CNBLUE CONCERT~~!!! :)

On May 25th, I went to the CNBlue concert at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul. It was a lot of fun and I got to go with some pretty awesome people! I went with Gil, Charles, and Tara! Their opening song for the concert was amazing and we had standing floor tickets so we were pretty close to the stage! They even did an encore which was also very nice!! They are very talented musicians and it was an amazing opportunity to be able to go to their concert and see them live! I wish you could have been there with me, Lauren! I know you love them!! It was a fun day in Seoul and then afterwards I went to Suwon to hang out with Gil and his best friend! I love CNBlue but maybe next time I will be able to see my most favorite group, B.A.P (Best Absolute Perfect) perform live!!

Yeah! They are awesome!! :)

Breaking News: DMZ excitement!!

I get to go to the DMZ this Friday for my last culture class trip of this semester! I am so excited since it was the number one thing on my Korean bucket list!! I will leave another blog post after Friday so I can talk about my experience in more detail later! Thank you for keeping an interest in my travels around Korea and reading my blog!! :)

Open House at Korea University!

May 20th-22nd was Open House at Korea University. It was kind of like a mini festival on campus. Let me explain the fact that the dorm life here at Korea University is very different than dorm life at Central Michigan University. Here in Korea the dorms are not co-ed, they are split so there is a boy side and then a girl side and the opposite sex is not allowed on the other sides. Also, if you live off campus you are not allowed in the dorms, because we are not allowed to have visitors. In addition to these differences, we have a curfew at midnight which is really annoying. Therefore, it is safe to say that living on Korea University's campus is way more restrictive than living on the campus of Central Michigan University and definitely hard to adjust to. I am actually still trying to adjust to it and I have been here for just over 3 months.

Therefore, this relates to the Open House and all of the festivities connected to it, because on the first day it really was like an open house. Everyone who lives in the dorms could go anywhere they wanted to in any of the dorms to see the differences between all of the dorms and it even gave people the opportunity to play tricks on other people. Semi-Classic was not successful, thanks to a nice warning I received from a good friend of mine that heard about the schemes of the Semi-Classic members. However, I had class the entire time so I was not able to participate in playing tricks on anyone.

Later that night they brought in a DJ and it was like a club on campus for everyone to just dance and have a good time. This event helped extend our curfew until 1am. It was fun but tiring.

On the next two days there were more booths to look at and games to play to win fun prizes. During the night there was a concert with some Korea University bands and then a professional group called Dynamic Duo. They were pretty good and we were even given money from the ITS office for food and drinks so we had a party for free. Then there were the awesome Korea University cheerleaders that led us in Korean cheers. And Korean cheer leading is also different from American cheer leading in terms of Korean cheer leading is not just chanting, it is more like them leading the school in cheer songs about how awesome Korea University is in comparison to Yonsei University. One of my really good Korean friends is actually a Korea University Cheer Captain!! Here are some pictures to follow up this long blog post.

B.J. my cheer leading captain friend!!

Another picture of Captain B.J.

Rehearsal for the Cheer leading of Korea University!

Dynamic Duo! 

While Dynamic Duo was performing! 

All of the members of ITS that participated in Open House!

Hiking in Seoul!

On the weekend of May 4th, I went to Seoul with my Korean friend May. She had to volunteer for a children's festival so I figured that I would tag along and just go exploring in Seoul while she was volunteering! Across the river from the festival I found some nice trails to hike and do some exploring in the Korean wilderness! It was nice and relaxing! The flowers were all in bloom, even the Tulips, which are my favorite flowers!

The path to cross the river!

The beginning of the hiking trails lined with beautiful flowers!

My lovely Tulips!

The waterfall I found while exploring! 

My friend May volunteering to teach children about the importance of water conservation! 

The 2013 Lotus Lantern Festival!!

On May 11th I went to Seoul to experience the 2013 Lotus Lantern Festival, which is a celebration that takes place the weekend before Buddha's birthday! This year Buddha's birthday was on Friday, May 17th so the festival took place May 10th-12th. Here is a link to read more about the different events that took place at this year's Lotus Lantern Festival. I went to the Lotus Lantern Parade and it was awesome to watch. The light up dragon was my favorite part. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

My favorite picture!! :) 

Blog Apology

I apologize that I have not been able to blog in a while. I had a big presentation to prepare for but hopefully I can get everything updated by the end of the night or by morning for everyone in America! Have a wonderful day!! I love you all!! :)

Happy Suwon!!! :)

A question that I get from a lot of my friends back home in America is "What is your favorite part of/and or place in Korea?" Well I would like to answer that question now! Most people would probably assume that Seoul is my favorite city since it has so much to offer, but my favorite place in Korea is actually a city called Suwon, which is about 30 minutes by train south of Seoul. This also ties into one of my favorite experiences in Korea, which was going to Hwaseong Fortress, which is located in Suwon! I also spend a lot of time in Suwon and occasionally get to experience a homestay with a lovely and very kind Korean family!  I took a day trip to Suwon during midterm exams on April 24th, with one of my closest friends here, Charlotte, but I call her Charles :) and we went exploring around the city and throughout Hwaseong Fortress. We found a nice spot in Hwaseong Fortress, to sit and talk about life. It was wonderful because we were surrounded by the wonders of Korean nature with the sun shining nice and bright and the flowers in full bloom. It was a beautiful sight and we even got some yummy Suwon strawberries! Suwon is a great place and if you ever come to Korea, I definitely recommend that you visit Hwaseong Fortress as well as the city of Suwon!! 

It is Happy Suwon!! Where Gil is from! And it is happier than Seoul!! :)

Here is a picture of part of Suwon from Hwaseong Fortress! 

 Here is a building within the walls of Hwaseong Fortress! It is pretty!

My picture with Charles!! We were at Suwon station waiting for the train to go to Jochiwon!