Wrapping Up

Now that I'm back in Hawaii, I have had some time to reflect about my time abroad in Korea.  I had an amazing time and I learned so much in just four short months.  I met great people, ate fantastic food, went to really cool places, and got to play in the snow!

Above all else, I miss my friends the most!  A lot of them were American but the others were from places all over  the world.  They taught me so much about the world and my view of our country has changed quite a bit.  Going to Korea gave me the opportunity to see the US as someone not from the US.  This experience has helped me understand who I am as a person, not only as a student but in general too.

As a student, my study habits have changed a bit.  I find that I get the most work done when my friends are all hanging out when I'm at the library.  If I have things to do, I get them done a lot faster and more efficiently because I want to go hang out with them.  As a person, I have become more independent and I really don't like driving anymore, especially here in Hawaii!  I have come to love public transportation and cannot wait until Hawaii gets a good system of its own.

This is me and my friends in the lobby of our international dorm.

Ending the Semester

The friends and memories I made at Yonsei University in the short four-month semester spent there will be unforgettable!  During Finals week, my closer friend group had a final dinner in celebration of the semester coming to a close and also for Christmas!  We all pitched in some money to buy ingredients and cook dinner for everyone!

This is me in my friend's apron!  Throughout the semester, I always cooked and a lot of my friends didn't have a lot of cooking experience so I earned the nickname of Chef Huy!  :)

These are most of the people that I was close to.  I spent a lot of time with them, essentially every waking moment of every day.  Some are also from the US (California, North Carolina, Michigan, Georgia, Washington, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Wisconsin) and others were from all over the world (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Morocco).

 I will never forget them and I can't wait until I see them all again in the future!!

Noryangjin Fish Market [노량진 수산시장]

During Finals week, I went with a couple of friends to the Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul.  It was only about a 30 minute ride there from Yonsei and I am a little disappointed that I didn't go there earlier!! The fish were fresh and cheap! You can buy the seafood that you want from the market and someone will take you from the market to a restaurant where they prepare them for eating!

This entire plate of sashimi was only W10,000 (about $9 US).  Koreans don't eat tuna as much as salmon and some other type of fish so I definitely missed tuna and especially SPICY AHI!

We also bought 4 nakji (small octopus-like animals).  I had the restaurant cut two for eating the legs and just clean the other two to eat whole.  You can see the two whole ones in the bowl below.

And here are the cut up legs of the other two!

One friend and I wanted to try them whole since we had already eaten the legs before.  I thought I was prepared to eat it but got pretty nervous when I saw the eyes staring back at me!

 Before eating, you dip them in sesame oil and salt for flavor and to make them more lubricated so that their suction cups aren't too strong.  My friend's one went crazy when he dipped it in the sauce.

After dipping, you wrap their legs around chopsticks in order to make it easier to eat and to prevent the legs from going all over the place.  Once you put in in your mouth, make sure you chew very well! It can potentially be dangerous if you don't chew enough to kill it and break down the tentacles.

For the most part, eating it whole wasn't too bad until I bit the head and the inner juices came out.  I think I prefer the legs cut up!  The next time I go to Korea, I will definitely make it back to the Noryangjin Fish Market!

Busan Again [부산에 다시 갔어요~]

I enjoyed my trip to Busan a lot last time so I decided to go back down again.  From December 7 to 9, after my LSAT the week prior, I went back down to Busan with a group of friends and I had an awesome time again!  Here are some pictures from the trip:

We took the KTX (Korea Train eXpress), Korea's high-speed train system from Seoul to Busan and it was nice because it started snowing when we went!  This was part of my view from the ride down to Busan.

I went back to Jagalchi Fish Market and had some fun with the birds on the port!  I also got to eat sannakji, raw octopus, legs.  It was pretty good and a lot of foreigners enjoy eating them because it is something that you cannot find in other countries.

I also went back to Haeundae Beach and this time was a lot sunnier despite it being the winter. The water was colder than last time but surprisingly, a lot of people were still visiting the beach!

Even though Busan is Korea's second largest city, the night views of the city are still as nice as Seoul's.  This was in an area called Centum City, where Shinsaegae Department Store is located as well as the location for the Busan International Film Festival.

I also found this interesting statue in a park walking around the area!

We went to a really fancy Noraebang (Korean Karaoke).  We had paid for two hours of singing but somehow, we received five hours!  Five of us were only able to make it through three hours and the others stayed the whole time...it was very intense!

All in all, I really do enjoy Busan.  This trip was a great getaway and was so relaxing especially the weekend after taking my LSAT and two weeks before finals!