Cherry Blossom Season
One of the best parts about studying in Korea during the spring semester is getting to witness cherry blossom season. This is my first time seeing them bloom seemingly overnight and it was truly a magical sight to see. Fortunately, Yonsei’s campus and the surrounding neighborhood of Sinchon are filled with cherry blossom trees, so I didn’t have to go far to enjoy the beauty of it all. I took so many pictures and videos. However, what I didn’t realize is that the blossoms would fall as quickly as they came. I don’t know why I had mistakenly assumed they would be around for all of spring. Cherry blossom “season” only lasts a couple of weeks before the trees are filled with regular green leaves.
Yonsei Letterman Jackets
Varsity jackets are a huge part of Korean university culture. Many students will proudly wear their jackets around campus and the city to represent their school and sometimes department.
Yonsei University’s mascot is an eagle, so the department jackets are usually designed with a cool artistic design of the eagle, as you can see below. My friend and I had fun keeping an eye out for and taking pictures of cool designs from different departments and majors. Like collecting Pokemon. Once the weather got warmer though, students started to wear their jackets less and less.
Unfortunately, department-specific jackets are difficult to acquire for exchange students. You’d have to know a local student at the beginning of the semester and ask them to help you purchase one. I believe the order period is also only for the beginning of the semester. However, you can still buy the generic, non-specific ones from the Yonsei Co-Op store. I heavily debated getting a jacket but by the time I was seriously considering it, the weather was already warming up and I figured I wouldn’t get much use out of it. It also wouldn’t really have been wearable in Hawaii.
Gyeongbok Palace, Namsan Tower, & Han River Biking
In the first weekend of April, I had some friends from UH Manoa who are studying abroad in Taiwan this semester come to visit for a few days. I got to play at being the tour guide for once instead of the tour “guided.” This was the weekend I finally got to go to all the places I considered the “main” tourist attractions in Seoul, but hadn’t had the chance to yet.
The first stop was Gyeongbokgung, or Gyeongbok Palace. Dressing up in hanbok, or traditional Korean wear, is a must-do when visiting this famous historical sight (you get free admission to the palace if you dress up). Picking out what color and style of hanbok to wear is a whole adventure in itself and took my friends and I upwards of an hour and a half. I settled on a pink theme to match the cherry blossoms, and the place we booked also provided hair service. I recommend pre-booking via Klook so you don’t have to wait once you get to the place. The palace was beautiful with the cherry blossoms and we spent a little too much time taking pictures that we didn’t get to fully explore the palace grounds before the time expired on our hanbok rental.
After the palace on the same day, we took the cable car up to Namsan Tower’s Roof Terrace. We got there just after the sun had already set and enjoyed views of the cityscape surrounded by the infamous love locks. Going to the tower was pretty cool but I honestly think it’s cooler to take pictures of it from far away (from the right angle of course). Also, we didn’t go up to the observation deck because it cost extra money. Actually I think it might be better to go during the daytime but I never got the chance to.
The next day, we did what would later become one of my favorite activities in Korea: biking along the Han River. This time was especially nice because the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and we went around sunset so the lighting and atmosphere were prime. We went to Banpo Bridge Hangang Park, which is one of many riverside parks. There was a bike stand that had comfortable bikes for reasonable prices that you could rent for 30 minutes up to 2 hours. We just had to leave an ID card for insurance that we’d bring back the bike.
The other option for biking is to rent Seoul Bikes, which requires a slightly complicated process where you have to download an app, purchase a pass for a set amount of time, retrieve the code for the pass from your email, locate a bike stop, scan a QR code, then unlock your bike. (There’s probably a much easier method if you’d a local but for foreigners this was the only way to do it.) Honestly, this process was such a hassle that I only did it a couple of times and never for actual transportation purposes, only recreation. When I went to Taiwan, I was shocked to see how easy it was to rent public bikes; simply tap your transportation card and go, with the first 30 minutes of biking being free.
Nodeul Island & Mexican Food in Korea
I noticed that compared to other Asian countries’ university schedules, Korea does not have nearly as many holidays and breaks. While this was a bit disappointing for planning trips out of the country, we did still have days off here and there (usually on Wednesdays, smack dab in the middle of the week). On one of these Wednesdays, I wrangled together a couple of friends and suggested a trip to Nodeul Island (recommended by a Korean student in one of my business classes).
Like what I mentioned previously in regards to Lotte World, Nodeul Island is a popular couple spot, filled with couples on picnic dates. It’s a man-made island located right in the middle of the Han River. (Supposedly the views at night are beautiful, and the Korean student I spoke to actually meant I should go at night, but I missed that part and went during the daytime instead). The island is small enough that you can walk around the entire thing in probably less than 30 minutes and it was pretty cool to be in the middle of the river.
After Nodeul Island, we came back to Sinchon to get Mexican food. I’ll admit, I’m not a frequent consumer of Mexican food and my most recent experiences with it consist of Taco Bell and Taco Bell alone. I got a quesadilla and actually thought it was quite good but my friends (who are from California and therefore much more experienced in the realm of quality Mexican food), said that it was slightly subpar.
Birthday in Seoul
I got to spend my 21st birthday in Seoul! Spring was in full bloom by this point and campus was so colorful wish all of the beautiful flowers. The day consisted of malatang for lunch (my favorite go-to meal), going to the Yonsei gym with a friend (only time I went to the gym during the whole semester), and then out to dinner at my favorite kbbq spot in Hongdae called Watsso. I like this spot especially because they have self-serve unlimited king oyster mushrooms, which taste amazing when grilled and dipped in sesame oil and salt. My friends also surprised me with a cake which was very nice.
Usually, 21st birthdays in America are exciting because that’s the age where you can legal drink and purchase alcohol. However, in Seoul the drinking age is 19 so I was already able to legally drink prior to my birthday. I think for this reason, the actual day didn’t feel as significant as I’d thought it would.
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