margaret's musings

It’s been over a month since I last posted, and it’s been pretty busy (and not all that interesting to write about) because it was midterms week at Yonsei at the end of October. Those weeks were just a lot of studying and taking exams, which I’m glad to be done with now at least. And right after that, my mom came to visit me for a week! I figured I’d update on my coolest trips to some historical Korean cities over the past few weeks post-midterms, especially since I have more travel plans this weekend that I want to dedicate a separate blog post to…

– gyeongju

One of my biggest bucket list trips this semester ever since learning about it in my Korean art history course was Gyeongju, a city about a 30 minute bullet train trip north from the southeast coastal city of Busan. Gyeongju (known as Seorabeol back then) was the historical capital of the Silla kingdom, one of the 3 kingdoms that ruled over the peninsula from around the 1st century BCE to the 7th century CE (a stretch literally called the “Three Kingdoms” period), until Silla took over parts of the other two and ruled as ‘unified Silla’ for another 250 years. Silla is best known for its gold artifacts that have been discovered from tombs, which are scattered in parks around the middle of the city, giving the city a reputation for being a ‘museum without walls’.

Continue reading “– historic korean cities” →

Long time no see! Chuseok was around 3 weeks ago now, so I figure I’ll update on the biggest/coolest thing I did over these last few weeks, which was my short vacation to Jeju Island! This is going to be a very photo-heavy update, so prepare yourselves.

For those who don’t know, Jeju is an island southwest of the Korean peninsula. It’s almost exactly half the size of Long Island, which makes it South Korea’s biggest island by far and is an incredibly popular vacation spot. I was invited by some friends to go for a week, but due to classes I met them later and stayed for 4 full days (arriving in the afternoon on 10/2 and leaving in the evening of 10/7). Jeju was definitely a bucket list travel spot while I was abroad, so I’m really glad I got the chance to go!

Continue reading “– my trip to jeju” →

It’s now the weekend after, so I’m a little late, but I figured I’d post an update with the fun stuff I did over my long weekend for the Chuseok holiday!

For those unfamiliar, Chuseok is often referred to as “Korean Thanksgiving” when explaining it to Americans, but it’s definitely an oversimplification. The only real similarities are that both Thanksgiving and Chuseok are holidays originally meant to celebrate bountiful harvests and involve a large family meal, but overall Chuseok has many more customs attached to it and is far more focused on the ‘harvest’ (although how true that is in a much less agricultural Korean society is something I don’t really know).

Continue reading “– chuseok holiday” →

My first week of classes at Yonsei University in Seoul has just come to a close, and tomorrow marks 2 weeks since I first landed in Seoul for the fall semester. The last two weeks have made me incredibly grateful for my summer experience at Ewha, as coming back to the Sinchon neighborhood felt so familiar that I haven’t even been nervous about spending 4 months abroad, a fact that would otherwise have intimidated me so much. I’ve been able to settle into my new routine easily because of this familiarity, and it honestly feels nice to be back!

– week 1

The first week I was here was a lot of shopping for necessities, figuring out school facilities, and readjusting to time zones. My room at Yonsei compared to Ewha is a little smaller, mostly because we have communal bathrooms in the Yonsei dorm I’m staying in compared to the private bathrooms at Ewha. Otherwise, the rooms are very similarly built & laid out, so I was glad to have stored some things in a locker in the Ewha neighborhood for the month that I was back in the US since I didn’t have to do a huge haul.

Continue reading “– first two weeks at yonsei” →

Welcome to my blog!

I figured as I set this up for my future study abroad experiences, I’d share a bit about my last trip to South Korea. I participated in the Ewha Womans University EISC program, where I took a class on Korean art as well as a language course, for 4 weeks.

I’m so grateful that I was able to get the opportunity to get to know Seoul for a bit before my fall study abroad program, where I’ll be studying at Yonsei University. I know a bit of what to expect staying in South Korea as a foreigner, and it helped me feel more prepared to stay in the country for a semester later.

Continue reading “– my summer in seoul” →