KaitTakesAsia92

Previously studied at Kansai Gaidai in Osaka, Japan, and just finished studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea! If you have any questions about anything feel free to ask me and I'll answer (as best I can)! I'm also currently in the process of applying to Fulbright's ETA program in South Korea and just waiting for a response, so wish me luck!

[shawolelfb2uty]

How to Pay Bills in Korea (via Mobile Banking)

Today, my coteacher showed me how to pay my bills via internet banking, since the bank is only open while I’m at school, and I want to share it with others who might be struggling with it!

It’s pretty simple if you already know how to do internet banking on you phone (I’ll make a separate post for that later!). Everything I mention can be found in different colored circles in the above picture!

Pink circles: How much you owe. This will of course change month to month, so always check to be sure!

Green circle: This is the due date for paying the bill. If you surpass this I’ve had no punishment yet, but I always pay it before the next bill is released. Just try to remember. This also changes each month, so always check it to be sure, if you don’t plan to just pay it right away.

Yellow circles: These are the bank accounts you can make a payment to, choose your own bank so you won’t get charged a transfer fee. For example, my bank in Nonghyup (농협) so I send my bills to the account listed to the right of that. (I blacked out the numbers because you don’t need to know my info and I doubt any of you want to pay my bills for me Hahaha)

And there you have it! It’s that simple! Then just transfer! This can also be done with an ATM, surely, if you don’t have internet banking, as it is a simple wire transfer!

Hope this was helpful! Next ‘how to’ will be wire transfers via mobile banking!

[shawolelfb2uty]

My Post-Fulbright Plan: Applying for KGSP!

Some of you might be wondering what KGSP even is, right? Well KGSP stands for Korean Government Scholarship Program, and it is very comepetitive scholarship that only admits a set number of people from each country each year. Also, the scholarship not only pays for all of one’s schooling expenses, but also for one year of Korean language classes and gives each student a 900,000 won per month stipend through out the program. Further, if you can achieve a TOPIK level 5 or 6 score, then they give you an extra 100,000 won per month on your stipend. A high TOPIK score can also improve your chances to get the scholarship and, if you achieve level 5 or 6 before applying to KGSP, you can even skip the one year mandatory Korean language classes and go straight to grad school! This is what I hope to do and, in order to reach this goal, I have been spending my spare time studying Korean as much as possible and will see how I do on the TOPIK in November! America’s number for grad school last year was 15 students, with the highest number being from China with 24 students. As I have yet to call the Korean embassy in the US to discuss the scholarship, I do not yet know how my chances stand in terms of how many Americans tend to apply for this scholarship at the grad school level.

I could say I recently came to the decision to apply to this program, but, unlike Fulbright, I heard about this program about a year ago now. I’ve been planning on applying for it this year or next, and I only recently decided that I would try this coming year (2017 application cycle) and actually started looking into the specifics of applying a few months early! I’m planning to apply through the embassy track, and my 3 schools I’m applying for are Seoul Nation University, Ewha Women’s University, and Sogang University! I’m applying to each school with the major of 여성학 or Women/Gender Studies. I’m just starting work on my essays now and actually starting this, rather than just researching what I need to do, is making my nerves go wild. I really want this opportunity, but as always I’m not completely confident, as my friends always seem to be for me. Sure, I had decent grades (3.83/4.0), but there’s always someone better. Sure my Korean abilities could give me a leg up, but it might only even the playing field as I worry, even though the disqualification of exchange students has been canceled, that the fact I have studied in Korea for a year still might put me at a disadvantage... All I can do is put my best foot forward and hope, though, and maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised again like Fulbright! I always have to try because I hate the “what if”s of not trying at all. To me, it is better to try and fail than to not try at all, so here goes nothing! *crosses fingers*

[shawolelfb2uty]

TOPIK Results!!

I gotta tell you, I had a really hard time finding my scores for this test! They’ve been out for days, but I’ve been busy, and then, when I finally got the time, my laptop is new and Windows 10 so I didn’t know how to make it let me use Internet Explorer (the web browser Korea is obsessed with) instead of Microsoft Edge... But I finally got my results and they’re better than I expected! I walked out thinking I did 3 if I even passed and thinking I bombed the reading section, but did maybe ok on writing. Turns out that the opposite is true! By some weird twist of fate I get the same score on both the reading and listening sections, failed the writing section, but somehow pulled off level 4! I’m really excited and this make me extra excite to start my new TOPIK classes at Ganada Academy at the end of the month~! My transcript is included below:

If anyone has any writing section tips (besides actually finishing the essay, as I only got about 350 characters out of 600) or would like to share their scores, please feel free~! 

