My October Update

This blog will be a much different tempo than those in the past. As a warning, I am about to briefly touch on the incident in Itaewon on October 29th. I won’t be going into detail, but it has the potential to be triggering so I want to provide a warning.

If you aren’t aware, at a Halloween festival on October 29th in Itaewon (a big, multi-cultural area in Seoul known for its nightlife), there was a devastating crowd crush that left 156 people dead and at least 81 injured. If you want more information on the incident, I recommend getting it from a reputable news source. However, looking up these keywords is likely to bring up disturbing images, videos, and/or stories, so please exercise caution when doing so.

It was surreal, heartbreaking, and not just a little traumatizing to see the events unfolding over social media as more and more people began sharing graphic videos and pictures of the tragedy. I had originally planned on going there that night, and I had friends that I knew were there. These feelings- the fear, the worry, and the overwhelming sense of grief were and still are not easy. Having a tragedy occur so close to you- in physical distance, having been there before, and knowing people there- has a tremendous impact. It’s difficult to describe exactly what all of us are feeling, sometimes it’s anger or intense sadness or just feeling weird. However, I know that whatever I am feeling, is just a fraction of what the family and loved ones of those who passed or who were there are going through. I am incredibly grateful to be alive and that all my friends made it back safely, but I am also incredibly sorry that anyone has to go through such a senseless tragedy. It has given us all a renewed appreciation for life, knowing that it can be taken so quickly without warning.

That’s all I will say on the incident. Personally, I am doing better as time passes, although there are still times it suddenly hits just as hard as before. I want to also say a quick thank you to all the family and friends that have checked up on me, I truly appreciate it. On that note, here is a quick overview of some happier moments in the past two weeks.

October 18th

Tuesday was more or less a pretty uneventful day. We heard from the former ambassador to Cambodia and minister to Japan about Korea-Japan relations in my diplomacy class. For dinner, we tried this sandwich and soup place called Fromaqi recommended by my Korean speaking professor. We thought it was the perfect time to go since the weather has been chillier and literally everyone is sick. I ordered tomato soup and pork pastrami. What I was really hoping for was a simple grilled cheese like my mom makes to dip in the soup, but no such luck. However, the pork pastrami was still delicious, and I loved the croutons in the tomato soup.

October 20th

Thursday was a more eventful day. After my Korean class and some studying, I met my language exchange partner at the Bitplex mall, which has a huge food court. They have everything from shabu shabu to Chinese to tonkatsu to every kind of Korean food imaginable. Somehow, after two whole months here, I was trying gimbap for the first time. Gimbap is a super popular dish usually made up of cooked rice, vegetables, and some type of meat rolled up in a dried sheet of seaweed and then sliced. I ordered the cheese gimbap, which of course came with cheese, as well as yellow pickled radish, ham, imitation crab, egg, spinach, carrot, burdock, egg, and was sprinkled with sesame seeds. My partner told me it’s very commonly used as picnic food since it’s so portable, and it’s practically in every convenience store in Korea. I’m upset I waited so long to try this staple because I absolutely loved it. It will become a go-to quick meal to rival ramen without a doubt.

When we wrapped up, I met my friends in Itaewon at a Mexican restaurant they wanted to try. Afterward, we walked around the area for a bit before deciding to do some karaoke. We entered what we thought was enough coins for 24 minutes, but it turned out to be 24 songs. Needless to say, we were there for a while, but it was a blast. While waiting at the bus stop, my friends decided to begin learning some random K-pop dance they saw, which was pretty entertaining to watch. In the midst of their many attempts, we did end up missing our bus, but thankfully, were able to catch another one, giving them time to somewhat master the dance.

October 21st

I spent most of the day Friday reviewing past lectures and notes from my International Politics in Northeast Asia. Around dinnertime, I met my friends in Myeongdong, stumbling upon the main street that was lined with vendors. As per usual, they offered every type of street food imaginable. Somehow we ended up eating at Outback Steakhouse though, more or less just to see what it would be like to eat American-Australian food in Korea. I got a shrimp mushroom parmesan pasta which was actually pretty good, but it was honestly more Italian than anything else. After we ate, we wandered around the main street, where my friend bought kkul-tarae. This is candy basically made from honey dough that’s stretched to make these silky threads, which they wrap around different fillings (she got almond). The process, which is done in front of you on the street, is pretty mesmerizing. Although the texture of the candy was different than expected, I ended up enjoying it.

October 22nd

On Saturday my friends and I all met up at the First Penguin to do some studying after getting a quick lunch from Salady. I ordered my usual iced vanilla latte and spent the next 4-5 hours working on memorizing my Korean vocabulary. For dinner, we tried this jjimdak place in Anam that came highly recommended by one of my friends. Per her instructions, we ordered the soy sauce jjimdak with extra noodles, cheese topping, potato slices, and dumplings. It was amazing. I will admit, it is pretty hard to hate chicken, noodles, and cheese, but it still manages to impress me every time. After making our all too often repeated vows to return, we headed back to the dorms to play some Super Smash Bros before passing out.

