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)