Day 04

Sick

Hot floors

Ginseng chicken soup

It's official, I'm sick. When I first got off the plane, I blamed my runny nose on my friend's three cats. Turns out I actually have a cold. Sorry kitties! So when I woke up at 4am again last night (sick and insomniac, perfect combo!) and feeling like a hot potato, my plans to visit Seoul went out the window. 

I'm not happy about this but I just have to give in and listen to the body. Afterall my last three days in NYC only consisted of me running around like mad to meet up with people and pack at the same time. I barely had any rest. So now I guess I'm paying for it. 

But with all things considered a cold is not too bad. I had expected to be sick sometime during my trip, afterall it is life, but I guess I didn't expect it to be so soon. But if this is it I'm glad to get it out of the way. 

While in bed cuddling with my roll of tissue paper I spend some time studying the map of this area, and noticed a restaurant that sells gingseng chicken soup, which I heard Korea is famous for. So after my friend got out of work I sped over there as fast as possible. Anything that can help make this cold away I'll do right now.

The verdict? This soup is friggin delicious.It comes with a whole chicken inside STUFFED with rice. Yum yum and you can really smell the gingseng, or I was told because I couldn't smell nothing. After that we went to eat Sashimi! Mm.

By the way I just learned today that in South Korea a lot of the houses are heated through the floor. This means when they turn on the heat, heat radiates through the floor! I didn't know this was even possible and thought the  electronics I left on the floor were constantly over heating, and I literally thought the reason I was feeling so warm at night was because I had a high fever until my friend told me she turns on the heat everynight before we sleep. The things you learn.

Off to see Seoul tomorrow!

Day 03

Churros
Hongkik University
Grocery shopping
Cats
Airplane cold 

Hwa-jang-sil

Happy belated cinco de mayo everyone!

There is actually an odd fascination going on here in South Korea with churros. They have them in chip form, in their convenience stores, and they're sold on roadside food stalls. I wonder how that got started.

Anyhow my third day here was a relaxing one but I had to take it slow because I am feeling a bit under the weather. I think it's from the low humidity on the airplanes and the time difference. I woke up at 5am once again and cannot sleep.

During the day I walked around the neighborhood that I'm staying in and just pretended to be a local. I even went to the market to get food. The area that I'm staying in by the way is the Hongkik University area, and because it's one of South Korea's top art schools, this area is jam PACKED with artsy coffee shops, cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. It is the hip place to be. It is also where a few of those cat cafes and dog cafes are if you've heard of them.

So it makes sense when I was walking around I noticed a lot of young Korean college students, as well as foreign exchange students and tourists. Korean students here by the way are really well dressed and I know why! There are shops and stands EVERYWHERE here selling tons of cute clothes for very reasonable prices. I was really tempted but had to stop myself. Maybe on my last day here I'll pick up a few items.

See, no sidewalks,

While that was fun it was also a bit overwhelming for me. I walked around for about 1.5 hours and I was exhausted. After that I went back to my friend's place and made myself a little salad with the food I bought earlier on and took a nap.

If you're curious, the price of food here is pretty comparable to the U.S, but it does vary a lot too. For example, strawberries and lettuce were the same as U.S prices, but bananas for some reason were quite expensive. I think I bought 1.5 lbs for like $5 dollars? But things like water and eating out seems a little bit cheaper on average. 

                                       

Useful Korean phrase #2 is hwa-jang-sil, which means bathroom! I had to learn that after eating at a restaurant and couldn't find the bathroom in there. I am also passing off as a Korean person exceptionally well, almost too well, because when I buy things everyone greets me in Korean and then because I don't want to be rude I smile and nod. But they're probably thinking I am rude because I don't say anything back. Dilemma.

                                  

                                                             One of my housemates.

I have more pictures but this blogger app doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Will post next time then! 

