Movement By Lydia

Whenever I told people I was going to South Korea, they were always saying things like "don't die!" or "be careful!" because they immediately thought of the situation with N.Korea. Depending on where you live, reports about North Korea can be really crazy and make the country seem like they're constantly at war with South Korea and that South Korea is super dangerous because of the threat North Korea poses. Well in South Korea, people aren't nearly as frantic and worked up over North Korea because they're used to it. So to be honest, problems with North Korea should NOT be your main  safety concern if you are going to South Korea. What I think is more important to talk about is personal safety in South Korea, specifically Seoul (where I lived). That's what this post is going to be about- personal safety and dangers! I'll talk about what I think is important to know/do to stay safe and my personal experience and thoughts on safety in Seoul,...

I'm sure going to 남산타워 is on most of your bucket lists, and I was fortunate enough to have gone! I went one weekend with my host family, and it was a really cool day with them. Here is another post about a place I went in Korea that hopefully gives you an idea of a place to go as well! ^^ We took a taxi to the area of Namsan Tower then got off and took this outdoor elevator called the oreumi. "Namsan Oreumi is a free outdoor elevator that runs between the plaza in front of the Namsan Tunnel #3 Commemorative Plaza and the Namsan cable car platform. This inclined elevator covers a distance of 140m and can accommodate up to 20 passengers. With glass on all sides, the Namsan Oreumi offers a unique and convenient way to get to the cable car station." After we got off of the oreumi, we walked around up there and went to eat before going up to the tower. My family says you always eat bibimbap when you go to Namsan Tower (there is another food too but I forget what ...

I apologize once again for not posting at all, but I wanted to make a post about yesterday's day camp before I forget all the details so that will be today's post. First off, I've got to say that this was probably one of my favorite days so far in Korea. I love my team members and had soooo much fun with them yesterday♡ We made a lot of good memories yesterday that I won't forget, and we also built great friendships during the course of the camp. Thanks to my team for making my day so great yesterday and working hard together despite the hot hot weather! I'll never forget my elephants♥                                  So now about the camp and what we did. When we first got there they gave us nametags to wear for the day. We got them and then sat with the other 50 Korean students who were already there and got to know them a little. After the intro stuff, we played icebreakers as a ...

One thing I really enjoy about walking around Korea at night is the STREET PERFORMERS. They are all over the place- bands, guitarists, dancers, rappers, etc... Because I have seen so many street performers and have videos and stories for each of them, I've decided to dedicate multiple posts to various street performers. PART 1:  일루와 밴드 ------------------------------------ This was the first street performance I really remember enjoying. After spending the night eating at a restaurant and going to Starbucks with my Korean friend in 신촌, we were walking outside on the streets and heard music playing! When I stumbled upon this group, they were playing their version of the 귀요미송 haha, quite an interesting song selection for an all-male group. I stayed watching them until their performance was over, and they were really entertaining! These are my boys~~~ The  일루와 밴드 ^^                          ...

First off, keeping a blog is NOT as easy as I thought it would be, so I apologize for not updating it since I left for my NSLI-Y journey back in June. I've been sooo busy between school, program stuff, exploring, etc.. and by the time I come home I am exhausted. I literally fall asleep doing my homework sometimes. So this post will be very long because it'll be a summary of my first week in Korea (minus the in-country orientation we did). Our flight to Korea got delayed so we arrived 8 hours later than we were supposed to. Originally we were supposed to land at around 6pm but instead we arrived at 2:30am. We stayed in a hostel for 2 nights while doing in-country orientation then met our host families on a Sunday. My host family is wonderful♥ I have a little brother who is the cutest thing ever and so much fun. My parents are so sweet and try really hard to make sure I'm comfortable. I even had lunch (갈비) with my grandparents, and one of the first things we talked a...