Let's do this, a fresh new start!

It is Wednesday 7 P.M. I am sitting in one of the coffee shops in my neighbourhood overlooking the Korea University campus. I should be studying but I can't help staring at the screen. Hands itching to write something.

It has been a while since I wrote a proper post, but the time feels right. I moved platforms from wordpress to blogger. But besides that I will be the same me, writing about my life as a student in Korea and about things that interest me.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave me a comment or send me an ask on tumblr. I will always be here for you.

Love, Wietske

Gwangjang Market - there is always more to see.

This week in Seoul Saturday I want to share another awesome and free activity for you while you are in Seoul. This market is a great place to grab a bit, and don’t worry you don’t have to like pig feet, heads, or intestine to find something delicious over here! They serve kimbab, sundae and the markets famous bindaetteok. Besides the food, meat and fruits and vegetables stands there is also a good place to buy high quality but cheap fabric.



There are many hanbok stores around and stores that sell a bit more of a modern version of the hanbok. Besides that Gwangjang market is also a great place to find cheap souvenir! And within walking distance of Dongdaemun where you can do more shopping!

How to get there:  Take the subway to Jongno-5-ga and take exit number 8. You will basically walk into the market once you exit.

Click here for the official website of Gwangjang market.

Tasty Tuesday: Jjajangba

Ingredients: 300g of jinmichunjang, 300g potato, 300g onion, 150g carrot, 100g pumpkin, 1 spring onion, 250 gram of meat (either pork or beef), 5 tablespoons of oil, 4 cups of water , 3 tablespoons of starch flour.  But really you can add all the vegetables you want, I used 300 g onion, 400g pork, 350 g potato and 200 g carrot.
Preparation:

• Cut your meat and vegetables into bite sized pieces and fry them in 2 tablespoons of oil. (Cook your meat first, you really don’t want to eat undercooked meat, especially if you go for pork).
• Add your concentrated black bean paste (jinmichunjang in my case) and stir until you have everything covered.
• Add 3,5 cups of water and let it cook until done.
• Mix the starch flour with half a cup of water and add it. Let it cook for another 2 minutes or until your rice is done.

And there you have it, a perfect dish to keep you company on the day of the singles.  Mix it up and don’t care if you get dark spicks of the sauce all over your shirt and face – you don’t have a boyfriend who is going to judge you ^^

Enjoy, Wietske

Life: How traveling alone changed me.

This week I have been posting a lot of pictures and music that remind me of Mongolia. Mongolia will always have a special place in my heart, since it was the first country I traveled to alone.

I stayed in a Mongolian family for 3 weeks and traveled around the country with a Mongolian family 2 Italian guys and an Irish girls for a week. This was only made possible because of the Lions organization, which is a kind of rotary club that organize camps and homestays in countries all over the world to encourage dialogue between people from different countries and to create cultural understanding.

I was a very shy girl and very attached to my “friends” who treated me very badly now I look back at it. I have never traveled without my parents, outside of Europe or flown in my life. I was scared, I was afraid I would have a hard time communicating, that I would be lonely and homesick.

Thank god I had the best time of my life, I made awesome new friends, I realized my so-called-friends were not my friends and discovered who my real friends were. I became more confident and way more talkative. If you want a relatively cheap and save way to see a new country and you are within the age range of 15 and 21 I totally would recommend you to check out the Lions organization youth exchange program!

However, it wasn’t until 2 years later, the summer after my high school graduation that I really got to know myself and became the person I wanted to be instead of being the person that people thought I was.

I finally went to the country I always wanted to go to – Korea! I made a plan, calculated how much money I would spend and then started convincing my parents. My dad was easy-peasy, he really encourages me and my sisters to follow our dreams, my mom however was a different story.

North-Korea just sunk a South-Korean warship, my mom was scared and just rather had me stay at home. Luckily I was able to convince her and could start booking tickets and hostels. And then finally I spend an amazing 3 weeks in Korea.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I was shitting bricks however from the moment I stepped out of the airplane I fell absolutely in love with the country and it’s amazing people.

But most important I learned a lot about myself. I learned that it is okay to make my own decisions, that it is okay to have fun, that it is okay to be myself and people would still like me.

I became a happier, more confident version of myself. Korea still has this effect on me and that is probably one of the reasons why I like to be there so much even though I am in general a very happy and confident person nowadays.

