First Days in Seoul (1)

안녕하세요!

I finally took the time to convert, edit, and upload my pictures from Korea! This is the first post of four that will cover the two weeks I was there. I'll add descriptions and share stories of the cool things we saw. Feel free to read them or just look at the pictures :)

Day 1

 

After spring semester ended at BYUH, I flew from Hawaii to Korea. I landed in the Incheon airport after a nine hour fight which, thankfully, I mostly slept through. My friends Saeyeon and Kristen met me there and welcomed me with the sign you see above :) I quickly changed my US dollars to Korean won and then we climbed on the bus that would take us to Saeyeon's house in Seoul. I loved looking out the window and taking in everything.

    

In the evening we met up with one of our friends from BYU-Hawaii, BK! We ate dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant and it was delicious! At these places they bring you meat and several side dishes that you cook on the grill in the table. My favorite dishes are bulgogi and samgyeop-sal (pork belly). After we ate we went out for dessert and got bingsu! If you read my last post you will know how much I love it!

This is an after picture. We ate it too quickly!

Day 2

The next day we went on a family trip with Saeyeon's parents! Her dad drove us out of the city so that we could visit the burial ground of King Sejong in Yeoju. Besides being on the 10,000 won bill, King Sejong is known for many reasons. Before his rule (1397-1450), the people of Korea used Chinese for most of their writing. He wanted Koreans from all classes to be able to read and write so he introduced the phonetic language of hangul to the people, which is still used today! He is also credited with many scientific inventions that were made during his reign. 

This is about $10 in US dollars

King Sejong himself!

Mother and daughter! The hill behind them is where King Sejong is buried

We made a stop on the way back for ice cream!

 

In the evening we walked around Dongdaemun. We explored the mall and found an exhibit all about Pixar! Before we headed home we made one last stop. At night they have a beautiful display of flowers that light up in the middle of the city! It was so pretty! (there were several couples taking pictures here as you can imagine haha) 

Day 3 

  

In the morning the three of us went to Nowon and got our nails done! The girls who did them were very sweet and they even wanted to take a picture of us! When we finished it was lunch time so we went to a little underground restaurant. We had ramen (we cooked it in the little pot) and pizza! We also had tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), which is one of my favorite Korean foods. However, this dish is either super spicy or extremely spicy haha there isn't really a mild option. Saeyeon tired to tell me that this one wasn't spicy but my mouth was on fire! That's where the pizza comes in. It turns out the cheese on the pizza cools your mouth down so I would take a bite of tteokbokki and then a bite of pizza. By doing that I was able to finish the meal :) 

A cute sign outside of the new city hall

     

Across the street from City Hall is Deoksugung Palace. It is free for citizens but for foreigners it is 1,000 won. Don't worry, that may sound like a lot, but in reality it's about $1 ;) The architecture was beautiful! This is where the royal family lived during the Joseon dynasty. 

  

Afterwards we sat down to take a break at Dunkin Donuts! 

 

 

It was fun to see American brands in Korea! I liked when they used hangul on their signs :)

   

Our friend King Sejong again! 

  

We then went on a walk up a giant hill! It was quite the trek but it was worth it! At the top we visited Hanok Village. These are a set of houses that were built in the traditional style. Some people still live there so they had signs to remind us to be quiet as we walked around. On the way home, we found Mickey and Minnie dressed in traditional Hanbok! So cute!

Day 4 

On Thursday we spent our time in Hongdae. First thing in the morning, I went and got my hair cut! We went to the cutest little hair salon called Chop. While I was waiting for my appointment they gave me some lemonade and cookies and they were delicious! I'd go back just for the drink!

    

 

The after result! My stylist added layers and trimmed my bangs. Earlier in the week she had cut Saeyeon's hair and she was kind enough to curl her hair for her when I was done :) 

 

 

We ate lunch at the Cafe Ann House. It is the cutest restaurant! They have private rooms that you can sit in and we were lucky enough to get one! This was the only time I had alfredo pasta in Korea, but it was so yummy!   

      

In Korea one of the most popular apps for chatting is Kakao Talk. They have stores all over that sell merchandise for the different characters associated with the app. The most popular is Ryan, who I always though was a bear, but I learned he is actually a lion without a mane! Saeyeon's favorite character is the Peach :)

 

This was taken at Ehwa University which is one of the many women's universities in Seoul. 

