Ileana Su
ISEP Direct: Yonsei University
Major: Modern Languages and Linguistics
Minor: Asian Studies
Jump To: Pre-Departure Post, In-Country Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4, Post 5, Post 6, Post 7, Post 8, Return Post
Pre-Departure Post
Hello everyone!
This is my first blog covering my Spring semester study abroad at Yonsei University in South Korea! My name is Ileana and I am a Junior majoring in Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication with a concentration in Korean, alongside pre-nursing. My goal for this study abroad experience is to greatly improve my Korean. It would be AMAAAZING if at the end of all this I could say ‘I’m fluent in Korean’ and that, ‘I can watch Korean media without English subtitles!’ However, that’s probably a bit of a stretch. A more realistic goal that I’ve set for myself, not only relates to my language ability, but my self-confidence. By diving into this new experience, I am certain that I will gain confidence, not only in my Korean language ability (especially when it comes to speaking), but also in my self-confidence. I have never traveled to a foreign country completely on my own and often find myself hating to even leave the house alone XD. I see this experience as an opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone and improve not only my language skills but my confidence and character. By the end of this opportunity, I hope to be able to see great growth in myself!
With that goal in mind, I am extremely excited for this experience, despite the daunting expectations I have set for myself. Surprisingly, the nerves haven’t kicked in yet (though I’m sure they will once I land in Korea)! So far packing has been the most of my worries since I’m a chronic over packer (I’m bringing 3 suitcases T-T). I have also been a little stressed about my Korean ability, so this has pushed me to keep myself accountable and stay consistent in my practice. Although I still feel ill prepared for the Yonsei Korean placement test, I no doubt have improved my Korean skills over the break (which I am proud of). With the use of my improved Korean, I plan to travel across Korea!
This has been a lifelong dream of mine. Since middle school, I have dreamt of studying abroad in South Korea! I remember first getting into Korean culture through the K-pop band BigBang with their hit song Fantastic Baby. At the time, I didn’t really understand how idol culture worked, but I found it interesting that celebrities would take part in game shows (Korean variety shows). It was nothing like the West, where celebrities were viewed as these sacred beings and not often given a platform to show off their personality. I found it so interesting seeing these Korean celebrities being framed as humans (as weird as that sounds). It was also amazing to see that many Korean celebrities were able to sing, dance, act, and entertain. This aspect of Korean culture greatly interested me and led to me diving even deeper into the culture.
That being said, going into college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. However, one thing I knew for certain, was that I WAS going to study abroad in Korea, no matter what. Since then, I have been saving in anticipation for this trip. I don’t plan on missing out on a single thing Korea has to offer and I’m determined to do it all (…okay…maybe not eeeeverything)! I plan to explore the bustling city of Seoul, the countryside of Busan, and the beautiful waves of Jeju. So come join me in my journey!!!
In-Country Post #1
안녕하세요! (Hello)
I have officially been in South Korea for 14 days!! Classes have FINALLY started, and I’m SO EXCIIIITED! But first, I want to go over everything I did while I was waiting for the semester to begin. First off, I HAD to go to Yonsei to check it out and to try and map out the campus. It was so interesting to see how different the layout was from UMBC. The campus is a close walk from my apartment, and it’s within the city. There are gates separating it from the actual city, so when you walk in, it feels like its own separate area. A lot of the buildings are older, so it has a sort of magical feel to it, with vines growing around some of the buildings. 
The campus was bigger than I expected, surpassing UMBC. Since the campus is broken up into different sections, according to the subject, different groups of buildings are far apart from each other.
After visiting Yonsei and settling down, I contacted Jay, a Korean exchange student I had the pleasure of meeting through the Buddy program at UMBC. She was incredibly kind and treated me to a nice meal and even BOUGHT ME A BRITA as a gift since I kept complaining about my failed search for one. Afterwards, we walked around and grabbed some coffee at a cute café, where I ordered this interesting drink with a sweet and nutty-tasting foam on top. Just as a sidenote, café culture in Korea is so big that recently, despite my dislike for coffee, I’ve been finding myself ordering one every so often (usually a mocha, though, I need my sugar).
Once I returned to my apartment, I hung out with some new friends I had made through the ISEP program. I have only been to karaoke once in my life, when I was in Japan, so I was ecstatic when we ended up going to the 노래방! The nighttime view around the karaoke place was so beautiful, with all the bright and neon lights. I had a great time that night, and we didn’t end up leaving the karaoke place until 2 am.
