Winter Program Hanyang University (Week 1)
안녕하세요!!
Whoaah it takes several minutes to find a way to type
in Hangul :”) So yeah I just arrived from South Korea from participating in
International Winter Program Hanyang University. Okay, I explain the program
briefly. So, this Winter Program is organized by Hanyang University, South
Korea, and it introduces its participants to Korean Language and Culture. We
can earn 1 credit after completing the program. For the location, this winter
program is conducted in Hanyang ERICA (Education, Research, and Industry
Cluster at Ansan) Campus, Ansan. Ansan itself is located in the south side of
Seoul, about seventy five minutes subway ride from Seoul. In addition, Hanyang
Winter Program starts on December 27th, 2015 and ends on January 9th,
2016, so it is about two-weeks long.
Korea? Again? Well yes, again. This is my second time
going to Korea, the first one was when attending CISAK last September ago in
KAIST, Daejeon. Are you not bored? Why should I? *shrug* this time is a
different trip compared with the last time I went there. What makes it special?
1. I am a program participant, so some of the
activities there are already arranged.
2. THIS IS WINTER BRUHHH!!
This is the first time I experience winter in my life.
Snow, cold wind, leafless trees, sipping hot tea, and living with a heater were
some of my expectation of winter. I was so excited with this program, yet I was
so exhausted in preparing things that I would bring there. Errr… I usually travel
in backpack style, which means only bringing one backpack to carry the whole
things, or maximal two bags: one backpack and one sling bag. However, this time
I should travel with luggage and many other things. Ewww… but then I tried to
accept the fact that I had to do that for the sake of survival to winter :”)
And in this post, I would like to tell you what had
happened in those two weeks. I make this so I will not forget the smallest
things I encounter in this trip :’) to do so, I was assisted by the little
helper, Vania’s Travel Journal. This is the second edition; the first one is
used for JJAK and CISAK trip.
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| my pensieve |
DISCLAIMER
This is a very long post. I divide it day by day. If
you cannot read the two-weeks posts in one time, you can read it day by day. I
am sorry if I am too selfish by using too much Is because it is from my
perspective and my purpose is to not forget what I have experienced. He he.
Anyway, enjoy!
26/12
The departure day
After spending about a night to pack the whole stuff I
would bring to Korea, it resulted a luggage, a bulky backpack, a sling bag, and
a big plastic bag to be brought. Aaahh… I was so mad. I dislike carrying things
on my hand (that’s why I prefer backpack), but my mom insisted me to bring the
omni-thick vest to keep me warm. Errr… oh ya, to keep myself sane during the
trip, I already finished my journal THREE DAYS BEFORE THE DEADLINE and made
sure that I didn’t have any academic thingy to be taken care of. Wee-hee.
With Papah, we went to Cibinong City Mall (CCM), the
nearest DAMRI pool. Before going there, we stopped in a warung padang to buy
nasi padang for my dinner. About 3.30 p.m., the bus departed. Actually, I could
tick one of my wish list: taking DAMRI bus. Hahaha. So weird. It was still in
Christmas holiday, so Jakarta streets were very empty. It only took 1 hour 30
minutes from Cibinong to Terminal 3 Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
In front of the terminal gate, there have been the
other participants. And I am not alone; the others also brought many things and
even bigger suitcases. After everyone had gathered, we took a group photo and
said goodbye to families and friends. Then, we did check-in. This was one
thrilling moment because we feared of overweight baggage. Thank God, we didn’t
have one, so we walked to the second floor and waited the boarding time.
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| still with one-layer clothes |
We boarded at 20:25 with AirAsia to KLIA2 to have a
transfer flight to Incheon. In the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I sat with Dinda,
from Fasilkom and a random man. It was the second time for Dinda to go to
Korea. The first time, she went there because she won a lucky draw and earned a
free flight to Korea by Asiana. How lucky. And she also met an ajumma who
treated a concert ticket and became friends with her since then. How luckyyyy….
