in the evening. It took us a little bit less than 8 hours to get to Glasgow. We arrived there around 2pm and were given 3 hours of free time to explore the city. I joined a group of Dutch girls to walk around the city together. We went to the Gallery of Modern Art, checked out George Square, which is the main square of the city, passed by the university, visited Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis. The last two places impressed me most of all. The cathedral looked amazing and the view from Necropolis was fantastic. After that we returned to the coach and continued our journey to Edinburgh.

When we arrived in Edinburgh, we found out that the hostel that was booked for us was just horrible. The windows were broken almost in all rooms there and everything was extremely gross. But we could do nothing about it. Good that we had to stay there 2 nights only. After 2 hours of confusion connected with allocation of the students, I finally managed to find a free bed in a room for six. After dropping my stuff in the room, I went to have dinner in Italian restaurant with those Dutch girls. Also, a club night was scheduled for that day. So at night, we all went out to have some fun in a club in the old part of the city.

Day 2 (Saturday)

In the morning we were offered to follow a 1,5-hour guided tour around Edinburgh. I really doubted that walking with 200 more people would be a good idea (as it turned out later, I was right!), so I decided to explore the city independently. First, I had breakfast in a café and, then, my long and exciting day began. I went to St. John’s Episcopal Church and walked in Princes Gardens, after that I climbed up Castle Rock, where Edinburgh Castle is situated. The view from the Rock was marvellous, and I immediately fell in love with the city. Then, I paid for the ticket and entered the castle. On the territory of the castle, you can find a few museums and follow a guided tour. I visited almost all museums there, took many pictures but did not follow the tour. After 2 hours of exploring the castle, I decided that it was time to get going farther. Following the Royal Mile (the main street in the old town), I walked down to the Scottish Parliament and Palace of Holyroodhouse (the official residence of the Queen in Scotland). I did not pay to get in, just examined the palace from the outside. After that, I decided to go hiking in Holyrood park, which was nearby. The main sight in the park is Arthur’s Seat, which is a peak of an extinct volcano in Edinburgh named like that after numerous legends about King Arthur. The height of the peak is 250m. Getting to the peak of Arthur’s Seat was my goal, so I started my journey up there. I have no idea how much time it took
me to get to the top, maybe 30 minutes, maybe an hour. I really do not know, I was so overwhelmed by the view as I was getting higher and higher, so I was not paying attention to anything. When I got to the peak, I was on my last breath but it was definitely worth it. 😀 The view from up there was breathtaking! I could see the city and its surroundings in full view. I took around 500 pictures there and spent more than an hour on the top. But then, the sun was slowly setting, so it was also time for me to start getting down. When I got back to the old town, I found a restaurant to have dinner and rest a bit. It was still quite early to go back to the hostel then. Therefore, after finishing my meal, I decided to explore the city in the dark. Eventually, I found myself at the Christmas market. It was huge. They had a few attractions and many various stalls with souvenirs, sweets, drinks and street food. I indulged myself in a glass of mulled cider there. The atmosphere at the market was fantastic, it gave me a feel that Christmas was already around the corner.
When I felt that I had seen everything and taken enough photos of the place, I headed
back to the hostel to meet the others because a bar crawl was planned for that night. We went to 3 different places and ended up in a night club. After the whole day of walking I was too tired to party, so I left everyone and went to sleep.

Day 3 (Sunday)

I woke up quite early on Sunday. I did not have too much time for sightseeing that day because we were supposed to meet at 3pm at the hostel to get on our coaches and head back to Coventry. So in the morning I passed by the Christmas market again, bought a cup of hot chocolate for breakfast there, and continued my trip to Calton Hill, where Nelson monument is situated. This hill also provides visitors with a great view. So I let myself walk around and enjoy it. Later, I went down to the National Museum of Scotland, Grassmarket, and St. Giles Cathedral. After visiting those places, not so much time was left until our
departure from Edinburgh, so I decided to eat something. Before I went on that trip, one of my friends had recommended me one nice café in the old town, so I went there. I also bought postcards to send to my friends and family before that. So I signed them as I was enjoying my cup of hot chocolate in the café. After the lunch, I walked through the city once again, dropped my postcards in the mailbox, returned to the hostel and got on a coach.

The ride back was not smooth. Halfway to Coventry, the coach that I was on broke down, so all people from it had to squeeze into other 5 coaches. I was lucky because I had a seat, but a couple of people had to stand in the coach all the way back to Coventry. We came back to our town around midnight. Tired and happy I got to my room already dreaming about my next trip to Scotland.

Thank you for reading!

“Let’s go get lost. Let’s go get lost…”

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Evgenia

Hi from Coventry!

I have not been writing here for so long!

Actually, I have been quite busy lately. I had two course papers to submit this week. Also, I somehow managed to catch so-called fresher’s flu twice, and, of course, I was travelling.

This time, I am going to cover the part about travelling around the UK.

I guess when people decide to go on exchange, they do not think about the education in a chosen university or country only. Culture, history, places to visit, various attractions, food, etc. also play a significant role when selecting a destination for your studies.

Well, at least for me it was the case. When I was choosing a place to go for my exchange, I was also considering how interesting it would be to live in that country. As I love travelling and exploring new places a lot, I wanted to go somewhere where I had never been before. That is how I ended up adding the UK universities to my exchange studies application. I thought that it would be amazing to live, study, and travel in this country for a few months. Must say, I was not mistaken!

It has already been almost 2 months since I moved here. And I have already managed to visit quite a few wonderful places in England. Coventry has a very good location. It is right in the middle of England. So it is really easy to travel from here, and it does not take that much time to get to different parts of the country.

Alright….