That week, I also achieved my dream of getting a skin analysis, along with learning how to create the aegyo sal makeup look. I went to this place called ROA Makeup, and she taught me step by step how to achieve the look. She did the left side of my face, while I did the right. She even allowed me to film the whole process, which took 2 hours! (The whole appointment took 3 hours) I was very happy with the experience because she even told me some skincare products to use and didn’t gatekeep anything. Also, the lip combo was AMAZING and stayed ALL DAY!
That same day, I also went to the Korean Folk Village and made a norigae, which is a traditional Korean accessory attached to Hanboks (Korean traditional wear).
On top of that, I got to try my current favorite food here in Korea, 소떡소떡, which are fried sausages and rice cakes on a stick. It’s SO simple but SO good! I even got to try buckwheat noodles, although I wasn’t a fan since the dish is eaten cold.
The last day before classes started, my roommates and I went to the Olive Young (a popular Korean skincare store) in Seongsu and got a free skin analysis. They explained our skin to us and told us what products to buy. It was a fun, but expensive endeavor since we felt the urge to buy everything they recommended. After spending all our money, we decided to go broke and eat dinner at this viral Western/Italian/Korean food place called Ikseon Preference. There we ate the viral Pork Belly Rosa Pasta and went to bed with full bellies and empty wallets.
This pretty much summarizes what I did with my time before classes started. I didn’t realize how much I’ve done so far, and I even cut some parts out. Since this blog post is getting a little long, I will get into my classes next time and discuss the process!
In-Country Post #2
Hello again!!!
I’ve been really busy and getting sick a lot, so this blog is a little late! Korea has been good. I’ve been eating A LOT. In my last post, I mentioned discussing my classes in this post. I am currently taking three classes: Media Communication in Korea, Intensive Korean, and Language and Gaming. The Intensive Korean class isn’t actually as hard as I feared it would be, and it’s an enjoyable class despite the fact that it’s on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3-5 pm. My favorite class of all time is my Language and Gaming class, where we get to go to PC cafes (PC방) and play League of Legends. The teacher is doing a study on whether or not playing League can help with language learning. After midterms, to communicate with our teams during the game exchange, students will have to speak Korean, and the Korean students must speak English, even if we have no prior knowledge of the language. Also, the PC cafes serve actual food. I got a fried pork cutlet with curry, and it was so tasty!!!
I also went to my first K-pop concert. I saw Illit while they were on their Press Play tour and bought my first lightstick! The stadium was so cute and gave gamer girl vibes XD. I also went to the Hybe building and saw a whole bunch of trucks with displays on them saying stuff like ‘Enhypen is 7’ and ‘Bring back Heeseung,’ which shocked me because I wasn’t aware of this type of fan culture. There were also birthday pop-ups and cafes for many different K-pop idols, Suga being one of them.
There are many different pop-up markets as well in Korea. I went to one near my place in Hongdae, and there were many local vendors selling so many cute items, like mini flower pots and tea cups with kittens hanging on them.
Also, as part of a club activity, I went to Mangwon Market, which is a place with many different food stalls selling things like tteokbokki and Korean fried chicken. A group of us split up and bought a variety of foods, like steamed pork, Korean pancakes, fried chicken, tempura, etc. Afterwards, we regrouped and headed to the Han River to have a little picnic. It was especially nice, because the sun was setting and the whole area looked so aesthetic (despite the cold).
A couple of days later, I rushed outside to take pictures with the cherry blossoms since it was supposed to rain the next day. Many different cherry blossom festivals are happening, so after class, a group of my friends and I hurried to get photos before the sun set. Unfortunately, the sun set too early, but we still got some nice nighttime photos.
My roommates and I also finally went to Namsam Tower. We rode the cable cars up to the tower at sunset and enjoyed the view. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw that they had love padlocks there. So we HAD to buy one!! And then afterwards, for dinner, we went to Myeongdong Night Market and ate a TON. We had dumplings, chicken skewers, fries, japchae, fruit mochi, and so many other foods!
So far, this has been an eventful study abroad for me, but with midterms around the corner, I need to lock in! I’ll see you next time!!!
In-Country Post #3
안녕하세요!