Luckily, I was in the first group, who didn’t have to
wait for eight hours to the next flight because the second group did. After
finishing immigration stuffs, the first group continued our walk to the
departure gate. We boarded at 00:00. In the plane to Incheon, again, I heard
what I and Riffal laughed about: ‘cici paramida’ and ‘cici parameyo’. I also
smelled again the fusion of steamed ‘kerang’ and citrus.
27/12
Finally, the first group was on board to Korea that
midnight. I sat with Dinda and Rendy from FMIPA. We didn’t talk too much
because we’re sleepy already. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. Then I look behind
me, wow, three vacant seats! And there were two other three-vacant-seats sets
occupied by others. So, I moved there, pull back the arm-rest, and quickly fell
asleep.
The morning came, and several minutes before we landed
on Incheon, the captain announced that it was -7oC outside. Dayum…
and people took off their winter jacket. At about 07:00 a.m., the first group
arrived in Incheon, South Korea. Welcome again to Korea :”D cannot believe
could be there twice in a year :’) after we landed and going through the long
immigration queue, we changed our clothes. I wore longjohn and took my jacket
from the plastic bag. At least it lessened my carry-on belongings hihihi. When
we about to find AREX station in the arrival hall, the doors there opened and
sent us the real minus-seven-degree-celcius wind. So freezinn… then some of us
bought T-Money and topped it up in 7 Eleven. After we had our own T-Money, we
headed the AREX station.
It went smoothly until we were on the train. But, when
we arrived at Seoul Station to transfer to Line No. 4, we had to carry our
belongings through the long way to Line 4, and also we need to lift our
suitcases since there wasn’t any escalator, we got exhausted. Moreover, from
Seoul Station to Hanyang University at Ansan Station (Handaeap), took more than
one hour! Ansan is really far away from the city :’)
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| Group 1 at ICN! |
In the train, when the doors opened, it sent the real
wind of winter. The minus-seven-degree was real, bruh! I wore double jacket,
scarf, gloves, and a pair of wool socks doubled with ordinary Myeongdong socks.
And I still felt frozen! In fact, as I read on several articles on internet,
the subway train in winter uses heater instead of AC. But it was still freezing
:( Dinda, the K-drama and K-music fans, was very happy to be there. In the
train, she saw a gorgeous guy and tried to sit next to him hahaha.
After more than one-tiring-hour, we finally arrived at
Handaeap! The station was upper ground, and the wind stabbed us once we stepped
off of the train to the station platform. Our breath became smoke hahaha and
some of us played with it. It’s fun, actually. After we arrived there, we
didn’t know how to get to ERICA Campus of Hanyang University. Thank God, there
was a kind Chinese guy who was also a Hanyang student who willingly helped us
to get to ERICA Campus. He said that there would be a shuttle bus from the
station to the campus. So, we waited for the bus in the freeze.
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| Adapting with minus seven degree while waiting for the bus |
The bus came, and we got on it. We sat on the back, so
our belongings would not disturb the other passengers. Inside the bus was very
warm, so we felt relieved. The bus went, and I saw Ansan. Ansan, Ansan… what a
small city. Eventhough it is a small city, it has Lotte Mart hehe. It was not
very long journey from Handaeap to the campus, only about ten minutes. As we
arrived in the campus, we encountered the other challenge: find the dorm.
We showed the dorm address to the Chinese guy, and he
walked us to somewhere. He said, the two towers in our far sight was the dorm.
After that, he said good bye. Idk, he was very kind, walked and guided us from
Handaeap to here :”) feeling unsure with the guy, we asked several other
people, and we followed their directions, which, sent us walking and dragging
our suitcases in a hand-freezing temperature for about two hours :”) finally,
we found the REAL dorm. You know what, it was the building that the Chinese guy
showed us :”” moral story of the day: gorgeous, oppa-level men can be
unreliable, while average-looking man can be.
