I have officially been in Korea for a little over two months and have been loving my time here even more! The organization that helps exchange students planned a day for us to go to the popular amusement park, Lotte World! A unique part of the Lotte World experience is that many people wear high school uniforms (for the memories and because they offer a discount if you wear one!). Many Koreans wear their old or current uniform so it’s easy to take advantage of the discount. However, foreigners who don’t have a uniform can also experience Lotte World in a uniform by renting one for just 13,000 won or 9 USD! Although a little basic, my favorite attraction was probably the bumper cars! Getting to chase my friends around and ram into them was more memorable than the typical roller coasters, but I also loved a ride that drops you from an extremely high point.

Similar to Mizzou’s Welcome Week, there is also a back-to-school festival that happens at Seoul National University (SNU)! Unlike Mizzou, where Welcome Week occurs during the first week, it happens almost a month later here. Something that is really special about Korean university festivals is that they get popular bands to perform in addition to, at least at SNU, many student organizations, such as the cheerleading team, student bands and dance groups. This semester, SNU got Winner to perform for us! Even though Winner is not as popular of a group right now, it was still an amazing time that brought back a lot of nostalgia, as I grew up listening to their songs.

On the same topic of music, I went to see one of my favorite solo artists, Sunmi! She is also an older artist but still super popular. Getting tickets in Korea is incredibly competitive. People go to internet cafes to get the fastest internet and queue multiple computers to get multiple attempts. There are even websites where you can practice getting tickets because they sell out so fast! At first, I wasn’t planning on getting the best seats, but I somehow got fourth-row seats and was so excited! However, the payment page kept messing up for me and sent me back to seat selection. By the time I was back on, all the seats were taken, and the only seat available was in the twelfth row. I was honestly a little sad, but despite all this, I still had an incredible time.

Another activity I went on that was provided by the exchange organization was visiting Namsan tower. The tower is significant because it was the first general radio wave tower and the second-highest point in the country. To get to the tower, you can ride a cable car or do a small hike up a mountain that takes three minutes or around twenty minutes respectively. Even at the entrance of the tower, you get an amazing view of the city. However, if you pay a small fee, you can go up an elevator and see even more of one of the best cities in the world. As a group, we decided to do the small hike. The struggle up was worth it to see the beautiful skyline of Seoul in the end.

Although studying abroad is a time to learn about other cultures and explore a new country, we as students are still unfortunately faced with the dread of midterms. You can see masses of students walking to the library, feeling a sense of dread on campus, but just like Mizzou, SNU really tries to support students during this period of high stress. At the time of writing this, I’m procrastinating studying for my midterms to reflect upon my time in my parents’ home country. Even if I don’t do something extraordinary each week, I am still enjoying every moment here. It’s hard to believe that I only have less than seventy days left before heading back home!