It is currently the midterm season in Korea. I’ve been busy preparing for tests and CELEBRATING my birthday! I officially turned 21 on the 13th! (Not that it feels any different) For my birthday, I went to the beautiful Kiki’s Delivery Service Cafe. Since I went in the morning during a weekday, the vibes were so calming, and the atmosphere was peaceful. They had many themed desserts and even foods.
However, I settled on their new Cherry Blossom cake; it was horribly dry, but the cafe’s ambience made up for it. I also ordered a significantly better tiramisu latte. It was such a calming experience, and it helped me to destress, so I would definitely go back.Afterwards, I sadly had class, but I did go out for dinner at Aino Garden Kitchen, where I ordered the spicy pork stir-fry set, which came with a nice tofu soup. And of course I needed dessert! After you have something savory, you HAVE to have something sweet!! So I went and got the viral Baskin-Robbins cake that Korea is known for, with the various ice cream flavors in the shape of blocks and stars. The Baskin-Robbins here is on a different LEVEL. There are so many unique flavors here. Surprisingly, one of my favorite flavors here is the yogurt; it has a slight sourness to it, which I enjoy.
Anyway, moving on, on the weekend of my birthday, I finally got to go to Everland! Everland is South Korea’s largest theme/amusement park, containing five different sections. While there, I rode the iconic T Express, which is one of the world’s tallest, fastest, and steepest wooden rollercoasters. It was a loooong wait (about an hour and a half), but it was really fun and one of the best wooden rollercoasters I’ve been on. After this day trip to Everland, though, I HAD to lock in for midterms.
That being said, here in South Korea, the thought of midterms goes hand in hand with cafe hopping. Cafe culture in Korea is SO big; while walking down the streets, you’ll see thousands of different cafes! With midterms coming up, every cafe you enter will be filled with students studying. In the past two weeks, I’ve been to EIGHT cafes!! Even at this very moment, while I write this, I’m sitting in a cafe. The best cafe out of all eight I went to recently has to be Butter & Shelter. It’s the perfect study area with comfy booth seats. Additionally, the pastries, along with the drinks, are REALLY yummy. I ordered this grapefruit seltzer drink alongside their original cookie, which is called Butter Sand. Although the name doesn’t sound appetizing, the taste was nostalgic. It tasted like an upgraded version of the Walkers Shortbread cookies, containing caramel and cream filling. So, for the most part, recently I’ve just been drinking caffeine, studying, and eating pastries!
Hopefully, I’ll have more exciting things to share next blog, but for now, 안녕! (Bye)!
In-Country Post #4
안녕 여러분! (Hi everyone)
Since we last left off, I’ve been busy shopping, eating, going on MT (membership training) trips, meeting new friends, and keeping up with school work. The moment I stepped foot in Korea, there was one thing a reeeeaaally wanted to buy, shoes. Specifically ballet style flats, so I set out to Seongsu to buy some really cute ones. I ended up buying these stylish brown ones that have a ribbon you can tie around your ankle. The brand is called Rockfish Weatherwear, and it was founded in England, but has since been acquired by the Korean company AU Brands and gained popularity. While there, I also shopped around with my roommate at other stores like Adidas and BBIA. For dinner, we ended up going to this Western Pan Asian fusion place called NOR (Not Only Restaurant). I got this cream-based pasta, which was surprisingly good, and a fried potato pancake topped with cheese and marinara sauce.
The next day I went out with a friend, Isa, for another one of our big back adventures. We tried strawberry soufflé pancakes for the first time. The pancake was very fluffy and pillowy, which I enjoyed. For the most part, the taste was good, however to gain a certain soufflé texture, the taste was sacrificed. Whenever a dish has soufflé in the name, this means that egg whites were beaten into stiff peaks to gain the soufflé consistency. This leaves a slight egg aftertaste in the dish. The pancakes, despite being sweet, also had this aftertaste, which threw me off slightly. I would give this dish a 6/10 rating, considering we had to wait for over two hours before getting into the cafe. Afterwards, since the pancakes were so light and it was dinnertime when we got out of the cafe, we headed to Myeongdong for some real food. The place that we ended up at was the BEST food I’ve had in Korea so far, 10/10! Please go to Myeongdong Seoseo Galbi if you ever find yourself in Korea; this place sells some of the best beef short ribs!!!
