global engagement blog

farewell [december 2022]

As my time in Korea comes to an end, I don’t think it is possible for it to be anything but bittersweet. The concept of time quickly passing without my acknowledgement used to really send me into an existential crisis in high school, but over the past two years I have been fine and come to my own realizations about time passing. However, thinking about how quickly this past semester has flown by makes me regress into that existential fear again. The international students of group 7 organized a farewell party to repay the kindness and effort that the Korean students put into making our semester great. It was a blast, and Kevin organized a great game of rage cage. It filled me with some sort of American college student pride to teach all the international students a beloved American party game. We ate chicken and beer, lots of tteokbokki and bags of chips. One of the best games of the night was a song guessing game that Kevin and Brian had created, with almost 80 songs for us to guess. It got really competitive when everyone was screaming their team name. Further into the night, the final for the world cup was starting. Not being affiliated with any sports team, I was just enjoying the atmosphere. Eventually we all crowded around the TV to watch the penalties, and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had watching sports. Saying goodbye to all the friends I had met was the hardest part of my trip to Korea, and I genuinely hope I get to see everyone once again in my lifetime. The quiet cab ride back to my neighborhood with Taeho gave me some time to reflect on the semester and the happiness I felt the entire time. I talked with Taeho how I felt sad to be going back to Oklahoma, but I knew I couldn’t stay in Korea forever. I had essentially been on a 4 month vacation, learning about things I enjoyed and having new experiences everyday. I don’t think my lifestyle in Korea is something that was sustainable, but I am so grateful that I got to have the amazing and life changing experience. It truly changed how I see the world and put into perspective how small and manageable my problems are back home. Truly, if I can live in another country and flourish, what else am I capable of?

my classes at SNU [december 2022]

As my classes for this semester come to an end, I wanted to reflect on what I have learned throughout my time at SNU. This semester has taught me a lot of street smarts on how to operate in Korea, but I also had the amazing opportunity to learn book smarts at the best university in South Korea. Without studying abroad I would have never gotten to take a semester off from computer science classes, free to choose electives simply for the fact that I was interested in the topic and wanted to know more. I took Korean Literature, Korean Language and Culture, American Poetry, and Astronomy. The irony of taking American Poetry during the one semester that I am not actually in America is not lost on me, but I never had the opportunity to learn about it in school, and it is not exactly in the curriculum for a computer science degree. Through my two classes that dealt with Korean studies, I was excited everyday for class because it enriched how I experienced Korea. I understood how the culture has been shaped throughout history and learned some interesting folklore about the country. My favorite topics were learning about the shamanism in Korea and how Koreans kept their culture even through the Japanese occupation. However, my favorite class was astronomy, which I had every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. In that class I was definitely the student that asked the most questions, and by the end of the semester I think the professor came to anticipate them. Although it was one of the most challenging classes I have ever taken (I somehow managed to fail the midterm), it was really rewarding to achieve a B as my final grade. Our professor took us to see the radio and optical telescopes that SNU has on their campus, explaining to us how the PHD students conduct their research. It is something that I am really interested in, even though I don’t think I would be willing to fully major in it. This semester allowed me to see that I should pursue my interests even if they don’t contribute to my career. It is okay to have fun and learn something that you’re not the best at. I am grateful to be able to spread my wings, after all that is how new innovations are made- different aspects of life coming together to form something great. Next semester I am back to the grind to get my degree. 

favorite neighborhoods in Seoul [november 2022]

Seoul is so big that every subway stop you get off at has its own special feel. This range of energies and aesthetics is what excites me most about the city. In this post I wanted to give a little overview about my favorite neighborhoods in Seoul and what I recommend. First is SNU station and more specifically the food street called Sharosugil (샤로수길). This is where I would eat dinner when I met up with friends, and there are plenty of restaurants to try every time you meet here. Some of my favorites are a fried pork cutlet restaurant, a burger place on the very far end of the street, and an italian place with the polar bear out front. Something to keep in mind when visiting Korea is that restaurants turn over very quickly so unfortunately I don’t think there is any use in telling you the names of the restaurants (one of my favorite spots actually closed in the time that I have been in Korea). The food is generally cheaper than in other areas of Seoul because a lot of the SNU students are on a tight budget. There are not a lot of foreigners in this area and it really felt like a college town to me. Another one of my favorite areas is the hapjeong. I would take line two from SNU station to Hongdae, and Hapjeong is the stop right before. I first discovered the neighborhood after finding a cute cafe I wanted to go to and wandering around afterwards. If you walk towards the main Hongdae shopping street from Hapjeong station, you’ll be able to go through the cutest alleyways ever, with amazing boutiques from Korea streetwear brands. I highly recommend this area if you are looking for some trendy pieces from stores that are pushing the fashion trends. The last area that I loved spending time in is an area in Gangnam, near Sinsa station. If you explore the roads to the North-East of Sinsa station, you will find excellent restaurants and designer stores as well as cute cafes. If I was feeling like I wanted to dress up a little more fancy I would go over to this area and stroll until I found a cafe I wanted to try. I also got an amazing perfume from the Tamburins store here. I found something to enjoy in every neighborhood I went to, but these are some of my favorites.

