Chapter 10: 드디어 겨울 방학이다! (It’s Finally Winter Break!)
Ok, well the title is kind of a lie since I started my intensive internship period a week ago. But it was winter break for a glorious two weeks (not that I don’t absolutely love my Korean class, but my brain can only take so many presentations and debates and readings and…ugh), and I am now here to tell you what I’ve been up to!
Once again, another shoutout to my loyal readers. I can’t imagine waiting for an update for so long is too terribly pleasant, so thanks for sticking with me!
Where to even begin?
Well, I’ll give you a short summary of how my semester wrapped up.
For my Korean language class, instead of a final exam we had a 30-minute presentation on a topic relating to Korean society or a problem within Korea society. For my presentation, I chose the over-marketing of K-pop idols (I have some beef with BTS’ company but we’re not going to get into that right now). Overall, I think the presentation went well, despite preparations being a real pain. I ended with an A+ in that class, so of course I can’t complain.
I also managed to obtain a B+ in my Korean language education class??? Not sure if my professor was just taking pity on me for being the only exchange student or what, because I know for a fact that the report I wrote for the final was not the best. I gave it all my effort, don’t get me wrong, but there’s only so much I can do with my limited Korean skills to make a comprehensive and logical and 7 page report. But anyways, that class was pass/fail and I most definitely passed, so we’re happy.
Finally, my Korean linguistics class also ended in success despite me not having watched the last half a semester’s worth of lectures (It was optional. And I was busy…)
So while this semester was hard, I like to think that my hard work paid off. I don’t know how the next semester will go, but all we can do is wait and see I suppose.
My semester officially ended on December 17, a Friday, and to celebrate 16 weeks of blood, sweat and tears, our little program had an end of the year party along with a Secret Santa (or 마니또 (maniddo) in Korean). Not only that, but one of our teachers is going on maternity leave, so we also prepared some small gifts for her. All in all, a good time!
After that, I’m pretty sure I spent that entire weekend literally not getting out of bed except to maybe go get food once or twice. But even then, delivery here is so easy, so there was absolutely no incentive for me to leave my room. Spending a whole 24 hours in bed was honestly one of my life goals, which I achieved probably a total of five times over break as I finally gave my mind and body a rest. It was much needed.
But don’t worry. I still went out and did stuff. Especially since it was the week leading up to Christmas, I was determined to get out and see some Christmas decorations and also do my favorite activity of walking around malls and just generally watching the chaos but not getting directly involved. You know what I mean? I’m just there to get my steps in. I’ll leave the frantic last-minute shopping to other people.
Ugh, I love Christmas lights. So magical.
And of course, as I’m sure you guessed, I also was sure to get out and visit a few parks to walk around. My parents also gifted me with a Fitbit for Christmas, so I have become obsessed with getting my 10k steps in every day.
One stop I made was to World Cup Park on Christmas Eve. I was on a bit of a time crunch and so didn’t have the opportunity to see all of the park because it’s absolutely massive. I was there for maybe 2 hours, but even then I’m sure I only saw a fraction of it. It was cold and snowing and a bit dreary, but it was still a really relaxing time.
I also saw this cat literally as soon as I arrived and took that to be a sign of good luck!
On the first Monday of break, I also made it a goal to go walk along the Han River again, since it’s just so pretty and a really relaxing place. I ended up finding a path that was void of bikers, so that also significantly put my mind at ease as the fear of being run over at any moment was eliminated.
Before going to the Han River, I decided to go to the Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun and buy myself a Christmas present. I had watched the Peanuts Christmas special (as I do every year) and suddenly found myself falling in love once again with that timeless cartoon, so I went and bought this art book about Peanuts from the bookstore! The explanations are in Korean but the comics are still in English? It’s quite funny, but I was very satisfied with my purchase. I didn’t take any pictures of the bookstore, regrettably, so here are some Google images…
And here’s the book I bought!
I also took a trip back to Seoul Forest with a friend. This time, I actually saw the infamous deer that I had only heard about but could never find for some reason. I don’t know how that was possible, consiering there were signs everywhere, but oh well. We got to see them, which is all that matters. There was also just a random enclosure of rabbits as well? Weird, but insanely cute. I could have stayed and watched them for hours, but my friend insisted we had other things to do. Maybe I’ll go back there tomorrow…
On Christmas Eve, my friend and I went to a wine bar(?) in Itaewon (이태원) and then walked to get dessert at a random little cafe. Regrettably, I did not get a picture of our dinner, but it was a bottle of wine, some kimchi fried rice and curry udon. Absolutely delicious.
But below you can find a picture of the dessert. Oriiginally, we were going to go to this famous donut shop in Hannam-dong (한남동), the ‘rich people place,’ but they were literally completely sold out of donuts? At 6 PM? I guess since it was Christmas Eve I kind of get it, but still??
On Christmas Day, I video called my family and we opened gifts together. It was 9 AM Christmas Day for me and 6 PM Christmas Eve for them. It was definitely different, but I really appreciated that we were able to spend time together (albeit virtually) during the holidays. I was mostly sad as I watched my cat walk around in the background and came to the realization that I couldn’t pet them, but it’s fine. I’m totally fine.
