22 Days in South Korea, 2019

I did it! I finally finished my daily blogs for my trip to South Korea last summer. Putting together my day by day walk-through was a great way to reflect and reminisce about the wonderful time I had, and all the lovely friends I made.

I’ve also put together an index page for all my South Korea blog posts to serve as a quick reference to each day’s activities. That page can be found here (and in the menu under travel: 22 Days in South Korea.

If you’d prefer to skip the blog post and just view photos from my trip to South Korea you can do so here: South Korea, 2019 Gallery.

The Korean Language & Culture Program at Kookmin University was wonderful. I was really impressed with the facilities, curriculum, outings, and the friendliness of the staff. I’d return in a heartbeat if I could do it all over again.

South Korea itself was similar to Japan in a few ways but not in as many as I expected. The main mode of transportation, at least for me, ended up being buses instead of trains. There was very little English signage so I had to almost completely rely on an app called Naver Map to find my way around. The Koreans were way more friendly and approachable than I expected them to be and I felt very welcome.

Putting together all the blogs made me remember just how much we packed into the trip. I was constantly on the go exploring with friends when not in class. I felt wore out a few times because of all the strenuous walking, and from only getting 3-5 hours of sleep most nights, but am impressed my body held up as well as it did. It caught up to me a bit when I got home from South Korea. I could barely walk and ended up sleeping for most of my first three days back home.

A few random things I miss:

• Living in the dorm with friends
• Riding buses everyday
• Exploring new areas and visiting themed cafes
• The dense city landscapes
• Banana Milk
• All the yummy side dishes that come with Korean meals
• ArtBox and all the cute character stores: Line & Kakao

I recently had a Zoom reunion with some of my friends from South Korea. It was so nice to see everyone, and it felt like no time had passed at all once we started talking. I feel incredibly blessed to have met and shared so many wonderful memories with lovely people while in South Korea. It was an exceptional experience I will always treasure.