Episode 14: Exploration Series - Boramae Park

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Today's post is about 보라매공원(Boramae Park). It once used to be the Korean Air Force Academy and today it is a very large park consisted with many recreational activities. 

To get to the park you can take line 2 and get off at Shindaebang Station Exit 4, or Boramae Station Exit 2 via line 4. I actually walked from SNU all the way to Boramae park twice this week!... 

Episode 13 : Exploration Series - Lotte Department Store (Pyeongchon)

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I went to the 평촌 (Pyeongchon) branch of Lotte Department Store yesterday. It is not a mall, but similar to The Bay and Nordstrom in North America.

To get here you take Line 2 to Sadang Station and transfer to Line 4, and stop at Beomgye Station.

Episode 12: SNU Series - CNN Cafe

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Today's post is about an interesting cafe. It is CNN Cafe, located at the Graduate School of International Studies. 

Episode 11: Exploration Series - Gangnam + Muji

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You know Gangnam right?...I am sure everyone knows something about it by now. Gangnam is 10 minute subway ride from Nakseongdae, so I decided to go and explore. You can just take any Line 2 to reach Gangnam station. 

Gangnam is known for its business area and also a shopping district. As soon as you leave the subway, you enter Gangnam's underground mall. There are many clothing shops, cellular shops, and a small food court.

    

Episode 10: Exploration Series - Myeongdong

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Today I went to explore more of Myeongdong. I took the Number 02 BUS from stop 20 outside the Gwanak dorms and got off at Nakseongdae Station. Then I took the Line 2 to Sadang Station and transferred to Line 4, and got off at Myeongdong Station. Alternatively, you can keep riding the line 2 and get off at Euljiro 1-ga Station if you do not want to transfer lines.

However, at Myeongdong Station, there is an underground shopping mall.

Episode 09: SNU Series - Gamgol Cafeteria + SNUplex

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From Tuesday to Thursday I have been logging into Sungang (which is the Korean course registration website) trying to edit my classes. During the first week of classes, SNU offers students freely edit and drop courses. You can attend the class you want to join even though you are waiting for a spot to get in. For exchange students, you can ask the professor to sign the overriding form (which is handed to you at the orientation) so that you can get a spot in the course that you want.

There are many things to explore on the campus. You will often see convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, cafeterias and snack shops.

The convenience stores are usually open until very late such as 2am or some for 24 hours such as CVS4U.

For lunch today, I met with the SNU buddy group to eat lunch at 감꼴 (Gamggol) cafeteria. If you are Vegetarian, I recommend going to this cafeteria for your meals. The price is higher than regular meals at 7,000KRW however, the meal is a buffet style so you can eat as much as you want~

Here is a photo of what the vegetarian buffet meal looks like:

Episode 08: Exploration Series - Itaewon + Going back to Insadong

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Today I went to 이태웓 (Itaewon) which is nicknamed the international area of South Korea. If you are homesick already, you can visit Itaewon. There is not too much to see compared to other locations of Korea, but there is a mall and international eats such as KFC, Indian cuisine, and Chinese food.

If you are Vegan, I suggest a popular little restaurant called PLANT. The owner of PLANT is run by the blogger of Alien’s Day Out. The food is a little higher priced compared to local Korean restaurants, but the food is focused on quality and healthy eating. They also have selection of cakes and pastries.

Episode 07: Exploration Series - Nakeseongdae

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The Today I decided to explore areas outside of the campus. Outside of the Gwanak dorms, you can take the Local Bus 02 and get off the very last stop – where you will end up in 낙성대 (Nakseongdae). 

There is not as much activities to do compared to Hongdae, Insadong, or Myeongdong. However, you can just enter the Nakseongdae Subway which is a line 2 to go somewhere else.

There is a very popular bakery called Jean Boulangerie, which sells all sorts of breads and pastries.

