My travel experiences in South Korea’s provinces

A glimpse of South Korea's Oedo island

My hometown is Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. Because of the character of the island (Geoje-si is also known as Geoje-island. It is located near Busan.), I can go anywhere by boat. Excluding Jeju island, my hometown is considered to be the biggest island in Korea so our family have traveled the whole of Geoje island, from end to end. Geoje-island is famous for tourist spots.

Venus garden in Oedo Island

I think the most famous place in Geoje-island is Oe-do (‘외도’ in Korean). It is a small island. If you want to go to Oe-do, you should check the weather first! The only way to enter that island is by ship. My family knew this already, but the weather was not good at that time. Every time my family visits Oe-do, the waves are relatively high. But Oe-do has a magical power that cures our hurt mind with its amazing weather. We feel rejuvenated every time we go there. At the entrance, you can see some trees that seem to appear only in fairy tales. When I saw the trees for the first time, I thought that I was a small Alice (in the tale, Alice’s adventures in wonderland, she gets bigger or smaller from time to time). We also went to the place named ‘Venus garden’. All the trees in this island were magnificently laid out. Oi-do was chosen as the set of the famous Korean soap drama, Winter Sonata (‘겨울연가’).

Sacheon - the place I will always vividly remember

My father loves traveling. He brings me along when he travels. So I remember that I travel a lot around Gyeong-nam when I was young. There is this one particular place that I vividly remember intensely in my memory. One summer, we went to Sacheon (사천) with my father’s friend and his family. We went to some small village named Dong-hwa (Fairy tale) village. And there is a good place where people can enjoy and have fun in water. That place is named after its village, ‘Dong-hwa forest’. It was interesting for me because there is a very dense forest near the river. And there was an underground pass so we could play hide and seek. I don’t know why I have the memory of playing in water, but obviously I think that it was the most interesting place to me. Thanks to my father, just like him, now I love traveling too. When I go home this vacation, I’ll go somewhere with my family and bring along some camping tools. I’m excited for my future trips. I hope you also get your bags packed and be ready for your travel adventures. I’m sure it would be loads of fun.

Article written by Koo Gi Young

from GEO Class 3-8 (Prof. Stephen Jones and TA Ezzy Lee)

Our Hobbies 101 - Part 2

My hobby is assembling plastic models like making a ship, car, airplane and so on. This is a boat made up of tree parts. I don’t know the name exactly, but, it’s not a Turtle Ship. It took me 6 hours to complete. Quick-drying glue made my hands dirty. However, I felt really great after completing this successfully.

My hobby is watching American dramas. My favorite dramas are Dexter, The Big Bang Theory, Ugly Betty and Supernatural. I watched American dramas since I was a high school student. We can experience American culture without going to America. And also dramas can improve our English conversation and listening. Let’s watch an American drama!!

Doesn’t this looks tasty? This is some of the viand I can do. I like cooking. And after I cook, I like the enjoyment and happiness when someone eats my food. I sometimes challenge myself with a new recipe like steamed sweet pumpkin or oyster porridge. Making the food is entertaining. Eating food is fun. For me, cooking is a perfect habit to have. Why don’t you make delicious food and eat it too?

by Eun-kyung Oh, Cho Lock Lee, Hyun a Park respectively from GEO Class 2-4, Professor David Lee's class

Our Hobbies 101 - Part 1

There are so many hobbies depending on the person, such as collecting coins, taking pictures or cooking some food. We want to talk about our three favorite hobbies.

First, we will talk about going to the gym. Actually, we are GEO students so we can use the university gym easily. We can just go down the dorm and we will be in the gym. Our school gym's fee is cheaper than gyms outside the campus. They also have a good trainer there so we like going to this gym a lot. In addition, Korean university girls want to have a good body so we usually go there. (Picture above : CUK gym located in International Hub 1st floor)

Second, we will talk about baking. Baking cookies and muffins is fun. To make a muffin that tastes good you have to follow a recipe. Though we can't bake in the university, when we go to our homes, we bake cookies. Some people even enroll in a baking school. (Picture in left : author's baked products)

Third, we will talk about watching a live performance. Actually, there is no place to watch a play or musical near Yeokgok. So usually, we have to take a subway or bus to another area. By watching a live performance, we can feel their energy. This is also a diversion from our routinary lifestyle.

Live ballet performance

We just talked about three hobbies but there are so many other hobbies. Hobbies are a very good thing for you. It helps you escape from routine life. So we suggest that you get a hobby.

by: In Young, Eun kyung and Hyeon jeong from GEO Class 2-3, Professor David Lee's class