It's Seoul Amazing!

Chinyelu and friend!

 

안녕하세요!  Hello!

Coming to Korea has been every bit as exciting yet daunting as I had imagined.  I knew there would be certain cultural barriers I would have to deal with—especially because I do not speak Korean. Surprisingly, my lack of knowledge of the language has done nothing to limit me from enjoying Korea to the fullest.  And believe me, I have!   

        

1. Seoul is huge!

Walking the streets in Seoul gives you a taste of what big city life is all about.  Every corner you turn there are buildings, bustling streets and Koreans rushing to their destination.  Public transportation is very reliable as there are taxis, subway and bus stops virtually everywhere in the city. One thing I love about the city are the shopping districts usually located around major Universities.  For Yonsei University, the closest districts are Edae and Hongdae.  In these shopping districts you can buy a large variety of clothes, shoes and accessories for super cheap!  

2. Food!

Korean Barbeque....about $6 a person

Food is another great perk to living in Seoul.  Most Korean restaurants offer a large portion of food for as low as $5-$10 depending on where you are.  The cheapest (and probably healthiest) meal you could get is Kimbap a.k.a. Korean style sushi and Kimchi for $2-$3!  My favorite kind of restaurant to go to is Korean Barbeque.  At these restaurants you can either on the ground or in a chair and eat at a table with a grill in the center that cooks the meat in front of you.  These restaurants are cheap too ranging from $6-$9 if you’re eating with a group.  The best part about Korean restaurant service is that there is no tipping required!

Kimbap and Kimchi $2

Typical street food dessert price

3. Historical Sites!

As the capital of South Korea, Seoul is full of historical sites that attract lots of tourists.  My favorites are the Gyeongbok Palace and the Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple. 

 

Gyeongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace

Chinyelu at Gyeongbok Palace

 

Boguensa Temple

Boguensa Temple

Boguensa Temple

4. Easy travel to other East Asian countries

Because of Korea’s location you can easily travel to the neighboring countries for relatively cheap if you use a low cost airline.  Me and my friends took a trip to Japan on a holiday weekend and had a blast!  The flight was only an hour and cost us $300 round trip.  As beautiful and adventurous as Japan is, it is far more expensive than Korea though.

Chinyelu in Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto

Kyoto

 

Studying in Korea has been an unforgettable experience. I encourage everyone to consider visiting here!  Overall I’ve been having the time of my life living and studying in Korea, and I’m in no rush to end it.

Chinyelu Muonagolu

Yonsei University

Seoul, Korea

Rori in Northern Ireland

Hello there! I’m Rori, and I have been with my human Erin in Northern Ireland this semester. We’ve had a grand time together flying (in Erin’s case walking and riding various forms of transportation) throughout this wee country. There have been so many beautiful places to explore, but my favorite adventure here so far was to the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede Bridge.

In reality, Giant’s Causeway is a bunch of rocks that are all hexagonal and arranged in an interesting way. But there is a legend that a 54-foot Irish giant named Finn built the causeway to go fight another giant in Scotland. Finn won, but clearly neither of the giants would be a match for my sassy, fire-breathing self. Since it’s on the coast there was so much room to fly around over the perfectly blue waters and see the cliffs. Erin wanted a picture of me, and while trying to strike a fabulous pose, the wind almost blew me off my perch into the water!! I would NOT have been a happy dragon. Irish weather is bad enough for my wee scales. I look absolutely class though, don’t I?

Do you like my earrings?

Next in the day we went to Carrick-A-Rede Bridge. Erin told me I couldn’t fly there because I would get lost, and we were with mainly humans. The bridge leads to this wee island with very soft grass that has an amazing view. Note: the grass is flammable. Thankfully Erin didn’t see the small fire I set ablaze. Erin had fun hanging out with the other international students though! The people who worked at the bridge told us that only 5 people died last year crossing it… didn’t that make me feel better. I said I would fly, but Erin refused to let me after the wind at Giant’s Causeway. Thankfully it was only a wee dander across, and we made it twice without any harm. That was a good sized drop though. 

It would have been so much easier to fly!

View from the island.

This semester had been filled with sooooo much craic! I’m not looking forward to telling my new friends in Northern Ireland goodbye, so I’m telling them it is a see you later. It’s cheaper for dragons to fly to Europe than humans anyways. To all my fellow dragons still away, have a blast the rest of your time (literally go blast some fireballs because it’s good craic), and to my dragons already home, I will see you soon!

Your wee dragon,

Rori

Noteable Irish slang

Grand: preferred over the term “great”

Wee: small; used as commonly as the word “like” in America

Class: “showing stylish excellence”

Dander: a walk usually of short length

Craic: pronounced like “crack”; is NOT an addictive substance; means “fun” or “good time”

Hi I’m Archie! You alright??

This is the confusing way that the English here at Keele University enjoy greeting you rather than the American way of saying “how are you?” But in case you are wondering if I’m alright I will tell you where I have flown with my pet human, Robin!

We have gone an assortment of places in Europe, but London is still one of my favourites. There is this clock tower there that the humans call Big Ben. It is attached to Parliament which is like the Congress for humans in America. My dragon wits told me they didn’t want me flying to the top of Big Ben… so did the fence around it. 

Staring wistfully at the blue sky....perfect for flying!

I also made Robin take me to Westminster Abbey, but they had a no dragon policy, so I hid in her purse. Afraid of fire damage or something (seriously though, the UK is really concerned about fires everywhere). Though the inside of the church was really nice, the outside was my favourite because of its architecture. One of our evenings in London, I wanted to see a musical and Wicked was the obvious choice. As a dragon, Defying Gravity really connected with me. I loved the whole production though!! Maybe I’ll get Robin to go to Broadway with me later.