October 24th

First day of midterms at KU! Truly terrifying. Monday, I had the written portion of my Beginner’s Korean test and International Politics in Northeast Asia. Despite a few potential bumps with the listening portion of the exam, I actually felt pretty confident in the rest of the test. My next exam included multiple choice, short answer, and a long essay question. Again, I feel good about how I did on most of the test, but handwritten, timed essays are always difficult. Hopefully, I managed to get my point across in a somewhat coherent manner.

October 25th

Tuesday I just had one exam- Korean Speaking for Beginners. I was a bit more worried about this one as it was all listening based, one of the more difficult aspects since it can take some time to process what is actually being said. Overall, I think it went okay? There are some parts I am certain I got right, others I am 50/50 on, and others that I had to guess because I didn’t catch what was said. But it was over with, so I treated myself to my favorite ramen in one of the GS25s on campus. I also heard from the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Korean diplomacy in the Middle East, which I honestly knew nothing about beforehand. After admiring the pretty fall colors now visible on campus and booking our December tickets to Japan (YAY), my friends and I ate dinner at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant. We, of course, ordered the pho, which was SO good. My favorite part was the rice noodles, they never go wrong.

October 26th

My last midterm is done! Wednesday I had the speaking portion of my Beginner’s Korean exam. Like literally every other exam, I felt good in the first half, but I fear that I may have fumbled the last part. However, when I quietly asked if I did it wrong, my professor told me no. So I guess we’ll see if she meant that or was just seeking to reassure me. After the adrenaline of the test, I sat in the sun on campus for the next couple of hours. It was one of those nice days where you can feel your skin soak up the sun and it’s not cold anymore until the wind starts blowing. Afterward, I picked up some fried dumplings and chicken triangle gimbap (or samgak gimbap) from Kangdagim.

For dinner, we returned to Samsung Chicken, one of our first meals here in Korea. It was really weird to return after all this time passed. When we first went there, all the surroundings felt unfamiliar, and I barely knew the people I was with. Going back after two months, I now know exactly where it is and was going with my closest friends here. This time we just got the original crispy chicken and yangnyeom (sweet and sour) chicken. Both were just as delicious as the first time we tried them. To finish up the night and celebrate the end of midterms, we got a drink at this cute place called Cherry on the Rooftop, which just opened in Anam.

October 27th

On Thursday, my friends and I indulged in brunch (one of our favorite meals) at Mignon. I got the scrambled egg plate that came with toast, bacon, and a small salad. It was amazing, and we will be returning. Afterward, my friend and I explored a new building on campus that included a UN Depository Library. As the Secretary-General of the Model UN Society back at UTSA and an unapologetic international relations nerd, it was pretty cool. Among the many documents there, they had resolutions from various UN councils, with some that looked like they had handwritten notes on them from ambassadors. When we left, we came upon a circle of people dressed up in some kind of uniform playing drums and doing different routines. I have no idea what exactly they were doing, but it looked dope. We wrapped up the night by wandering around the area. We found a small shop that sells a bunch of Korean snacks, so my friend tried baekseolgi, a sweet steamed rice cake.

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October 28th

Friday was a big day- I was getting a tattoo! We got up somewhat early to head over before my appointment and get some food. We ended up getting distracted inside the subway station by a huge bookstore and buying socks, so it was a mad rush to stuff down some food and speedwalk to the shop. I ended up inhaling a teriyaki beef rice bowl that was delicious.

The tattoo took about 45 minutes to get done. I was nervous since it was my first one, but the pain wasn’t bad at all. It basically felt like a more intense version of the pins and needles you get when your arm falls asleep. I got a whale shark, because it looks cool, I love the ocean, and I am always telling the story of how my dad and granddad encountered one when they were coming up from a dive in South Africa. Afterward, my friends and I took in the amazing site of a giant duck (it’s part of a traveling art show) sitting in the middle of a lake near Lotte World Mall. We then went to an English tea shop where I got an iced hibiscus tea.

For dinner, we returned to Myeongdong to try street food. We started with our favorite- gyeran-ppang (egg bread)- which did not disappoint. I followed it up with sweet and sour chicken with rice cakes and tried some of my friend’s giant dumplings. We rounded the meal off with croissant taiyaki, something we have highly anticipated trying. This is a fish-shaped pastry typically filled with red bean paste. However, we couldn’t resist trying a Nutella-filled version, which was absolutely amazing.