The first trip (except the one around Coventry) I did in England was to Birmingham. But that one I already covered in my first post, so not going to write about it again :D.

The first weekend after I had arrived in England I went to London! I was absolutely excited about going to the capital. I went there by coach with a company that organises trips around the UK for students. It was a very short trip, though. We left Coventry at 7am and were back at around 7:30pm. The ride took approximately 2,5 hours, which with all the traffic jams in London was not bad at all. As it was my first time there, I wanted to see all major tourist attractions. First, we had a short guided tour around and, then, had a few hours to explore the city on our own. I met 2 girls on the coach, so we decided to explore the city together. (These 2 girls later became my travel buddies and good friends, too.) That day we saw Westminster Palace with its famous Elizabeth Tower that has Big Ben on it, Westminster Abbey, guard change at Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Somerset House, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Tower, Tower Bridge, and the London Eye. We did not use any public transport that day, just went on foot. After walking around so much, we got on our coach and headed back to Coventry. That day was amazing! The weather, my company, everything was perfect. And, of course, I fell in love with this beautiful city of London!

Only a week later I went to Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon by coach with the same company. The first stop was in Oxford. We went to Christ Church there. A very lovely place, which could be of a great interest to all Harry Potter fans because some of the movie scenes were filmed inside it. We also saw that famous university of Oxford. Looks nice and very old! However, in order to get in, you have to pay. So we did not go inside. We also walked around and did some shopping for souvenirs.

In the afternoon, we headed to Stratford-upon-Avon. The town is quite small and very cosy! The most famous thing there is a house where William Shakespeare was born. So if you consider yourself an admirer of his work, then it must be an interesting place for you. I personally enjoyed visiting both towns.

And the next weekend, we went on a day trip to Cambridge. One more town famous for its prestigious university. We visited Fitzwilliam museum, one of the university buildings, saw a Mathematical Bridge, and went punting. It was a lovely day in a lovely town!

In the middle of October, I went to London again to do more sightseeing and to celebrate my birthday. But that time I got to spend 3 days there, so I managed to see and do way more things. I was also well prepared that time. After having had consulted with a couple of my friends on what were the must see and do things in London, I created my own itinerary.

So very early on Friday morning I took a train to London. The trip took only 1,5 hours. The first day I did not see many new things in London. I went to see Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge and Westminster again but this time in the evening, when the illumination was on. So beautiful! Also, I visited China Town and had some Chinese food that day. It was really good!

On Saturday morning, I headed to the National History Museum. It was fascinating! So many wonderful exhibits. And the building is stunning. Later, I passed by Harrods (for those who do not know, it is a very fancy and ridiculously expensive department store). I did not buy anything and felt quite weird there. 😀 Later, I checked out Covent Garden, went to London Film Museum that was holding an exhibition “Bond in Motion”. As you can understand from its name, the exhibition was dedicated to James Bond films. 23 vehicles that were used in the films were exposed there. After the exhibition, I headed to see MI6 building. (You can see a connection between this place and the exhibition I guess. :D) I took a few photos and moved on. By then it was already getting darker, so I decided to go to Westminster to enjoy the sunset and the beautiful view there.

I started Sunday at the Brick Lane market. There I got myself a birthday cupcake and a smoothie :D. Later I checked the surroundings and found lots of amazing graffiti there. The next place on my list was the British Museum. The museum is enormous! There is so much to see. I got tired after 2 hours there so decided to move on. The underground train took me right to Camden Town – a district with a vibrant atmosphere that is full of various markets, interesting stores, music venues and numerous food places. I had sort of dinner at a street food market there, and also bought a small souvenir for myself. In the evening, I planned to go to the London Eye. So after finishing my meal, I headed back to the city centre. I was super lucky because the queue for the tickets was pretty short. The view from the top of the London Eye was fascinating! It definitely was worth the money!

So, that was the last thing I did in London during that trip. So the next morning, I got on a train and headed back to Coventry for my afternoon class.

My next trip was to Liverpool – the Beatles city. We saw Museum of Liverpool, Titanic memorial (the ship was assembled there), World Museum, Liverpool Cathedral and went to the Beatles shop. This city was a bit different from all other places that I had visited before. Still it was really nice.

During the Halloween week (yes, in England they seem to celebrate Halloween the whole week) I went to Warwick Castle with my English friend that I had met in Sweden last year. Warwick is situated only 40 minutes away from Coventry by train. So again, it was really easy to get there.

The castle was built in 1068 but it is still in a very good condition! It was also nicely decorated for Halloween. We went to the Dungeon there to listen to the history of the plague in Britain. It was kind of a scary place, I must say. But we had lots of fun.

And the last trip I went on so far was to Manchester last weekend. We checked out the Football Museum, Manchester Cathedral, very beautiful John Rylands library, Town Hall, and went shopping. We also wanted to see the stadium but there was a game that day. So we did not dare to go there.

That’s it for now. My next trip is going to be to Stonehenge and Bath this weekend. I’ll write about it here later for sure. Guess it’s going to be fun.

Thanks for reading!

Jeju Calling

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

I´ve haven´t been blogging for a while. I was busy revising for the midterms. Autumn has arrived in Seoul and it is beautiful. There´s a lot going on in Seoul in this season. Last weekend a group of friends and I visited Jeju island. I´ll tell you all about this amazing trip.

Jeju is a Korean island, around 1 hour by flight from Seoul. It is rather small and very popular amongst Koreans,Japanese and Chinese tourists. In summer the beaches are crowded with tourists. We went off season, so we basically had the island for ourselves.

We arrived in the evening and took the bus to our guesthouse in Seogwipo.

