Trip to Incheon
I can't believe that it is already Week 5 of studying abroad in South Korea! Time goes by way too fast in a city that has endless things to do. This week, I had dinner with all of the girls from UH Manoa studying abroad in Yonsei. We all met up at a KBBQ restaurant in Sinchon near the school campus. It was so comforting and fun to talk to others from Hawai'i about the different culture shocks that we've all experienced in Korea. I still can't believe that we are all girls too!! It was also really interesting because we are all business majors and a few of the girls I had recognized in Shidler but had never properly spoken to and some I had never even met at all. Overall, it was so fun getting to meet and befriend new people even though all attend the same university back home.
The following day, Christina, Jamie and I paid a visit to Winter's Village in Hongdae. It is a samoyed cafe that is filled with these fluffy samoyeds everywhere! I had never seen one prior to this so I was so excited and surprised at how bog they were. The experience itself included lockers to store your things, a cafe for drinks, and they give you a small handful of treats to feed the samoyeds. I was a little worried at first at how small the cafe was for these huge dogs but they were all so playful and the staff made sure to take them out for potty breaks and play time out in the grass outside. In the pictures you can see blush on the dogs cheeks which I thought was so cute! Each of them either had blush or a colored tail . All in all, this little visit was so fun and I definitely will be coming back before I head back to Hawai'i.
To conclude this week, Jamie, Christina, Kylie, and I took a short trip to Incheon. Initially, this trip started as a day trip for Kylie and Jamie since tehy had both bought tickets to attend a Kpop concert for the boy group TXT, but Christina nd I ended up tagging along as we hadn't ventured out of Seoul yet. We ultimately decided to book a stay for two days . Honestly, I did not realize there were things to do in Incheon besides going to the airport but there was actually a lot of activities we ended up doing. On the first day, we checked into the hotel and grabbed some food quickly as Jamie and Kylie immediately left for the concert venue. On the second day, we went to a rail park located in one of Incheon's largest parks. We arrived quite early so it was really cold and foggy but we eventually arrived and set forth on the rail bike. At first, it was so fun getting to take in the sights of the ocean and the park, but as time went on...it started getting really cold and we underestimated how long the route would take. Towards the end, we were trying ot bike as fast as we could because we were freezing cold and wanted to get off. Despite the weather I would still rate the experience a 7.5/10! After this, we took a trip to Chinatown, which I didn't know was the birthplace of jajangmyeon. We arrived at a restaurant and slurped up a bowl of the noodles and it was delicious. After this we took a few pictures at the temple and made our way down tot he Songwol-dong Fairytale Village. The buildings were all decorated with characters from children's fairytales and it really felt like we took a step into a magical village. There were lots of families taking pictures of their kids and a few activities. After this, we went down to a amusement park near the ocean and it reminded me of Santo Monica Pier. It was interesting because there were these pay booths where you would select the ride you wanted to go on, pay for it, and it will print out a ticket that you show the ride conductor. The girls rode some roller coasters that I was too scared to go on and then we ended the night off at the ferris wheel where we got to see a fantastic view of the ocean, harbor, and the park!
This week was so eventful and fun! It was my first day trip and I hope to go on more to explore as much of Korea as I possibly can.