After traveling alone I finally realized I shouldn’t take shit from people and stand my ground, that I have the right be happy and should be, because I am amazing and wonderful.

And so are you! and if you haven’t realized that yet I recommend you to travel alone, meet new people and do all the things you want to do and be happy, because you deserve it!

So I challenge you, within a year from now, travel somewhere, it can be far away, or really close by. Go alone, stay alone and enjoy and be amazed about all the things you can do!

Tell me, where would you go and what crazy things would you do if you were travelling alone?

Love, Wietske

Norangjin Fishmarket, Fun, even if you don't like Fish!

The first time I heard about a fish market I was like well I got to see this, cultural experience and all but I wasn’t really excited for it. Now I still won’t say I will go there every weekend but it is defiantly something you shouldn’t skip on your trip to Korea.

Don’t worry, there is no fish smell hanging around and you don’t even have to buy fish to go there. Just walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. Try to figure out if those things are really fish and make plans for a fish liberation campaign.

However if you do actually enjoy fish you can pick out your own fish -and see it killed in front of your eyes- and eat it at one of the many restaurants lining the fish market.  Although the fish is delicious it can be a bit pricy but it’s a great experience!

Also if you have been to the fish market in Busan, you should still go norangjing fish market in Seoul. The atmosphere is totally different and there aren’t as many foreigners as in Busan, which makes the experiences even more fun.

Directions: Take line one to Norangjin station. Exit at exit 1 and go straight, you will see stairs crossing the road but you have to go upstairs and cross the trainstation. At the end go left and then go downstairs.

Hongdae: Cats living - a cat heaven.

On a cold and windy afternoon my friend decided it would be a great idea to take me and my sisters to a cat cafe. Now I have been all over Seoul and I have done all sorts of things but I had never been to a cat cafe in my life. I have been to a dog cafe before but the experience was just so so. And not even because I am allergic for dogs. I just feel that it isn’t good for dogs to be locked inside all day as for cats, their favorite thing to do seems to be sleeping so there is no direct need for them to go outside.

So of we went to cats living – located in Hongdae right next to the Hello Kitty cafe. The moment we stepped inside it felt, clean, nice and cozy. We put away our shoes and jackets in one of the lockers and ordered a drink and then spend a good 2 hours petting and playing with the cats.

A great thing was that it wasn’t very busy, unlike the dog cafe where I went. I don’t know if it is because we were there around 7 P.M. or if it is because cat cafes aren’t as popular anymore but I didn’t mind. It gave us time to look in every nook and cranny, and discover more cats every minute.

Some were just sleeping, some were ready to play and others where a tad bit on the shy side. But for everyone there was a cat to like and I really enjoyed my time there.

I totally recommend this place, especially on cold winter nights. Either with friends or with your boyfriend, it doesn’t matter. The cats will make you feel loved and at home anyway!

Review: Lingua Express - Sookmyung Women's University

As you may or may not know I used to study at Sookmyung Women’s University  from January 2012 till July 2012. Actually, to be more acurate, I took only one class at the actual university, besides that I would go to the Lingua Express 4 hours a day 5 days a week
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Sookmyung was founded on May 22nd, 1906 as Myeongshin Girls’ School, renamed to Sookmyung Women’s College on December 1st 1909 and re-established as a university on May 22nd 1948. According to Dong-A Ilbo it is ranked 10th place together with Inha University (located in Incheon) among Korean Universities.

In my opinion, the education level of Sookmyung no where near the level of education what I was used to in the Netherlands. It felt kind of as if I was back in High School but it might just as wel be the way they teach in Korea, which is following in the book precisely opposed to having more indepth discussions about the content.

The Lingua Express (language school) on the other hand was really good. The teachers are good at their job, they make you speak Korean and most important they make you feel comfortable while you speak it. The classes are not too big which is nice and although there are some rules about being in class, they are not too strict and if you are sick and can’t make it (even for the tests) it’s not that big of a deal.

However if you have full attendance or are at the top of your class you can actually get a discount for the next semester. Besides that the language classes are actually priced quite reasonalbly.
Lingua express also offers a few cultural experience classes (playing traditional korean games, taekwondo classes, or even sleighing). But you can also choose to go to the TOPIK classes they offer.

Even though I had my concerns about going to a women’s university, and the location of the university I ended up having an amazing time. I made great friends, and the neighbourhood feels like my home and I can totally recommend Lingua Express to anyone that is want to take language classes in Seoul.

X Wietske