📍Namiseom, Chuncheon I AM ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH AUTUMN 🍂
One of the best places to take in the beauty of autumn is Namiseom, a tiny island that gained tremendous fame from the classic 'seasons' dramas set. Whether you are a kdrama fan or not, you will autumnmatic fall in love with the landscape and nature. Take a walk in the crips air along with the rustling sound of fallen leaves.. Directions (by subway): - Take Line 1 to Hoegi Station, then take either Line Gyeogchun or Line Gyeogui-Jungang. - If you take the Line Gyeogchun, congratulations! Sit back and enjoy the ride until Gapyeong Station! - If you happen to hop on Line Gyeogui-Jungang, which is totally normal because it comes more frequently (I took this line.) Get off at Mangu Station and transfer to Line Gyeogchun then get off at Gapyeong Station. Recommendations: - Purchase the Chuncheon Shuttle Bus Tour, costs 6,000 won. The pass gives you unlimited rides to all famous sites in Chuncheon within the day including Namiseom, Petite France, Garden of Morning Calm and more. The shuttle stop is right outside of the station, you may purchase directly from the driver. - Go early! We started our journey at 11 a.m. and got a bit lost so we only spent a few hours at Namiseom. In order to arrive on the island, it is quite an extra process but worth it. You can either ride the ferry for 5 minutes (13,000 won) or zipline there for 38,000 won. I would definitely love to come back and enjoy the rest of Chuncheon! Love at first sight 🍂
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October was a month to remember. The chills started kicking in, leaves began to change colors and it was my absolute first time experiencing autumn, you have no idea how excited I was!!! Here is how I fell in love with autumn, October and its funs... Ko-Yon Games The rivalry between Korea University and Yonsei University is the experience you cannot miss! It is a well-known tradition that has been celebrated annually for decades. The schools compete against one another in baseball, ice hockey, basketball, rugby, and soccer. Besides watching the players intensely battle it out on the field/court, the best part is cheering! The school spirit, energy, dance moves, catchy songs, efforts and so on are incredible. I got to experience it this year and I must say that it was a fun-yet-insane hot mess, as shown below, enjoy! (My apologies that it is messy and in LQ.. low quality video but high definition memories!) Tip: Attend the Cheer/Dance practice and be careful of injuries. Your head might feel detached from your neck but you will have so much fun! Reunited with HSBC Friends Annie and I reunited with Suzie and Senghee, our great friends who we met through the HSBC Case Competition. We enjoyed dinner and chocolate drinks together! These amazing ladies, alongside with the rest of their team, were the winners of the competition. It was great to catch up with them and we hope for many more reunions! FriendSheep I spent the rest of the month bonding with great friends and making new friends. I also visited Thanks Nature Cafe in Hongdae by pure chance, where I was able to interact with a sheep for the first time! Friends + sheep = FRIENDSHEEP :D 📍못난이닭강정 Operated by the sweetest elderly couple, the grandpa is in charge of inventory and frying the chicken the first time then the grandma skillfully takes over from there - second fry, stir in the sauce, add in the tteok, box it up and it's ready to go! Perfect for the chilly weather of autumn. Oh so crunchy! Such spice much wow ~ Direction: Dongdaemun Station, Line 1 or 4, Exit 9. Upon exiting, you will see the store right away to your left, pictured below! Thank you October for all the ups and downs. Be YOU! Just in case the title scared you, it's officially falling into autumn in Korea 🍂and it also means constant shivers from the cold weather, not the midterms! ^^ But time really flies when you are having fun, I already reached the midterms, both academically and my time abroad...