Now moving on from the topic of food, I also got to experience an MT (membership training) trip. This is a bonding experience that clubs have where the members go on an overnight trip together to eat, play games, and drink. For this MT trip, we went to Nami Island, which is known for its stunning nature and for the fact that the drama Winter Sonata took place there. I was excited going into this, but I did keep my expectations low. Since this is an overnight trip, I packed all the things needed to shower, sleep, and just function. However, I did hear from multiple people that there was no sleeping on these trips, but I was hoping that they were lying…
Unfortunately, they were very much telling the truth T-T It was an interesting experience, but it was also a unique form of torture. I’m not sure if the issue was with this specific MT trip or if they are always like this, but it was very disorganized and boring. We got there and sat for a while with no clue on what we were supposed to do. After an hour or so, the people planning the trip finally addressed us and told us that we could just wander around while they got dinner ready. We did so, and eventually were called to dinner, which was grilled pork belly. Since that wasn’t enough, they also went out and bought chicken afterwards. From then on, they told us to wander around again and called us at around 9 pm to play games with the random groups that they placed us in. We played the games that they organized, games like trivia and guess the celebrity, until 11 pm. Halfway through us playing these games, the mentors who were supposed to lead our group just got up without a word and went to the back room, where all the official members of the club were. I found this a little strange since this was supposed to be a time to bond with our groups, and they didn’t even say a word and just left. The place we were staying at was like a big room with two bathrooms that just had a toilet and a door that led to a smaller room. There were a lot of exchange students, and the Korean students were all official members. For the most part, the exchange student and official members didn’t interact and were sorta segregated because the minute that an official activity was over, the official members would head straight to the smaller room and close the door. This is what happened after the last activity of the night, which was games, and after that, we were on our own on what to do. At this point in the night, it was around 11 pm, which meant it was time to have snacks and play drinking games. We did so; however, there’s only so much drinking and chatting you can do until you get bored and tired. There was no way to take a shower, and you weren’t sleeping because the whole night there was karaoke going on, and we were all in one big room. You also couldn’t really go home, since it was in the middle of nowhere, there were no taxis, and the buses and trains stopped early. So your only option is to wait until 6 am when the buses start running again, and then pray you get on one before all the hundreds of other students who were also on MT trips. I remember being cold and tired and dreading the ride back since it was a two-hour commute from Nami Island to Sinchon, where I live. Luckily, I was able to hang out with my mentor (who was forced to go on the trip since she was part of the club), and she ordered a taxi around 6 am. Since we took a taxi, it only took us an hour to get home, and I was in bed by 8 am! Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I wanted to share both the ups and downs of my trip. I was going to talk about more stuff, but I think I ran my mouth long enough. Until next time!
In-Country Post #5
안녕, 안녕! (Hi, hi) (I’m running outta creative intros T-T)
As always, I’ve been busy, especially these past few weeks since I went to both Busan AND Jeju. However, in this post, I’m going to talk about Busan, and in the next, I’ll share my Jeju experience. Before my trip to Busan, my roommate Sara’s friend, Ricardo, happened to be traveling in South Korea with his friend Cyrus. So, along with my other roommate, Nyajah, we welcomed them, showing them around. Nyajah and Sarah took them to the aquarium, and later on, I met up with everyone for dinner. For dinner, we decided to take them to an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant called 무쏘 (Musso) since Sara mentioned how much Ricardo ate. Afterward, we had them try hwachae (fruit with a juice, like strawberry milk) and bingsu (very thinly shaved ice, usually flavored with condensed milk), which they enjoyed. The next day, we met up with them in Seongsu for dinner and ate pasta. While we were eating pasta, Ricardo pulled a fork out of his backpack because he was eating too slowly with chopsticks, which was hilarious at the time and confirmed the big-back allegations. After eating, we went to a 노래방 (karaoke place) and said our goodbyes to Cyrus since his flight was in 4 hours. For Ricardo’s last day in Korea, we put him on, to all of the good snacks that Korea has, my favorite being the zero-cal jelly from Olive Young (YES, Olive Young, the cosmetic store! They have the BEST jelly!!!) Then we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, while I planned for my Busan trip that weekend.
Before Busan though, I had to lock in with the homework, so I went to this themed cafe of one of my FAVORITE animes EVER, Kamisama Kiss. This anime is a fantasy romance about a high school girl who becomes homeless due to her father’s gambling debt. In the show, she saves a strange man (Mikage, former land god) from a dog and inherits a shrine and living space in return. There she meets the main love interest, Tomoe, a fox spirit who is the protector of the shrine. The Kamisama Kiss cafe, which I went to, had everything from merch, themed food, and collectable gacha cards (aka gambling). I ordered all the Tomoe-themed food, which was a ramune ice cream float and red bean mochi. Also, I was lucky and managed to pull for Tomoe’s card at the gacha vending machine. That being said, I honestly didn’t get much work done because I was busy taking pictures of the cafe XD.
