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!

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!! :)