Academic Midterms Week 8 is known as "Midterms Week" and guess what? In usual case, there is no school during Midterms Week, except for the midterms and make-up classes. Yay! I had three midterms out of my four classes. All of my exams emphasized on concepts comprehension and important definitions. Without further ado, let's recap the horror! BUSS 311/MGT 341 Organizational Behavior: My midterm took place the week before the Midterms Week. The exam consisted of MCQs, True or False, fill-in-the-blank and short responses. Uniquely, the extra credit asked the students to formulate their own question and answer to a concept that we studied but was not mentioned in the exam. I actually really liked this idea! BUSS 313/MGT 342 International Business: The exam was the same format as my BUSS 311's exam, mentioned above. The short responses were based on the cases that we discussed during class. BUSS 407/MKT 372 New Product Development and Mgt: This was different from the previous two. We picked three out of four given prompts and provided elaborated short essays about the concepts that were asked, with examples and facts from textbook. Oh! Facilities at school do not stay opened late into the night/overnight, unlike Sinclair. However, there are fancy study rooms and lounges for naps, yes, naps aka best-brain-stimulations!!! Half-way through Time Abroad Autumn welcomed me with a cold so if you are reading this while packing for study abroad, grab some medicine! Tran and I are now regulars at the nearby coffee shop, supermarkets and convenience stores in our neighborhood. I finally received my student ID and Alien Registration Card. It feels somewhat strange to be so home but still a little unfamiliar and it is quite bittersweet that I am already half-way finished with my time abroad. Nevertheless, time to enjoy it even more while it lasts! Stay tuned for next post, end of month means monthly recaps! I will bombard the post with pictures and videos. There are only pictures of notes for this one so I will just end here and go catch up on my sleep. 잘자요~ Study hard, play harder! 📍Busan One of the countless adventures to do in Korea is hopping on a train (KTX) to Busan! It was a short yet sweet weekend getaway. Here is a list of places to visit and eat that I highly recommend in Busan:
Places:
A much needed recharge of my beach and mountain doses, I had been quite Hawaii-deprived! Busan's majestic beauty and raw culture of festivities and cuisine were heartwarming to experience. Busan, see you later! September was a bittersweet rollercoaster ride. Not only because I visited both Lotte World and Everland, but it was a month full of thrilling events and memorable experiences. So, keep calm and read on, about K.U's updates, ARC information and food recommendation! Korea University Update: I was told that KUBS Main Hall is not its own building but connected to Hyundai! Academics My professors (but it seems like the same case with other professors as well) highly encourage participation during class and students always respond with active engagement and critical discussions. I enjoy learning from different perspectives of my fellow classmates and sharing my own. Each class is also composed with group project(s) and I am excited to tackle them, the topics already sound fun such as case study of giant retailer H&M and developing a new product for an existing company in the South Korea market! Language Exchange Program (LTE) Besides KUBS Buddy and KUBA, I signed up for the Global Services Center's Language Exchange Program. Through this program, I was paired up with a Korean student who shares similar interests and wishes to learn English. In exchange, I could learn the Korean language and culture through my buddy and most importantly, gain a new friend! Alien Registration Card (ARC) For Korea University students, the ARC appointment should be made at the Sejongno Branch Office. Upon entering the office on the second floor, proceed to the standing board by the information counter for the list of appointments to find your name and your corresponding appointment number. Directions via subway: Take Line 1, get off at Jonggak station, exit 6. Address is 38, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Documents:
