Day 65 Halloween in Korea, and some ways that can help with being homesick in a foreign country

Feeling: Homesick 😦
Listening to: VIXX-On & On

A lot of people back in the states have been asking me this: What did you do for Halloween? How did you celebrate? What do Koreans do? Well I can answer this all in one word:

Nothing.

I didn’t do anything for Halloween, because there was nothing to do.  Halloween is generally not celebrated here.  There is no trick or treating and no one really dresses up.  There are some stores that put up some decorations, and there are some Halloween drinking parties in Itaewon.  But partying is really not my thing. I actually had a few Korean classmates come up to me and asked me if I was going to dress up.  I told them that I wasn’t because I didn’t want to spend the money on a costume that I’d never wear again, and they seemed disappointed!

I did, however, Google some unique Halloween things that Seoul has to offer.  In Itaewon there is a cupcake shop that is called “Monster Cupcake” that sells..

…You guessed it: Monster cupcakes.

 

 

Though the cupcakes are a bit pricey (Around $5.00USD a piece), the store was super cute, and just Halloween fix I was looking for!  Aside from the tasty cupcakes, they even had some fizzy lemonade (ie. Monster Blood).  The manager was super nice, too.  He even let me pet his dog sitting in the entry way.

If you’re looking for Halloween in Seoul, I would recommend going to Itaewon.  When I was there I saw a bunch of foreigners dressed up as warlocks and pirates..and that was a week before Halloween!

Homesick

I’m not gonna lie, and I’m not gonna pretend it didn’t happen: I did get homesick during my stay here.  I’m not sure if it was brought on by the fact that I couldn’t celebrate fun holidays that I have always grown up with, but I did have that time where I was like “I want to go home.”  At first I was embarrassed to admit it, but an acquaintance of mine made a comment that set me straight: “It’s completely normal to be homesick when you’re studying abroad.  I’d be worried if you WEREN’T homesick.”

Things I recommend doing to deal with being homesick

• Find Familiar Things – Aside from missing family and friends, when you get right down to it homesickness is about missing what is familiar to you.  You miss what surrounded you and what was a constant in your life.  And with studying abroad, consistency can be a rarity.  So find things that are familiar to you, and take the time to put yourself in a”safe place”.  Personally for me, my familiar things were these three things:
  1. Oldies music – Music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s reminds me of my family at home, because whenever we’re together it will involve music.  I hadn’t listen to this type of music on my own for awhile, and it put a smile on my face because it brought back some old memories of our gatherings in childhood.
  2. American comedians – More specifically Kevin Hart.  He’s hilarious.  Not only is it nice to listen to your own language, but it’s also good to relieve stress with a a laugh.
  3. Video games – My 3DS has been a good buddy of mine here.  Video Game’s have the ability to take you out of reality and put yourself in the fictional world you are playing.  So when you’re done battling villains or leveling up, you can come back to planet Earth with a fresh mind.
• Don’t Stay in That Place Too Long – Though I am saying surround yourself with familiar things from home, DON’T STAY THERE.  If you do, you’ll regret it because you’re taking away the small amount of time you have in this trip.  Take some time to regroup, get on your feet, then get back out there and take advantage of everything available.
• Get excited about something – In order to get back on your feet, you need to get excited about whats going on around you.  For instance: I love Pokemon.  I’ve been playing it a lot lately.  So what in Seoul can I do involving Pokemon? After a Google search I found there’s a Pokemon Center in the Shinsegae Mall.  Although it turned out that it was no longer there, I had a blast window shopping.  Getting together with friends in the international exchange student community in your school is a good idea, too.  They might be going through the same thing you are.

Music – VIXX

In the spirit of Halloween! I thought we go with the boy group known for their creepy spooky concept: VIXX!  They are a 6 member boy group that have been increasingly rising in popularity over this past year.  When they first started out, they debuted with your everyday average KPOP group song.  But then they release their 3rd single, “On & On”, with a zombie/vampire like concept that immediately got attention.  They’ve been carrying on this creepy concept ever since.  It’s got kind of a Micheal Jackson “Thriller” thing going on. I’m showing a video of their live performance rather than the music video because…well frankly I think its super cheesy and has way too many special effects that takes away from the song.

Though this song is a bit old, I picked it over their latest single “Error” because it’s more upbeat.  Both songs are super good though.  If you like “On & On” I definitely recommend checking out “Error”.

Day 12 – Myeongdong Cathedral, Itaewon, and McDonald’s Delivery

Listening to: UV-Itaewon Freedom (ft. JYP)
Feeling: Calm

Myeongdong Cathedral

With everything that had happened so far and with me finally making it to Korea, I felt like it was important to take the time and pray before my journey went any farther.  I also wanted the time to collect my thoughts and think about the things I should do to make the most out of my trip here. With this in mind, I thought what a great opportunity this was to visit the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.  I had heard all about it weeks before I left the states when the Pope visited and the 800,000 people that gathered to see him…

Umm..can you say “Holy snikies”?!?!

