NYE in NYC

Happy New Year!

I know this is about two weeks late, but the year is young enough that I feel like we can still celebrate!

I am grateful that I was able to be with my family to welcome in 2019. When I was in college, for several years I had to fly back to Hawaii on New Year's Eve because classes started soon afterward (and due to the time difference I would be awake for 24 hours to make it to midnight island time!) This year we all stayed up together. It was even more special because we went to New York City for the celebrations!

There is so much to do in the Big Apple and each trip brings new adventures. I complied our pictures to share a few of the activities we did!

Breakfast at our hotel. It was held in a HUGE ballroom. The lighting made us look extraterrestrial, but the food was delicious! 

New York City Temple

We traveled on the subway to get here, which made it all the more fun. It was amazing to go inside a building that is peaceful and quiet even in the heart of the city that never sleeps. 

Outside the temple we stopped by the Giving Machine to donate. Some of you may have heard of these, the main one being set up near Temple Square in Salt Lake City. These red devices allow you to make donations to people around the world. The items range from school lunches to clean water to even chickens and goats! The one in New York is one of five that were placed around the world during the Christmas season in 2018. 

Big Bus Tour

If you are traveling, I HIGHLY recommend looking into the Big Bus Tours! They can be found in so many destinations. We have taken these buses in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Toronto, and even London. They consist of a double decker bus (we always try to sit on top!) and a tour guide who shares the history of the city as you drive. The pink headphones we were wearing helped us to hear our guide. It is a fun way to explore a new place or learn more about one you are already familiar with. For instance, did you know a troop of elephants walked across the Brooklyn Bridge? In 1884, P.T. Barnum marched his animals across to prove that the bridge was safe! Good thing he was right, huh? 

We also learned Time's Square is the most visited tourist attraction in the world! There is a requirement that every building in that area must have lights on it. Interestingly enough one of them is actually empty inside! There is a Walgreens on the bottom floor, but the rest of building is vacant. The building is able to pay for itself simply by displaying ads on the outside. 

Patzeria Family & Friends

When you're in New York, you have to eat pizza! I helped Kenson eat that giant pepperoni dish you see above. Kevin and Kenneth enjoyed calzones as big as their heads (and they finished the whole thing!) 

Papa was kind enough to get me and mom hot chocolate so we could warm up after being on top of the tour bus all morning. 

Line Store

This was one of the stores I was most excited see when I heard we were going to NYC. As some of you may know, Line is an app that allows you to chat with your friends. It is known for having really cute characters that you can use as stickers or emojis in your chat. 

Recently, my favorite Korean group, BTS, partnered with Line and made their own characters that were added to the app. And they are just too cute! (I mean, look at Chimmy!) I had to stop myself from buying everything in the store, but I did leave with some necessary purchases. 

Disney Store 

Who would I be if I didn't visit the Disney Store on Time's Square? (Not Karissa, that's for sure) It is magical and believe it or not, the store is two stories tall! There was so much to see inside. And even though it was crowded,  I felt much calmer there than I did outside. The cast members were kind and there was a happy atmosphere throughout the store. That's the real Disney magic, the ability to make people smile. I cannot wait to begin my internship down at Disney World! 

 

Aladdin on Broadway

This production was absolutely phenomenal! Thank you to Papa for getting us tickets. I have seen the Disney movie several times, but this play brings a whole new perspective to the story. There are songs that are not in the original soundtrack (look up "Proud of Your Boy") The cast was amazing and the Genie was perfect. He had us laughing every time he was onstage!

Rockefeller Center 

Ice skating at Rockefeller Center is one of the items on Mom's bucket list and I'm so grateful we were able to do it together!

Nintendo StoreI met my heroes Link and Donkey Kong!  

Souvlaki GRWe found a place that had delicious Greek food! The staff members were Greek themselves so it was fun to hear Papa talk to them. We enjoyed souvlaki, htapothi sti skhara (grilled octopus), spanakopita, tiropita, and loukoumades (honey donuts). 

Time's SquareThere is so much to see on every corner! 

Marriott 

We celebrated New Year's Eve in our hotel room. We had fun playing board games together.

Over the last few weeks I have read many posts from people wanting to better themselves in the coming year. While I believe we should not be overly hard on ourselves, I do think it is important to reflect from time to time on how we can improve. What has been coming to my mind is a quote by C.S. Lewis that has stayed with me for many years. He said: 

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

How amazing is that? I couldn't have said it better myself. 

I'm looking forward to this new year and all the things it will teach me. I hope you do too. 

TTFN,

Karissa  

안녕 Until Next Time (4)

This is my last post about my adventures in Korea! I'm pleased with myself for sticking with it! I've been trying to be better about keeping this blog updated. With school starting soon, we'll see how well that goes ;)

Day 10

We had the opportunity to visit the temple during our visit! You can't tell from the pictures, but it is in the middle of the city! After our cab ride we were walking down the street surrounded by buildings, then suddenly we turned a corner and walked up a hill and it was there! It was beautiful! My friend Saeyoung had arrived back in Korea earlier in the week (after getting engaged! yay!) so we were able to attend together!  