That night we had a mini BYU-Hawaii reunion with some of our friends! It was so fun to see some familiar faces in Korea! Three of us were from America, one from Hungry, and two from Korea :) We went out to dinner for fried chicken and it was SO good!

The day after this we took the train to Busan so I will cover those adventures in another post :)

Thanks for reading! 읽어 주셔서 감사합니다! 

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

Cultural Surprises

Happy August Everyone! 

I hope you are all enjoying your summer break with your families! I am so happy to be back home in Pennsylvania. After three consecutive semesters which consisted of attending classes for ten straight months I'm grateful for a break :)

One thing that gave me the motivation to endure to the end of all my homework and assignments was my trip to Korea! Earlier this year one of my friends from BYU-Hawaii, Saeyeon, invited me to stay at her house this summer and somehow the flight prices and timing worked out so I bought a ticket! I was there for two weeks and it was so much fun! I met up with friends, visited beautiful sights, and ate spicy food (we'll get more into that in a later post!)

Saeyeon invited my friend Kristen to visit Korea at the same time as me. She is also from the US so while we were there we started to make a list of the differences we noticed. She kept them in her phone and I thought it would be fun to share some of them here with you :)

Cars are (for the most part) monochromatic

  

This is something that we noticed early on. The majority of the cars were either gray, white, or black. Even some of the taxies were gray! Sometimes after a tiring day of walking almost 8 miles we would take one home. 

Putting the car in park  

 

When we did take the taxies I noticed that whenever the car stopped our driver would put it in park, even if we were just at a red light. While we were driving, another difference I noticed was that at some points the turning lane was in the middle of two lanes going straight. So we would stop to turn and cars would go past us on both sides! Also at intersections the cross guards would bow at the cars as they passed. Speaking of which, while I was in Korea I got in the habit of bowing to others to show respect. I even started doing it to people when I got back to the US! 

Buses can be stick shift 

I had never seen this before! I noticed it in Busan. We were on the bus and we got seats near the front so I saw the drier shifting gears. The buses in Korea also have their own lanes. This helps them to stay on time. I have to admit the buses were much more punctual than the ones in Hawaii :) 

Travel cards

  

Not only are they cute, but the travel cards are so convenient! We were able to use them to pay for the bus, subway, and taxi. Traveling from place to place was so fun! We learned that people in Korea usually don't get their licenses until they are older because not everyone needs a car, especially when they live in the city. 

 Firm beds

This is a picture of the room we stayed in while we were in Busan. ( I had to get it off the internet because I forgot to take one while we were there) When we first got there we were tired so Kristen and I jumped on the bed, but it was a mistake because we forgot how hard the mattresses are! Let's just say you could definitely bounce a quarter off these beds haha.

No shower curtains

This is a picture from the hotel as well. As you can see there is some glass, but the shower is open behind that. If any of you read Sydney Arvanitas' letters when she was on her mission in Daejeon, you will know all about this. In Korea, there are no curtains to separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom. This means water goes everywhere! 

Flip flops are not common  

  

The whole time I was there I didn't see anyone wearing flip flops! (besides Kristen ;) There were however stores selling shoes everywhere we went. In Seoul there was one street that was all shoe vendors. Saeyeon's mom was kind enough to buy Saeyeon and I matching sandals to wear. They were so comfortable! 

Lemon Ade

 

Most of the fruit drinks in Korea had "ade" at the end as a separate word such as "mango ade" or "lemon ade". Often times it meant that the drink was sparkling. The BEST lemonade I had was at the salon where I got my haircut. It was bubbly and delicious!

Where are the trash cans?

 

In the US it is common to see trash cans outside different establishments, but in Korea I couldn't find them anywhere! That's not to say it was dirty, the streets where really clean. I hardly saw any litter. However after I bought a drink or a snack I would have to carry the empty container for several blocks. In the picture on the left I was carrying a corn dog stick for about 15 minutes until I could throw it away! It became a joke because I started to get so excited whenever I did see a trashcan! I guess that's one way to appreciate the little things :) 

Socks are really popular

As we walked around the city, one of the most popular things that I saw sold was socks! Any design you wanted, you were sure to find it!