Episode 06: SNU Series - Moving out of Hapjeong + Moving into Gawnak Dorm

Today I finally got to move into the dorms. My friend’s brother helped me move my luggage from the guesthouse and drive me to the campus dorms. If you have a large luggage, it is suggested that you ship your items to the dorm instead – but if you have someone to help you, then it will be no problem!

Here is the procedure to move into the dorms:

The RA will ask you to complete a form that checks the details of the room, such as closet, bed, fridge, etc. and their condition. Make sure to bring back this form to the RA as you need to register your blood vessel and password to enter the dorm building. For the first day I believe they leave the door unlocked, however, if you do not get your password you cannot enter the building.

There may be three passwords you will receive while living in the dorms:

1.       Building password

2.       Apartment password (if you live in the apartment dormitory)

3.       Room password

The dorm does not include bed sheets, pillow, blankets, towels, laundry racks, etc... So you will need to purchase your own personal items.

디엔드!
That is all for today’s episode.
Thank you for reading!

Episode 05: SNU Series - CBA Seoul City Tour

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Today was an exciting day, the CBA Seoul City Tour! This was a pre-registered tour that cost 60,000KRW. The tour started at 10:00am and lasted about 6:00pm. The goal of this tour was to introduce you to the main sights around.

I really liked our tour guide. She was very active and had a good sense of humour.

Our first location was 경복궁 (Gyeongbokgung Palace). This place describes the history of the Emperor and Empress.

Episode 04: Exploration and SNU Series - More Hongdae + CBA Orientation

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Today I had my CBA orientation at 4:00pm therefore, I had more time toexplore more of Hongdae area. For lunch, I went to a restaurant called 까페술로비 (Ggape-surobi) . This restaurant specializes in “slow” meals, which is similar to theconcept of Macrobiotics. They use healthy ingredients such as brown rice, cook with less salt, and also have special vegetarian and Buddhist options if requested.

The set I had was called 그래그래밥상 (Gure-gure-bapsang) which is their meal of the day – so each daywill be different. Here, mine had brown rice, a small dish of ribs and potato,salad, kimchi, mushroom banchan, and cold seaweed soup. I told the waitressthat I was allergic to a banchan with fish that came with it, so she gave me the cold tofu side dish instead.

Episode 03: Exploration Series - Hongdae

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I found my way to Hongdae.  You can enter any station and take Line 2. Exit at Honggik University Station. There are many things to see and do inHongdae, it took me two days to finish most of the area. This area is full ofstudents, you rarely see (relatively) older people. At night, it gets verycrowded, especially on Fridays.

You can find many unique and individual clothing stores at low prices. Thestyles focus on vintage / street style clothing.

Again, there are many chain stores such as CVS4U, Paris Baguette, OliveYoung, etc.

For dinner, my friend took me to a popular restaurant called 감나무집 (Gamnamujib). 
 The food was very delicious! Hereare some photos:

After, we walked along the side streets and she bought me daifuku mochi.

We ate it at Coffee Brown whilewe enjoyed it with our caffeinated drinks~

디엔드!
That is all for today’s episode.
Thank you for reading!

Episode 02: Exploration Series - Hapjeong + Mecenatpolis mall

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 I went out to explore the area around Hapjeong. You will see many repeated chain stores and cafes such as Paris Baguette, Olive Young, Tours des Jours, CVS4U, 7/11...

I was actually trying to walk to Hongdaefrom Hapjeong, but I was a bitconfused about the map that time and I found Mecanatpolis Mall. This mall is fairly new. It is avery beautiful building, the layout constructed as an outdoor mall.

Here is a photo of the directory:

Episode 01: PART 2: Natalie Arrives in Korea!

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Weather: Cloudy, ~23 degrees

These photos were around ~30 minutes to landing

Incheon airport is very large, they use a subway transportation system to get to other parts of the airport such as baggage collection.

Be sure not to be too late to collect your luggage, or they will remove it from the assigned belt and to the information desk of the airline you took. I was late…so I spent one hour running back and forth between belts 1 to 23 (which are the first and last belt) and the distance between these felt like 10 minutes apart! If you happen to be late, just go to the airline’s information desk (I had to go to Korean Air).