Day 1

On our first day we hiked up Korea´s highest mountain, Hallasan (1950 m). Weather was great, not too hot or cold. We had to hurry up as we had to reach the base by 12:30. We walked really fast and arrived one hour before the deadline. Hiking was fun and relaxing, as not as many people were there. It was less exhausting as Bukhasan, as less steep. To get to the peak it is around 9 km. It was cloudy when we were at the the top, but the atmosphere was great. We were above the clouds. When we walked down it was foggy, it was rather spooky: perfect for Halloween ;). We were tired after all that walking. In the evening we went to a sushi buffet, super yummy and visited the market.

Day 2

Next day: more walkin. The weather was amazing: sunny and warm. We walked along the Olle trail. The trail took us along the coast and to some waterfalls. It was really nice and easy to walk. The view was very impressive. We had a jeju specialty for lunch: Jeju black pork barbeque. It was very good and gave us strength to keep on walking along the 13km trail. Jeju is all about the nature, so walking/hiking is a perfect way to see the natural beauty of the island. In the evening we went to the market. The market offered cheap and tasty fruits and other food. Jeju is famous for its Tandarines, you can see them grow everywhere.

In the evening we went to see the Korean punk band Crazy Nuts at the Jeju Music Festival. We found out about it just a few hours before the concert. It was very interesting and free, even if punk music is not my favorite.

Day 3

We got up really early! We took a taxi to Sunrise Peak in order to watch the sunrise (as the name implies). Unfortunately it was cloudy so the sunrise was not that visible. The atmosphere was great anyway. As we had started our day so early, we had a lot of time. We took the ferry to Udo, a tiny island 3.5km away from Seongsan-ri. We rented bikes and bilked around the whole island. The bike way is 15.9 km long and very nice. I´d advice everyone to either tour the island by bike or borrow a scouter, way quicker and more fun than walking. Udo is very beautiful, has amazing beaches and cool lava cliffs. In summer it is super crowded, when we were there there was hardly anybody. We had lunch and then drove back to our hostel, as it started ti rain and we were really exhausted.

We took a nap and then went for some dinner. We had a really nice last dinner in Jeju.

Overall, Jeju was amazing. It is very different compared to mainland Korea. Jeju has palmtrees. Jeju is interesting for people that enjoy nature and being active. You can also only go for a beach holiday, but Hallasan is something you should absolutely NOT miss. I don´t think that I´ve been this sporty on a trip, It was a great experience and the group was simply amazing. I had such a good time. Jeju is an absolute highlight!

Studying at Coventry University

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Evgenia

Hello!

After a couple of weeks of classes at Coventry, I can finally tell something about the education here. In general, educational system in Britain seems to be quite similar to the one we have in Sweden but, of course, it has some differences. So in this post I will try to provide an overall overview of what it is like to study @ CovUni.

Same as in Sweden, students don’t have too many classes a week. Students are expected to complete most of their studying in the library or at home using books and online resources. Most students here are supposed to take up 3 modules that make up 30 ECTS in total. Everyone (at least among exchange students) is free to choose modules that they would like to study, and then they have to complete their timetables themselves. However, unlike Sweden, where students have different timetables each week, here it’s fixed and doesn’t change from week to week. Students just need to choose their modules and complete timetables wisely in order to make the most out of their exchange studies here. (For example, I completed my timetable the way that I always have Fridays off, which is wonderful because I have long weekends so I can travel. 😀 )

All modules at my faculty consist of lectures and seminars that take 4 hours of guided studying a week – 3 hours for lectures and 1 hour for a seminar. So students have to spend only around 12 hours a week at the university. During lectures all you have to do is to listen and make some notes (you don’t even have to write a lot because lecturers always have all important information in their presentations that are available online). There’s no discussion or questions from a teacher at the lectures, so students are not expected to say anything. Also, documentaries or other movies might be shown during the lectures. However, they are not followed by any discussion. Seminars are, on the contrary, very interactive, therefore everyone is expected to contribute to a discussion. Also, students usually have to prepare some readings or perhaps even some sort of a presentation for this kind of classes in advance. Some students might also find field trips in their timetables but, unfortunately, they are unavailable for the Erasmus students (apparently you have to pay for those in advance).

Exams… Well, it’s too early to talk about them now, I guess. All I know is that I have to write course papers for my modules. Most of my course papers are due the period of time between the middle of November and the beginning of December. Other than that, I will also have traditional in-class exams in January. But I think I will write about it in more details when I know more about it. 😉

Semesters here are shorter than in Sweden. Studies for autumn semester usually start in the beginning October and finish in the middle of December. Then students have a three-week Christmas holidays, that are followed by a two-week exam period that lasts until mid-January. After that spring semester begins. But already in the beginning of May academic year is over.

It’s worth mentioning that attendance is a very important thing here. Students must attend all lectures and seminars. Teachers literally check if you’re present or not at each and every lecture or seminar. In case a student misses several classes, he will come across some problems with the university staff. (So far I have attended all my lectures and seminars, so I don’t know what exactly they do to those who skip classes. Hopefully, I will never know about that by my own experience :D) It feels a little bit like being at high school, though. Well, students can do nothing about it, so we just need to make sure to always sign a registry form when we go to a class. In case a student gets sick and unable to attend a class, he or she should notify a teacher about it in advance in order to avoid problems.

Despite all the hassle with attendance tracking, the atmosphere in the classes here is pretty informal. (Just like in Sweden.) Teachers often joke around and may talk about everything with students. Also, the staff here is very international. Coventry teachers are coming from various countries from all over the world.