Directions

Take line 4 until you reach Myeongdong, and then leave out of exit 10.  This map will also make things easier. The huge dark grey area  is the cathedral.

When you leave the subway walk straight until you come across the 삼일대로9길/Samil-daero street and take a left (you’ll see a Dominos pizza on the other side).  At this point just keep walking straight for a fair distance.

And FYI as you walk toward the cathedral you’ll see another huge church on your right.  I got confused and thought “Oh wow! That must be it!” But it’s not.  It’s the 영락교회 church you see on the map.  Think of it as a marker that you’re going the right way.

Then finally you’ll reach an intersection.  Stay left and walk into Myeongdong-gil street.  If you see a Starbucks it means you’re on the correct road.  It wont be long until you see the the cathedral. It’s huge!

 

They have service at these times: 7:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00.  Whats more awesome is that the mass at 9:00AM is an English mass! The inside of the cathedral is beautiful.  They have TV’s in the back so everyone can see the service.

Catholicism is known for being the same no matter where in the world you are attending mass, and that held true to the service I went to.  The only noticeable differences I saw was:

• There was no knee rests on the floor, so there was no kneeling.  At any time during the service.
• Instead of shaking hands to show a sign of peace, they instead put their hands together (like how you do when you are praying), bowed, and said “peace”.  I guess this is a faster and less of a germ sharing method to doing things.

Afterwords I walked around the complex and took pictures, and a lady was nice enough to take the picture of me in front of the cathedral.  I also looked into the store next to the church to find a rosary for my mother, but I didn’t find one that I liked enough to buy (Working on it Ma!).  I then met up with another SEE student, EunHye, and she took me to see Itaewon.

Itaewon

Itaewon is one of the most diverse places in Seoul and is the foreigner hub of the city.  They have so many different types of bars, clubs, and shops (Mexican bar, transgender club, a bar for foreigners, an Islamic section of the area).  They even have a beautiful muslin temple that lights up at night.  It’s a place full of diversity and a mix of the random.  If you’re looking to meet people of the same or a different country this is the place to go.

I went with my friend EunHye as she showed me around and we ate the most delicious pizza I’ve ever had in my life at a popular place called Pizzarium.  Later we stopped and had coffee as we compared and contrasts each others culture.  We also made a list of the places and things I needed to do before I left Korea so I would have no regrets when I returned home.

I went back to Itaewon a few days later with my friends EunJi and Jee at night, and the atmosphere was totally different.  Things are much more lively at night.  We went to a foreigner bar where the girls laughed at me when I obnoxiously sang the English songs that came on (Three Doors Down’s “Here Without You” came on and I just couldn’t hold myself back), and just altogether caught up since we last saw each other in Maine.  The waiter and barmaid weren’t Korean, but spoke both Korean and English.

I have never looked more sophisticated in my life.

EunJi has this app on her phone that can create 3o sec videos that are like little montages of an event.  Her and Jee made these videos all the time back at Husson whenever they would do an activity such as bowling, lobster dinner, or their visit to Acadia park.  She made one for our little get together at Itaewon.

McDonald’s Delivery

It’s 10:00PM.  My roommate and I are starving and we really don’t feel like making the trip outside to go to the store or  find a restaurant.

Me: Hey. You know what me should do?
Roommate: What?
Me: Order McDonald’s delivery.
*Silence*
*Roommate gets up and grabs her computer*
Roommate: OMG we should! Let’s do this!

Yes. You read right.  McDonald’s delivers here.  This is the site we use:

McDelivery

It was a bit tricky at first because you have to put your entire address in Korean, and the entire ordering process is in Korean  (Note: Google translate is your best friend!).  You also need to give a Korean phone number they can call if there are an issues, and I was blessed enough to have a friend who translated and volunteered to be our “messenger” (ie use his phone number).

The McDonald’s menu is basically the same as it is in America. Big Mac, McNuggets, Happy Meals, snack wraps, etc.  The only thing I saw differently was:

• They have chicken drumsticks which have a slight bite to them.
• They only have 3 condiments: Sweet Chili, Cajun, Sweet and Sour sauce, and Ketchup.  No ranch, mustard, and, worst of all, no Mayo. Sad face.

You’ll get a window in your browser that shows the status of your order so you can be on the look out for the delivery guy.  You can pay with either cash or a debit/credit card.  They deliver the food on a yellow moped with the McDonald’s logo on the side.

And not just McDonalds.  Several other well known titles such as Pizza Hut and Chinese restaurants deliver as well

The fruit of our labor ladies and gentlemen:

Wooooooorth it!!

Music – UV

UV is a two man project band and are comprised of comedians Yoo Se Yoon and High Syde’s Muzi. I can’t think of a song more suitable for this post than their notorious “Itaewon Freedom” song!

This is one of the most random, crazy, ridiculous, and hilarious music videos I have ever seen, and is right up there with “Gangnam Style”.  It doesn’t help that its also so addictive and catchy! The entire time I was there I was going “Itaewon FREEEEEEeedom!”

I couldn’t find a English subtitled video for the song, but they are basically just singing about the diverse and awesomeness that is Itaewon!

English Translation