Trip to Busan
I took a trip to Busan from February 22nd to 25th. Busan is the second largest city in Korea and located all the way on the southern coast of the country. The primary methods of transportation there are plane or train, but I opted for the train. I purchased tickets through the KoRail app, which came out to about $45 USD each way there and back.
I spent most of my time with my friend Seohyun, who I’d actually met the previous semester through the International Business Organization’s buddy program, which pairs international students and local students together as “buddies.” Last semester, Seohyun was an exchange student at UH Manoa from Yonsei University and now this semester we’ve swapped places.
While in Busan, the weather was quite cold, windy, and rainy, which is not the most ideal for visiting a coastal city known for beautiful ocean views. Nevertheless, I had an enjoyable few days there, filled with sightseeing and tasty foods. Highlights included Museum Dah, Shinsegae Department Store, Haeundae Blue Line Park, Gamcheon Culture Village, and Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.
First Days on Campus and Classes
Yonsei has a beautiful campus, even in the winter with the dead trees. I’m very excited to see the campus with leaves on the branches and vines on the walls.
I’m currently taking four classes for a total of twelve credits. Three of them will transfer back to Shidler as business credits, as required by the Freeman Scholarship (thank you Freeman Foundation!), and one of them is a beginner level Korean language class that will not transfer back for credits (I think?).
Yonsei Course | Shidler Credit Equivalent |
BIZ 2121 - Production and Operations Management | ITM 322 - Supply Chain Processes |
IEE 1154 - Korean Popular Culture & Korean Wave | BUS 367I - Business Study Abroad (for international business credit) |
IEE 3328 - International Business Communication | BUS 367G - Business Study Abroad (for management credit) |
IEE 3341 - Korean 1 | n/a |
Food Explorations
With having found and made new friends in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able and motivated to try a lot more foods. I’ve resolved to start tallying the amount of times I eat malatang, ramen, and kbbq so I can see how many times I’ve eaten these things here throughout the whole semester.
Food highlights of the past few weeks include:
Rain Report - cafe in Itaewon known for its fake rain. I would have enjoyed this cafe more if the actual weather was not also rainy. I used to think I loved rainy weather but I have come to the conclusion that I think I do not. Too much of a good thing, you know. Anyway, we tried a cake sampler with eight of their signature desserts and it was delicious.
Kbbq - to be completely honest, it’s not my absolute favorite and I don’t love how it leaves me and my clothes smelling smoky afterwards. However, I know I definitely will be eating a lot of it here, especially in social settings. Got to take advantage of it before I go back to $40 kbbq at home.
Pasta - I tried one pasta place in Sinchon and it was weirdly sweet. If you didn’t know already, a lot of food in Korea such as chips, pizza, and pasta, that in America are usually meant to be savory and salty, end up having a strange sweetness to them. My American tastebuds are not a fan.
Snacks
Soda crackers (saltines?) - I have been eating a LOT of soda crackers lately. My desire for some bland filling carbs has been at an all-time high. Fortunately the CU convenience store near my goshiwon has been selling them at a buy 2, get 1 free rate.
Grape gummies - I have been sampling many types of grape gummies. So far my favorite has been the Japanese Kororo(?) brand, with a fake edible grape “skin” encasing the soft jelly.
Yonsei cafeteria - LOVE it here. The food is reasonably priced (about 5,500 won for a meal) and there are free sides like kimchi and broth available.
Ramen - I had ramen twice in the past two weeks. Pretty standard.
Bingsu - Had a LOT of bingsu (shoutout Sulbing). Apple mango cheese was an interesting choice but surprisingly enjoyable.
AYCE tteokbokki - there’s a place near Ewha University and I felt very carbohydrate-filled afterwards. It was delicious though. I love cheese tteokbokki.
Lessons in Caffeine
I don’t know what they put in Korean coffee but something about the caffeine here keeps me up to 3 am even if I’m only drinking it at 10 am. Maybe it’s because my tolerance has gone down since I’m not chugging 2-3 Redbulls a day anymore. In any case, I’ve been trying to cut down on caffeine consumption and switch to tea instead. With Korea’s huge cafe culture, it’s easy to drink a lot of coffee but I’ve been trying to consciously decide to drink fruit-ades instead. My go-to has been green grape ade, or shine muscat ade. I’ve also been loving strawberry matchas.
More Sightseeing
Before classes started, I took a day trip to Suwon with a friend. We visited the newly opened Starfield Library, which was so beautiful to look at and the walls filled floor to ceiling with real books. The library was located in Starfield Mall, which was gigantic and filled with all kinds of shops and food places. Afterwards we headed to Hwaseong Fortress, which is a wall that surrounds the center of Suwon and provided amazing views of the city, especially at sunset.
I also visited the National Museum of Korea. I definitely want to visit more museums before the weather warms up. I feel like museums are the perfect activity especially for cold, rainy, staying-indoors weather. Depending what kind of person you are, it’s definitely possible to spend the entire day there. I’m the kind of person who likes to stop and read the lengthy descriptions under each artifact, which can be a problem if it’s a museum as large as this, with so many exhibits to see. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for the sake of time), a lot of the descriptions were only in Korean, hindering my ability to stop and read everything. My friend and I marveled over the Hanja calligraphy pieces, with immaculate strokes and attention to detail that seemed too perfect to be really hand drawn. There were also exhibits for Chinese, Japanese, Mesopotamian, and Greco-Roman history. The museum was free for entry and from the outside features a view of Namsan Tower on non-cloudy days.
Esim Troubles
I have an iPhone 14 pro so I purchased an esim before I arrived in Korea from Chingu Mobile. About three weeks in, it randomly stopped working. Like it would just not pick up any signal and showed “No Service” even after repeated attempts to turn it on and off again, turn my phone on and off again, turn airplane mode on and off, etc. I went to the Chingu Mobile store near Ewha Woman’s University but they were supremely unhelpful and told me to go through their customer service chatroom instead. I ended up having to get a new plan with a new number, so hopefully this one doesn’t die on me either. Other than this not-so-minor hiccup, I think I would recommend Chingu Mobile for the most part. It seems decently reliable and has a strong signal in most places.
Overall
The past two weeks have been filled with new friends, food, and adventures. The weather has remained similarly freezing but I look forward to sunny days ahead!