Finally, that weekend I headed to Busan with my friends, and I watched Train To Busan while on the…train to Busan! On the first day, we went to the Haeundae Blue Line Park and took the beach train to Haewol Skywalk, Cheongsapo, and Songjeong.
For dinner, we had KBBQ, and we woke up early the next morning to head to Haedong Yonggung Temple. The temple had a beautiful oceanside view and allowed us to experience the deeper cultural side of Korea. In the same area, they had street food stalls and souvenir shops, where we spent a good amount of money. Afterwards, we headed to the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store, which is the largest shopping complex in the world. While there, we mostly just ate and window shopped. The department store also contained Spaland, the most celebrated jimjilbang (a traditional Korean bathhouse and spa). However, unfortunately, we did not have time to enter the sauna since we had to head to Gwangali Beach for the drone show.
The third day, we took the Songdo Cable Car and then headed to the iconic Gamcheon Culture Village. That village contains many colorful and vibrant houses along with amazing views (and steep steps). This is also where the popular sky-themed cafe is, where they deliver your coffee in a small hot air balloon. At this point in the day, we were getting tired, so we stopped at Huinnyeoul Culture Village and just chilled at a cute cafe. Shortly after, we had a flight to catch, so we headed to the train station and ate there before traveling back to Seoul. This Busan trip was VERY tiring but also very fun, and I was able to experience many beautiful sites. Next time, I’ll debrief ya’ll on Jeju Island.
안녕! (Bye!)
In-Country Post #6
안녕! 제주로 가자! (Hi! Let’s go to Jeju!)
The weekend after my Busan trip, I headed to Jeju Island with my roommates. A popular vacation spot in Korea, and it’s only around an hour plane ride from Seoul. Jeju is known for its nature, greenery, and beaches. The trip here was much more chillier and laid laid-back than in Busan. The first day there, we relaxed at a beach nearby and made silly TikToks. When we got to the beach, we were surprised to receive some bread as a free service for coming to that specific beach. We stayed there for a short while before making our way to the Aewol Coast, where we stumbled upon a cute souvenir shop. I’m not sure if anyone has watched the Korean drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, but it’s set on Jeju Island.
The use of the tangerines in the title is an ode to Jeju’s most exported good, tangerines. Since the island is known for its tangerine and citrus farms, the souvenir shop had many different souvenirs, often related to tangerines. Next door to the shop was an extremely scenic cafe called Cheongsudang Aewol. The cakes there were SO beautiful and paired well with the ocean view (despite it being a little dry). We watched the sunset before we headed off to dinner.
For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. We had a view of the city from there and ended our night ordering their Stir-Fried Beef Brisket with Chive Salad.
The next day, we met up with two other friends I met in Korea and went to Comma Cafe. I believe that this cafe is popular for its picturesque views, as it is situated directly in front of a beach. Additionally, you can see Biyangdo, a volcanic island within Jeju City, from the cafe. The cafe is also adorned with hammocks and a wooden swing for photos, with an outdoor seating area on the second floor.
Afterwards, we headed to the Osulloc Tea Museum. While there, we got to sample many different teas, some even being aged for 7 years! We also tried to go to a waterfall right after the museum, but unfortunately, entry closed at 6 pm. So instead we headed to an Indian Restaurant that my friend had wanted to try. The entrance to the restaurant was extremely beautiful with a small garden surrounding it. I ordered Garlic Naan, Butter Chicken, and Mango Lassi. Honestly, the Mango Lassi was extremely sour and disappointed me, but the Butter Chicken and Naan weren’t bad considering we were in Korea. That day, we slept early since we were going on a hike the next day.
For our last day, we planned on hiking Hallasan Mountain! Not the whole thing, though, because that would take 8-10 hours, and I’m not built for that. So instead, we opted for the shorter 4-hour hike, where, unfortunately, you don’t get to see the summit. Regardless, the views were still amazing, and I was proud that I was able to complete it, considering I haven’t been working out while in Korea. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to Kbbq as a reward and closed out our last day in Jeju.