I guess, that’s it about education here for now. Just one more little thing about my studies here. During the first week of studies, one of my teachers decided to change timetable for his module which led to a clash in my timetable. So I had to withdraw from that module and pick something instead. Unfortunately, I’m not taking Journalism anymore. Instead, I’m following a history module (The Making of Modern America) now. The new course seems to be pretty interesting as well.

So I guess, everyone should be aware of unexpected changes that might occur even after the beginning of a semester and look for some other modules to have a backup plan just in case 😉 .

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day and don’t forget to apply for exchange studies!

Chuseok

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Lena

Annyeon!

In this post I will talk about Chuseok and what I´ve been up to the last week.

Chuseok, is Korean Thanksgiving (full harvest moon). It is one the most important holidays.Chuseok Day was celebrated on the Sunday 27th of September. Monday and Tuesday were off. So basically a 4 day weekend 😉 Traditionally, people go back to their home towns or visit their grandparents. You eat sweet/differently coloured rice cake (songpyeon). It is a time to spend with your family and to worship your ancestors. Most of my Korean friends, relaxed and ate a lot (sounds like Christmas and Easter to me).

Even though many things are closed on Chuseok, it is a great opportunity to travel. Many places offer special performances or activities for tourists. Chuseok is the only day that Seoul is not crowden. SAs everybody was going home, travelling somewhere by train was not very attractive. I stayed in Seoul, as there is a lot to do here!

We visited Jongmyo Shrine in the morning, hardly anybody was there. Then we went to the Namsangol Hanok Village close to Namsan Park. There were many activities offered just for Chuseok. We watched a Taekwondo performance, it was amazing. As we are in Korea, they even “danced”, did Taekwondo to music 😉 The Traditional villages are always interesting, as there is a lot to see and my can try out some things. We even had our personal tour guide, who showed us around. Afterwards we walked up to Seoul Tower. Namsan Park is a huge and beautiful park in Seoul. I´m always surprised how green Seoul is. Seoul Tower is popular amongst both tourists and locals. Everybody was there. Couples buy locks and hang them at the fence. The view is spectacular. We didn´t go up the tower, as it is rather expensive and many people said that it is not really worth it. You see enough from the mountain itself. We watched the sunset over Seoul. That evening I went clubbing at Itaewon. Koreans don´t really dance. It takes a lot of animation to make them move (girls and boys). Nearly only foreigners go to Itaewon. We took a taxi back, as Seoul does not have night buses.

Next day I visited Deoksu Palace, one of the palaces right in the center of Seoul. It was free admission and there was a free traditional Korean music performance. A mix of jazz and in my opinion, strangely sounding singing. The atmosphere was great!

Monday, was still a holiday and people started to come back to Seoul. I did some shopping in Gangnam and went to the Hanok village in Seoul. We had REAL italian pizza. I was very happy. Korean pizza is extremely sweet and always contains corn (for whatever reason). The restaurant was very authentic, but as we are still in Korea we got a side dish (pickles).

On Tuesday we were super active. We hiked up to Bukhansan mountain (836 meters). The weather was amazing and everybody was there. I´ve never hiked with so many people! Hiking is a national sport in Korea. There are extremly many outdoor stores. Especially people over 60 wear outdoor clothes and go hiking every weekend. You always see hikers in the subway! The mountain is inside a national park, very close to Seoul. We took the subway to get there. There are various paths you can walk, but we wanted to hike up to the peak. On our way we saw two temples and the scenery was beautiful. It started getting very steep rather quickly. To the peak it is only 3.6 km or something, but that means UP UP UP. The path was a combination of steps, steps made of rock and literaly “climbing” up the mountain. I´ve done some hiking before, but never was it soooo steep for such a long time. Appropriate shoes and lots of water is a must! The last bit to the peak was super scar. There was only a rope that you could hold on to. This alone was scary, but having lots of people around you made it worse. People were pushing and trying to get up first. When we were finally at the peak, the AMAZING view made us forget the tedious walk up. We had lunch there. In Germany, (Austria and Switzerland too), there´s a place to eat and drink on every hiking route. This is nonexistent in Korea. You bring everything yourself. Many koreans drank rice wine. We didn´t as we were a bit terrified of having to walk back down again.

Hiking was a very good experience. I plan to do this again. Bukhasan National park has a lot to offer.

Wednesday,I had a free day too. I visited the Hangaram Art Museum, as I did not intend to do lots of walking (if any in fact). I went to the Modigliani and the Chia exhibition. Both were great.

Thursday: I had uni.

Chuseok was really nice, even though I did not leave Seoul, I saw a lot of new places and enjoyed myself a lot. Living is such a huge and vibrant city really is amazing. Deciding what you´re going to do is quite tricky.

Weather, autumn has arrived in Korea. This means that evenings are chilly and it is not as hot during the day. Average temperature so far was 22 Degrees, so still warm compared to Sweden. The leaves are slowly changing their color.

That was my Chuseok summary. Have a great week!

First Week in Coventry

Image

Hello! How are you doing?

After half a year of preparation for my Erasmus exchange semester in the UK I finally arrived in Coventry a week ago. The past week was full of different events. I’m going to tell about it here.

On the way to Birmingham

Arrival

It all started on Friday, September 18^th. My trip to Coventry was not a very short one. First, I had a two-hour flight from my hometown of Saint Petersburg to Copenhagen airport where I was supposed to change planes. Then I had to wait 3 hours there until my next flight. (I was so close to Malmö! I really wanted to get on a train and visit the city where I was living for a whole year.) After wondering around the airport and looking for a plug adaptor, which I found almost immediately, it was finally time to board the next plane which took me to Birmingham. The flight was 2 hours long again. After going through border control, which wasn’t that long and scary as I read on the internet, I took a taxi to a hotel where I spent my first night in Coventry because I couldn’t access my dorm that day.

