Travel Back Through Time to Gyeongbokgung Palace

Hello, my lovely friends!

It has been quite some time since I last wrote in this blog. I had been pretty much occupied with final exams, but now that they are over, I am back to tell you more of my adventures in Korea! There have been a lot going on and I had some of the most wonderful days ever in my life. Especially now that I already left Korea, I started to appreciate every little thing I had spent in the remaining days before I went back to Indonesia.

The international office of Dankook University held a farewell party for all the international students on 18 June. It was sad to know that all of us would return to our own countries, but at the same time happy that I got to make friends with such awesome people! I will write a separate post about it later.

Okay, that’s enough of being emotional. This time, I am going to take you back through time to Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul!

Advertisements

How It’s Like to Study in South Korea

Hello, lovely peeps!

If you’ve read some of my recent posts and are following me on Twitter, you will know that I’m currently in South Korea. But I’m not here for a holiday; I’m here joining a student exchange program in Dankook University. And in this opportunity, I’d like to share my experiences in studying abroad in this country! I’ve read some bloggers talk about their life in university and they inspired me to write one of my own experiences.

As I’m writing this blog post, I’m currently in my second year of university and next semester I will be in the third year. I’m studying Industrial Engineering at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in Indonesia’s “second city”, Surabaya. I don’t even know how I suddenly got interested in Industrial Engineering, considering that my parents and grandparents aren’t in that field at all. But so far I’m enjoying my study and I really like it. I’ll tell you later in a separate post about my study in Industrial Engineering ITS!

[Wep’s Korea Life] Wonderful Experiences at Icheon Ceramics Festival

My interest for ceramics all started when I saw an advertisement about a ceramics festival in the subway. I was on the way to Nami Island when I noticed the poster, saying “2018 Gwangju Ceramics Festival”. My knowledge about Korean ceramics was just limited to what I had seen in some Korean dramas then, and little did I know that there was such a festival. In fact, I did not even know that there were ceramic festivals in any part of the world. I just knew that ceramic villages existed as home to ceramic artists, like the Kasongan Village in Yogyakarta.

Before coming to Korea, I set a resolution for myself, which was to learn and experience things that I wouldn’t be able to get in Indonesia. So when I saw the ceramics festival poster, there was a sudden spark of interest inside me that told me to go. I started to look for information about the Gwangju Ceramics Festival on the internet with the help of my Korean friends, because some of the websites were in Korean. Oh, anyway, it was the Gwangju city in Gyeonggi Province, not the big metropolitan city Gwangju.

I had been all excited about the Gwangju Ceramics Festival when I came across an information about a bigger and more popular festival, the Icheon Ceramics Festival! I quickly learned that Icheon is a city that is rich and well-known for its ceramics. It has its own Icheon Ceramics Village, which became the center of traditional pottery during the Joseon Dynasty for about 500 years, because of the easily obtained materials in the area.

[Wep’s Korea Life] A Trip to Winter Sonata Filming Site, Nami Island

When you think about Korea, the first thing that comes to mind would probably be Jeju-do. Or it may be K-pop, if you are a huge fan or if you have friends who are into K-pop music. It depends on how you see the country is and how well you know this country. But if you are a fan of Korean dramas and you have watched the Winter Sonata drama, the first thing that pops up in your mind would most likely be Nami Island. Yep, the very filming site for Winter Sonata, Nami Island!

Nami Island is a small island located on the extension (North) of Han River in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The shape of the island resembles a half-moon and it was formed as a result of the Cheongpyeong Dam construction. With its lovely lined pine and redwood trees and a large grass field for training activities and camping, Nami Island is surely a wonderful tourist destination that’s worth a visit.

[Wep’s Korea Life] Shopping Paradise in Seoul!

Whether you are Miss Fashionista who is always all about her looks and who cannot control herself over sale items in department stores, Miss Nerd who doesn’t care much about anything but studying and books and dreams, Miss Adventurous who is into sports, hiking, camping, and games and who doesn’t really have time to think about how she looks, or any other type of girl in Marcella Purnama’s 13 types of girl list, clothes shopping is undeniably an essential part of your life. You may shop for comfy t-shirts you’d wear at home, a new dress for an upcoming event, or you probably just want some new pretty clothes to wear. There are various places to shop, from department stores and boutiques to retail grocery stores.

But, shopping in the streets of Seoul, home to cute pastel blouses, skirts, and dresses that you see in Korean dramas?! It’s a MUST! Not only they have a huge variety of clothes, the clothing stores also sell them at reasonable prices. Ranging from 10,000₩ to 20,000₩ per piece, you can dress up like Korean 언니 (eonnie) at under 50,000₩. In this blog post, I’d like to take the opportunity to cover up some of the shopping streets that I’ve visited in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea!

[Thoughts Crunch] How I Motivate Myself

“Congratulations Tyas, for being accepted in Dankook University exchange program!”

“I am happy for you! How did you manage that?”

“You’ve gone through a lot. What made you so strong-willed and finally made it to Korea?”

---

A few weeks ago, my phone rang and notified me of an incoming chat from a friend of mineㅡa special friend. I don’t remember exactly what it said, but he was asking me if I’d mind being a speaker in his online discussion. He wanted to create an online workshop for the students in our university, which was aimed to introduce international programs such as student exchange and short programs with scholarships that students could join. The project was part of our university’s International Office recruitment process, where candidates had to make a project about internationalization. I’m a volunteer of International Office and I did such a project too, last year. Good old times… haha.

As I read the message, he explained to me that I would have to tell my experiences about the student exchange program at Dankook University in the online discussion. I would share about what I went through before coming to Korea, my motivation in joining this program, and mostly about the scholarshipㅡbecause that was the point of the online discussion; being able to join international programs with scholarships.

[Wep’s Korea Life] Where to See Cherry Blossoms: Random Streets & Samcheong Park

Hello! It’s Wep’s Korea Life again!

April is already in its 8th day and it means Spring is hereee! You can already guess what I’m going to talk about; everyone’s favorite flower in the season, cherry blossoms! These flowers are called sakura in Japan and 벚꽃 (beotkkot) in Korea. They are definitely the same; beautiful pink (and also white) flowers that grow on several trees of genus Prunus, which are in full bloom when springtime comes. In some parts of Korea, it is usually on the first few days or the first two weeks of April. In southern parts of Korea, like Jeju-do, Gwangju, Busan, Daegu, and Jeolla Province, they are in full bloom from late March to early April.

With the coming of April and springtime, welcoming cherry blossoms should be on top of the “things to do in Korea” list! I also added it too, around late March. At first, before coming to Korea, I always thought that cherry blossoms and other flowers bloom from the first day until the last day of Spring. So I thought I would have a lot of time to see the cherry blossoms. However, I was completely wrong! They bloom in just a short period of time, only on the first few days and weeks of Spring. I was lucky to know it before they were in full bloom. So, guys, if you want to see the cherry blossoms (or any other flowers), make sure to understand fully when they bloom and how long they last ^^