After that, Mbak Nitha divided the room and roommate.
Actually, my original roommate was Tania, who was in the second group, but
Naylah asked me to change the roommate with hers, so from that moment, she was
my roommate. Not long after the room division, came a Korean-looking girl, but
she spoke Indonesian fluently. She was Vanessa, our liaison officer for UI. In
fact, though she looked like a Korean student, she is Indonesian hahaha it
explains why she was very fluent in Indonesian. She walked us to our rooms, all
of which were in the 7th floor. My room and Naylah was in 712. Ah
ya, Naylah is from Biology department, FMIPA.
Finally we arrived…
After took a rest, we went down to 7- Eleven in the
first floor of our dorm. Aaah… there were onigiri, my survival food when in
Seoul last September hahaha. There was also a bowl of instant cooked rice. It
was 150gr and costed 1,000 KRW. We bought that. The 711 eonnie (who has
well-treated nails hahaha) showed us how
to heat it by just putting it in a microwave for two minutes. OMG, a new
survival kit hahahaha. Then we walked back upstairs and ate them with rendang,
which Naylah brought, and abon. After that I slept because I was very tired.
It was about 8 p.m. when I woke up. I prayed and had a
stroll around the dorm. It was very cold, and the streets were empty. Probably
because it was still in Christmas holiday. I walked to a tennis field, and
walked around it. I found some snow remains – or gundukan salju, as my friends and I called them -- I had a nice sleep that day because I was dayumly
tired….
28/12
The first day of program! Our agenda that day was
orientation program. We walked from our dorm on the edge of ERICA Campus to
Global Lounge in Student Welfare Building. It was about 10-minutes-walking
long. Moreover, the temperature that day reached -8oC :O we walked
with hands tightly saved inside our pockets.
Finally we made it to Global Lounge safely. Every time
we entered a room or a transportation, it was kinda relieving because they have
heater. Okay, so we arrived and we saw there were nametags with our names on
it. Not only nametag, there were also Student Guide, a Seoul subway map, a
mechanic pencil, a little blanket with Hanyang University ERICA Campus
embroidered on it, a Choco Pie, and…… a Banana Milk! Love of my life ♥.
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| Welcoming Kit. Finally meet the gorgeous Banana Uyu :3 |
There
were some opening speeches from Hanyang that welcomed us, and there were lucky desks
who earned Hanyang tumblers. Hanyang also introduced us to two professors who
would teach us in Korean Language Class. After that…. *drum rolls* there was a
PRE-TEST! Hahaha actually we had known this but helpless to learn :’) the only
question I answered correctly, I guess, it was only one number hahaha. The rest
was totally ngasal. After we finished
that clueless pretest, we headed to a nearby buffet restaurant to have a
welcoming lunch! Yeay!
We got on ERICA bus that had been rented to take us
for that day’s agenda. I sat alone that time, and suddenly one of the
professors sat next to me. She is the younger one. She asked me my name, and I
did the same, but cannot remember her full name until now -.- I only remember
her surname, Kang. We had some talks, and she was kinda surprised to know that
I’ve been to Korea before. She recommended me to eat naengmyeon (cold noodle) if
I go to Korea again in summer. She asked me if I liked Korean food or not, and
I frankly answered I don’t like. Uh-oh, wrong move :’D so I said I like some,
such as kimbap. Before we headed to the restaurant, Taejong, the other student
assistant , like Vanessa, gave us hotpack. Omg, hotpack is life. Hotpack is a
bag filled with idk some substances that when it had contact with air, it will
emit heat. Hotpacks will get hotter if we shake it or just rub it with our hand
palms.
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| HOTPACK IS LIFE!!!!! |
After arrived at the buffet restaurant, wow, I didn’t
know what to eat, so I followed Mbak Nitha who is guided by Ms. Jinnie who
showed us food without meat. I ate quite a lot hahaha remembering that I would
not be able to have such meals days ahead :’D Ms. Jinnie recommended us to try
hotteok, a bread with sugar and cinnamon inside. It is actually a street food.