The next morning I took my suitcases, checked out from the hotel, and headed to my dormitory. Luckily I had GPS navigation on my mobile phone so it wasn’t hard to find my way there.

Accommodation

Finding accommodation in Coventry was kind of a problem for me. Even though Coventry University arranges accommodation for exchange students, it is quite expensive. So initially I didn’t want to apply for it. Instead, I was hoping to find something myself. Unfortunately, it turned out almost impossible because most of the contracts for rent here are signed for 6-9 months minimum, while I needed a place for 4 months only. After several unsuccessful attempts to arrange accommodation myself, I realized that I had no other way but to apply for the university accommodation and accept the cost of it. I got a room offer in just a couple of days after sending the application. Then I paid rent for the whole stay at once, and was happy that I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

Place where I stay in Coventry

Singer Hall of Residence

It’s called Singer Hall of Residence. There are around 50 blocks. Almost all blocks have 3 floors, and each floor has a flat with 6 single rooms, 1 kitchen, 1 shower, 1 bathroom, and 1 toilet. I share a flat with 5 girls – 4 of them are Dutch and 1 is French. So far we get along pretty well. 😀

The location of the halls is really good. Singer Hall is situated almost in the city centre, it takes around 7 minutes to get to the university from here. Living here also guarantees a free membership for a sports hall. (I have yet to check out the place, though.)

In general I am really content with the place where I live but there’s always a ‘but’. When I moved in, I found out that the kitchen was unequipped. There were no plates, no cups, no cutlery, nothing at all… So we had to either bring everything with us or buy it here. And as we are here for 4 months only, buying new stuff didn’t seem appealing at all. Oh well… we had no choice. At least we didn’t have to buy a microwave and a kettle – they were provided. So the first weekend in Coventry I spent unpacking and shopping for necessities in IKEA.

My room

On the territory of Singer Hall, you can also find a communal area, where the reception, postboxes, and a laundry room are. Unlike dormitories in Sweden, you have to pay to do your laundry here. And yeah… it’s not cheap.

Freshers’ Week

Saturday was an official arrival day for freshers and exchange students. It was also the first day of the Freshers’ week – a week full of parties. On Saturday there was a “Welcome Party” for all new students in a nightclub somewhere in Coventry. However, no one among people I know went there. Everyone was just exhausted after traveling.

On Sunday, when I came back to my new home after a trip to IKEA, I came across some extremely cheerful people who were collecting residents of Singer Hall for a pub crawl (another event of the freshers week). Not being a fan of that kind of having fun, I decided to skip the event and have a quiet evening reading a book instead. As I heard from some other exchange students later, the event went well, and everyone was amazed by how much the Brits could drink. 😀

Induction Week for Exchange Students

The first week of the university was an Induction Week. So on Monday morning all exchange students headed to the university to listen to information about the upcoming semester in Coventry. Finding the building where the first lecture was taking place was a bit of a challenge. The university is quite big and we just didn’t know where to go. After some time walking back and forth between the university buildings, our group of lost exchange students, which by then grew from 3 to 10 people, eventually managed to find where to go.

During the day we attended several lectures where we were welcomed at the university, told about how to use the library, how to enroll, and were also given some general information about living in Coventry.

In the evening there was another party for freshers that I decided not to attend. But again I heard that it was fun.

Societies Fair and Enrolment Problems

On Tuesday morning we had some more lectures. This time we received information about different modules and courses that we could study at Coventry as exchange students. All the courses were in the faculty od Business and Law. I picked some courses in the departments of social sciences and languages. I chose 3 different courses: Journalism, Ethics and Democracy, Foreign Policy Analysis, and A History of International Crime.

That was also a day for the non–EU exchange students like me to enroll to the university. Not everything went smooth with it, though. Unlike EU students, who could do enrolment online, I had to go to the Student Centre and enroll in person. For some reason the system didn’t want to let me enroll, so I had to consult the university staff several times. Only after the third attempt I finally managed to enroll. After the enrolment, I was able to collect my student ID – a card with picture (probably the worst picture I’ve ever had) that proves that I’m a student at the university here and allows to use the library facilities.

Erasmus Exchange Society

In the afternoon, the Societies Fair was held outside of one of the university buildings. At the fair lots of various societies were presented. A society is a group of people who have some common interest and usually meet up once a week to do whatever they like to do. Coventry university has more than 100 societies for each taste. I noticed several religious societies, societies for crafts lovers, bakers, musicians, dancers, scientist, mathematicians, and many others. So everybody can find something interesting to do here. All we needed to do at the fair was to leave our contact details at the society stalls that we found interesting, so the representatives of those societies could send us emails with more information later. Personally I left my email address to several societies. Among them were rock society, baking society, photography society, Erasmus society, a society with an interesting name and not very clear purpose ‘International Disaster Concern’, and some other societies that I don’t even remember now. However, to become a member of a society you have to pay a fee that ranges from 2 to 15 pounds. Obviously, I am not going to join all those societies, so I still have to choose what exactly I want to do here.

Trip to Birmingham

Birmingham New Street Station

As I eventually managed to enroll on my course, I didn’t have to go to the university on Wednesday. (There was only one session about enrolment that day). So I decided to join some other exchange students and go to Birmingham.

We decided to go there by train from Coventry. It took us around 15 minutes to walk to Coventry train station, and then 25 minutes to get to Birmingham city centre.

Birmingham Council Hall

First, we went to check out a big shopping centre, which was right in front of the train station there. But later also explored the city. We walked to Town Hall and the city library. Even though we didn’t really get to see much of the city, I still liked it a lot. So I will definitely go there again.