안녕히 가세요! (Goodbye!)
In-Country Post #7
안녕! 오랜만이에요 (Hi! It’s been a while)
I’ve been busy with finals and packing to move out so I haven’t posted in a while T-T However, that means you’ll get multiple updates at once! Some highlights of my time when I got back from Jeju include exploring Suwon with my roommate Sara! Suwon is a city on the outskirts of Seoul. It’s a more residential area compared to Seoul. Since it’s expensive to live in Seoul, some people live in Suwon, but work in Seoul.
While in Suwon we visited the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress. It was a beautiful fortress and it was interesting to learn the history behind it. Apparently, one of the reasons it was built was to honor Crown Prince Sado who died a horrific death. Due to his mental illness his own father locked him up in a rice chest and left him to die. To restore his father’s dignity and honor King Jeongjo, the Crown Prince’s son moved his tomb to Mount Hwa, the “most auspicious” location in the country. This tomb is located not too far from the main fortress walls. However, inside the fortress walls are actually the palace which the King built as a place to stay while visiting his father. Now the site is a popular date spot for couples, who like to try a walk along the walls.
After the fortress we decided to grab lunch at a cute pasta spot. The pasta was pretty good and we both got cream based pasta. Sara ordered the Black Bean Pasta so I was surprised when it came out looking like there were no black beans inside. I expected it to look less like alfredo and more like a refried bean dish XD. I was also shocked at how spicy it was. I can handle a little spice, but considering that it was rated a one out of three on the spicy meter it was pretty spicy. Thankfully, I had ordered the carbonara so my dish was not spicy whatsoever.
And after you eat something spicy (even though I wasn’t the one with the spicy dish…) You HAVE to have something sweet so I grabbed a milk and blueberry flavored ice cream cone. To be honest I thought I’d hate it but I actually sorta liked it despite me not being the biggest fan of blueberries. Also yes the ice cream was milk flavored too. In Korea vanilla ice cream isn’t really common, instead milk flavor is their version of vanilla. It tastes exactly as it sounds like milk with sugar, so like vanilla ice cream but without the vanilla.
After dessert, we HAD to go to the iconic Starfield Library in Suwon. Although we had been to Seoul this one was less crowded, which made it nicer. I also enjoyed the bookshelf setup more than the one at the Gangnam Starfield Library. The bookshelves at the Gangnam one were more curved, while these ones were more boxlike. We were sorta tired at this point so we didn’t explore the mall much, but the library was very pretty.
Since I walked so much that day I decided to do a foot peel mask. WARNING TMI: Within 7-10 days it literally peeled off the outer layer of my foot. I have NEVER tried anything like this and I didn’t expect it to work so I am AMAZED. They even have a hydrating foot mask that you can use after your foot finishes peeling. In case anyone wants to buy it and try it out it’s the Refresh Your Day Peeling Foot Mask!
Anyways, 나중에 봐! (See you later)
In-Country Post #8
안녕! 잘 지냈어? (Hello, how have you been?)
I’ve been having a GREAT time in Korea. I recently participated in an ISEP hosted activity which was really fun. Even though there were only four of us (myself included) it was an interesting experience since I got to cook authentic Korean food. They had us cook bibimbap and this yummy Korean dessert called oranda. Bibimbap is a rice based dish that has multiple different 반찬 (Banchan, side dishes) on top of rice. Typically, there are carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and egg on top. The one we made in the cooking class also had a couple additional vegetables on top. In the center we also topped it with seaweed and a special meat-based sauce. It was very delicious and made me feel somewhat healthier since I was getting my veggies in. We were also served some soybean soup (I think that’s what it was I can’t remember) which was really tasty too. Additionally, they gave us some kimchi pancakes as a side dish.
Finally, after eating, we packaged our oranda which were puffed rice cakes coated in rice syrup and nuts. The rice syrup reminded me of caramelized sugar, but apparently, it’s supposed to be healthier. Usually, I don’t like desserts or snacks like this, but it was extremely addicting to eat. It was sweet and had a crunchy texture. I recommend trying it out and making it, since the process is pretty quick and easy.
After that fun experience I sorta had to lock in since finals were around the corner. So I did a lot of cafe hopping. I went to the popular Mil Toast house and got the cheese, corn, and chestnut bread. It was good, but overhyped. It was interesting since they warmed up the bread by steaming it which gave it a soft texture, but once it cooled down the bread wasn’t that nice. I also got this custard strawberry bingsoo at this cute cafe my friend recommended, and the pudding was SO good!!!