[shawolelfb2uty]

Taking the TOPIK (II) ~ My Experience

I kept this pretty quiet outside of Facebook, but this past weekend I took a trip down to Daegu to take the TOPIK II. I don’t need this, but neither do many taking it. So why did I? I just wanted to know where I’m at and get some motivation to study harder in the future, specifically, next semester in Seoul (I’m extending and moving!).

What I want to reflect on with this is mostly the process of it, because it all came as a great shock to me, and to a friend when I told them about it, so I want others to be prepared for it more than I was.

Things you will need on the test day: -Some form of ID -Your test “ticket” (printed from the website “수험표”) Bring as little else as you can! And yes, you did read that correctly, you do not need to bring your own pens or pencils and you shouldn’t bring any! If you do bring any, you will not be allowed to use them!! This was extremely ridiculous to me and I was baffled when the proctor instructed me to remove my writing tools from my desk. The reason for this is simple, but, to me, still strange. They will give you a writing utensil and you have to use it. They will give you a double ended marker, with one end fine point and labeled “쓰기”, and the other end thicker and labeled “듣기 읽기”. You have to use this marker. You need to erase something in your essay? Want to change your answer on the scan-tron? The instructors will have a thing of white out tape for you to use, or this you are allowed to bring your own of to use. This made me considerably slower than I normally would be taking this test because I am not used to using white out tape and am particularly bad at getting it to work correctly. There were times I had to try 5 times or more to change one character with the white out tape.

Other aspects of the exam: The TOPIK II is in 2 parts, the listening and writing for 110 minutes (1 hour 50 minutes), a 20 minute break, and then the reading section for 70 minutes (1 hour, 10 minutes). Each section (writing, listening, reading) is out of 100 points and a total score is out of 300. Reading and listening each have 50 questions to get through with the difficulty level of questions increasing as you go. On my test specifically, for the writing section, there were 2 short answer questions (1 sentence or less each), one short essay (200~300 characters, spaces included), and one long essay (600~700 characters, spaces included). I didn’t manage to finish the full essay and I know I didn’t do as well as I could have had I prepared better for the essay section specifically, but I knew what the question was asking, which said something apparently, from the chatter I heard in the hall during the break... However, I didn’t actually fully understand the short essay question and so just kind of guessed at it... Anyways, getting off topic~ The next thing you should know is that no food or drink, or bathroom breaks for that matter, are allowed during the exam, only during the break. You can imagine what this meant for the line for the girls’ room after the nearly 2 hour section. So, fair warning: go before you arrive!! About food and drink: I needed a drink terribly because I was feeling sick and dehydrated from the heat and the proctor still wouldn’t allow me to have a drink of my Pocari Sweat sitting under my desk. I also wasn’t allowed my candy which I had brought because I barely slept the night before... So do not expect to be allowed these things. The girl sitting beside me had brought a water bottle to the exam instead of a store bought bottle, and drank some during the test seemingly without getting in trouble, so I may try this next time. (I can’t believe I’m going to subject myself to this again...) Other things of note during the exam: Something to note for almost all of this post is that many of my experiences may have just been my proctors’ (there were 2) pickiness. Friends who took the test in the same university, but with different proctors in different rooms on the same day had completely different and more enjoyable experiences, with their proctor being friendly and making jokes before the test started, and allowing things like candy or occasional drinks... If my test booklet (not even my answer sheet) turned in such a way that the proctors thought MAYBE the person behind me could see it, whether there was writing or not, the proctors forcibly turned the booklet I was trying to read, thoroughly disrupting my 집중록 (concentration). I disliked this the most because they are interrupting my exam to prevent cheating that might not even happen and it’s completely disruptive and eats my already too short time.