Also, Sports Fair took place on Wednesday. This time different sports that student could take up at the university were presented. As always, a lot of different things were displayed. Coventry University students are very lucky to have such a wide variety of activities. Among some typical kinds of sport, like football and basketball, very unusual ones, like skydiving, were presented. But as I’m here for one semester only, I don’t see much sense in joining any of them.

International Party

As I’ve already mentioned above I’m not really a party person, but on Thursday I decided to go out and have some fun. Moreover, it was an international party – a wonderful opportunity to meet new people from all over the world. The party was held in a night club. Students were given flags of their countries, so everyone could tell where the others were from. There were actually quite a lot of Swedish people at the party. I can’t say I met a lot of new people there, still I had fun and enjoyed the party a lot.

Overall Impression after a Week in Coventry and Some Other Comments

Today is Friday, so it means that it’s already been a week since I arrived in England. It also was the last day of the orientation week. Today we had a chance to sign our learning agreements as well as arrival forms. Without a doubt, the last week was a wonderful one (even the weather was nice most of the time here!)

Coventry Cathedral

As for the city… well, it looks nice and old. There’re a few things to see and do. Also, it’s located in the middle of England, so it’s quite easy to get wherever you want to from here.

I like many things about being here. I like that everything in Coventry is in a walking distance, so you don’t need to buy a bicycle or use busses. I also like that my new university provides so many opportunities to its students not only to study but also to be active even after their classes.

Of course, not everything is perfect about Coventry University. For example, organisation of the events for exchange students is not brilliant. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as ESN to bring all exchange students together at Coventry University. So Erasmus students should be proactive themselves, search for information, and join events for freshers when they feel like partying and meeting new people.

Societies Fair

Also lack of information about events that were taking place during the first week from the university staff caused a bit of confusion among exchange students in the beginning. But, of course, one person can’t control everything. However, if we really needed to know something, we could always email a person who was responsible of the exchange students, and she would answer all our enquiries rapidly.

There were some other things about the UK that seemed a bit weird to me in the beginning, too. For example, sockets, separate taps for cold and hot water, and peculiar left-hand side traffic that was driving me crazy in the very beginning. Now I guess I am getting used to those things, though. At least I know where to look when I cross a road now. 😀

To sum up, I like being here. Despite all those small unpleasant things that I mentioned above, I do not regret coming to Coventry. I am sure this semester is going to be very interesting and full of unforgettable moments.

And if you actually managed to finish this, then I just want to thank you for reading!

Korea vs Yonsei

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

Last weekend we had the annual match between Korea University and Yonsei University. After practicing cheering we could finally use all the things we learned.

First Day

The first match was held at the Olympic Park. Really impressive! The tournament started with baseball. It was my first baseball match and I fortunately had a friend explaining the rules to me (confusing stuff). We cheered through the hole match and even the break. There were dancers that danced all the time, the true heroes of the tournament if you ask me! They danced for the whole day, non-stop! Impressive! We won at Baseball. KU won the last years, so Yonsei students didn’t really bother to show up. KU fans were going crazy, outnumbering and out screaming Yonsei completely! The atmosphere was fantastic, even if the game was rather boring (I guess Baseball was neither the strength of both teams).

After Baseball we tried to get into the Basketball stadium. No chance! Public viewing was a disappointment, as the screen was way too small. Most people left. Only those who had tickets watched Basketball and Ice Hockey. I would have loved to watch the two matches. Korea won Basketball and Yonsei Ice Hockey.

At the end of the first day KU was leading with 2:1

We were all super tired and exhausted after all that jumping. We all had so many bruises everywhere. Most of us went to bed rather early, some went out to Party. Cheering in the burning sun for the whole day is an experience!!

Second day

We had to get up early on the second day of the match. They were expecting the stadium to be packed, as no one had classes at uni. I was one of the first people at the stadium. We waited for 4 (!!!) hours to get in. We were one of the last. Patience is not my strength, I was in a very bad mood. They told us to come as early as possible and then we realized it didn’t matter anyway! ARRGGG.

We started of with rugby. We lost. Cheering was still fun. It doesn’t really matter what´s happening on the field, we cheer anyway. Weird concept.

Next was football. I love football, therefore I had high expectations of the match. Well, let´s say both teams tried. Most “westerners” actively followed the game, the koreans were to preoccupied with cheering. Atmosphere was great. Yonsei was really in a better shape. We screamed and cheered as loud as we could. At the end it was 1:1 and the game just shopped. ???? What, 1:1, so no winner? We complained and were confused (westerners again). Well, apparently, the games were over and we tied with Yonsei. Maybe for the better, Afterwards we all dance together, there were no fights and everybody was happy. I was slightly sad that we had not managed to shot the winning goal.

Evening:

Anam was basically a party street. Bars and restaurants hung up KU posters. There was a stage, playing all the cheering songs (like we hadn’t cheered enough already). There was free beer and snacks. It is a tradition that the alumni pay for food and drinks at the bars. You basically bar-hop all the time, cheer and scream. There was so much going on. Somehow, group 2 did not do anything special. We had the usual dinner and soju and then headed for a bar. I was disappointed, I wanted to be where the people were. I wanted to dance on the street and get free stuff, not having to sit in a stupid bar where nothing was free. I left and walked along the street enjoying the view of seeing old and young people dancing and partying together. The other groups mingled with the locals and have a crazy night. Some of my friends were basically forced to drink 😉

Unfortunately I missed that, but just seeing old people completely drunk and dancing all night long was worth it.I had to get up early anyway to go to Everland, a theme park close to Seoul.