reflecting [november 2022]

The past week has been filled with sadness and tragedy for the country of South Korea, and for me personally. The Itaewon Halloween disaster Saturday night left my classmates shaken and the mood this week has been somber. No one I am acquainted with at SNU was injured in the crowd rush, but several of my close friends were in the middle of it, and are left with anxiety and fear of witnessing a tragedy up close. In my personal life, my grandpa passed away Tuesday morning, which left me to process my grief so far away from him. It is interesting how a city I have no memories associated with my grandfather takes on a new perspective when I think of him. Good food turned from “wow I want to eat this again” into “I wish I could have shown him this”. Because I have been feeling down this last week, I want to reminisce on some happy memories from last month. One of my favorite things I have done in Korea is take the KTX train to a seaside town on the East coast of Korea. Taeho and I booked a last minute trip to Gangneung, a small town known for good seafood. We were running late for our train departure and after getting off the subway at Seoul Station, we ran through the station and down the platform to catch our train with 2 minutes to spare. Unfortunately there was no food on the train so we were starving when we arrived. Stepping off the train and into the station, it shocked me how little people there were. I was so used to the dense population of Seoul that it almost felt a little like a ghost town when there weren’t people everywhere I looked. The airbnb was serene and relaxing on the beach was a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively). It reaffirmed to me how important balance is in life. Getting sushi, late night pizza, and market food was the cherry on top to a great weekend. My favorite part however, was the art museum that I visited. It was a projector art museum but the scale of it was unlike anything I had ever seen. There was a room of mirrors where waterfalls were projected onto, making me feel like I was in a different world completely. It was the 아르떼뮤지엄 강릉 ARTE MUSEUM VALLEY GANGNEUNG if anyone is interested in going for themselves. It was a perfect getaway in the middle of the semester. Below is my instagram post with some of the artwork from the museum.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjvay_hvwwW/

making new friends [october 2022]

This is the first time that I have met so many people from outside the Oklahoma-Texas bubble, let alone from outside the United States. My best friends that I have met are Taeho from Canada, Brian from Australia, Ana from Mexico, Justin from Taiwan, Jonas from Germany, Simon from the Netherlands, Hyeonwoo from Korea, and just to throw some familiarity of good ol’ USA— Kevin from Missouri. Despite coming from all different corners of the world, we found some funny similarities between the ways we were raised. My favorite of which is discovering that everyone had to learn the recorder in elementary music class. I guess everywhere in the world, blowing your parents’ eardrums out after school everyday is a valuable rite of passage. I did not live in the dorms my freshman year of college, so I never got to experience how close you can get with a group of friends so quickly by seeing them everyday. They are truly the highlight of my trip, and sharing a meal with them is my favorite thing to do in my day. We have a weekly pub night on Thursdays set up by the SNU buddy students, where we play drinking games and ask each other questions to get to know each other. I am so glad that I got placed in a SNUBuddy group with such funny and kind people. After pub nights, we would sometimes go to karaoke. In Korea they have excellent setups with coin norabong where you pay 1,000 won (a little less than a dollar) to choose 3 songs. Normally the rooms are meant for one or two people, but shoving 3 or 4 people in there is when the fun really starts. From belting Bruno Mars to rapping Megan Thee Stallion, music really brings people together. One of my favorite memories from when I was first getting to know everyone was going to a pub called DanBam in Itaewon. It was from a Netflix Korean drama that everyone had seen, and we spent the evening eating a delicious stew while drinking. They put our group on the roof and it was a gorgeous summer night. The staff also gave us a speaker to connect our phones and play music! Eventually the evening was winding down and we were the only ones left on the roof where we blasted some K-pop and American pop music. Simon also got me to play this really slow and slightly strange Dutch song which made me and Kevin cry from laughter.

experiencing traditional Korean culture [october 2022]

During the Chuseok holiday, my personal Korean buddy (through the SNUBuddy program), Hyeonwoo, did not go home for the holidays like many of my other Korean friends. Hyeonwoo decided to hang out with our buddy group over the weekend, and a group of us decided to go to the Changdeokgung palace, known for its beautiful gardens. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and only a limited number of people are able to see it a day. With our tickets booked a day before, and Hyeonwoo’s Korean to help us along the way, we took line two up to the palace. We walked through where the kings would have reflected and wrote poetry, it was so beautiful and serene. I thought it was funny how Hyeonwoo was not impressed, he said as a Korean it is nothing special. “Looks like my hometown”, he said with an unexcited tone. Walking through the foliage with my friends, listening to the tour guide talk about tigers eating royal scribes, we had a great time cracking jokes. It is definitely a testament to me that being in good company makes a great time. Another traditional experience that my friends and I ventured out to experience was one of the oldest street markets in South Korea, the Gwangjang market. As we approached the crowded area, the smell of all the delicious food wafted into my nose. Because it is so popular, the lines for food can be pretty long if you go at the wrong time. My favorite Korean street food is hotteok, normally a honey filled pancake that is served HOT off the grill. That is a must get in the market. If you are looking for something more filling for a meal, I also recommend the kalguksu, which is a soup containing knife-cut wheat noodles. It is another one of my favorite Korean dishes. The last time I went to the market I also got yukhoe, which is a dish of raw beef. It wasn’t my favorite but better than I thought it would be. One of my friends that I split the dish with said it tasted like “if you grew sushi from the Earth” which was a funny but accurate description. Learning about Korean history at the palace and experiencing how traditional aspects of Korean society have been incorporated into modern living was a great experience. It is important for anywhere you travel to understand how the past has shaped the modern society that you experience when you travel. 