I was grateful that Saeyoung and I had time to do a session inside. Before we went I had had some things on my mind that were troubling me, but after we finished I felt much calmer. It is a blessing to be able to go to a place where you can forget about the cares of the world and take time to focus on what is really important in life. 

 

Yet another small world story! Saeyoung and I were waiting in the foyer after our session was done when suddenly she recognized one of the temple workers as the father of our friends from BYU-H! I worked with his daughter Amelie and his son Jun at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Saeyoung started talking to him and introduced me. We talked for a bit and I told him I knew his children. Saeyeon and Kristen came inside to meet us and then Brother Hwang offered to take us to lunch! 

We went to the mall and ate bibimbap! It was delicious! It is one of my favorite Korean foods. The word means "mixed rice" and it is usually served in a thick bowl like the ones in the photo. We also got lots of yummy side dishes :) I am so grateful for Brother Hwang's kindness. It was nice to talk with him and get to know him better. 

 

Before he left to go back to the temple, he also treated us to bingsu! (Korean ice cream) We said goodbye and then left for the subway. There, we parted with Saeyoung as well. I'm so glad we were able to spend some time with her :)

Saeyeon, Kristen, and I took the subway and headed to Lotte World! It is one of the biggest amusement parks of Korea! They were having a deal if you used your student ID so we got our tickets for a great price! 

It is a really cool park! Half of it is outdoors and half of it is indoors. We started with the outside rides so we could enjoy them before it got dark.

They had lots of cute headbands and ears to wear just like at Disney :)

This was on Saeyeon's favorite ride! It was dark and fast like Space Mountain so I loved it!

This is what the inside looked like! I took this from the hot air balloon ride. 

We had so much fun! The rides were great! We kept finding new ones as we explored the different floors and since the lines were short we went through some of them twice!

We finished off the day by getting Krispy Kreme! 

  

In Korea the glazed donuts come in sweet and hot. I wasn't brave enough to see what the hot ones tasted like haha but the sweet ones were delicious!

Day 11

This is the day we (almost) went to North Korea

We didn't know if we would have time to visit the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) during our visit, but Saeyeon's parents wanted to go too so they were kind enough to drive us up! When we arrived we were hungry so we looked for the food court. Do you know what we found? A Popeye's! I did not expect to see that at the DMZ! 

 

These pictures show the tracks that that were used by the last train to visit North Korea.

Family photo! Aren't they the cutest?

This is the Third Tunnel of Aggression. I got this picture off Google since we weren't allowed to use our cameras. It is one of four known tunnels under the border between North and South Korea. When it was discovered, the North Koreans denied building the tunnel and said it was part of a coal mine. However, geologically it is unlikely that any coal is in that area because the rocks are igneous and coal comes from areas with sedimentary rock. The South Koreans have taken control of the tunnel and now it is visited by tourists. We took the train underground. (There is also a ramp you can walk if you are claustrophobic) We traveled 240ft down until we reached the main tunnel. It is very small and even I at 5'3" had to bend over so I wouldn't hit my head. It was very surreal to be down there. 

Our bus tour took us to a lookout where we could see North Korea. I never thought it would be something I saw with my own eyes. You can't see it in this picture, but to the right off into the distance is a town. I even found a North Korean flag waving out there! 

It was interesting to tour around and learn more about Korean history. I'm grateful we had this experience! 

 

Kristen and I on the tour bus! We freaked out a bit when a soilder came on board and asked to see everyone's passports. Thankfully Saeyeon had taught us to carry ours with us wherever we went :) Other than that it was a fascinating experience. I am glad we were able to visit. On the way home we got some ice cream and even found Dippin Dots!

Day 12

 

This was one of my most favorite days because we got to meet Baby Jun! He is Saeyeon's cousin's son. I had only seen him in instagram photos so I was happy to finally meet the little cutie :) Saeyeon's cousins were very nice to drive out and visit with us. 

They also took us out to lunch! Jun liked riding the trains and cars they had at the mall :) 

   

After we said goodbye to baby Jun we went to a cat cafe! I had always wanted to go to a themed cafe.  Others have dogs and some even have raccoons! It was fun! The cats came up and jumped right into my lap! 

Since this was my last day in Korea, we decided to visit Han river and order chicken for dinner! (read my Cultural Surprises post if you want to learn more about that!)

We got an extra mat to share from ordering chicken :)

   

It was a perfect day and the sunset was beautiful!

 

After we ate we started to walk along the edge of the river and we found a bunch of food trucks! Saeyeon got horchata and I ordered a churro. It was a fun way to end my last day. 

I want to say thank you to Saeyeon for being our tour guide during this trip! She helped us have the best trip and took the time to plan everything. And also thank you to her parents for being so sweet to us. We became their second and third daughter and they told us to call them eomma and appa  :) I'm grateful too that Kristen could travel with me. It really helped to have someone from the US there to experience new things with me :) 

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit Korea. It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. I hope I can go back again soon!

Thank you for reading! 읽어 주셔서 감사합니다! 

♥ TTFN, KARISSA