Cheering was an amazing experience. I basically have no voice and more bruises that I can count. I have never experienced something like this. Maybe the World Cup Final in when we won against Argentina, people went completely nuts is comparable! In 10 years, I´ll try to go again and claim that I´m an “alumni” too, so that I can experience the atmosphere once again 😉

I´ve been in Korea for a month now and I’m enjoying every second of it!

Lena

Korean University System

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

I´ve been in Seoul for around a week, how time flies! In this post I´d like to talk about the Korean university system and compare it to the Swedish/European one. I base all the arguments on my personal experience and what I have been told about by others.

10 Similarities and Differences

1. University in Korea feels like being back in highschool. Professors check attendance and you get punished if you miss a class or are late. Furthermore, there´s homework (very simple one) and professors basically tell you what to do. However, uni is obviously more difficult.

2. Oldschool learning. In Europe everything is about `critical thinking´ (whenever we actually think critically is open for debate). In Korea the sentiment is still: write as massive notes as possible, form study groups to go over the books and respond to the professor by quoting the text book. Even Though the professors are really trying to tell people that memorizing everything by heart won´t get them far, this has not really been effective. However, exchanges and international professors will allow the students to understand this concept. I´m positive that in around 10 years Korean university students will have understood that studying is not just memorizing everything.

3. Discussion ( at least that´s how they call it). In most of my courses the professors want to have discussions. THis is rather difficult, due to the size of the classes. In only one of my classes do we actually discuss things and people speak freely. In all other classes people are either too shy or simply rephrase what the book says. Students say something and not discussion by which I mean: EXCHANGE of ideas and opinions takes answers. It´s more like a Q&A.

4. Students sleep in lectures. Yes, we do that too by not like here. Koreans have to show up to lectures, so they are physically there but simply sleep thru the whole lecture. I personally dislike this a lot. If you make the effort to show up, then you better pay some attention or simply leave. If you are too tired or too bored just stay at home, that´s what I would do back home. Sleeping is highly disruptive, since it just looks weird.

5. Korean Unis are for catching up with everything you missed as a highschool student. Korea is a highly competitive society. If you don´t get into the top university´s you can forget about a career. Students basically study 24/7 during high school. When they have made it to the prestigious universities they can relax. Korean student´s can take various courses, even if there´s no link to their field of studies ( or maybe there is but I simply don´t get why a english major has to study international law). They can finally travel and have a social life. I was shocked to hear that most of the students only started to leave the country ( or even the city) after they graduated, before they were simply to busy. Yes, back home uni gives you more freedom and everything, but for Korean students it really is like breaking free from all that pressure before.

6. Pride.Students feel strongly connected to their university. I´m not used to this, I like my home university but don´t have strong feelings towards it. KU students adore their university. They all know how to cheer for their sports teams and are very active in the societies. Maybe this is because of the on campus university or because family is very important in Korea (really VERY!!!).

7. Societies. We have them too, sports, drama and music clubs. BUT: I´ve never seen that you have to apply and then attend an interview. I get that if you want to join the uni´s basketball team you should be good. However, joining the international affairs society does not really require much, except commitment and interest. I applied to join KIOSS ( Korea International Organization Student Society). I applied ( serious stuff) and was interviewed with three other people. Questions ranged from my personality to political questions. I doubt that the society has sooo many members that they have to be so selective. However, I know the reason. I talked to a girl that was interviewed together with me. I told her that I was amused of how the selection process works. She told me that the societies compete regionally and internationally, therefore they only want the best people to be members. Competition once again, I guess you can see the pattern. I surprisingly got in even though I don´t meet two of the requirements ( joining for 2 semesters and participating at the MUN at the end of January). I guess the chose me cause I´m rather experience and well: I´m not Korean. They claim to be a diverse society, I think that I´ll be the only foreigner, very diverse right 😉 I´m excited to join, as I want to meet more people and get involved.

8. TAs.Professors have Teaching assistant (TA). I know that professors have these too make in Europe. However, back in Malmö this is not the case. The TA answers questions, does the attendance and anything the professor needs ( getting the coffee or something).

9. Blackboard.We use Blackboard at KU; not It´s Learning, same thing basically

10. Computers. In most of the classes electronic devices are not allowed. This is surprising as everyone owns the newest Samsung tablet or computer

Things I really like about the University System in Korea

– you can choose your courses, it´s a pain but like this you can study what you are interested in.

-cafeteria food is sooooo CHEAP!

– there are lots of societies, Malmö has hardly any. Clubs create university spirit, more of that please!

– professors are funny! I was very surprised, they actually make jokes.

– reading packages: all the reading material in one book, saves money and is better for your back

– on campus university: lots of parks, all faculties are closeby, a huge area, we have shops and restaurants on campus (Burger King for example), there’s a shuttle bus

-in every room there’s air conditioning, professors use microphones, there’s a weird looking machine/computer in every room: professors do not have to carry around their laptops ( they know how to use the thing too)

– professors are top and have very impressive CVs, elite university after all

– they merchandize of KU is impressive, I could buy everything!

-copy shops, people are super helpful and make everything for you. Super convenient, as I don´t get Korean Windows 😉

-free water everywhere

That´s all, I´ll tell you all about exams when I wrote them.

Weekend Trip to Busan

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

Last week I went to Busan with my friends. We stayed there for two nights and traveled by train. Busan is Korea´s second largest city in the south of the country. Travelling there does not take that ling (3-4 hours by train). We bought the KorailPass, which is super convenient. It is offered for foreigners and can be purchased for different number of days. We took the 3 day pass. You can travel unlimited and in any train with the pass.

