This weekend was the first long weekend I had since I came to Seoul. It was in honor of Children's day, a day to shower your children with more gifts and make them feel special. David and I went on our first adventure in South Korea to Busan, the biggest port city in Korea. It takes 3.5 hours to get there on the bullet train (and costs 100, 000 won return) which is a sweet ride to the tip of the country. This was also our first couch surfing experience (www.couchsurfing.com) which is a great way to meet others with adventurous [View Full Entry]

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My boyfriend David won a day trip through the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) to the city of Jeonju which is about 2.5 hours south of Seoul. We got to explore the city made famous by creating one of Korea's favourite dish - bibimpap. This dish consists of rice and heaps of vegetables, sometimes meat and egg. It's normally served in a hot dish with a raw egg so the egg cooks as you eat it. It's definetly delicious and one of my faves! We also had the day to explore the Hanok Village in Jeonju which displays life in the old [View Full Entry]

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I kid you not, I am considered an alien in Korea. They even issued me a card so I won't forget it! This is how the Korean government keeps track of the foreigners residing in their country. Sure, it seems to make non-Korean unwelcome, but after all the hardships they have been through to get their independence and preserve their cultural identity, it makes complete sense as to why they are a little bit nervous about the whole situation. 2 months have flown by. Travelling is always exciting which makes time go by much faster than usual, but I'm not exactly [View Full Entry]

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This week marked my one month of arriving in Seoul. It feels like a lot longer though only because I seem to have settled in quite well. I have my own apartment which is a typical Korean style studio/bachelor where everything is very compressed. It's a huge change from North America where everything is so big and grand. I don't mind it much though because cleaning is much easier and it's very cozy. I still have moments where I forget I'm in a foreign country because Seoul is immensely international. 1% of the population are foreigners so living in Seoul is [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Seoul last night and I am mesmerized by the beauty of this city. It's very cosmopolitan and very safe. Koreans are so kind, to the point where the man at the pizza store pulled up a stool and gave me a class of Coke while I waited for my pizza (everything here, from stores to apartments are uber tiny so there is normally no space to sit). They totally appreciate the smallest things from foreigners so they laugh when I (try to) say thank you in Korean. The Han river running through the city is more like a [View Full Entry]

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Our last night in New York City had to be memorable so we decided to do some touristy things (even though it's the most unbearable thing for me) since for most of my friends this was their first venture into the Big Apple. We waited in line for almost an hour to board the ferry to visit Miss Liberty. We didn't end up getting off at the island to really explore since it was really busy. Instead we got off at Ellis Island, a place that I never knew existed until watching Hitch. Ellis Island is a historical landmark because it [View Full Entry]

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Last night we ventured into Manhattan. We met a friend for dinner and wound up in the SoHo district where I was harassed by a homeless man for looking like Pocohontas. That incident kinda sums up NYC for me.. you come across the most random yet interesting people on the streets of New York. Everyone is so different from the other. It's not exactly multi-cultural but more like multi-layered in regards to people of society in Manhattan. The divide is great between the rich and poor which is clear with upper and lower east and west sides (I'm still not sure [View Full Entry]

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Who knew that 6 girls that have never been on a road trip (where we had to be in control of the road) would make it safe and sound to the Big Apple all by themselves?!? Ya, we're pretty proud of ourselves too!! With all the chaos surrounding our departure (we had last minute issues with our van rental) we are ever so grateful that we are finally HERE! Sitting in a van with 6 girls for over 8 hours is not good news. It's amazing we didn't kill anyone on the way, and boy did the van stink! Road trips [View Full Entry]

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The best part of living in Toronto is that you are only a few hours from the best Canadian city, or so I think. Montreal is Canada's bit of European culture. It's only a 5 hour drive from Toronto yet so different. The coolest part about this city is that it's an island located just by the mouth of the St. Lawrence river. Although it is located in Canada's French province, knowing Francais is not a necessity since everyone speaks English on the streets and in the stores but ONLY in Montreal (since most of the residents are immigrants, students or [View Full Entry]

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Lazing on the beach.. drinking mojitos.. partying till sunrise.. lots and lots of eye candy.. I can get used to this! I rode my first moped ever the other day; the nice Cuban man with little to nothing English gave me and Julia a lesson for an hour, after which my other two friends chickened out and we had to tell him we didn't want to rent it. It's definetly a bit shady in this part of the world and you do have to act with a little bit more discretion, but being overly anxious and cautious can be a downer [View Full Entry]

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