Landed in Seoul: Days 1-14

Hi everyone, welcome to Jamie's Journal! I am so excited to discuss my first two weeks in Seoul, South Korea. One of my goals going into this study abroad was to make the most of everyday, and that quickly became my motto in the first week. You might hear a lot about myself and my roommate, Christina, as we spent most of our time in Korea together.

Starting off with our departure date on February 15th, I was honestly really nervous to dive into this new adventure. It was my first time being away from home for so long, as well as traveling internationally without family. While holding back tears at the airport, I said goodbye to my family and boarded the plane with Christina. I had a lot of great conversations with past Freeman Scholars that homesickness in a different country is a real problem. I thought it best that we fly out on our own to adjust to this new change, rather than our families flying up with us and then dealing with that goodbye afterwards.

We planned to come to Seoul a week before classes started to get a feel of how the city would be like for the rest of our four months. I was more than happy to get our travels started in Myeongdong. While it is known as more of a tourist destination, it was fun for both of us as it was our first time in Korea. We enjoyed exploring the area and lots of other popular bits of Seoul. My main highlights:

Myeongdong

Banana Milk at CU, Mirror Selfies, Cute Character Shops, Photobooths, Shopping Till We Drop

Gangnam

Color Analysis, 413 Studio Cafe, Starfield Coex (Starfield Library & Coex Aquarium), Sky Seoul Tower, Aqua Garden

Gapyeong

Nami Island, Garden of Morning Calm

Sinchon

Yonsei Campus, Yonsei New Student Orientation

Seongsu

Juno Hair, Salt Bread, Pop-Ups, Bakeries, More Shopping

Hongdae

Melting Of Cafe, Analogue Photobooth, Nail Appointment, Making Friendship Rings, Claw Machines

Korean Folk Village

Day-tour provided by Yonsei University! We signed up at New Student Orientation.