Korea: Winter Adventures and Lunar New Year

Oh boy. A post about winter in Korea?! When May's about to start?!

*cue me not caring*

The last you'd all heard of my adventures, I was baking Christmas cookies and prepping to travel Japan. I shared some photos from that trip here, and even if they're not the best, I'm quite proud of how they'd turned out. Especially this one:

But once the weather dropped in Busan, how'd I spend my time in the Land of the Morning Calm? Well I got lucky. Busan is known for her milder winter climate compared to the rest of Korea, and though there were a few chilly days (~25 degrees Fahrenheit), I think the temperature hovered mostly around the mid thirties/low forties (and considering New York hit -5 real-feel--I was thankful). 

Overall, I got to spend more time seeing the museums I'd been meaning to check out. Between the Busan Museum's flower-themed art installation, the Loving Vincent Van Gogh exhibit in Seoul, and a tour of the Korean War Museum with some friends from Japan, I had a blast getting some much needed cultural escapes. (And bringing New York back into the conversation with its literal hundred museums: I've missed art exhibits like crazy.) Interspersed had included birthday celebrations, writing days that led into bowling nights, one too many books bought hot off the shelves, and trips to nearby cities. Of course, the cold weather also inspired me to stay indoors and study some Korean!

​Below the cut you'll find a few phone photos documenting what my life had been like through the last few months of winter!

Back To Reality, Lost in the Artistry

oh there goes gravity~
Okay but seriously...
​
On January 9th I arrived back in Busan and jumped head-first into my school's Winter Camp. I decided to make my camp vlog-themed even if I myself don't vlog (maybe when I get over my embarrassment at being yet another #millennialwithablog I'll finally film a few videos). For camp, we used different age-appropriate examples to talk about the  types of vlogs people create and follow, the acting techniques vloggers utilize for entertainment, and the mechanics of various editing software. We did English puzzle games for YouTube facts, wrote about favorite vloggers, and, ultimately, recorded and edited personal vlog episodes. (Okay I did most of the editing, but I left 2-3 decisions up to them that they worked on in class.)

Every day after Winter Camp I either went climbing or kickboxing, and the weekends were more often than not an enterprise to find new cafes+museums.  

Busan Museum's Botanica Temporary Installation

"undress-unburden" 생각하는 정원 SEYUN CHOI Solo Exhibition 2019.2.14 - 3.5

생각하는 정원 SEYUN CHOI Solo Exhibition 2019.2.14 - 3.5

생각하는 정원 SEYUN CHOI Solo Exhibition 2019.2.14 - 3.5

The Loving Vincent Exhibition in Seoul had been breathtaking! I loved having the opportunity to see still-frames from the hand-painted movie, and was amazed by two, never-before-available-to-the-public Van Gogh pieces!

I'd been so inspired by these museum exhibits that I picked up a lot of my studio art again after neglecting it since graduating university. :)

먹기 다시 먹기

Long story short--I ate my weight in every type of dish imaginable and mostly hibernated. I went out for samgyupsal at least three times in two months, filled myself with all the Shabu Shabu I could fit before bowling in Gwangalli, and even tried Seoul's hand at Greek food.  Oh--and what would Korea be without all those cafes?

So far I was impressed by the chicken souvlaki and xtopodi! (Spanakopita left a bit to be desired, though). All that's left for judgment: the avgolemano and the pastichio.

Lunar New Year and Studying Korean

I also met a friend who showed me some Busan sights I hadn't gotten the chance to see! This is the Songdo cable car!

It's true what they say: unless you're in the countryside, it'll be easy to neglect your Korean studies while teaching abroad. When it comes to city folk, you'll meet people desperate to practice their English or everyday retail workers who have the basics to ask what you need and work with you as an English-speaking customer. While I was fine studying on my own through most of autumn, I started to feel my language skills plateau without outside help. I wasn't quite ready to speak to my co-teachers in Korean, but I was understanding almost everything they explained to my students in class or laughed over with other teachers during lunch. 

So around Lunar New Year (early February) I wound up putting in some hardcore study sessions. In addition to joining a language group and meeting my language exchange partner, I spent a lot of time trying different classes. I wound up meeting with others for Korean language work around 2-3 times a week, studying on my own through a few different resources and rewatching countless episodes of the same 

Kdrama to work on my listening. (I've been telling my friends this: the more serious the Kdrama, the slower they'll usually speak and the better chance you'll have in recognizing grammar and vocabulary. Shout out to Mr. Sunshine!)

My language exchange partner wanted to talk about careers in this little excerpt! Our following few sessions afterwards focused on more and more abstract topics, like comparing creation myths from around the world.

Lunar New Year -- or 설날 (Seollal) -- was a beautiful 60 degrees in Busan. Though everything was closed, I ended up getting bubble tea and 짜장면 (black bean noodles) with my friend.

March and Just Past Halfway

Once March rolled around the weather began to tease us with tastes of Spring. My cafe adventures continued, but a friend from home was now moving to Daegu--an hour train ride away--and so I spent a lot of March going back and forth between the two cities. 

I think it's official, Daegu is overflowing with 99% of Korea's coolest cafes.

A sight I've now come to know well: waiting for my train at Dongdaegu Station...

And seeing my friend just begin her life in Daegu had me reflecting. Go figure. Since when isn't Lena overthinking? 
​
Once I passed the halfway I started to seriously consider questions that I didn't have time to think about during my early days here in Korea. Questions as to whether I would be renewing my contract, moving apartments, and working towards certain goals. Ultimately, I'm so grateful for the space Korea has given me to explore all my different options, and I can't wait to see what else this amazing country has in store for me...

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And there we go! January to March all caught up! If I share anymore, I might as well post all my cherry blossom and wild flower photos. I was frustrated with some aspects of winter in Busan--it's definitely a sleepier city than its Seoul sister--but writing this out helped me realize how much I've actually seen, done, and enjoyed!

Hoping you guys had an amazing past few months as well. Let me know in the comments what your favorite winter memory has been this year!