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Hotteok stall
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After we finished, we walked back to the bus. In the
middle of our way, Prof. Kang said hello again to me and asked if the meal was
good or not. I said yes this time hahaha ofcourseee because I could choose :’)
then, we continued our day with Seoul City Trip! :D
It was quite far from Ansan to Seoul by bus, about one
hour bus ride. The first destination is National Folk Museum. We didn’t stay
long there, only one hour. It was very colddd, and hotpack saved us hahaha. We
took photos and continued to the next destination, Namsan Tower.
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National Folk Museum |
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| ala-ala with ala-ala masters |
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| OMG this 'kuda tomprok/kuda templok/kuda kawin' game does exist |
I have gone to
N Tower before, but at that time, my friends and I walked to the top hahaha. We
didn’t ride the cable car because, you know, it was expensive and we rather
used the money to eat :” sad story hahaha. But this time, we ride the cable
car! Woohoo. By cable car, it was only three minutes to reach the top, while by
walking it takes about one hour -_-. But if you walk, you can rest in a sightseeing
balcony in the middle of the way and see Myeongdong district from above. We
also did not stay long at Namsan, only one hour. The view from up above is
great. The love-lock are still there hahaha. It is believed that if a couple
lock a padlock with their name written on it on Namsan fence, their love will
be eternal. I know it is elah-able wkwkw.
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| The locks |
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| with my roommate, Naylah |
About 5.30 p.m., when the sun went down, we went back
to Ansan, and everybody was asleep in the bus hahaha.
29/12
The first day of class! Actually, Nay and I were late
on our first day :” because we thought there would be class division before the
class. When we reached the class, there were our names on the class. We’re in
the separate class. Naylah was in the advanced class, while I belonged to the
beginner class hahaha. The class division was based on the pretest a day ago.
When I entered the class, there were the other
participants and Prof. Kang. Oh, she taught my class. I took a vacant seat in
the third row, but she ordered me to sit in the front with a student from
University of Macau (if I’m not mistaken), Shu Boming. There were 9 students in
the class. One was from Thailand, Selene; one’s from China, Boming; and the
rest was from Indonesia. That day, we learnt Korean alphabet, or Hangeul. It
was not too hard, but for compound alphabets, those were yea kinda challenging.
That day, she introduced her name, but again I couldn’t remember -..- she also
taught us the Korean for teacher is 선생님(seon-saeng-nim). Therefore, from that day, we call her Sonsaengnim.
After the Language Class, we had a break time that I
used to do prayers and have lunch. After that, we walked again to Global
Lounge, and together, walked to Sports and Arts College, and entered Dance Hall
1. Wow, it looks like a dance studio with mirrors in two sides and bars in one
side. Our class that afternoon was Taekwondo and K-Pop dance. Firstly, there
were two guys wearing taekwondo attire. They explained Taekwondo and
demonstrated several basic movements. They ordered us to stand up and follow
the basic movements, variation of hits and kicks. Then, one by one tried to
practice the kick. Hahaha. We’re so weak, our kicks weren’t strong. After that,
they demonstrated a one-on-one Taekwondo fight. That was cool. Then we had a
group photo session. In that session, one of the taekwondo guy stood next to me
and he was still panting. It must be very tiring aha ha ha.
Next, we had a K-Pop dance class. Woohoo~ before we
did the real lesson, two students from Dance Department (I guess) guided us to
do a warm-up session. Then, we started the real lesson *smirk*. We tried to do
dance cover of Twice’s song, Ooh-Aah. She said she chose it because it was easy
to follow. Easy for her, not for us but Tania. We followed it exhaustedly –“ it
was haaard because there were no movement repetition. Tania could follow it
well since she is a dancer herself. Luckily, she was in our group, so she is
the leader hahaha. After dance in a big group, we also danced in a small group.