Why all of this was a problem for me: As a teacher, and as a Fulbrighter, I have experience proctoring similar tests. I had the opportunity to proctor a test through Fulbright back in early June. The test was taken by about as many people but the set up was COMPLETELY different. They weren’t allowed to bring water, but there were water coolers they had access to if they raised their hands to request permission. They were allowed candy on their desks. They could use their own writing utensils.  They were allowed bathroom breaks!! How did these blatant differences occur in the same country? It’s simple: tighter security. In the test I proctored, there were proctors stationed outside and inside the bathroom to assure test takers didn’t discuss the exam. If you went to the bathroom or got a drink we took your test until you came back. As you entered we checked your belongings for writing that could be used for cheating. If TOPIK implemented these simple requirements, the test could be a better and less sickening and stressful experience for test takers. Because, honestly, it’s a high stress test to begin with, why stress people out more by making them unable to pee or be properly hydrated... So that was my experience taking the TOPIK 2 in Daegu. Feel free to ask any questions if you think I may have left anything out~!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Everything Changes~ (Slight self reflection)

Thinking back to 2 years ago, I realize how much I have changed in seemingly so little time. Today, due to upcoming events, my thoughts drifted back to an encounter I had at Yonsei one day, when getting ready for practice with the international Taekwondo club, and how differently I would react now to the same occurrence. The upcoming event causing me to remember this encounter is that a friend of mine from my college taekwondo team is here to study at Yonsei over the summer, and this weekend I will be introducing him to the club so that he has somewhere cheap and reputable to practice. What happened 2 years ago occurred in the girls’ locker room at the Yonsei gym just before practice. Several of us, of various ethnic backgrounds, had gone into the, at the time, nearly deserted locker rooms to change into our uniforms. When i and a few others were only part way through changing and I was half naked, a Korean girl came in telling us off for being in there and insisting we leave immediately. Did i mention I was half naked at this time? She made a huge fuss, talking about how her and her teammates had to worry about the safety of their stuff because we were in there. My teammates and I gave her a bit of an attitude, but in the end wound up leaving, me quickly pulling on my uniform pants, but still wearing the wrong shirt. I wound up crying and either the master or one of the instructors ended up going to talk with their coach about it. We wound up banned from using the locker rooms again though none of us had done anything wrong. To be honest, that was probably the best way too handle it because my being obviously distressed made a discussion happen, though the problem was not effectively solved in the end. However, nowadays I can imagine myself reacting very differently. Instead of crying I would be livid that they would act such a way and make such accusations simply because we are “foreign.” We were still paying students at the university and as such should have had as much right to the locker rooms as any other student. It’s not like we were using their lockers and it’s not like we were there at a busy time. Nowadays I would call her out on her racist/xenophobic accusations… So it’s amazing to realize from this how much I’ve changed in 2 years and how much less I’m willing to take from people… I still haven’t decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s interesting to notice…

[shawolelfb2uty]

Hi! I have a question for you, I hope you don't mind... I'd love to go to KGU next year, the thing is, I'm in a wheelchair. So I heard the Seminar House 4 is wheelchair accessible, but I haven't found actual proof of that. Would you say it was accessible? I'm most concerned about the bathroom :( I tried contacting the university, but never got an answer. Any comment on this matter will be super helpful! Thanks!!

For accessibility, seminar houses 3&4 will be your best bet! I just confirmed with a friend currently studying there and she says 3&4 also have rooms that are wheelchair accessible, not just bathrooms and elevators! Also the on campus buildings you would most likely be using are also wheelchair accessible! I hope you can have a good time in Japan!

[shawolelfb2uty]

I wrote it on Facebook, but i forgot to write it on here. I just got my offer on Tuesday! I'm staying with Fulbright, but I'm moving to an elementary school in Seoul! There's actually a bit if a story with this, and ive been worrying over it for about a month now. When we put in our applications for renewing, I completely wanted to stay at my school with my girls. However, about a week after turning in my application, my coteacher off handedly mentioned that the school had no plans to continue having a foreign teacher because we're expensive. No one had told me, but she acted like I should have known for a while. Apparently months before they had notified Fulbright of this and expected them to tell me, but to Fulbright, that is the school's job. So i had a rude awakening and managed to keep my freak out only in my head until i got back to my office. Luckily i had a bit of desk warming time left to regain my composure. At this point, though I grew to accept my fate, i still had no thought of teaching elementary, middle school at most, university at best. But then, about a week and half ago, i got an email from someone in the office asking which I preferred, middle school in a medium sized town, or elementary in Seoul. I had really been hoping to move to Seoul since most of my friends are there, so i asked around about if people thought i could teach elementary abd what it was like. After some serious pep talks from 2 different friends who had both taught elementary here and know me pretty well, I requested the elementary school and waited (impatiently >.>) for my official offer! So that's my story. My girls are adjusting to the news, but they're always sad when i first tell them.

[shawolelfb2uty]

Harry Potter Related sites in/near Daegu!