After our call ended, I went with the same friend to go get Christmas brunch at a little (I’m talking 4-tables-in-the-entire-shop little) place all the way on the other side of Seoul. It was totally worth it though, seeing as I had some of the best French toast I’ve ever eaten and bacon, which I didn’t realize I had missed that much.
After that, we parted ways to go do our own things and I made an impulsive stop back to the Lotte Mall in Myeongdong to go to the Lotte Duty Free Star Avenue to quell my fangirl needs.
A couple days after that (after I spent all of the day after Christmas once again not getting out of bed because why not?) I met up with my friend from UW (who’s been my Korean tutor for the last 3 years) and we went to go walk around the Express Bus Terminal (고속터미널) for the day. Now, you may be thinking, what’s so great about a place where busses come in? Well, it’s not just a bus terminal, but it also has a mall connected to it along with some underground (literally “under the ground” underground, not like “shady” underground) markets.
Funny story: We were supposed to meet a 12 PM, but I ended up getting so lost in one of the markets that we ended up meeting closer to 1 as I wasted time trying to find my friend. I was embarrassed to say the least, but at least I didn’t end up having to live in the underground market forever with no way out.
Two days after that, I spent the entire day treating myself and going to birthday cafes for one of the BTS members. If you remember my adventures back in 2019, literally nothing has changed. Love that I can indulge myself to my heart’s content here with minimal judgement (maybe).
Between all of that, I mostly spent my time taking walks, going to the gym and reading (in English. Haha sorry) to my heart’s content. I feel very recharged and ready to get back to it when class starts up again. Not looking forward to the inevitable stress to come, but I will do my best to manage! This year is a fresh start, and I’m going to do everything in my power to enjoy the rest of my time here and not let my studies consume me like I normally let them do.
But that’s not the end of this post!
We’ve now fast forwarded to the intensive internship period of winter break, which basically just means that I work at my internship from 10–5 every day (minus weekends obviously) for two weeks. A week has already passed, and even within those five days I’ve gotten to do lots of fun things!
My one friend is currently making a video about architecture in Seoul, and so recruited me and another intern to help him film at the actual sites he mentioned in the article he originally wrote. So I got to go to Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) for the first time, which is a little residential area that still has the traditional style Korean houses from a long long time ago. I can’t imagine how much it costs to live there, but it’s really pretty!
There was also a little gacha machine that cost 1,000 won (about a dollar) to get your fortune for the year! You used the machine based on your zodiac sign, so I did the one for the year of the rabbit. I still have yet to read the fortune (it’s a lot of Korean) but it was a cute concept!
I also got to go to Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) again. If you remember, back in 2019 I went with a friend from UW who was visiting and we rented hanbok and went to take pictures.
Well, since it’s winter, I wasn’t really in the mood to rent hanbok, so we just went to look around at the buildings and architecture. Despite having already gone twice, I want to go again and rent hanbok for a second time. A past intern form VANK offered to come along and give an explanation of the history of the palace, which I think I’ll definitely accept because walking around was actually really interesting and there were a lot of questions that came to mind. History has never been my favorite, nor my strong suit, but walking around in a place that’s been around for centuries, even I couldn’t help but be fascinated.
We also arrived just in time to watch the changing of the guard at Gwanghwamun, and I’m really sad that Medium doesn’t let me post video because it was quite cool :(
My last part of this update is in regards to something that is of the utmost importance and that is…
My 23rd birthday!
Just kidding. I never usually like to make a fuss on this day, but it was weird with this being the first time I’d be celebrating without my family, considering I’m usually home on winter break. But my friends were sure to make it a memorable time here.
My internship even prepared a cake for me on Thursday when we were all in the office and wrote nice messages to me, which was really sweet of them. They take care of their interns and other staff well, which is something I am very appreciative of.
My actual birthday was when we went to Gyeongbokgung, so that’s how I spent my morning. Then that night, my friend had made reservations for a Thai food restaurant and had also prepared a small cake that was mugwort (쑥) flavored. Don’t knock it ’til you try it. It’s delicious. But it was a really great night, so I’m thankful for them for going through all the effort to make my day special!
Side note: the restaurant we went to was up a very steep hill, so we got a nice pre-dinner workout (climbing up maybe 20 flights of stairs…). But the view was more than worth it, and we ate our dinner in front of a large window overlooking the city. Quite lovely.
On top of all of that, a few of my friends also gifted me various gift cards for cafes, so I am currently writing this blog post while enjoying a piece of cake and an iced Americano (which, surprisingly, I don’t hate?)
So overall, it was a good birthday, and I’m very thankful for this opportunity to be in Korea as well as the wonderful people in my life. I’ve done a surprising amount of self-reflection over this winter break and have come to discover a lot of things about myself and my life, both good and bad.
So here’s looking forward to a great spring semester and a great last half of this program. I’m already slightly dreading the end, but I intend to do everything I can to enjoy this time while I have it.
I will now leave you with some random pictures that I couldn’t fit within the larger narrative of this post, and wish you a happy new year and good start to your 2022!
That’s it for this update! Until next time~