Luckily (again), my group has Tania in it :p
Exhausted and tired after the dance class, we headed
to a nearby restaurant outside the campus. We went to a ramyeon restaurant, and
Taejeong recommended jjampong for us. It was a spicy seafood ramyeon. I ordered
it. When our orders came, wowww, jjampong was very big. It was served in a big
bowl, and had many octopus in it. In Indonesia, I don’t eat squid and its chewy
friends, but for survival, I ate them all :’D it tasted good, and for the first
time in Korea, I tasted something tasty hahaha. It is tasty, but not too spicy.
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| Taekwondo oppas |
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| with the dancer eonnies. kimchi!! |
After having jjampong, I rummaged K-Supermarket to
search for a moisturizer because I forgot to bring one :”””” at that time, my
face got red and dry, especially around the mouth. These times I used Nay’s
Ponds, but it didn’t suit me because I feel sore when I applied it :” so, I
bought Clean&Clear Dual Action moisturizer which cost me seven kimbaps X((
for the sake of my face. We also went to
Paris Baguette bakery and Starbucks. Then, we walked home with a full tummy~
30/12
I started the day by waking up at 7 a.m. and didn’t
get panic because shubuh there was 6.12 a.m. hahaha. After that I took a bath
or had a breakfast first, then did the other later on. I also did my laundry
after taking a bath. Next, Naylah and I walked to the class in Student
Dormitory 2. That day we learn about number system in Korea. It was hard enough
for me since it has a distinctive number system. To make it less exhausting,
sonsaengnim made a bingo game to practice our Korean ability in mentioning
number from 1-25. Idk why, when playing games, Kang Sonsaengnim seemed very
absorbed in it and play the games wholeheartedly. I mean, she seemed very excited
in playing a game. She also was when playing this bingo game. She started the
game, and she won for two times -_-. She redid again so there would be winners
from the student. She wanted to give us present, so she did it. She said that
explicitly hahaha.
I ended that
exhausting class by peeking at the Muslim kitchen. I read on the Student Guide
that ERICA Campus has one common kitchen for everyone that opens 24 hours. I
tended to cook Indomie Goreng there because my Indomies had not been consumed
until that day, and I craved for that T_T. I walked downstair to the first
floor where it is located with Nay, and peeked. Dang, it was filled with
Arabian-looking guys. All guys. I cancelled my good deed because I felt
uncomfortable with that :( my Indomie :( later on, Elena, one of participant
from FISIP told me that I could cook it with hot water. I was so excited
hearing the info.
After having a break time, as usual, we gathered in
Global Lounge, Vanessa and Taejeong counted the number of us, and if we’re all
complete, we walked down to the bus. We went to Ansan Etiquette Education
Center to learn traditional Korean culture. After about 20 minutes of bus-ride,
we arrived and welcomed by warm ajummas. We put our bags and jackets, and
washed our hands. The ajummas there were very friendly and warm. Even though we
had language constraint, it didn’t stop them to radiate their warmth :’). The
first activity we did there was making tteok, sweet, steamed rice cake. We sat
in a big table and had three doughs in front of us: white, made from rice
flour; red, made from rice flour and strawberry extract; and yellow, made from
rice flour and pumpkin extract. There was a small green dough made from rice
flour and green tea extract. The leader ajumma (?) showed us how to make it.
Basically, it was like making nastar, cookies for Lebaran hahaha. What made it
different was that tteok has different colors and we can combine them together.
Tteok had filling inside it, which was a mix of grinded nuts, sesame, and
sugar. After we made the doughs into shapes (most were random-shaped), they
would be steamed. While waiting until they’re cooked, we walked upstairs to
have the next activity: wearing Hanbok. Yeay!
