(yes, that was a pun on the word "bleeding"... you're welcome)
2015년 07월 07일
After grabbing some breakfast at the dorm, myself and a group of the Immersion Program students decided to explore 홍대 (Hongdae) and, later that night, 이대 (Idae).
We had to take the subway a couple of stations just to get closer to the area and it ended up being a bit of a struggle for, of course, myself. While everyone else's T-money cards (what you load money onto for public transportation in Korea) worked fine getting through the gates, my T-money card refused to let me through even though it had 18,000 ₩ on it (roughly, ~18 USD). Thankfully, a kind 아줌마 (ahjumma - polite term for "old woman" in Korean) helped me get through the gate! Thus far, I still have not been in a situation where a Korean native has refused to help me or has been rude in doing so. They're very understanding and willing to explain things to foreigners as best as they can! :)
Once we arrived to our destination, we were walking aimlessly up and down the streets of Hongdae, trying to find something interesting to do at 11am in the morning. Because it was so hot, I recommended that we go to eat some 빙수 (bingsu, a Korean shaved ice dessert), While we were walking, I noticed an advertisement for bingsu that looked delicious, so we made our way down a set of stairs and into the “hole in the wall” cafe I discovered. Little did we know that we had chosen the BEST place for bingsu – a sheep café!!! After we ate our bingsu (we decided to buy melon flavored because there wasn’t much else to choose from), we were able to visit the sheep pen right outside to take pictures of the animals. The owner of the café, not overloaded with customers, even let us sit inside the pen with the sheep and feed them! They were too cute!
After the sheep café, we stopped by a few clothing stores in Hongdae. But, eventually, we split up and a few of us decided to explore something more interesting – Hongdae’s “Trick Eye Museum!" We took a bunch of silly photos in this house of optical illusions and were also able to visit the “Ice Box Room,” where it was kept at -5° Celsius (23° Farenheit). It was wonderful to help us cool off on this hot day, but we decided that it was a bit too cold only five minutes in to our exploration…
Later that night, after grabbing dinner back at the dorm again, another group of us decided to go explore Idae. We visited some make-up stores and a small café to grab some waffles, bingsu, and (for me) 맛있는 커피 (delicious coffee)! It was a great way to end our last day of freedom before academics began the following day.
2015년 07월 07일
After grabbing some breakfast at the dorm, myself and a group of the Immersion Program students decided to explore 홍대 (Hongdae) and, later that night, 이대 (Idae).
We had to take the subway a couple of stations just to get closer to the area and it ended up being a bit of a struggle for, of course, myself. While everyone else's T-money cards (what you load money onto for public transportation in Korea) worked fine getting through the gates, my T-money card refused to let me through even though it had 18,000 ₩ on it (roughly, ~18 USD). Thankfully, a kind 아줌마 (ahjumma - polite term for "old woman" in Korean) helped me get through the gate! Thus far, I still have not been in a situation where a Korean native has refused to help me or has been rude in doing so. They're very understanding and willing to explain things to foreigners as best as they can! :)
Once we arrived to our destination, we were walking aimlessly up and down the streets of Hongdae, trying to find something interesting to do at 11am in the morning. Because it was so hot, I recommended that we go to eat some 빙수 (bingsu, a Korean shaved ice dessert), While we were walking, I noticed an advertisement for bingsu that looked delicious, so we made our way down a set of stairs and into the “hole in the wall” cafe I discovered. Little did we know that we had chosen the BEST place for bingsu – a sheep café!!! After we ate our bingsu (we decided to buy melon flavored because there wasn’t much else to choose from), we were able to visit the sheep pen right outside to take pictures of the animals. The owner of the café, not overloaded with customers, even let us sit inside the pen with the sheep and feed them! They were too cute!
After the sheep café, we stopped by a few clothing stores in Hongdae. But, eventually, we split up and a few of us decided to explore something more interesting – Hongdae’s “Trick Eye Museum!" We took a bunch of silly photos in this house of optical illusions and were also able to visit the “Ice Box Room,” where it was kept at -5° Celsius (23° Farenheit). It was wonderful to help us cool off on this hot day, but we decided that it was a bit too cold only five minutes in to our exploration…
Later that night, after grabbing dinner back at the dorm again, another group of us decided to go explore Idae. We visited some make-up stores and a small café to grab some waffles, bingsu, and (for me) 맛있는 커피 (delicious coffee)! It was a great way to end our last day of freedom before academics began the following day.