My Trip to the North AKA My AMAZING Adventure to South Korea

Wow, long title.. and warning! This WILL be a long post.

Seems like I was waiting for this vacation forever. It's what got me through Ramadan and all the slow days when I wanted to pull out my hair. The thought of escape! Hah no, more like the idea of an adventure. I never thought I would go to South Korea - maybe pass through the airport at one time or another - but actually seeing parts of South Korea.. never. Luckily one of my really good friends from college, Jordan, is teaching English there. Long story short, I bought tickets to visit, pretty much on a whim - best idea ever.

 Day of my flight, I had to go to school before heading into Surabaya and ALL the teachers knew I was leaving. I think only one teacher said be careful and the rest told me to bring back gifts. Kinda annoying but whatever. I get to the airport and my flight ends up being almost an hour late.I was sure it was going to be cancelled and my trip would be over before it started. My friend Erin told me to calm down and that I was on vacation. Haha. So yeah, finally we left. I got to Kuala Lumpur - got some more stamps in my passport, and then continued on to South Korea.

Once there, I took an Express train to the train station in Seoul and then took a 3 hour train to Busan, where Jordan lives. Seoul is in the north, fairly close to the 38th parallel, while Busan is in the south by the Sea. I tried to sleep on the train, but I was too excited.

On the express train to the train station

views of the station in Seoul, it was huge!

After meeting up with Jo, we took the subway to her apartment and then we went to get some food. We went to a fast food Korean place and I got to try Kimchi for the first time. I love Korean food. Jo went to work and I napped. later that night I met up with her and 2 other teachers, Sabrina and Afua, and we went to have some food and drinks. We ended up at their friend's resturant, had some wine and I got to know some of Jo's friends. After finishing the night at another bar, we headed back to the apartment.

view from the apartment

inside the apartment

view at night

The next day we walked around and I got to see places around where she lives. Later, when Jordan went to work, I walked around by myself in the area around her school. I was a little afraid I would get lost and have no way to contact anyone/ I can't speak Korean... but it ended up being nice to walk around and see some things.

yum! breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit

awesome coffee place called Droptop

city around where jordan lives

part of my walk around the city

We went to a burrito place for dinner, which resembled Chipotle (I know! Not Korean, but anything besides Indonesian... it was good) Saturday, Jordan and I celebrated our homecoming. This would have been the second homecoming we could have gone to as Alum, but seeing as we were both far away, we decided to make due. We started around 12 and I got to meet a bunch more of her friends. It was a good time and good drinks were consumed (don't judge.. I don't drink all that much). It was a fun night.

before going out

at the beach

having fun with billboards

this is haeundae

some korean beer..

jordan switched over to green tea..

me with one of jordan's korean friends

sorry it's blurry but this dinner was AWESOME

devoured

Sunday we went to see Beomosa Temple. There are a lot of cool buildings and ares for people to pray. The scenery was amazing. The leaves were starting to change and it made me a little homesick since autumn is my favorite season.

We decided last minute to take a cable car up the other side of the mountain that this temple was on. The view was amazing. I thought being up high would make me freak out but it wasn't that bad. At the top there is a bunch of nature (hah) so we walked around for a little but. On the way down they packed as many people as they could into the little cable car.. Always a fun experience :)

That night we had Korean BBQ (not quite sure why its call that.. maybe because of the grill?) It was the best food I had had so far. It was SO good! For those who don't know what it is, you cook the meat (and/or veggies) at your table and there are a ton of things you can dip the meat in. And of course there was Kimchi (AHHHHHH!) Love that stuff!

Afterwards we went to this really cute coffee shop called J Square. Jordan got a drink and then her friend decided he wanted to come and say hello. So he came and then we walked around for a little bit and then ended the night with some awesome deserts.

The next day, we went to the world's biggest department store. We walked around, and had lunch. It was interesting (sorry no photos.. kinda just looked like a mall but it was a department store 6 or 7 floors..) The next day, a Tuesday, my last full day in Korea, we went to the market by Jordan's apartment. It was very different from the markets here in Indonesia. It didn't smell quite as bad which was surprising because there was a ton of fish everywhere.

Later that day, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do while Jordan was at work. I found a temple that was by the water and it looked pretty neat online so I thought why not. I got a little turned around once I got off the bus, but heck! for not knowing the language, I think I did pretty well! It was a really nice temple.

Finally Wednesday, we went shopping for gifts. Before parting ways on the subway though, we decided to visit Busan tower. It was pretty cool.

Then I went to the train station and ventured back to Indonesia. It's hard to believe that the week is already over. I had a great time and will totally go back to Korea if I am ever given the chance. Now I have one more vacation to look forward to with this guy:

My friend Adam

and then! I will have 5 months left (starting in January). It's crazy how time flies!

I plan on posting again next week so check back! I promise it'll be interesting!

LOVE YOU ALL! :)