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| warm, leader ajumma teaches us how to make tteok |
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| Tteok yeojas |
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| What we did so far hahaha |
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| Mbak Nitha and the leader ajumma |
For me, wearing Hanbok was simple because it only consists
of a long, sleeveless dress, a jacket, and an ayam, the head accessories. The complex one was the way we tied the
sash. We need to follow the instruction carefully. One of the ajumma assisted
me in tying the sash, and she was warm and smelled like the tteok filling wkwk.
Fualaa… here we were with our hanbok. After the girls finished ours, the boys
did theirs. Taejeong was so cute in Hanbok then he became the photo properties
hahaha. One surprising thing happened here. Ding (or Ting-Ting), the most
silent and ansos student from China,
suddenly carried Tania on his arms. Whatttttt?? :OO
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| bring it on yeoja |
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| bring it on namja |
After taking group photos with hanbok, we went
downstairs again to meet (?) our cooked tteok. We could taste it while it was
still warm. Hmm, delicious, especially the pink ones. For me, the texture
resembled cilok -_- since it was made from the same ingredients and tastes a
little bit salty. Only the filling that made them different. We could take home
our cooked tteok. After that, we bowed and thanked the ajummas and students
assistants who had helped us. Then we said good bye. We shaked hands. Dang,
their hands were still warm in that cold weather :o wondering what was the
secret. After everyone was in the bus, we drove back to dorm.
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| cooked tteok |
31/12
In this New Year’s Eve day, we still had a Korean
Language Class. In the beginning, we reviewed what we had learnt so far.
Actually, the number lesson was not that hard after get used to it when
practice it in 711 or other stores hahaha. Once I practiced it when I was
looking for a lipbalm in a minimarket outside the campus. In this session, we
learnt about directions. Wew, day by day the lesson got harder. Anyway, I like
the way she teaches. Every 30 minutes or so, she gave a break time about 5
minutes, and asked us what K-Pop song do we like, and played it on the screen.
Nice.
In this session, she brought a board game named
yunori. Actually, it is the same as ludo in Indonesia. In Indonesia, we use
cube a cube dice to determine how many steps that we should take. In yunori, it
uses four wooden bars with calligraphy on one side of each bar as the dices. We
shook the bars and throw it on the ground to see how many steps that our
pion(s) would take. We were divided into two teams, and my team was consisted
of people who were famous bringing bad luck hahaha. Sonsaegnim played too, and
she was our opposition. At first, our team won faster, but in the middle, the
other team took our victory and they won –“ again, Sonsaengnim was very excited
in this game -_- she took it seriously hahaha.
At the end of the session, she taught us how to say
“Happy New Year” in Korean: 서허복 많이 바드세요 (sehebok
mani badeuseyo)!
To enjoy the New Year’s Eve in Korea, we went to COEX
Mall. It didn’t include the program, so we went by public transportations. We
first gathered in the dorm lobby and walked to Student Welfare building to pick
up some of us who thought that it was the meeting point. While waiting for
them, there was a woman carrying a traditional cake, and we greeted her with서허복 많이 바드세요! She asked us if we were overseas student and gave us
the cake she bought. Waaw hahaha. We thanked her for her kindness. Then, like
hungry zombies circling around a human’s brain, we ate them zombie-likely. The
cake was warm, and it was perfect for fighting the cold wind that day. After
that, we took a shuttle bus to Handaeap Station and headed to Samseong Station.
FYI, COEX Mall is where SM Town located. There is one
building specially made for SM Entertainment artists’ stuff: Artrium. It is
surely a heaven for K-Popers. The maniacs, Dinda, Devina, Shelly. Fenny, were very
excited to be there. Before we went crazier, Mbak Nitha said that we could roam
near here and gather again at 7 p.m. We tried to avoid the mass that would go
home late with the last train since in that NYE, there was no addition trains
in the midnight, just like in Jakarta. Then, fastly, everyone disappeared into
nowhere hahaha. Naylah and I just walked around COEX and taking photos in front
of EXO displays. We also saw a stage for an end-year music show and countdown
by Hyundai. After that, we entered the Artrium to see what are things inside,
and well, surely it was not my heaven hahaha. We exited and entered the mall.
