{"id":3986,"date":"2019-09-24T15:55:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T15:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=3986"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:42:20","slug":"summer-in-seoul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/summer-in-seoul\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer in Seoul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Summer in Seoul<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\uc548\ub155\ud558\uc138\uc694 (an-nyeong-ha-sae-yo!) My name is Laura, I am a 3rd year Neuroscience student and this summer I attended Seoul National University International Summer Programme. Seoul is a vivacious city and the young person\u2019s paradise, with a hundred and one things to see and discover\u00a0and I will do my best to condense it into a small piece of writing…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marsupial Caf\u00e9, Myeongdong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I arrived on a characteristically sunny day, still in the tracksuit bottoms I had been wearing the entire 11 hour flight from Heathrow and\u00a0although I was ill-dressed and had bags to carry I relished the sun beating down on my face as my first welcome.\u00a0I\u00a0made my way across the city to Seoul National University, the most prestigious college in the whole of Korea, nestled in the foliage of Gwanak Mountain. The campus itself was like a national park, making for a perpetually scenic walk to class each day.\u00a0I met my roommate, Anna, who\u00a0became my personal tour guide, taking me to places both on and off the beaten track and\u00a0helping me fall in love with Seoul the same way she did.\u00a0She herself is a Korean-born adoptee from America who, despite having visited Seoul many times before, shared my\u00a0enthusiasm in learningKorean and absorbing\u00a0the culture. Her fluency as a result of her self-taught language skills inspired me\u00a0that I too, could learn an entirely new language from scratch.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Corner Pub, Hongdae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My Korean skills, or lack thereof, in the early days of my trip did not hinder my exploration of Seoul and enjoying the many things the incredible city has to offer.\u00a0The public transport system was easy to navigate, with English announcements on board both subways and buses. Furthermore, what\u2019s humbling is how many of the Seoul residents\u00a0that can\u00a0speak English\u00a0themselves\u00a0and are happy to help out.\u00a0It was all possible from the start:\u00a0treating myself to skincare hauls and street food in Myeongdong;\u00a0listening\u00a0to street performers\u00a0in Hongdae or even performing\u00a0with friends\u00a0in noraebang (karaoke rooms);\u00a0eating\u00a0chi-maek (chicken and beer)\u00a0by the Han River or\u00a0dancing till the early hours in the illustrious clubs of Gangnam. Of course, a bustling capital city, regardless of where it is in the world, can be\u00a0somewhat alien\u00a0to\u00a0a girl raised in the Somerset countryside. However, Seoul is a\u00a0unique\u00a0city of contrast;\u00a0the ancient palaces stand against a backdrop of skyscrapers\u00a0like avisual\u00a0combination of\u00a0old and new.\u00a0Similarly, you can find quiet places to wander in a boisterous place like this.\u00a0Seoul Forest is a huge stretch\u00a0of land\u00a0just by the river\u00a0and\u00a0there I was greeted with gorgeous scenery and the sounds of birds and cicadas.\u00a0Before class one day I spent a\u00a0quiet\u00a0morning at the Museum of Korea, learning of the nation\u2019s history and\u00a0viewing\u00a0artwork from all over Asia.\u00a0What I found really interesting was the exhibit on calligraphy and seeing how the Korean written language has changed over time.\u00a0Almost too easily,\u00a0my friend Cassie and I were able to ride the subway out of\u00a0Seoul\u00a0for a mini adventure in Yangpyeong\u00a0(for less than \u00a35!).\u00a0Here there are no skyscrapers\u00a0but rolling hills and covered markets selling fruit, vegetables and spices. We rented bikes and cycled out to Semiwon Garden,\u00a0an outdoor museum of pink and white lotus flowers in bloom. It was a refreshing change from the exciting city life that I was equally as fond of and proof that there really is something for everyone here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Semiwon Garden, Yangpyeong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I implore any and every student at Cardiff to take advantage of the Global Opportunities scheme. My visit to Seoul was, for lack of a less clich\u00e9d term, a dream come true. I was able to travel to a new continent with the knowledge that I was still supported by the GO team back home if I needed any help. I was able to throw myself in the deep end of a different culture, learn a new language and make friends from all over the world. These were all things that I was hoping to get out of my trip, however, what I didn\u2019t account for was the confidence I would gain. The rewarding experience of independent travel and speaking a new language successfully gave me confidence in my abilities and an excitement for my future. Should you choose to venture abroad, wherever you decide to go, I hope you have the same incredible experience that I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cassie and I receiving our Certificates of Completion from Seoul National University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

P.S. Huge thanks to everyone at the GO team for all the help you\u2019ve given me, from helping me choose\u00a0my\u00a0placement\u00a0right through to when I arrived back on\u00a0British soil!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer in Seoul \uc548\ub155\ud558\uc138\uc694 (an-nyeong-ha-sae-yo!) My name is Laura, I am a 3rd year Neuroscience student and this summer I attended Seoul National University International Summer Programme. Seoul is a […]","protected":false},"author":1734,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[270],"tags":[93,296,50,431,433,434,309,90,281,56,284,18,98],"class_list":["post-3986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summer-programmes","tag-asia","tag-korea","tag-learning-a-new-language","tag-seoul","tag-seoul-national-university","tag-snuisp","tag-study-abroad","tag-studying","tag-summer","tag-summer-programme","tag-summer-programmes","tag-travelexperiences","tag-tryingnewthings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-12i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5762,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/why-i-chose-to-spend-my-summer-saving-sea-turtles-in-greece\/","url_meta":{"origin":3986,"position":0},"title":"Why I chose to spend my summer saving sea turtles in Greece","author":"Jessica Scurlock","date":"January 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Why I volunteered with Wildlife Sense through The Mighty Roar: If I could go back and tell myself a year ago that I'd book non-refundable flights to go to Greece and make friends from around the world, I wouldn't have believed it. 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