All posts tagged: south korea

THE FINAL ONE: GOODBYE SOUTH KOREA

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Two years later, here we are. My bags are packed and I’m ready to leave South Korea, the place that has made me constantly crave spicy food, challenged me with language barriers and (many) cultural differences. The place I pushed my limits, challenged myself, fell in love, and battled loneliness. The place I found inner strength, discovered the power of my voice, and (most importantly) a place I felt safe and called home. Busan, South Korea will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll miss the mountains, beaches, prompt public transportation, cheap convenience store ice cream, and of course, my students. Leaving has been an extremely emotional and overwhelming process. I was not prepared for how much it hurts to say goodbye to people, places, and memories. But such is life. You grow and move on. Currently I am in Seoul, wandering around the city until my departure on Sunday. I’ve been taking my time to walk in and out of shops and discovering new places such as the COEX Mall‘s Starfield Library, which holds …

GIRL POWER IN GAPYEONG, SOUTH KOREA

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Hello lovelies! Quick blog post for ya! I wanted to fill you in on my latest trip to Gapyeong, South Korea for a pleasant Woman’s Empowerment Retreat organized by The Seoul Chic. Myself and 20 other ladies met up at Garang Pension (an hour or so away from Seoul) which was S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G, especially since it was in the middle of autumn and leaves were changing on the surrounding mountains. We had a jam-packed weekend filled with fun activities such as pear picking, cooking/eating homemade meals, face masks, and personal chats about life, dating, and sharing stories about the pros/cons of being a foreigner in South Korea (we had A LOT to say..). It felt nice to unplug for a weekend and fill the soul with lessons/life advice from supportive, ambitious women. Check out my video for mooore!  

LIFE IN KOREA Q&A (SUMMER PASTA MUKBANG)

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Hey friends! Grab some food, and maybe a yummy sangria, and eat lunch with me! In my latest video I answer your questions and give sub-par advice on summer fashion staples, negative feedback, life goals, etc etc etc. Also. I LEAVE FOR NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA IN ONE WEEK! AHH! CAN’T WAIT TO CUDDLE WIF ALL DA KOALA BEARSSS!

BOSEONG GREEN TEA FIELDS

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Hello all. I’m currently at work, desk warming. Desk warming expectations: Me sitting in front of the computer, working hard, planning activities and gathering reading materials for summer camp, which commences Monday. I’m finished planning summer camp, so.. Desk warming reality: Me scrolling through Instagram, eating snacks, and researching how long it would take to travel to each country, in case of a mid-life crisis. If you’re wondering, if you spend 5 days in each of the 196 countries, and assuming it would take a day to travel to each of them, it would (apparently) take 3 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks. And probably a bajillion dollars. Anyway, I haven’t made a life update blog post in awhile and quite frankly, it’s Friday and I’m feeling lazy. So, I will show you pictures of what I’ve been up to and explain them all in a Haiku. *ahem* On top of a roof. Bridge lifts up at 2 P.M. Decent view, I guess. What are these trees called? They’re pretty and I like them. Want …

TOP 5 ICE CREAMS FOUND AT KOREAN CONVENIENCE STORES

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After I go out for dinner there’s a likely chance I’ll be making a b-line toward the nearest CU or 7/11 for a frozen sugar fix. In South Korea ice cream is found at every corner shop and typically under ₩2,000. Options are bountiful, from exotic red bean to addicting classics of chocolate and vanilla. To give you the inside scoop (no pun intended), I’ve rounded my top five South Korean convenience store confectionery treats. 1. Papico I’m a chocolate fanatic and this one perfectly satisfies my sweet tooth. Take the squishy bottle out of the wrapper and warm it up in your hands to easily eat while on the go. My students can’t get enough of this stuff and I can always catch them devouring it at lunch. RATING: 8/10 2. Big Beads Ice – Peach & Kiwi If you’ve ever had Dippin’ Dots, this is essentially the same thing but the dots are bigger and tastier. The refreshing circle shaped treats melt in your mouth and flavours of peach and kiwi are the …

BIKE RIDING THROUGH SAMNAK RIVERSIDE

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‘Tis the season of getting outside and enjoying the heat, and what better way to ring in the sweet summertime than going for a riverside bike ride. My friend Jake and I made our way to Samnak Ecological Park in Busan and rented a bike for ₩3,000 each. We had to give the rental place a piece of ID, which was returned once we gave back the bikes. I read online that foreigners can rent these bikes for free, but turns out it wasn’t true. No biggie though, ONWARDS WE WENT FOR OUR RIVERSIDE ADVENTURE! We had one hour to ride around the area, which is the largest of the four parks located along the Nakdonggang River. We rode pass a plethora of soccer and baseball fields, camp grounds, and even an inline skating rink. The boys in the picture below enthusiastically said hello as I was passing by and couldn’t help but snap a photo, they were just so darn cute! Peddling along the riverside, I forgot I was still in a city. The leisurely ride was a great …