Malls

  
 

The malls in Korea are huge! The difference between those found in the US is that all the stores are close to each other. The best way to describe it is to think of them as one giant store with different departments. You know how you walk into Macy's and theres the Men's section and the Women's section? They are separated but it's still in one store. That's how the clothing departments were in the mall for different brands. At other malls, they were sorted by floors. For example 1st floor Women, 2nd floor Men, 3rd floor Children, 4th floor Electronics. My favorite thing to do at the clothing store was to read the English printed on shirts Most of the time it made no sense so Kristen and I got a kick out of that :) 

 Couple outfits

    

Speaking of clothes, this was my favorite fashion trend in Korea. Everywhere we went there were so so many couples, especially at Han River. And several of them were wearing what are called "couple outfits". This is when two people either wear the same outfit or an outfit that compliments the other person. Often time couples even wear matching shoes. It is absolutely adorable. Talk about #couplegoals

 Take-out

 

The night we got back from Busan, we were tired so we decided to order takeout. Instead of the food coming in styrofoam or disposable containers, the restaurant gave us nice plastic dishes. When we finished eating, Saeyeon put the dish outside her door and she said the delivery men would come back the next day and pick them up. How cool is that? Also in Korea McDonalds delivers! We never tried it but we would see them driving on their scooters :) 

 Commercials are really short

When we came back to Saeyeon's house after a day of touring, we would usually turn on the tv and watch some music programs. When there was a commercial break I was expecting it to be like here in the US, but they were over as quick as they started. It was like that on YouTube too. The app knew I was in Korea so the ads were only 5-10 seconds. It was so nice! I could't find a picture of us watching tv so I'm using one of my favorite kdrama haha!

Breakfast is the biggest meal

 

Every morning we were there Saeyeon's sweet mom woke up and made breakfast for us. They don't have ovens in Korean apartments so everything is made on the stove. Breakfast foods are my favorite, but in Korea they do not consist of waffles and omelets ;) On different days we had rice, kimchi, zucchini, dried young sardines, bulgogi, seaweed, and fried eggs. It was different, but all so good! 

Bag paper cups 

 

It was common to see water coolers when we went out. They had them in banks and the history museum that we went to. Instead of having cups, they had little bags to put the water in! 

Rest stops 

 

When Saeyeon's parents took us to the burial ground of King Sejong, we ate lunch at a rest stop on the way home. The food ranged from udon to gimbap to hamburgers. They also had what they call "walnut cakes". They look like walnuts and they are filled with red bean paste. I wasn't a fan of the filling, but they smelled delicious! 

Shaved Ice cream

 

This is now one of my favorite treats! I first had it in Hawaii thanks to my friends Camilla and her husband Evan who served his mission in Taiwan. In Korea it is called "bingsu". The best way to explain it is ice cream with the consistency of shave ice. It is really smooth and it melts in your mouth. There are so many flavors you can try. You can top it with fruit, nuts, chocolate, or red beans. If you ever get the chance, this is a must-try!

CDs are much more popular 

 

With iTunes and Spotify, I feel like it is not as common for Americans to buy CDs of their favorite artists. In Korea it is another story, and for good reason! The CDs in Korea don't only come with music but they come with photo books of the artists, photo cards, written lyrics, and even sometimes posters. The marketing is amazing! And the music is so good. If you want some new music to listen to look up BTS, Winner, BigBang, Twice, BlackPink, or Psy (yes he more songs than Gangnam Style ;) 

Chicken by the river

In Seoul one of the most popular places that people go with their friends is Han River. It runs right through the city and it is so pretty. However people don't just sit and watch, they also eat. When you get to the riverside tons of older women come up to you and give you flyers for chicken. As you can see from our picture, we got quite a few! After you choose what meal you want, you call a number to place your order, and then they deliver it to you! You just tell them where you are and they find you! I'm so glad we did it. The food was good and so was the view :)

These are just a few things that I noticed while I was in Korea. I will have more posts on the different activities that we did while we were there, hopefully soon!

Thanks for reading! 

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

Happy New Year!

Aloha!

I hope all is well with you and your families. As I sat down to write this post and I was a shocked to see that the last time I had written was a little over a year ago! Where has the time gone? So much has happened during this past year. I have tried many new things and I have learned a lot. I am excited to see what experiences and opportunities 2017 will bring! 

I was inspired to write this post because of an experience I had yesterday in the Orlando airport. I arrived at 7am then rushed off to my gate. I arrived, boarded the plane, and found my seat. Soon the plane was filled and we were preparing for takeoff. After some time, the captain came over the speaker and we were told that there was a mechanical issue that would prevent us from leaving so we had to return to the gate. As you can imagine, this upset many people on my flight. I could hear people all around me grumbling and complaining. 

