Near the beginning of my semester abroad, I made a bucket list for myself to accomplish over the 4 months that I was living in Korea. Now that my semester has ended and I have officially left the country, I wanted to revisit the list and see how much I have managed to check off. The items that are italicized and underlined are activities that I did not complete.
#1 alternative? – mid-November
#2 and #4 – early September
Touristy things 1) See the night view of Seoul at Namsan Tower
(I have heard Namsan Tower is slightly overrated so I went to Seoul Sky at Lotte Tower instead!)
2)Try on a hanbok**
3) Go to Myeongdong and buy K-beauty stuff********
(I probably spent way too much money in Myeongdong)
4) Visit Gyeongbukgung*****
(I know this palace like the back of my hand now)
5) Go to the Bukchon Hanok Village*
6) Take a weekend trip to Jeju Island*
7) Do underground shopping in Gangnam Station*
(Overrated. I would much prefer shopping in the Ewha area)
8) Visit the Starfield Library at COEX mall*
#6 – late October #8 – mid-December
#10 – October
#12 – Seoul Lantern Festival in early November
#13 – early December
#18- day trip to Suwon
Things to do
9) Try a jjimjilbang
(ended up not going because I couldn’t match schedules with friends… next time!)
10) Visit Seoullo 7017*
(It would have been really pretty in the spring!)
11) See an arts performance*
(Sister Act was so fun to watch although it was awkward being the only one laughing at American jokes)
12) Walk along the Cheonggyecheon Stream*
13) Take a guided tour of the DMZ and Panmunjom*
14) Go karaoke at the infamous Su Noraebang in Hongdae**
15) Go night shopping at the Dongdaemun Market*
16) Hike at Bukhansan when the leaves are changing color
17) Visit Chinatown in Incheon
18) Take a day/weekend trip to a smaller city or town*
#14 – mid-December
Cafe culture
19) Visit a dog cafe*
(Tip: visit in the morning)
20) Visit a cat cafe
21) Visit a raccoon cafe
22) Go to a hanok cafe*
(Soooooooo pretty!)
23) Visit the cafes of Garosu-gil
(I went to Garosu-gil…but didn’t go to a cafe. Does that count?)
#19- late September
Food
24) Have street food for a meal*
25) Eat at the oldest restaurant in Seoul**
(Their seollongtang and radish kimchi is amazing!)
26) Try raw beef
27) Eat sweet potatoes in the winter*
28) Try live octopus*
29) Try Koreanized Chinese food**
street food
#25 – early December
#25 – part 2
#32 – late September
Museums
30) Seoul Museum of History
31) Korea Furniture Museum
32) National Museum of Korea*
33) National Museum of Contemporary Korean History*
34) Museum Kimchikan
35) National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul*
#36
36) Eat at the YG Republique***
37) Visit the SM cafe
38) Take a photo at a K-drama film location*
(Pedestrian tunnel in Sinchon near Ewha and Yonsei)
39) See a hologram K-pop concert
(I didn’t see a hologram K-pop concert- but I did see a real one instead!)
40) Eat at a restaurant owned by a celebrity*
#38 – early October (The tunnel is now under repair and repainted white)
#40 – Aori Ramen is owned by Seungri of BIGBANG
Bonus items – these weren’t on the original list!
41) Taking a photo with the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic mascots*
42) Going to a K-pop concert*
(still in disbelief that I saw Highlight live)
43) Taking photos at Haneul Park*
#41- late December
#42- Although we ended up with seats in the second to last row, it still wasn’t bad at all!
#43
#45 – Doing 108 prostrations at Mt. Myogaksa Temple (late November)
Bonus Items – cont’d
44) Becoming a regular at a cafe!*
(the owner of Charcoal remembers my sugar level preference in my milk tea)
45) Doing a temple stay
46) Photoshoot with friends at Ewha
47) Seeing YouTubers!
48) Watched a musical in Korean
(Watched Titanic the musical in Korean, didn’t understand everything but the experience was cool)
#47 – Talk To Me In Korean meet up
#47 – Joan Kim’s meet up for the end of her 365 vlogs
#47- Edward Avila at Joan’s meet up
#47 – Eddy’s Christmas party
#46 – mid-December