This weekend, as promised, I went down to Daegu to visit the cafe called “Hogsmeade” in the neighboring Gyeongsan City! What I found, however, courtesy of my hostel’s hostess, is that there is also a restaurant/bar in Daegu that is Harry Potter themed! So of course I went to both! Here comes another double post! Hogsmeade

This is the most well known Harry Potter cafe in Korea, and for good reason! This place has everything in one location! Harry Potter house clothes you can try on? Check! Harry Potter snacks to buy? Check! Butterbeer? Check! They literally have everything, like going to Universal Studios! For snacks, they have butterbeer that is non alcoholic, but it tastes really good! Though pricey, they do sell chocolate frogs which even come with famous wizard cards like in the books! (They stick around, though!) I bought a chocolate frog and got an Albus Dumbledore card! They have Gryffindor house robes to take pictures in, along with scarves from each house! They have a Firebolt you can sit on, a mini Nimbus2000 hanging from the ceiling, house flags scattered around with one from each house, 3 wands you can play with, Daily Prophet articles decorate the walls, and they even have a board of Wizards’ Chess you can play!  It has all of this with a wonderful atmosphere, but it’s not the easiest place to get to. The first thing you have to do to get there is to take the Daegu subway to Jeongpyeong Station. Once there, you can either take a taxi or get on a bus to get nearby. Taxis don’t know the cafe, but if you show them a map, they’ll bring you to the nearby elementary school. I took a taxi to get there and it only cost 4,100 won (~$4). It’s quickest and easiest, so I recommend this way to get there. From the elementary school entrance, the cafe is pretty much just around the corner. You can easily see it from the end of the street. Harry Pocha The next place is a Korean-style restaurant/bar. The name of the place is a play on words with how Harry’s family name is pronounced in Korean and the style restaurant it is. In Hangeul, Potter is “포타” (Pota) and a Korean-style restaurant/bar is called “포차” (Pocha). The only Harry Potter theme in this place is its decorations. The entry door is reminiscent of the entrance to the ministry of magic in that it looks like you’re walking into a bright red, Western-style phone booth. Then, inside, imediately visable is a wand, old-fashioned-looking books, a pair of glasses like Harry’s (without lenses), a Gryffindor cloak and tie (out of reach, so not for trying on), and a fireplace lit with green lighting to resemble the Floo Network with plenty of candles atop it. When you step into the outside seating area beside the restaurant, there are Harry Potter paintings everywhere! There’s a large lion’s head by the door, an owl with wings spread wide on the opposite wall, an owl perched in a tree on another wall, and a painting of a castle on the far wall. This place is pretty easy to get to, with a map and their address on their website (http://www.harrypocha.com/brand_01.html). For those who can’t read Hangeul, the closest train station is Geondulbawi Station on the monorail line. I used their address and a map application (Daum maps) to walk there from downtown Daegu because my friend and I didn’t mind the walk. That’s all for today! Happy travels, everyone!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Random “Learning” Experiences

So today as I was going to lunch, I saw an older man and, assuming he's another teacher or something of the like as we're on a school campus, I greeted him and exchanged a friendly dialogue, where of course he used broken English because I'm foreign. Well, for me, the next thing that happened is when it got strange. One of my students approached me with a strange look on her face, not the usual smiles or blank looks I get from students. She says something along the lines of "I thought you had a problem" and I then noticed 2 male teachers I do somewhat recognize watching her and I, and the older man I had just been talking to. Slightly unnerved at this point I continue to the cafeteria and get my lunch. While eating I overhear mumbles in Korean including many mentions of "그 아저씨" or "that old man." That's the point I realized I'm probably going to hear from my coteachers about the incident because it's the talk of the school. Thinking back to before I ran into the apparently random man on my campus, I remember my 1st year students on the 3rd floor shouting "teacher" and I figured they were just greeting me from the windows as I've had several do. Looking back I probably read that wrong. The thing my coteachers and students won't realize and one reason the interaction probably worried them more than necessary is the fact that such things are common occurrence for me, even from the other teachers here. Many practice their broken English with me because they like to or other just talk to me with their good English and I don't mind it. Then there's the people on the street who stop me all the time to practice their broken English, especially old men. These occurrences are not at all unusual or unnerving for me until someone else, like the students and the teachers at my school today, get unnerved by it instead, because then that means I'm going to get a talking to in some fashion about it. All this even though I really can't know all the faces of the teachers here when I mostly interact with about 10 of them and that's it... So that was my random experience today which taught me that my campus isn't as simple as I would have liked to have thought it was. I also must point out this is generally uncommon and has never happened before at my school since I've been here. I wonder if it's a product of the increasingly nice weather.