I exited the plane and got in line to change my flight since I would be missing my connection. I could hear some adults behind me saying sarcastically "Well this is a great way to start the year!" Instead of joining in, I tried to think of three positive thoughts as my mom has always taught me to do when something doesn't go as planned. I thought to myself:

1. They found the problem before we took off. If they hadn't, it could have led to bigger problems
2. The sun is shining so the weather won't interrupt our future flight 
3. I have a Dunkin Donuts breakfast bagel from Papa in my backpack so I won't starve :)

I soon got my new boarding passes and then sat and waited. I watched as the departure time slowly increased. First it was 11:30, then 12:00, then 12:30 and so on until it jumped to 5:30. Everyone rushed in line to change their flight plans. By this time I could feel how angry the people around me were so I put in my headphones and listened to some happy music while I waited my turn. I soon turned it off though because I noticed the mom in front of me struggling with her daughter. The things she was saying to her little girl made me very sad. Finally the mother sat her daughter on the ground and said "Have a temper tantrum on the floor. I can't do this anymore." As the girl started to cry, I wanted to help but I didn't know what to do. 

Suddenly, the sweetest grandmother came over to talk to the little girl. The warmest feeling hit me when I saw her smile. She offered the child a cookie from her purse and asked her what her name was. When she replied the woman said, "I am going to visit my granddaughter who has that very same name!" She then told the mom she would hold her daughter while she waited in line. The little girl quieted down immediately and was soon sleep in the grandmother's arms. Her kindness surprised me and I actually started to get tears in my eyes while I was in line. 

I have seen many posts online about the terrible things others have done. Many people believe the world is full of hate. I disagree. There has to be an opposition in all things. There is good in the world if you look for it. As my Mom taught me, you have to "look for the blue". It all has to do with your perspective. For example, if you were to sit in a room you may passively glance around the room not really seeing anything. But if someone were to ask you to look for the blue in the room you would suddenly see things you never saw before such as a blue sock, or a blue stripe on a book cover. I believe there are many kind people in the world. 

If we treat others with kindness, it will be returned. I saw that as I made my second flight change. The mother I spoke of earlier never made it to the front of the line and ended up leaving angry and upset. When it was my turn to fix my flight, I greeted the woman at the counter with a smile and told her where I was going. She quickly got me on the right flight and arranged a hotel room for me for the night because I would not be able to make it back to Hawaii like I had planned. She also gave me two free meal vouchers to use in the airport. I was happily surprised and very grateful. 

As it turned out, there was another girl on my flight in Orlando who was traveling to Hawaii. We were both able to get to California and help each other find the hotel provided by the airline. Another small blessing.

Although this is a situation I would have rather avoided, I have learned how to be brave and do things out of my comfort zone. Even though it has only been a little more than 24 hours, this new year has taught me a lot about the person I want to be. 

I think the moral of this story can be summed up with a quote from one of my favorite princesses, "Have courage and be kind". 

Wishing you all the best in the coming new year!

♥ TTFN, KARISSA

The Great Wall of Kahana

Aloha!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was quite exciting as I got to swim in the ocean for the the first time since I've returned to Hawaii! But it wasn't just for fun, it was actually for a service project. I am taking a GE class this semester called 'Local Communities' where we learn about the culture of Hawaii. This weekend we had our first field trip. We took six buses and drove to a place called Kahana. When we arrived we greeted the people there with he chant Hiki Mai as a sign of respect. We then split into groups and started to work. 

The topic we've been studying in class is ahupua'a. This is the Hawaiian word for a subdivision of land. Early Hawaiians divided each island into pie shaped ahupua'a that went from the mountains to the sea. This allowed each section to be self sufficient. One of the things the Hawaiians would do is build a rock wall in the ocean to act as a fish pond. Our project on Saturday was to rebuild the rock wall in Kahana. There were different jobs to do such as weeding, collecting rocks, passing rocks in an assembly line, and forming the wall. We all worked together as a team and got a lot done in the time we had.

My friend Kahea and I vlogged the adventure so I will add that here at the end. We had so much fun! It was a great service opportunity and I am grateful that I could be a part of it! We have been blessed to live in this beautiful world and we must do our part to take care of it. Hawaiians believe if you care for the land it will in turn care for you. 

"The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men." (Psalms 115:16)

♥ TTFN, KARISSA