There are several ways you can exit the airport – by the subway, bus, taxi, or car (if you have someone to pick you up…)

My friend picked me up from the airport, so I was lucky to have her guide me! A few of my Korean friends suggested that it is best to take the subway, taking the taxi if you are alone is not suggested…

To use the subway system, you can buy a transit card. Having one is very useful as it is reloadable, the transit fares will depend on your destinations – usually it will average about 1,000 ~ 1,200 KRW. You will have to scan the card when you enter and exit the gate (it will only charge your card when you enter.)

Click Here for a larger view of the subway map.

The line that you take from the airport is called “Airport Railroad.” Once you get to Gimpo International Airport Station, you are able to transfer to Line 5 or Line 9. The special symbol indicates that this station is a Transfer Station. If you are unsure what station you are at while riding the subway, just look out the window at the next station to see where you are, and locate it in the map above the subway doors.

Some trains have flashing lights to tell you your current location.

Some useful words in the subway:

왼쪽의 (wen-juk-e) – Left
옳은쭉의 (o-reun-juk-e) – Right

My destination was Hapjeong Station – this is where my guesthouse was before I moved into Gwanak. Here is a sample of the signs in Korea – the subway system is very efficient and informative, I learned how to use the subway very quickly, just follow the signs!

The numbers that look like: ①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨... indicate the exits.

There are two types of “numberings” that are useful to understand.

1. Subway Line – These will be numbered on the maps – they are differentiated by colourful lines. The main line is Line 2 which is green. Each subway line travels into different areas of South Korea.

2. Exit Location – These will be numbered on the signs above in each station – they will guide you to exit toward the area you are trying to get to. It is not a big problem if you do not leave the right exit because you can just walk an extra block or so to go back to your location – but this would not be the same if you mix the subway line numbers!! You will be far from your destined location!

After a one hour ride on the subway to Hapjeong Station, we finally arrived to the guesthouse.

Here is a picture of the guesthouse sign I stayed at! This guesthouse is called Leo Guesthouse. Leo Guesthouse has three locations: Two in Hongdae and Young Deung Po.

Single Bedroom in Hongdae (Blue) Location

The staff are very nice and welcoming. Whenever the owner saw me, he would ask how I am doing, what I did that day, and to get some rest. There is bread and toast with tea or coffee for breakfast from 7:00am - 11:00am. One towel is provided once per day per person.

The room is equipped with an air conditioner and a TV.

Each floor has one bathroom that is shared among other guests on the floor and you can do your laundry for 3,000 KRW.

I recommend this guesthouse, it was a nice stay.

If you are looking for a place to stay and would like to read more about the guesthouse, visit http://leo-guesthouse.com/

Finally, after a long day we went to 마포만두 (Mapomandu). It is a small quick-serve restaurant that specializes in 만두 (Mandu) - which are Korean style dumplings. Do not bother to buy frozen ones! Eat here (or any other restaurant in Korea) – the taste was delicious! We had 갈비만두 (Galbi mandu - short ribs dumplings). The prices for the dumplings were very affordable, around ~3,000KRW.

Here is a photo of their other items on the menu.

디엔드!

That is all for today’s episode.
Thank you for reading!

Episode 01: PART 1: Natalie Leaves for Korea…

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Today I finally leave for Korea. My airplane flight was scheduled for 2:35pm. However, there was some delay during the boarding so we the plane did not leave until 2:50pm. This was the first time I traveled alone on an airplane, and actually, this whole trip to South Korea was my first time to travel outside North America! I have heard many good things about Korean Air, so I chose this line to travel.

Korean Air ensures that customers’ needs are met. If you have specific dietary restrictions, such as Halal, vegan, vegetarian, reduced sodium diet, etc. you can call the company before your scheduled flight so that they can prepare a special menu during your flight. 

The flight was about 10 hours total and includes two meals.

Here is a sample of the Vegetarian Oriental Meal:

Read to Part 2...