Seoul, South Korea

Two years ago, at college in California, I signed up to be a "conversation partner" for some Korean students who were learning to speak English. My friend and I signed up together and we were assigned the most hilarious Korean students, Jay and Jun. We met once a week so Jay and Jun could practice their English by speaking with us. We took them to have burgers and they took us to eat Korean food, we took them to starbucks to chat and they took us to sing karaoke. The four of us had a great time together and were often joined by their friend Don as well. I remember saying to them, "maybe someday I'll come visit you in Korea." I'm sure they thought, "yeah right, she'll never come." But Jun and I kept in touch and here I am in Korea!



Jun made a ton of sacrifices to hang out with me while I visited and I will forever be grateful. He went around the city to check out the guest houses to make sure I was staying at a nice place, he took a week off of work (which is all the vacation they have in Korea for an entire year!), and he took me to see a bunch of really cool places. He even let me drag him to a Korean cultural show which was amazing! Thank you, Jun! If you're reading.



I really liked Seoul. It was a huge city with lots to see. And lots of shopping! Jun took me to a bunch of cool places for shopping: Itaewon, Myongdong, Inchon, etc. And I am definitely at maximum capacity with my luggage now. Jun and I also went to some really cool palaces and a Korean traditional village. We went to their big space needle structure and saw the famous 63 story building that is the tallest in Korea. We also took a fun cruise on the Han River. I enjoyed the Korean cuisine. Be bim bop and chop chay are my favorites along with egg soup. I tried to master chop sticks and eating while sitting cross legged on the floor. I really enjoyed the Korean culture.

Taking the train to Daejeon for the day and visiting my friend Nikole was a definite highlight of the trip. She is teaching there and it seems like a really cool community in that area. All her friends there are super fun and it got me thinking about a possible opportunity for my future...

Another super cool and random thing happened one day in Seoul. Jun and I were walking around and were stopped by a couple of guys with a video camera. They were talking to Jun in Korean and it seemed like they were asking to film him and telling him what to do for the camera. I said, "Jun, you should go for it!" And he said, "No, they want you to do it!" Turns out they were working for some Korean organization that exists to help foreigners traveling around Korea. In case they have an emergency or a medical or legal problem, they can call this company and get help with the language barrier and all that. So I stood in the middle of the street and pretended to talk on a cell phone while they filmed me and apparently are going to use it on thier website. :-) Basically, I'm a famous actress over in Korea now, so I should be treated accordingly.

All in all, my week in Korea was fantastic! Thanks to Jun and Jay for letting me come for a visit!