Ah it was better. We just walked around, talked about things, and when we saw
Daiso, I was very excited. I never saw Daiso near ERICA Campus :” ah ya, Daiso
is a store that sells things cheaper than the other store or supermarkets. For
example, the moisturizer I bought 7.700 KRW in K-Supermarket was just 5.000KRW
in Daiso! I regretted my purchase T_T. However, I only bought a snack requested
by a friend of mine. After that, we ate Orion chips together and walked again.
Our steps stopped at TopTen store because it has a winter sale in it. Naylah
bought jackets while I was on my attempt to control my desire for sales :”) and
I did it :”).
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| EXO displays |
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| Preparation for Hyundai's countdown |
It was 7 p.m. already and we walked to the meeting
point. But we didn’t see the other. Just met Ninda and Alia, and we walked
inside a store to warm ourselves up because it was very cold outside. Later on,
we knew that the rest also warmed themselves in the mall, and we walked there.
Suddenly, the maniacs ran to us and begged Mbak Nitha to extend the time since
there was a red carpet event. Mbak Nitha granted their wish, and we followed
them upstairs. I myself was curious how it felt to be in the middle of red-carpet
craze. It was fun, though. Hahaha. Many selfie sticks were erected in the crowd
to record the actors/actresses who came. Unfortunately, I didn’t know who they
are, so I didn’t really feel their excitement. Hahaha.
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| Feel the crowd |
At 7:30 p.m. we went home. When we transferred at
Sadang Station, we bought coffee breads because we were very hungreeeh. It was
only 1,000 KRW. Then we transferred to Line 4 to reach Handaeap. It was late,
and shuttle bus was not available, so we took taxi. We greeted the taxi driver
with sehebok mani badeuseyo and walked to dorm. Hhh, the NYE in Ansan was
not really great. The crowd in Bojong Gede, I thought, was more festive than in
Ansan.
So, that night, I spent the night changing with Devina
and Dinda in the TV Room, watching end-year music show and countdown live from
Gwanghwamun Square. Sonsaengnim said that the night changing is usually
celebrated there. I thought it would be very crowd and festive, in fact, there
were just some people who rang a big bell, and just that. Without any fireworks
at all. Hhh…:”) however, I was very grateful to be able to be in Korea in year
changing event. That night, I pondered what I had done in 2015…
서허복 많이 바드세요!!!
1/1
Happy new year!
As far as I read on internet, Koreans usually
celebrate New Year by watching the first sunrise in the year. However, we
didn’t do it :( in fact, ERICA is located near a beach (as I saw on Google
Maps). Anyway, in this special day, our
group planned to go to several places: Itaewon and Myeongdong.
We went to Itaewon first. We went to Itaewon because
there is a mosque there, and it was Friday, so the boys needed to do the Friday
Prayer. Itaewon is a region filled with migrants. I could see a lot of restaurants
that sell food from other countries (including Indonesian food restaurant also,
which sells ayam bakar for 10,000 KRW
*kry*). When we arrived there, it was about 12.00 a.m., the time for the Friday
Prayers. We didn’t know where the mosque is exactly located; we just followed
West-Asian-looking men walked. They must be on their way to the mosque. Hehehe.
One fact that I experienced, Itaewon is hilly. We had to hike through steep
pavements to reach the mosque.
