Week 17: June 16-23
As my study abroad journey at Korea University is coming to an end, this is my last week of school and I have three in-person finals to study for. Luckily, my exams were spaced out every other day but nonetheless, it was still a lot of studying as my exams were cumulative. This entire week I didn't have time to go out adventuring but, my finals ended up going smoothly! I'm still in shock by how fast this semester went but studying at KU really pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to the best of my capabilities and for that, I'm really grateful I chose an excellent school to study at for the semester!
Week 18: June 24-30
Since I have only one more week left in Korea, and that school is finally done, my cousin decided to visit me for the rest of my time here and we planned on taking a mini trip to Jeju for five days. As many of my friends had already gone earlier during the year, I was excited to go after hearing and receiving recommendations from them. It was about an hour plane ride from Gimpo Airport and our hotel was only about a 15 minute drive away from Jeju airport. As we arrived, the weather felt instantly nice and cool compared to Seoul. We left Seoul for a few days around the perfect time because the temperature was reaching about low 90's and with humidity, the weather app said it felt like 101 degrees F. But, the weather in Jeju reminded me exactly of Hawaii just with no trade winds. But, as soon as we arrived in Jeju, we settled in our hotel then went straight to eat at a cafe since we arrived at around 3 P.M. Since Jeju is an island, there are no subways or regular busses that come frequently like Seoul. Throughout the entire trip we found ourselves catching a taxi everywhere and to different parts of the island. If you have an international drivers license I would highly recommend to rent a car as it's more affordable and convenient.
For our first day out, we started off our morning by riding electric scooters along the coast for about 40 minutes. The view was breathtaking and it was also fun since I never done anything like that before. We then went to eat at Innisfree Jeju House as they're known for their matcha and other delicious desserts. Right after, it started to get sunny so we went to Hyeopjae Beach to explore. Of course, I was expecting Jeju to look like Hawaii and it really did with the clear blue waters and sky! It was enjoyable walking around near the beach and snacking our way through the day.
The next day, my cousin found on Air Bnb experiences a leather wallet making class near our hotel. It was a private one-on-one class with the owner and he spoke really good English so I found the class to be easy to follow along. It took almost three hours to make our wallet but time went by quickly as we were chatting with the owner the entire time. The owner even recommended us to try their favorite seafood place nearby that specialized in rockfish. I never tried anything like that and it really surprised me at how soft it was. That was definitely my favorite and most memorable meal I had in Jeju. After that, Aewol Cafe Alley was nearby and that was highly recommended by my friends. We ate at at Aewol Bakery Cafe and got carried away with trying a lot of pastries. I also ordered a Hallabong smoothie because that is a must when visiting! Jeju is known for its matcha as well as oranges. We then watched the sunset at Hyeopjae beach again and ended the day with melon bingsu.
For our last full day in Jeju, we didn't expect to spend the entire day at Snoopy's Garden Attraction but we did because it was huge and lots of activities to do/see. We definitely made our money's worth in my opinion and again the weather was luckily sunny and not too hot. However, before heading back to the hotel, since it was our last night in Jeju, we had to eat Jeju's famous black pork. We went to a black pork alley which were filled with K-bbq restaurants along the street but as we arrived at around 5 P.M. all of them were full and accepting no more reservations for the day which was so crazy to me because we went on a Monday night and it was still pretty early to eat dinner. We walked for about 20 minutes down the road to see if there were any other restaurants and luckily there was one. I really liked the black pork and I thought it had a unique flavor in comparison to regular pork. I'm glad we got to end our trip with eating the famous black pork and I would also recommend anyone to eat this if you're in Jeju!
Overall, Jeju was bigger than Hawaii but very similar in terms of the weather, beaches, and transportation access and it really felt like I was back in O'ahu. But, if you're studying abroad or have the time to make a trip out here even if it's for a couple of days, I think it's worth it as there are mainly a lot more outdoor activities to do!
Eating Rockfish, Hyeopjae Beach, Snoopy Garden, and Jeju's Famous Black Pork!
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