Sauna, Song Festival, & Saying Goodbye

Jimjilbang

              A jimjilbang is a Korean spa that often has hot tubs, showers, and traditional Korean saunas. The one that we went to was at Starfield Goyang which is about an hour away from Yonsei. Since we went on the weekend it was very busy, and I wouldn’t consider it to be a super relaxing environment. They had a variety of different sauna rooms of varying temperatures that provided different benefits and experiences. Something that I was not mentally prepared for was the lack of modesty of the people in the locker rooms. It was definitely an interesting experience. 

KBS Gayo Daechukje 

              The three main Korean broadcasting networks hold music festivals at the end of each year which feature a vast lineup of popular Korean artists. Each artist performs about two songs each, typically their most popular songs of the year. I attended the KBS Gayo Daechukje which was something that I never thought that I’d be able to go to. 

I purchased the ticket through KoreaTravelEasy which also provided a shuttle service to and from the venue which was at KINTEX in Goyang. We were not able to select our seats and were given whatever the travel agency was able to obtain for us. Our tickets ended up being in the standing section that was not closest to the stage and most people that were around us were fansites with gigantic cameras. People were also constantly pushing and some even brought stools to stand on to take pictures. The audience being like this severely ruined my experience as I couldn’t really see the whole time and my phone couldn’t even catch much on video with my arm raised all the way up. Something that I was also not aware of before going to this event was the extent to which the performances were pre-recorded. Many of the artists didn’t perform their whole songs live for us as they had already recorded the performance for the television broadcast which was somewhat disappointing. While I would not go to this festival again and would not recommend going, I have absolutely no regrets because I got to see my favorite artist (NCT 127) for the first time. Technically, I couldn’t really see them but just being in the presence of them was worth it to me. 

Final Days in Korea

              My final days in Korea consisted of doing last-minute shopping, visiting our favorite restaurants for the last time, and beauty appointments. I got my hair cut at Juno Hair which is a popular hair salon with locations across Seoul. I went there just planning to get a regular haircut, but the hairdresser was extremely insistent on the fact that I needed to get a perm. However, I was not at all interested in getting a perm that day, so I did my best to decline and tell her that I just wanted to get my hair cut. However, I felt like she was not doing a very good job cutting my hair after I said that I didn’t want the perm, so I ended up getting a scalp treatment when she offered it. I think that this is a common experience when going to hair salons in Korea. I also got my nails done at a place that I found on Instagram which did Sanrio-holiday-themed nails. 

Leaving Korea

              I didn’t think that I’d have such a difficult time packing but I ended up having to throw away and leave behind some things. I decided to leave Korea and go back home on the same day that I had to move out of the dorm to prevent the hassle of having to move all my stuff to a hotel. My friends helped me with moving out of my dorm and booking a taxi to the airport which I’m super grateful for. This was actually my first time traveling alone, but the only difficult part was pushing all my luggage across the airport.

Thoughts

I’m so glad that I decided to study abroad and grateful for the opportunity to spend a semester at Yonsei University. Yonsei has been my dream school for so long and I will always fondly look back on my memories here. This international exchange experience has truly helped me to grow in so many ways and I’m forever thankful to The Freeman Foundation, MIX, and my friends and family who helped to make this an unforgettable experience. Thanks for reading <3