📍곱창이야기 Have you ever tried gobchang aka 곱창 aka small intestine? If not, give it a bite! Grill until the outside is slightly crispy, dip it in the sauce, add a bit of the stir-fried greens, don't forget the pickled chives, and finish with the chewy tteok! Thank you September for all the unexpected fun. Be Bold! 📍Gyeongbokgung Chuseok, Autumn Eve, is one the most celebrated holidays in South Korea. Family members and relatives travel home to spend the holiday with family, to honor their ancestors and to celebrate the Autumn harvest. National holidays also mean no school! During the time off, Tran and I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Gyeongbokgung, the largest and also the main royal palace among the Five Grand Palaces that were built during the Joseon Dynasty. This historical palace is beautiful and majestic. Not only did we get to visit the palace, we also got to wear Hanbok, traditional Korean attire. It felt as if we got to experience a touch of history. There was still so much to see, such as the National Palace Museum, the palace by night. other historical sights around the area. I will definitely be back! More information about the palace, click here! Tip: You can either set your destination as Gyeongbokgung Palace or City Hall. To be continued. Aloha,
Friday is my favorite day of the week and being away from Hawaii makes me treasure it even more, so here is to a beginning of my Aloha Friday series, a visit to a special place/landmark on Friday! The early autumn breeze of September is perfect for Namsan Seoul Tower, located in the midst of Myeongdong. Tran and I are active, but we are not huge fans (yet) of steep hills and many many stairs so we chose the cable car experience. Hop on Line 4, get off at Myeongdong station, Exit 3. Upon exit, look up to your left, you will see Pacific Hotel. Make your way towards the hotel, keep right on the path up a narrow and not-so-steep hill. When in doubt, follow the crowd and use your map! N Seoul Tower is a paradise on earth for couples so join the bandwagon and lock up your love! But you can still have as much fun and feel as much love whether you are by yourself or with your family and/or friend(s.) Perhaps, you might find love here! For me, I fell in love with Seoul! Tip: Go around 3-4 p.m so you can enjoy the view, catch the sunset and watch the city light up. Other transportation options: www.nseoultower.co.kr/eng/visit/traffic2.asp Love, Ha First Week of Living in Seoul After we landed, settled in with our place and got familiar with our area, Tran and I reunited with the fellow Freeman scholars - Pono, Annie and Keri (and Andy at later occasions); it was like a reunion scene from your favorite Korean drama! I was glad to see them safe and sound in South Korea. We bonded over delicious street food, beautiful landmarks, sang our hearts out at noraebang and shared festivals' memories. Our fun is to be continued! Besides from meeting new friends and making the best out of everyday, I stayed busy throughout the week with 3-day orientation series for both Korea University and Korea University Business School. I was able to meet my KUBA and KUBS buddies and getting to know more exchange students and other buddies. For the Fall 2018 semester, there were 700+ exchange students from all over the world. Kudos to the KUBAs and KUBS buddies for helping us adapting to Korea and always going an extra mile to assist and help! Tran and I slowly yet surely visited every corner of South Korea! From Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Itaewon, Hongdae of Seoul to spontaneous trip to Daejeon, we put an end to our eventful first week. First Week of School Monday, September 3 was our first day of school and it was raining hard. What an iconic start but that did not stop us from making it to school! The only problem was that we suddenly remembered that KUBS consists of 3 buildings and we were a little lost, we already lost my s(e)oul after finding it 2 weeks ago! But we eventually navigated our ways around and arrived on time. We will get used to it soon but here are some tips so far that I hope will help you:
I was very fortunate that I did not need to participate in the intense and stressful add/drop period. The courses' structure is similar to the courses at Shidler. The only notable difference is that exams normally take up around 50% or more of total grade. Majority of courses, if not all, consists of group project(s.) Stay tuned for courses' reviews at the end of the semester. I definitely miss having no class on Mondays, but my weeks end on Thursdays here! CHEEEHOOOO! There is a first for everything (: Tran and I arrived in a rainy Thursday evening. Seoul was anticipating a typhoon!