Day 02 - Seoul, South Korea

Jet-lagged
Lunch by the Han River
Etiquette boxes
Cham-si-man-yo
Sea fish/sea urchin(?) bimpbimbob

So I finally got to ask my friend, D, here what that box I saw in the woman's bathroom stall was in the airport. It was a small white box labeled "Etiquette" with a button on it. I really wanted to press it but I was afraid someone would come running in with toilet paper. You know how sometimes in changing rooms when you go shopping they have buttons for you to press if you need assistance? Well turns out my imagination was running wild, and it's just a box that plays sounds so you can do your business discreetly. Funny how that works and how revealing it is about the Korean culture. I must press it on my way out.

After my arrival, D took me around her neighborhood in Incheon and to a park by the Han River for lunch. The first thing I noticed was how a lot of the smaller streets didn't have sidewalks or only on one side. Hmm I'll have to pay special attention when walking.

On that note too because there were a lot of people out, and walking into me I had to learn my first useful Korean phrase besides hello and thank you, and that is "chamsimanyo" which is excuse me. I'll be saying a lot of that.

Lastly we ended our night at my first Korean buffet and it was delicious. My favorite counter was the one where you can make your own bimpbimbop, which I've had before but never with sea urchin. Or at least that's what I think that yellow yolky stuff was. And also instead of an ice cream machine they have a patbingso (shaved ice) machine! So much funner and healthier than ice cream I think.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but I was too tired to take any and just wanted to enjoy the moment. Next time!

Day 01

A new page, a new leaf.

                                         

Backpack and passport, ready to go!

Finally after years of dreaming, months of deliberation, weeks of planning and a 14 hour flight, I'm finally here on the first leg of my traveling journey- in South Korea! And believe me when I say this 14 hour flight has caused me to reflect on EVERYTHING. But especially the support and encouragement I've received this last week when I told friends and coworkers I'll be leaving. 

I always thought that when I tell people my dream is to travel the world, they would respond by telling me I'm naive, irresponsible, or that I'm just escaping from reality, but on the contrary everyone has told me the opposite. The support that I've received has completely blown me away, and I can't help but think how many of us out there are holding back on our dreams because of what we THINK others will say?

I'll admit I don't know what the heck I'm doing, and I most likely will not get to see the world all in one go. Maybe I'll get homesick and be perfectly content with just seeing a few countries, maybe it will not. But all I care for is that I've taken the first step. This first step was in fact the hardest step. I've known for the longest time that traveling the world was something  I wanted to do but I just ignored it. That little voice in my head telling me to go travel was shut out again and again, so I could focus on getting a job, earn money, and pay for student loans. And in hindsight I'm glad I did because it taught me to be responsible, to work hard, to manage my own finances, and most importantly to be responsible for who I am and want to be. And that meant owning up to the fact that I wasn't doing what I wanted and being who I wanted to be. 

The decision to go after my dream didn't just come to me overnight. It took days and nights of agonizing before I actually did something about it. But that was the key: DOING something. That may sound simple but you'll be surprised how many people say they want to do this and that, and not do anything about it. But I didn't want to be that person. So I began researching airfare tickets and lodging prices just to see how much I would need, then I planned out how much money I would need and how I was going to save for it. And before you know it, I had a quarter, a third, a half, and then finally a amount that I felt okay with. 

I won't get into the whole spiel of how I sacrificed my lattes in order to save for this trip, because I know that everyone has different priorities. Instead I just want to leave you guys with the idea of taking responsibility for who you want to be, and to take that first step towards it. It doesn't have to be big, first steps aren't suppose to be. So whether it is to take a trip, to get your own place, to run a marathon, or to buy a car, just take that first step. Go and find out how much that car is, and I don't mean "Oh you know, A LOT." I mean, go find out how much it really is down to the penny. Go find out how many marathons there are in your city, and where you can sign up. Get a pair of good running sneakers. You deserve it. Whatever it is, make step number one happen and then we'll talk.