[shawolelfb2uty]

Harry Potter Related Sights in Seoul!

Some of you might know that today is Children’s Day here in Korea, so I’ve had some time of from teaching. Yesterday I used that free time to take a trip to Seoul and visit a Harry Potter cafe and a British pub in Seoul with friends!

Muggle Coffee

I started the day meeting a friend by Sanbon Station to visit a cafe called Muggle Coffee together. Sanbon Station is on line 4 of the Seoul subway system and is a little ways outside of Seoul. Depending on where you’re coming from, it can take 40 minutes to an hour to get to the station. However, the cafe is only about a 5 minute walk from the station! To get there, go out exit 3 of Sanbon Station and straight down the ramp. At the first intersection, take a left, walk one block, and take a right. After about a block and a half, look on the right side on the second floor of the buildings for a sign that says “Muggle” in English. The door is through the parking garage below the cafe and then take a left, once in the building, to get to the stairs leading up to the cafe! In the cafe they have so many things from Harry Potter! There’s a cloak (Slytherin) you can try on, a Sorting Hat (find the button and he talks!), a Monster Book of Monsters, a wand, a Hedwig plush, and a Marauders’ Map! There’s also a soundless projection of one of the movies playing at all times! The drinks are also really good and not terribly pricey for the quality, but they rewire you to buy one drink per person. I got a drink called “Cheese on the Mango” which was basically a mango smoothie topped with chopped mangos, a small scoop of ice cream, and tiny pieces of cheese cake! Once we were done looking at everything and taking tons of pictures, we killed time playing card games (I happened to have had playing cards with me) before meeting my other friends in Itaewon for the next part of our journey! (Or my “pilgrimage” as my friend John kept calling it)

Bulldogs

Next was a British pub in Itaewon called Bulldogs! When I looked it up on Naver, it was famous not only for its butter beer, but also for its hotdogs! And for good reason! But first, how to get there! It’s about a 3 minute walk from Itaewon Station exit 3. When you go out exit 3, take a right to the end of the street, then turn left. Watch the second floor for the name “Bulldogs” written in English! It’s really not far, so keep your eyes out! I almost missed it and one of my friends who came later completely walked past it the first time! So whats in the cafe? Why do I include it in a post about Harry Potter? Simply because they have butter beer! Also, the butter beers come with stickers of Harry Potter characters on them based on the flavors! There’s 5 flavors available, original, ginger, cherry, grapefruit, and dark. Original has Harry; ginger has Ron; cherry has Hermione; grapefruit has Luna; and dark has Hagrid. I tried 3 flavors–original, ginger, and cherry– and I enjoyed all of them! My friends and I couldn’t agree on our favorite, though, so you’ll have to try them for yourself and find out which is the best! As I mentioned earlier, this pub is also famous for its hotdogs! I didn’t find them particularly filling, but they were very delicious and well worth the price! They’re 9,000~9,900 won for 2, or 14,000~15,000won for 3. There are about 8 different recipes to choose from and I chose 3 kinds to try. (I let myself splurge just this once! And I also split all 3 with my friends…) I tried one with coleslaw and barbecue sauce; one with mashed potatoes and gravy; and one with hash, ketchup, and a fried quail egg. The hotdogs themselves taste like breakfast sausages! I think it is for that reason that i liked the breakfast style one best. Besides the food and drinks is the atmosphere in this pub. The music was all British, and seemed to be mostly from the early 2000s as I recognized many of the songs from when I was in middle and high school. There were songs like “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “100 Years” by Five For Fighting. There’s also pictures on the walls of many British things including Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, a red double decker bus, and even the queen of England. All the pictures are in black and white, except the red of the iconic bus. Overall the pub was great and my friends and I all agreed, we definitely want to return sometime! One other thing to note about this place is that all the workers spoke English! (I mean it *is* in Itaewon) But for those who love British English, I’m sorry but the guy I talked to had an American accent. Thats all for now! This weekend I’m going to Daegu and visiting another Harry Potter Themed cafe (called Hogsmeade) in the neighboring city of Gyeongsan, so look forward to a blog post about that! Happy travels!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Sunday I met an old friend to go to the Goyang International Flower Festival~! There were so many pretty flowers in such intricate designs and gardens! It was great! It's still running for the rest of the week, so I recommend checking it out if you've got the chance! Line 3 Jeongbalsan Station Exit 1, just walk through the park and you'll find it! Could also be a fun post Music Core actuvity of Friday as it's across the street from the MBC Dream Center, too!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Ghibli Store Update! When I was in Seoul this weekend, I saw this in Hongae Station! There is now apparently also a branch in Hongdae to check out! I haven't gone yet, but you'll be sure to hear about it when I go, hopefully later this week!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Doctors in Korea ~ Asthma and (Pollen) Allergies