The mosque is not really far from Itaewon Station,
only 5-10 minutes walking. When we arrived at the mosque, men from various
countries and races were rushing into the mosque. Woow, refreshing display
hahaha especially the Turk guys wkwkw. In the middle of the crowd, we could
hear people greeted each other with “Assalamualaikum…” such a relieving feeling
for me :”) hearing azan also relieved me. Hfff, I couldn’t deny, as a Muslim,
living in Korea, where Islam is minority, experiencing those things were
relieving. The boys walked up to the mosque, while the girls and Rendy, who is
a Christian, waited in front of the mosque. Unexpectedly, the shaf was tumpeh-tumpeh
(?) until the point where we stood. So we moved to the front of Turkish
meals store. Seeing those men doing the Prayer outdoor in cold temperature
melted me :”). After the men finished the Friday Prayer, the girls did Zuhur
Prayer. It was such an interesting experience for me to do prayers in masjid in
Korea. Having wudhu with warm water,
and when I walked out the wudhu room
to the praying room, it felt semriwing
hahaha.
 |
| Itaewon mosque.You can see the tumpeh-tumpeh shaf there |
Ninda had made an appointment with her friend who
studied there to meet, and she said her friend would show us a halal restaurant
recommended by her. While waiting for her friend to come, we did a photo ala-ala session hahaha. Rendy as the
photographer was looking for a face of #VisitItaewon wkwkw. We didn’t take too
long for the photo session because Intan, Ninda’s friend had come. She walked
us to Makan Halal Restaurant. Woow it was filled by many Indonesian tourists.
Two of the waiters were Indonesian too. So, it felt like back home hahaha. I
sat with Naylah, Devina, and Dinda. We ordered samgyetang, a chicken soup with
ginseng. It was expensive, though, 12,000 KRW for a big portion of samgyetang.
Therefore, we only order two portions and two bowls of extra rice for us four.
Eating in a Korean restaurant was something because they usually give lots of
side dishes. The side dishes there were my favorite! Sweet kim (seaweed) with
sesame, sliced fish cakes, sweet anchovies, a kind of fish cake in
perkedel-like shape, salty boiled bean sprouts, and of course kimchi. Finally,
the samgyetang came. 찰 먹어요! The first lunch in 2016, and luckily, it was proper
hahaha.
 |
| Samgyetang and its loyal side dishes |
After having lunch, we walked down the street to
Itaewon-yok (station), but we turned right instead of left to the station
because we were heading to LINE Friends Store. I had gone to a LINE Friends
Store in Doota! Dongdaemun, but this one in Itaewon is much bigger than the one
in Dongdaemun. It is a three-stories building and it was the real heaven for me
and Naylah :”D because it was about Brown, Cony, Sally, c.s. etc. ahhh~ the
store has many big display of LINE Friends characters. There were so many
huggable Browns and Conies! ♥.♥ Together with Naylah and Alia, we explored every
corner of the store and took photos with the characters. Even though just
taking photos (and hugged the dolls there), I felt so happy :”). After about
one hour there, we continued our trip to the next destination: Myeongdong.
 |
| LINE STORE ITAEWON IS LIFE!!! |
Myeongdong, evening, New Year. Perfect combination
that resulted a cendol-like Myeongdong. I have a love-hate relationship with
this place hahaha. I love it because feel alive there. The crowd, the stores,
the atmosphere boost my mood. I hate it because of the strong temptation to buy
things hahaha. There are many little cute things and delicious street food
here. Ahhh~. I bought many titipan
here, from cosmetics to cute Myeongdong socks. I also visited Daiso here, which
is bigger than in COEX hahaha. After many shopping bags held in our hands, we
went home to Handaeap. That day, the shuttle bus did not operate, so we took
taxi to reach 니손사 (dorm).
 |
| Myeongdong |
 |
| Cendol-ish Myeongdong at NY night. Look at the face of that boy. |
In the dorm, Naylah was having a phone call with her
family as usual. Suddenly, she screamed out loud and cried hysterically.
Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun, her father just passed away… that night
turned out to be a dark night…
2/1
Initially, our group was going to go Nami Island, but
Naylah didn’t go, and I accompanied her. She was still shocked, and I thought
there should be someone beside her in this critical time… so yea, that day we
just stayed at our room.
TBC :3 /stej tʃun/
**for more photos, just check my Facebook page and open Winter Program Hanyang University album
**for more photos, just check my Facebook page and open Winter Program Hanyang University album
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