October 29th

Saturday morning was the last day of Ko-Yon games! For context, Korea and Yonsei University have a historic, intense rivalry, mainly when it comes to sports. So every year, they compete against each other in rugby, soccer, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey. Literally thousands of people show up. It’s a huge deal. My friends and I went to the last soccer game, and we were amazed at what we found. The huge stadium was absolutely packed with people sporting KU and Yonsei colors. In front of each school's section was a huge stage where cheerleaders led intense, crazy-fun chants that everyone was giving their all in (it included lots of headbanging). Despite the fact that KU lost the soccer match, it was a great time.

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To celebrate our overall win in the games, there was a festival in Anam right by the university. There were dance groups performing on the street, cheerleaders still leading the chants on a stage, and an insane amount of people. The streets were packed with people forming human trains (KU and Yonsei alike). A bunch of KU alumni were outside restaurants, and if your group memorized a certain chant, they would give you a free drink or snack. The evident school spirit was amazing, I couldn’t get enough of it. We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner, where I got udon noodles with shrimp tempura. But the main star of the show was this garatteok (rice cake) filled with honey. It is one of my favorite things I’ve eaten here, I was obsessed.

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Obviously, this night didn’t come to a happy ending as we began to get news of what happened in Itaewon.

October 30th

On Sunday, with hopes of clearing our minds and lifting our spirits, my friends and I headed out to go on our first hike. After a long subway and precarious bus ride, we were at the base of Bukahnsan Mountain, a Korean national park. After getting obligatory matching bandanas with the map of the trails, we began our hike. Somehow, we ended up deciding to climb up to the top of the mountain- about 110 flights of stairs or 505 meters up. Despite our exhaustion and sore legs, it was totally worth it. All the leaves on the trees have begun to turn a gorgeous variety of red, yellow, and orange. The view from the top was spectacular, with a breathtaking overlook of the city and surrounding landscape.

To celebrate our incredible climb, we got shabu shabu at the Lotte Mall by Yaksu station. At this place, we started with steaming meat, lettuce, bean sprouts, mushrooms, cabbage, and other vegetables. We wrapped our choice of filling in rice paper and dipped it in different sauces. After a while, the staff came around to convert the cooking to shabu shabu, adding broth and noodles for the second half of the meal. All of it was sooo tasty, and not just because we were all starving. The restaurant was also friendly to foreigners, which was helpful if you’ve never had shabu shabu before. Not only did they teach you the process, but the price of the food is actually cheaper if you’re not Korean.

October 31st

On Monday, after all of our classes, my friends and I got Chinese food for the first time here- something I’ve very much been looking forward to. We went to a restaurant called Sinseong, and I got a beef bean sprout rice dish that tasted amazing.

November 1st

Tuesday I had my Korean diplomacy class. This week we heard from the former Korean ambassador to Indonesia. He talked about how important diplomacy with Southeast Asia and ASEAN is, which was interesting as I feel like I haven’t learned much about that region in my previous classes. That night we tried yet another recommendation from my Korean speaking professor, Puck’n Onion (no that’s not a typo). They’re known for their burgers that they cook with onions in the patties. I got the BBQ burger, which came with BBQ sauce, onions of course, and bacon. It was amazing. Like probably one of the best burgers I’ve ever had period.

November 2nd

Wednesday, after my Korean class, I grabbed a quick lunch at Bánh Mì 362. I got Vietnamese iced tea and the egg and ham sandwich, which also came with cucumber, carrots, peppers, and some other vegetables. All of it was delicious. In my next class, we had a guest speaker discuss the impact of nuclear weapons on Northeast Asia and nuclear strategy overall, which I found fascinating. For dinner, my friend and I decided to leave Anam, so we went one whole station over to Bomun. We ended up at a place called Cheeju, where we both ordered the tomato cheese panini. It came on squid ink bread (which, despite its appearance, tastes very much like regular bread) and sprinkled with a sweet balsamic dressing. We loved it.

November 3rd

On Thursday, after my Korean speaking class, my friends and I headed to Sunnyside Coffee, a cute cafe literally two steps off of campus. I ordered my usual vanilla latte, and my friend got this delicious apple cinnamon croffle (croissant waffle).

For dinner, we went to Norang Tongdak for fried chicken. We decided to get “THE soy sauce chicken” dish and oh my goodness it was incredible. The chicken was covered in charcoal-flavored soy sauce (which basically tasted like barbeque sauce), and it also came with rice cakes and fried lotus root. It was without a doubt the best chicken I’ve had here. Like I woke up the next day still thinking about it type of amazing. Needless to say, we will be returning.

Reflection

These past two weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions. Now, more than ever, I am incredibly thankful for the opportunities I have here. As my time in Seoul starts coming to a close, I am determined to take advantage of every moment.