my love for Seoul’s subway [september 2022]

I am drawn to big cities, I enjoy the large number of people surrounding me, the different cultures merging in restaurants in back alleys that you stumble across while walking to the subway. The subway is one of my favorite things about Seoul, it is like if the New York City Subway and the London Tube had a very clean child. It is a part of Korean culture to be very quiet on the subway, and I always feel like it was a meditative experience. Of course, like all other aspects of life nowadays, you can use your phone if you want, there is even wifi in all of the cars. However, unlike most other situations nowadays, there is no pressure to be seen doing something. Many people just sit in silence reflecting on their day as the subway car whips under the bustling city. I love putting my headphones on and stare at my reflection in the window across from me. These are the calm moments in the subway. If you get stuck in rush hour, it is a whole different experience. I only ever get stuck in rush hour in the evenings, I simply do not wake up early enough to be on the subway when everyone is heading to their jobs. But often as I am heading back home from Gangnam (one of the biggest office districts in Seoul), you are crammed into the subway car, shoulder to shoulder, resembling a can of sardines. The first time this happened to me, I was alone and immediately panicked, as my phone and wallet were in my back pockets. If someone were to steal them, I would have no idea who took them, much less be able to stop them from getting away when the doors opened again. I move with urgency to grab my belongings, when the Koreans on the subway around me stare at me with a slightly confused look. Oh, I realize. I am in Korea. The odds of someone stealing my belongings are so slim there is no reason for my panic. This was the only moment of ‘culture shock’ that I have had in Korea. Even when the subway is ridiculously packed, I find peace in the experience. I much prefer the subway to the bus, even though I can only see darkness out the window. It is a moment of stillness that I rarely get in my day otherwise. I hope wherever I live in the future, there is a subway for me to ride around aimlessly. 

settling in Korea [september 2022]

Stepping out of the airplane in Seoul, you can feel the humidity slowly enveloping you. Korea in the summer is known for being humid, and being from Oklahoma I thought I would be resilient against it. I can survive in New Orleans, how hard would it be? I was wrong. So wrong. I had never been to Asia before, and apparently people here are used to practically swimming through the air. The most important discovery I made in my first week here was the dehumidifier setting on my air conditioner. Nevertheless, we adapt and overcome. Seoul is a beautiful city. Traditional Korean architecture mixed with modern skyscrapers all over the city. For the first couple days I stayed on the North side of the river, in Myeong-dong. It is known for being a touristy area with good Chinese food. I didn’t know anything about the area at the time and should have done more research, but when everything is in Korean, it can be a daunting task. I had heard of the Korean fried chicken brand, BHC, so for my first meal I headed over there. Of course, somehow I missed the 3 little chili signs next to the chicken I got signifying that it was literally the spiciest chicken on the menu. Now, I’m not necessarily the worst white person when it comes to spice, but Korean spice is on another level. I took one bite and started crying. The rest of my first week was filled with new experiences. I was expecting a lot of culture shocks, but Seoul was more similar to an American big city than I expected. The transportation system is one of the best in the world. The subway is impossibly clean, and the buses come on time. I explored the well known neighborhoods, getting breakfast in Itaewon before heading to Gangnam for shopping. (Gangnam style, y’know?) I wanted to visit a k-pop album store that was having a pop-up event for one of my favorite k-pop boy bands. On the way, I accidentally stumbled across a park that I had just watched in a famous YouTube video. This really made me think, “Oh wow. I am really here. I can just explore the city. People I look up to actually live here.” Of course, if someone grew up in New York City I think they would have a hard time understanding my perspective, but growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, seeing a celebrity is as likely as snow in August. Anyways. We’re here! In Seoul! Let the semester begin!

France recap! [july 2022]

France was amazing. Although it was incredibly hot with no air conditioning, I feel like I really grew as a person. I was tested in ways I had never been before (including positive for COVID-19 :/ ). My engineering coursework was interesting, and I am glad that I got to meet the 5 other engineering students. We had a great time exploring french culture. I did some solo traveling afterwards, and that time spent alone was really valuable. I had never been that dependent just on myself. Below are some funny beReals capturing the experience.