- Landed on Sunday at around 3pm there, had the lovely pleasure of being there until 6am the next morning since I couldn't move into my apartment until Monday.
- Why are you complaining Val when Incheon airport is voted the second best airport in the world to sleep in (Changi is the first)? Well because it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to get back security without a boarding pass...which I obviously didn't have cause Incheon was my final destination. So I wasn't able to go inside the actual airport, I had to stay in the part that is accessible to the whole public, aka: the area without any real amenities (no Hub, no lounges, etc)
- But there was a Korean buffet that was actually quite nice
My Apartment
- On Monday I showed up to Crimson House and was rather forcefully ushered into my room by a Korean lady who spoke no english.
- Er, okay? I didn't sign any papers or anything, she just threw me into my room and said things in Korean even though I clearly understood nothing. I shrugged and started unpacking.
- Soon after the manager, who speaks English, showed up and explained everything to me.
- Cristina is the manager and she's awesome. Incredibly friendly and kind Korean woman (who spent 9 years in Russia!).
- I highly recommend this place to anyone studying at KU or visiting Seoul. It's right next to the university...literally takes less than 2 minutes to get to the Uni - it's affordable, clean, pretty, great showers and has an awesome manager.
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| Random outdoor gym I found on campus! |
School/Lotte Park/Gyeonbokgung Palace
- This week has largely been orientation to Korea University, classes, running, gymming and exploring. Below are some of the exploration highlights.
- All in all, Seoul reminds me a lot of Tokyo. Just replace the Korean characters with Japanese ones, make the buildings slightly taller, and you have Tokyo.
- Also people smoke here a lot. I'm definitely not at all a fan of that. I realized how much I've been spoiled in the States + Australia + Singapore (where I've spent most of my time). Here you can smoke in buildings, everyone smokes at clubs and bars, you can even smoke on school campuses.
- Really really disgusting.
- Besides the smoking I love Seoul. It's a safe and friendly environment and I can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes me happy to walk through the streets. Maybe because they are so novel and somewhat cartoonish. Not as clean-cut and well-defined at in the States.
- Saw the Grand Palace today - spent nearly 4 hours there and could have easily spent another 2 had the soles of my feet not been utterly broken from hours of walking yesterday at Lotte Amusement Park (which was surprisingly a lot of fun!!) and today.
- The palace is beautiful and the museum is also really cool! (There are two there, we only went to one)
- Bought a pass for all four palaces for $10,000 won, or about $10usd. Otherwise it's about $3 usd per palace. Definitely worth the entrance fee. The museum is free, you don't need to enter the palace to visit it.
False advertising 
Rice 'burger' with tuna inside - yummy 
Rice cake on a stick wrapped in fried
fish cake
Fish cake soup 
Very strange but delicious ice cream/sorbet
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