Culture class Friday: Buddhist Temple Visit!

This past Friday we went on another trip for culture class! This time we went to 속리산면, which is a Korean National Park that has a Buddhist temple and a few trails to hike. Camping is also an option there! It was very peaceful living the life of contemplation. I had a lot of deep and meaningful thoughts. We even saw a few Monks and one of them waved when he walked past us. It was really interesting looking around and seeing all of the Buddha statues and all of the Buddhists that came to practice their religion. It was a really pretty location too!

This is the giant Buddha and then there are a lot of little Buddhas within the buildings.

Here is one of the buildings with the little Buddhas. I would have taken a picture of the inside but picture taking was strictly prohibited, so here is the pretty outside of the building!

Here is the beautiful view of the mountains! I bet it is really pretty during the fall! 

Everland!!

This past weekend, I met up with Gil in Suwon and then we went to Everland together! Everland is the largest theme park in South Korea and is considered by many to be the Korean equivalent to Disney World.  It was a lot of fun!! Not only was it a beautiful day outside thanks to the sunshiny weather, but we went during the Tulip festival, which was awesome because they are my favorite flower!!

My favorite ride was called the T Express and Gil actually recorded me during the entire ride. It was the biggest and fastest ride there, which is why the wait was so long. We stood in line for two hours but the wait was definitely worth it!!  The T Express can be seen in the distance of the photo below. It is the wooden roller coaster with the really steep drop at the very beginning.

At the end of the night right before Everland closed, we watched the fireworks display together. They were so pretty and it was a great way to end the night! I had a lot of fun!! Thank you Gil for planning such a fun day to spend with me!! It was amazing!! : )

North Korea Continued

The threats of North Korea are growing worse and I am sure that the U.S. media is not making things better for anyone wondering about my safety while in South Korea, which is why I would like to post another message on the current situation. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul has been keeping all of the American citizens signed up with the state departments S.T.E.P. program updated on the current situation between North and South Korea. I have been notified that with all of the threats coming from North Korea, I am not in any imminent danger, but to be prepared in the case of an emergency. All of the exchange students at Korea University have been notified and told what to do in the case of an attack, so you can feel a little bit more relaxed at the idea that we do have a plan if the times call for it. However, I can assure you that from my first hand experience of living in South Korea, I still feel safe. I am constantly keeping up with the current events happening in North Korea under the Kim regime and I can tell you that it is a very exciting and interesting time to be a North Koreanology major in South Korea. However, I just want to remind everyone that I am safe and still having fun while in Korea! Thank you for all of your concerns! Love you all!! :)

Membership Training!

This past weekend, I had a wonderful adventure with all of my Semi-Classic friends! We went to MT, which is Membership Training for Semi-Classic. MT for Semi-Classic took place on an Island called 안면도, which is on the west coast of Korea. Most of the weekend was rainy so we did not spend very much time outdoors but we were able to visit the beach for a little while even though it was freezing cold!! However, the purpose of Membership Training is to create friendships within the Semi-Classic club by getting to know everyone better! We played many Korean games which were a lot of fun even if they were challenging due to the fact that they were all in Korean. However, our teammates were very nice and helpful when it came to translating the rules for us foreigners. We ate and drank to follow the Korean cultural customs and traditions and I even got to experience leading my first FM!! FM is an introduction cheer that is led by one person and all in Korean and it was so much fun!! I just have to memorize it now!! I wish I had pictures to post but maybe I can get some sent to me to post later. I ended up growing closer to a lot of amazing people and had a ton of fun! I am ready for the next practice to come to see them all again!