Although the coolest cafe I went to during finals time had to be this crochet cafe. My roommate and I stumbled upon it after we went to Seoul Forest and went inside to study. It was like a crocheter’s dream, with the yarn that lined the walls.
Afterwards, I unfortunately had my last meet up with Jay, a friend I met through the Buddies program at UMBC. As our last meal together until the unforeseeable future, we had BEEF. We went to this fancy restaurant near her house and then got some ice cream. Last but not least we had to keep a memento of each other, so we took the cutest pictures at a photo booth nearby!
Tell you more later! Byeee!!!
Return Post
안녕!
This is my last blog T-T
As the semester has come to an end, I’ll recap what has happened in my last few weeks at school. Other than finals Sara’s friend has come to visit, along with my family. I am staying in Korea until July 6th, but since the school semester has ended this marks the end of an era!!! I am going back to Busan and Jeju with my family! Also, I will show them around Seoul! However, let me not bore you with all the talk of my plans and just tell you what has happened in my last few weeks here. I met Sara’s friend Kayla, and we all went to Lotte World together. To start off the day we got breakfast at this cafe near the apartment, and it was actually SO good. It was an egg and cheese pastry which I was a little hesitant about buying. Usually when stuff has cheese in it in Korea it tends to be a little sweet, so I was happy when it was actually savory and yummy!
Afterwards we headed off to Lotte World which is like the Disney of Korea. It’s a popular date spot for couples. And many people who visit rent out school uniforms there. To be honest I’m not sure how this tradition occurred since it seems a little random. I wonder if it’s because it reminds people of their school days which maybe were their golden days. Not sure…but the uniforms were cute! That could just be the reason! I got the pink version but there were so many other styles and versions to choose from. At Lotte world there was also a Maple Story event going on so I took a picture with one of the displays since it was SO CUTE!
We also HAD to go to a Photo Booth together and take pics in our stylish uniforms. One thing I really like about the photo booths is that they actually give you a video replay of you taking the photos with your friends. It’s sped up and actually pretty funny, but cute.
The next day we did a little cafe hopping and found this nice brunch spot. Along with Kayla I ordered a Truffle Pasta and Sara got Mushroom Soup.
A couple days before moving out I wanted to do one last hangout with my other roommate Nyajah. We went to a Japanese restaurant whose focus was omurice. Next to it was a popular bakery so I got curious and went in. Apparently, they specialize in melon pan (a Japanese sweet bread) so I bought one. When I tell you it was the BEST melon pan, I had EVER HAD! (I’ve only ever had it one other time…)
The last thing I reeeeeaaallly wanted to do before I had to leave Korea was to get a curly cut. I’ve never gone to a curly hair specialist before, and Korea was the last place I thought I’d get my first cut at. However, I found this girl on Instagram called CurlsByRia and her work looked amazing. I decided to go all the way to Daejeon to try her out (it’s an hour KTX ride and a two-hour trip). While there before my appointment I stopped at the most famous bakery in Korea, Sungsimdang! I thought it was just a bakery, but it turns out they had a separate building where they sell the cakes. Not only did they have a bakery and cake shop they also had a restaurant, cafe, and sandwich shop. Not to mention for the cake shop they sent me to a different building to pick up the cake. The shop opens at 8am and I got there at 7am and I had to wait until 9:15am until I got the mango siru cake I ordered. Also, I was shocked when I got the cake and realized it was FOUR AND A HALF POUNDS! However, that wasn’t an issue since the city has so many freezer lockers for CAKE! I also went sorta crazy since I had a lot of time before my hair appointment and got multiple breads and a sandwich from their other stores. THEN I FINALLY GOT MY FIRST CURLY CUT! I have NEVER known how to take care of my hair and I lowkey thought my hair couldn’t curl like I’ve seen people’s hair curl. But the hairdresser did her thing!!! I didn’t break the cast so at first, it was a little crunchy and didn’t look right. BUT after DAY ONE…AMAZING! I would recommend booking with her if you’re ever in Korea! Anyways, that’s the end of my Korea blog and ALMOST the end of my trip! Now I am going to hang out with my family after such a long time away from home.
It’s been real, it’s been fun!!!
안녕!!!!!!!!