Today wasnt my first time going to see a doctor in Korea. It was more remarkable than the other times, though, so today I want to share my experiences. Today I went to an Ears, Nose, Throat Clinic (이비인후과) only intending to get prescribed a new inhaler as my old one expired. I left an hour later with a prescription for 6 medicines and a new inhaler… So before I went, since i live in a small town and there’s no English clinic (as far as I know) I researched how to say the medical terms I thought I might need before going. 꽃가루 pollen 흡입기 inhaler 천식 asthma 알레르기 allergy 유효기간 expiration date 지냈다 passed (time) The rest I managed well enough with my intermediate level Korean. First, a nurse asked me a few questions, taking notes before passing my “file” to the doctor sitting at a nearby desk. The doctor then asked me more questions before doing a short exam. First was your basic temperature and tongue compressor to see and swab the throat, but then, to me, it got very weird. After he had my throat swab, he had what looked like tweezers and said something about my nose (코). Next thing i knew, he was prying my nose open and sticking different instruments up my nose while the nurse told me not to move. Of course I automatically moved, though, because this was new to me, so i tensed and backed up without thinking. I guess it must have seemed like I was moving a lot, because at some point the nurse took my hands. So, the things they stuck up my nose, in order, were a long stick that sprayed something up my nose; another long sick that sucked stuff out of my nose; and then, apparently, a tiny camera. Before sticking the camera up my nose, though, the nurse told me to lean back, and the doctor Konglished something about looking at my nose. He then showed me the picture of my nostrils, said something I only half understood about it, and then I was moved to his desk for a consultation. He went over things about the medicine he would prescribe me; talking more about my nostrils because apparently one side was like swollen or something; and the nurse demonstrated how to use a ventolin inhaler even though I’ve used one before. After I paid, but before I was allowed to leave, I had to get a shot in my butt for some reason. They seem to do the butt shot a lot, though, because I got it the last time I went, too. One thing to remember with going to a Korean doctor, though, is that medical privacy is not very important here. Where I was, the next few people in line could easily hear everything that was said during my exam and consultation. The only thing that was completely private was my butt shot, but that was only because it required an amount of skin showing/a removal of clothes. Hope this was helpful! Happy travels!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Ghibli Store in Seoul

Yesterday I got to go to a Ghibli themed store in Seoul. According to another foreign teacher in my town, it only opened a few days ago. I found out about it from someone I met at a language exchange cafe on Sunday. It's anything you could want to buy related to Ghibli films, plus plenty of picture taking opportunities like the catbus picture I posted yesterday. There's a section that looks like it came straight out of Kiki's Delivery Service, a section reminiscent of Princess Mononoke, and even the inside of Howl's Moving Castle! It's amazing to see and, similar to the Ghibli museum in Tokyo, it really makes you feel like you're in the movies. I loved it so much (and bought a few souvenirs), so I want others to be able to enjoy it, too! Directions: The store is in Yongsan iPark Mall, a large electronics mall connected to the Yongsan subway station, which is on line 1 and the Gyeongui line. From the station, follow signs for iPark Mall (they exist in English). Once in the mall you should be on the 3rd floor, which is also the lowest floor, as well as the floor the store is on. Walk to the escalators abd take a left. You'll see a giant advertisement with Totoro on it on the wall above. Continue straight just passed the Gundam store (yes, you read that right, my fellow anime geeks), then turn right and walk through the toy store. You should be able to see a giant stuffed Totoro with an umbrella by now which marks the entrance to the store, with the catbus on the other side. On the first floor is things to buy, along with a mini theater playing Ghibli movies in Japanese, that looks like the inside of an old tree with tiny stumps to sit on. There's also a replica of the bakery storefront with Ghibli goods instead of bread and a Jiji plush on the counter. On the second floor, is the replica of the inside of Howl's Moving Castle. Fun travels!

[shawolelfb2uty]

Went to a Ghibli store in Seoul! More later! (Including directions!)

[shawolelfb2uty]

Hiding in the magical looking green tea fields~~ (at Boseong Greentea Plantation 보성 녹차밭)

[shawolelfb2uty]

This weekend is cherry blossoms!! (at Suncheon, Cholla-Namdo, Korea)