My favourite part of London though was going to see The Making of Harry Potter. It was AWESOME to see the Great Hall, other sets, costumes, and thousands of props used in the films. While Robin was reading all the signs and exhibits, I set out to become friends with all the other dragons. The Hungarian Horntail is not a nice species. Follow Harry’s lead and avoid them. On the plus side, Norberta (Hagrid is her human, and her name used to be Nortbert) and I became very close friends. She’s going to visit me in the States next fall! 

My human Robin

After London, I took Robin around Italy! We went to Venice, a beach town called San Felice Cireco, and Rome. In every place we have gone, I try to find a spot above everyone else to see all of the city. In Rome, Robin was a terrible human and would not let me fly to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica. I had to take the stairs with her. One step is not good with my little dragon legs, let alone the 551 she made me climb! That’s why I have WINGS! I can’t complain too much though because I got to see all of Rome from up there which was pretty amazing.

I could fly to the Tiber River from here!

This is from the top of a tower in San Marco Square in Venice! (I flew up this one....in an elevator)

It would be so lovely to fly over the Adriatic....

I have had lots and lots of fun and adventures this semester and am going to be so sad when I have to fly all the way back to North Carolina. Robin told me that if I want to keep her as a pet I have to let her go back to school at UNCG. I bargained with her that I get to go to back to Northern Ireland and Paris if I let her go back to UNCG… It will be fun to fly up the Eiffel Tower. ;)

Loving fire be breathed upon you all,

Archie

Keele University

England

(human pet: Robin Holde)

Marhaba, welcome!

Meet Tenyina, which is Arabic for dragon. She has accompanied me on my many travels this semester in Morocco.  Here she is in Merzouga, which boarders the Sahara desert near Algeria, where we spent part of our spring break.

When I arrived at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco on January 14th I had no idea what to expect. I knew most Moroccans spoke French as well as Arabic of course, only later would I find out that their dialect, Darija, is quite different than the Fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic I had been learning. However, what I didn't expect to find was this quaint colonial holdover with hints of Swiss and French influence, and a Moroccan touch. I have not seen another Moroccan town like it!

 

This is my view from my dorm room window! Très belle! (French is one of the three national languages in Morocco besides Arabic and Berber.) Fun fact, a Moroccan princess lives in my building, though I've never met her.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was the amount of snow I would soon endure! It snowed sporadically from January until late March, and not just a little bit! I was warned to walk far from the roofs of buildings which have a very high pitch, I was told, so that the snow will slide off. This was great advice! I wouldn't want to be stuck under that pile of snow!

​Here I am with my Canadian friend, Thomas, who was just as impressed with the amount of snow as I was!

To escape the cold of Ifrane we traveled just about every weekend, visiting everything from the ancient madina (which means city) in Fes and other imperial cities (below is the ancient medina in Essaouira, where many craftsmen and women display their handiwork!)

to trekking the desert on dromedaries (camels with only one hump)

to hiking the beautiful area of Chefchouen (the blue city) and Akchour

to visiting the infamous (and fabulously fake) Rick's cafe and the 8th largest mosque in the world and one of the few non-muslims are allowed to enter in Casablanca

​to relaxing on the beautiful beaches, and so much more!

As much as I love traveling, I think my favorite part of my study abroad experience has been learning in class and by experience how historically rich and incredibly diverse Morocco is. I would recommend taking a history course on the area you are studying abroad in as well as the country's language (It has helped so much knowing French and a few words of Arabic, though some of my friends have managed with out much knowledge of the language at all.) 

As this semester wraps up, I've been thinking about all of the things I'll miss about Morocco: The mint tea (sweeter than southern sweet tea if you can imagine that!), the tagine and couscous, and not to mention the "grand taxis" which are basically old Mercedes stuffed with you, five other passengers, your baggage, and the driver which has been our main transportation in Morocco besides trains. 

​Here we are half way through spring break, taking a break from our 4 hour drive to enjoy the first rain in this desert area for 7 years!

I think most of all I'll miss my friends, who are from all over the world, and who have so graciously helped me in countless ways, especially with my Arabic, which I am finally starting to master! Alhamdulillah! 

All in all, Morocco has been amazing and overwhelming and beautiful. I hope to be able to come back in the future. But, I still have two more weeks to explore, and learn, and soak up as much as possible. So for now, Massalema! 

Elise Wilson

Al Akhawayn University

Morocco

 

On January 1^st Norbert and I flew from North Carolina to Carmarthen, Wales for the semester.  When I first looked out my dorm window the next morning I knew I had chosen the perfect place to study abroad. 

From the dorm window in St. David

My class schedule here is extremely different than back home, since I get a new class every four weeks and only take one course at a time.  This left me with a lot of free time to explore the town of Carmarthen, which is gorgeous.  Beyond Carmarthen I have also traveled to Llansteffan Castle, Whitesands Bay, St. David’s Cathedral, Bath, and other places around the UK. 

In Bath

 However, for the past two weeks I’ve been on Easter break and have been traveling around the UK with my friend Rose (who is also an honors student).  We traveled up to the gorgeous Isle of Skye in Scotland, and saw some of the most breathtaking scenery on Earth. 

Norbert the Dragon at Eilean Donan Castle

We also went to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff….which was basically one giant building of awesome. 

Just me and the T.A.R.D.I.S. No big deal.

Our last leg of the journey was to London for a few days, because if you go to the UK you have to go to London, obviously.  Now Norbert and I are back in Carmarthen for the last class of the semester before we make the long trip back to the USA.  While I miss being at UNCG terribly, Wales really has become a second home to me and it’s going to be a sad day indeed when I have to board the plane back home.  I hope y’all are enjoying your semesters and best of luck as you approach finals week! 

Sam Thompson

University of Trinity St. David

Wales