Day 1

Our hostel was right next to the fish market. It is the largest in Korea and there is everything one can imagine. The smell of salt and fish is omnipresent in Busan. We had a huge plate of raw fish for a good price. Like sushi just without the rice. Really tasty! You put the fish in a leaf and add sauce. I did not like the leaf taste, therefore just ate the fish with the side dishes.

We walked around the city center on the search of bikinis (two of my friends forgot to bring theirs). We managed at the end, it´s already off season so it was a challenge to find something.

As the weather was so amazing we went to Gwangan beach. It was nearly empty. We were the only ones in the water (and it was NOT cold!). Koreans don´t swim or tan (like we did). Being tanned is ugly, therefore they just walk along the beach fully dressed! It is a strange feeling to be half naked whilst others are walking around in suits.

Swimming makes hungry so we enjoyed some chicken and beer close by. Fried chicken with different flavors are really popular in Korea. Try eating a chicken wing with chopsticks! The beer tasted like water, so a good refreshment. With our stomachs being filled we walked along the beach. The lights look beautiful. Busan has a very impressive skyline and bridge. The many lights really were something. Two of my friends bought cooked silk worms, the MOST DISGUSTING thing ever. I don´t have a problem eating weird things as long as they taste good. They didn’t and I strongly encourage you to NEVER to eat it! We walked for quite a while until we took the subway back to the hostel. Busan feels rather small compared to Seoul (it is!), but as it has 3,6 million inhabitants it takes a while to get around. We made one last stroll to the city center, where we got us a midnight snack and then sat with the hostel manager and his friends drinking rice wine. If you do not like soju, you should definitely try rice wine. For me it tastes like BananenWeizen (Germans know what I mean). I prefer it over soju, as it it has a taste and is not as sweet.

I shared my bed with Mango, the hostel cat. I don´t have any animals so it was rather weird. I tried to take up as little space of the bed as possible. Mango seemed to enjoy my company and stayed there for most of the night.

Day 2

After breakfast, we took the bus to the Cultural Village. Unfortunately the weather was not like the day before. It rained several times and the sky was not to be seen. The cultural village is a touristy area where you can look at street art, shops and eat local food. I thought it would be more historic. After the first disappointment I really enjoyed the Cultural Village. You had a fantastic view and there was lots to see. We tried Ssiat Hotteok ( Busan specialty), a pastry/pancake filled with roasted seeds. Very delicious and not too sweet.

We then took the bus and metro to the UN Cemetery. We had lunch at a very popular restaurant. We had another Busan specialty: Pork soup with rice. Very tasty and you feel super healthy afterwards (same effect as eating chicken broth when you´re ill). We then followed the signs to the UN cemetery. Somehow the sign were rather wrong and we ended up at the UN Peace Memorial Hall ( on top of the hill). The Memorial Hall is basically a museum about the UN´s involvement in the Korean war. Interesting fact: minimum number of soldiers required by each state was 1,000. Luxembourg was the exception as it only had a population of 200,000 at the time ( still makes me laugh!). We wondered were the cemetery is. It is the only UN cemetery in the world, where the soldiers are buried that died during the Korean War (except US soldiers, they are buried back home). We took the elevator to the observatory and saw the cemetery. Very impressive. The view was very good. After having seen this historic place we left.

Next on our list was the Beomeo-sa Temple. We took the subway and then the bus which takes you directly to the Temple ( if you find the bus!). Locate beautifully in the mountains Beomeo-san is very impressive. I´ve never seen a Buddhist Temple, so it was very interesting and exciting for me. It rained a bit, but the mysterious atmosphere made the Temple look even more impressive. Really, something you should not miss!

In the evening the hostel manager invited us to a party. We had pajeon (korean green onion pancake) and rice wine. There were four kids at the party, so there were lots of things going on. Unfortunately for Mango, the cat. Cats do not like to many people and the kids did not understand that. Mango hid under my seat for most of the party. We felt obliged to protect him from the “MANGOOOO” screaming kids. It was a perfect end to a really nice day.

Day 3

We took our things with us and drove to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. The weather was fantastic! The temple was located at the ocean and very touristy. Many people were there to visit. The temple had a completely different atmosphere, but was just as beautiful. We had lunch and a perfect view over the water.

One of my friends had already left for Seoul in the morning. Two of my friends left after the Temple. The three of us left went to the beach. This time we went to Haeundae Beach, which is the most popular one. This time there were more people. But just like the other day, only foreigners were swimming or tanning. The Koreans borrowed the hanbok, traditional clothing, at the beach and then took pictures. It was rater absurd, we in our bikinis and they in their traditional clothing. I also want to wear the hanbok, but then with a more “korean” background like mountains or something. There was a group of jet-ski drivers at the beach. They let people (mostly women) sit behind them. My friend and me waved at them, hoping that one of the would take us with them. They got to us and then left, as they had no vest with them. They fortunately came back and have me a vest. I sat on the jet-ski and held on to the driver as much as I could. I could´t scream, as the driver didn´t like that. It was super FAST and FUN. I always wanted to try, but it was always too expensive. Now I got it for free. What wearing a bikini is good for 😉

We then walked around the Market and took the train back to Seoul. As it was Sunday, the train was completely booked and we had to stand. It wasn´t too bad.

We had a great trip and lots of fun!!!

That was all about the trip to Busan!

Study Abroad with Malmö University

Spend a semester abroad during your education!

Category Archives: KS-GPS

Last weeks in Seoul

Trip to Stonehenge and a Weekend in Scotland

“Let’s go get lost. Let’s go get lost…”

Jeju Calling

Studying at Coventry University

Chuseok

First Week in Coventry

Image

Korea vs Yonsei

Korean University System

Weekend Trip to Busan