CHUSEOK IN SEOUL

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Chuseok is known as Korean’s version of Thanksgiving and the longest holiday of the year. It has recently passed and for the five days I had off from work I packed my bags and took the KTX straight to Seoul. I was happy to be back on the streets of Korea’s capital, and even happier to be with my cousin and his girlfriend who visited from Toronto. The first place we toured around was the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was built in 1395. Doesn’t that blow your mind?! WHAT WAS LIFE EVEN LIKE BACK THEN?! One of the best parts of going to the palace, especially during Chuseok, was seeing almost every Korean dressed in a Hanbok (Korean cultural dress). Perhaps they wore it because of tradition orrr maybe because if you wore one during the holiday it was free to enter all palaces in Seoul (facts). The next day we took a stroll around Naksan Park, located smack dab in the middle of the Seoul. You can have the BEST view of the city here! …

I TRIED IT: KOREAN PEEL-OFF BEAUTY PRODUCTS

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  Seven months ago, I moved to Busan—the second largest South Korean city and home to millions of impossibly glowy complexions—to teach English at an all-girls middle school. My students can be sassy at times, but their beauty tips are always top notch. Last semester one of my eighth-graders showed up to class with perfectly stained red lips. Technically, they’re not allowed to wear makeup at school but the look was so A+ that I decided to let it slide. In the days following, I started noticing hip kid after hip kid walking around with lips that looked like they’d just devoured a giant cherry ice pop. I soon spotted a poster in a store window that featured a bright pair of the trendy stained lips. Intrigued, I went inside and picked up a tube from the shelf. The label clarified that I was holding a peel-off lip tint. Wait, peel off? A little more perusing through the shop and I realized this is a booming K-beauty category, with options for eyebrows too. You paint …

LET’S GO SAILING

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I’m too tired to write paragraphs about my adventures last week since life has been crazy busy and all I want to do is sleep without waking up every hour sweating from the humidity. Summer camp is almost over, and I’m at the final stretch of planning and executing lessons. Therefore, rather than massive paragraphs, I am going to explain each picture in a haiku. I don’t guarantee quality in these haikus, it’s midnight and my eyes are currently half closed. Leggo.. Skateboarding is cool. I’m secretly good at it. It surprised the boys. We went out sailing. I do not know how to swim. I jumped off the boat. The view from the boat. Busan is so beautiful. You should come visit. Love delicious noods. That’s short for noodles, weirdo. Do you love noods too? I did some shopping. Bought a mask and a planner. Watch my haul vid, now. (Subscribe to my fashion/beauty/lifestyle channel Get Up & Go Girl if you haven’t already!!!) This is my cool vlog. Sailing, shopping, and much more! Watch it now, …

BORYEONG MUD FESTIVAL

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A couple weekends ago I attended the staple festival for every foreigner who comes to South Korea, the Boryeong Mud Festival. I went with the tour group Enjoy Korea and they set up transportation, accommodation, and tickets into the festival. It was an organized weekend which I appreciated and they stationed a mini bar/food stand right beside our pensions so there was a place for everyone to gather at night. I hate to say it but the mud festival itself was a bit of a dud. There were mud wrestling stations and inflatable slides but the “mud” was literally dirty water on the pavement that people rolled around in. I spent an hour at the festival, got bored of it all so I cleaned off at the beach and hung out with new friends from Daegu. As night fell we gathered on the beach and watched PSY live in concert!!! YES!!! THE MAN WHO SINGS GANGNAM STYLE!!! IN FRONT OF OUR EYES!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! That was by far the best part of the trip. The beach …

WAS THAT AN EARTHQUAKE?

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Earlier this month there was a 5.0-magnitude underwater earthquake near Ulsan, which meant Busan also had quite a shake. No one reported any injuries and there were no damages in result of the earthquake, but if you’ve never felt the world tremble.. it’s a craaaaaaazy feeling. I was sitting on my bed when I felt a rumble. The best comparison of how it feels is when you’ve finished riding a roller coaster and you’ve come to a full stop, waiting to get back to where you started. All the sudden, you start to jerk forward and it keeps doing that until you stop (for good this time) and the ride announcer dude says it’s ok to push your handle bars up and exit to your left. The small stop and start of the ride is what a small earthquake feels like.  It’s enough to make your stomach feel queasy. Have you ever felt an earthquake? What do you do in emergency situations? Someone needs to inform me of all safety precautions and procedures! Please send informative earthquake …