We quickly passed through the immigration and getting our luggage. We decided to take the airport limousine bus to our accommodation. It costed ₩10,000 (~$9) and took an hour and half to get to central Seoul from Incheon International Airport. By my mistake, we got off a stop early and had to take a short walk in the rain with our rolling luggages, it was quite romantic! Long story short, we got to our new home safely after half an hour with sweat drops, soaked and tired but happier than ever. We were satisfied with our little home for the next 4 months and could not be more excited to start this journey together in Seoul! Check out Tran's blog here. Follow our journey on IG via hashtag #htnv137 **TIPS** As of 2018, T-Mobile offers unlimited 2G data roaming and free text messages in South Korea. This was our life-saver in navigating to our place! Therefore, check your phone plan before heading off and install these apps: Naver Map, KakaoMap, Google Maps, Subway. Better safe than sorry! We are ready to set friendship goals to a whole new level! 📍Hong Kong - June 4 to 9, 2018 HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition 2018 Currently the biggest worldwide undergraduate case competition, HSBC and HKU bring students and coaches from all around the world together annually at the melting pot and financial capital of the world, Hong Kong. Students enjoy the week-long event with diverse activities and compete intensively in a four-round case competition. Each round consists of analysis, discussion, formulation of strategy, financial projections and preparation of presentation with no outside resources. All must be completed within 2.5 hours! Participating in this competition was a life changing experience and indeed, once in a lifetime opportunity. It was my honor to receive trainings from Dr. Paranal, to work with an incredible team and to meet brilliant individuals from all continents. The overall experience allowed me to learn more about my potential, taught me necessary skills for my future career and most importantly, I understood the meaning and responsibilities of a global citizen. Every moment and aspect of the competition was unforgettable. Each individual competed with grit and rigor for his/her team but also did not forget to cheer for everyone else. I am grateful for the newly gained friendships around the world! Would I do it again if I could? Yes, at an instant heartbeat! The Akamai Consulting Group: Eryn, Annie and Brenda Ladies, where should I even start?! The month we spent together from morning until night to bond, to research, to discuss and to practice was hellishly rewarding. I gained and strengthened friendships with you that I will hold dearly to my heart forever. Eryn, my Hong Kong other-half, I met you for the first time through this opportunity. Your work ethic and ambitions inspire and motivate me. I look up to you and cannot wait to see you change the world! Annie, my BESTie. I know that it was not easy for you to jump straight into practice after work but you always came through with the energy and the unwavering commitment. I am proud of you, người đẹp! Brenda, my chị gái, resilient and always diligent. You were the big sister who took care of us, our social butterfly, our Hong Kong expert and our alarm who made sure we finished strong. I could go on and on about how great you ladies are and how much you mean to me but to keep it short and simple, I love our little family! Our Coach, Everyone's Coach Dr. Paranal, we are incredibly grateful for you. You continuously took the extra mile on this journey with us, from the additional practices to late-night emails with constructive feedbacks. Your efforts and commitment motivated us to push beyond our comfort zone, to improve and to always give it our all. I am grateful that not only were you our coach, you were also everyone's coach. You gave me the confidence to cheehoo for the team. You cheered us on with your impressive language skills when it was tough and the urge to not stop here and keep trying. It was our blessing to be your mentees and we were so proud to stand besides you on stage as you received the Best Coach Award. Everyone - he won the best coach award! Dr. Paranal, thank you. We appreciate and love you very much! Shidler Ohana, Dean Hadwick, and Past Participants I also wanted to specifically acknowledge Dean Hadwick, Brandon, Josh, Mia H., Shiraz, Joann, Kelli, Mia P. and Kylee, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to watch our practices and provided us with insightful feedbacks, your support means the world to us! To YOU, Become future participants! Be openminded towards challenging opportunities because you will be surprised at how capable you are and how much you will learn and improve. It continuously gets better and better. Your teammates will always be there for you and you will form new friendships with talented individuals from around the world. Let your potential be discovered and skyrocketed! Don’t be afraid to take the initiative and express your interests. We, past participants, are here rooting for you! To be completely honest, it is easier said than done. It is absolutely ok to doubt yourself and to feel discouraged at times but for me personally, all it took for everything to turn around is having someone who believes in me. If that is the same case for you, I believe in YOU. You will never know unless you give it your best shot! Please reach out to me if you have any question. Let’s keep the legacy strong! Thank you so much HSBC/HKU, the organizers, the volunteers and everyone involved who made this competition possible. From the bottom of my heart, truly thank you. |
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