A Small Peace Called Imagination...

Hanguk, annyonghi kyeiseo!

It's been such a long time I haven't written blog. Had too much fun in Korea till I didn't have time to update my blog hehe. I just came back from Korea yesterday nite, and still staying at my friend's room till my hostel waiting list is approved.

It feels like only yesterday I just arrived in Korea. 6 weeks passed so fast. I went there at 2 July and came back yesterday after all-night long farewell party. I really love Korea and I start to miss Korea.

I like the people there. Koreans are really warm and friendly although I've just known them for a while. They show me around, even invited me for dinner and stay over at their house. I've made some good friends during the exchange program. Sung-Hwa, my classmate in Korean economy class, who I stay over with and we had so much fun chatting, cooking (she taught me some simple Korean food recipe), playing with her dog and watching Korean DVDs. Ji-Hye, my classmate in International Marketing, who sometimes have coffee together with me after class and hang out to shopping center. Se-Yong, the "crazy" n funny guy whom I met in the buddy program and hang out with to some jazz cafe. Bryan, the "big" Korean guy who loves drinking n dancing very much (Koreans love drinking very much but I usually only tried a few sips of their Korean wine called Soju). Yaera, my buddy, a pretty n tall (171 cm!) Korean girl who's really good at singing and can speak English, Korean, French, and now learning Mandarin. Su-Kyong, my other buddy, who's very nice and can sing very well too. Hyon-Wook, my group leader, who's been very helpful, and didn't mind taking all the hassles to organize a lot of trips. Paulo, an Italian part-timer journalist who always smiles everywhere. I've also made some good friends with other NUS students who came together, such as Esther (my lovely Singaporean friend who converses really well in Bahasa Indonesia and we often gossip about "gebetan"), Meiqi ( a really cute and funny girl who we often tease), Ridwan (my good Indonesian friend, who has made tons of friends there, some Koreans even said he's welcomed to be their university student haha), Jia Xiu, Liqin, Yirong, Kevin, Alvin, Jimmy, Steven, Wendy, Li Wen. I've also made some other acquintances, such as Chinese girls (Jolin, Summer), Chinese guy (Ike), Koreans (Chong En, Larry, Kristin, Peter, Daniel). I'm really really glad to know them all and I really miss the times we've all shared.

The food in Korea is also nice, though many of them are spicy. Bibimbap (rice mixed with veggie), Bulgogi (very tasty beef with some special chilli sauce), Kimbab (sushi with some egg, ham, cucumber- my usual lunch), Kimchi (Korean spicy n sour veggie), Ramyon and nengmyon (instant noodle and cold noodle), Bultak (a super hot n spicy chicken put on fire), Kalbi (a delicious meat barbeque), Tobukki(something tastes like a rice cake), some street snacks (such as fried sausage covered with french fries in a satay stick). Their tidbits and ice creams are nice too, esp I like butter waffle biscuits,fried chicken biscuit, Papingsu (mixed fruit yoghurt). Actually their white rice is also special, coz it tastes like Japanese rice which is really nice and no wonder if it costs 1000 won per plate (about S$2). Btw the food there cost about 3000-6000 won.

I love the places too. Nightmarkets such as Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, and Nandaemum are shopping haven for females. I also went to the parks such as Seoul Forest Park and Olympic Park which have fresh air and green scenery. Theme parks such as Lotte World and Everland have nice view but the rides are not as exciting as I expected to be. I also took Han River Cruise and saw the beautiful night view. There are a lot of kids playing fireworks beside the river. Went to a jazz bar called Club Evans and I liked it, quite cozy ambience and good jazz music. I also took one day trip to Gyeongju, a city outside Seoul, visited several historial places such as palaces, tomb, museums, and temples. Watched some Korean performances such as Tokebi Storm, Nanta n some dances. I miss Anam street, the street I always pass everyday from hostel to school or food places. The school is also nice, it has old European style architecture and the class is so comfortable (each of us has comfy sofa, which actually induces sleepy mode haha). The dorm, CJ I-house is newly built and it's like a hotel. It has aircon, bathroom, furnitures, room phone (mine was 3290-0197) and they also provided pillow and warm blanket.

There are so many things which I can't mention one by one. Every day has been a truly unforgettable experience. The friendship, the joy, the laughter, the excitement I've enjoyed everyday are some of the things which I wish I could repeat. I especially remembered the last day in Korea when me, my buddies and some of our friends organize our own "party". Stayed awake the whole nite ( I only went back to my room at 6am in the next morning), went to bar, chitchat, karaoke, eating pig spine n drinking soju, and lastly watching Fantastic Four when two of my buddies fell asleep in the theatre. I guessed they might have been very tired but they forced to stay awake whole nite coz its the last night we gathered. I'm really touched. I wish I had longer time to spend together like that. But of course time flies and the hands of time never turns back. The next morning I took a flight back to Singapore, and it feels strange that when I heard the announcement that the flight has just landed in Singapore, I feel this emptiness and missing. Of everything. My buddy said the last night was like a dream. How I wish I didn't have to wake up from that dream. Or at least, let me have the same dream at another time...

posted by pembual kata @ 3:37 PM