Fall Break: Seoul and Hong Kong

With an 11-day trip, more than I can tell happened, so I'm going to hit the highlights!

Seoul, October 26 to October 30:

Ten of us from the KIS dorm staff stayed in an Airbnb in Seoul's Hongik University area. It's a young people's part of the town with the university there, so there were tons of options for shopping and eating. The main place we traveled to was Itaewon, the foreigners part of town. It had tons of shopping and foods we can't get in Jeju, like American BBQ (the best BBQ I've had in years) and Mexican food. Needless to say, we took full advantage. It was a bit crazy with ten people in one apartment, but it was a lot of fun. It was good to just have some time to relax. We visited a large palace one day with a beautiful garden, and we went bowling another day. It was really nice to not have plans, to just be able to go do what I wanted when I wanted to. That was the general theme of Seoul. I liked the size and the atmosphere of the city, too.

Hong Kong, October 30 to November 5:

Hong Kong was the bulk of the trip, and I traveled with my friends Justin and Alec. My first impression when we showed up was the height. Everything is built vertically and right on top of each other. It's a big, little city. The second thing I noticed was the crowds. Everywhere was a mess of people. By the end of 6 days, I was very tired of it! We started with a couple of days of just going around the town and sightseeing. We saw the beautiful view from Victoria's peak, went to markets in Mong Kok (near the protests, but there wasn't any action when we were there!), and went to the night markets. On Halloween, we went to Lan Kwai Fong, the bar district. The streets were so packed we couldn't move, so we just grabbed a few beers from the 7-11 and took it all in. Two days later, we went to Macau, the gambling capital of the world, and did some gambling. We played roulette, and I lost badly. Justin was in my camp, and Alec somehow won close to $200. The following day we went to Ocean Park, which is apparently regarded as one of the best theme parks in the world. We saw pandas and rode roller coasters. It was awesome. Besides that, the rest of the trip was just chilling out! Got some Christmas presents knocked out at the markets and read my book. Can't beat that.

Some general notes:

The time to decide if I want to stay for a second year is nearing. It was really reassuring to me that I missed Jeju when I was gone. I'll keep you posted on my decision!

The post-college realization that I won't maintain all my friendships sucks. You get so close with people over the course of four years, and sometimes reaching out isn't enough I suppose. You find out who's important more quickly than you expect. That's been hitting me kind of hard lately.

You find out who you can and cannot travel with after less than 24 hours of traveling with them.

The guy who came up with the name "pumpernickel" must've been stoned out of his mind. "So we've got the white bread... the wheat bread... and HA... pumpkernickel... HA..."

There is no better feeling than eating real vegetables after 10 days on the road.

The more and more I spend my time away from home, the more I see myself staying away (sorry, Mom). I love and miss Chicago, and perhaps I'll end up there someday or elsewhere in the States, but at 23, the idea of seeing more and more of the world is really appealing. I don't know if that goes away with time or if that's just who I am. Everywhere I go, I meet people and hear about new things that I want to see. My bestest friend Kelly Cahalin is talking about going to Nepal next year, and all I can think about is how cool it would be to visit Nepal. Is that an opportunity I could take if I were in the States? I just don't know. Lots of mind churning these days.

I've met more Canadians in the last year than I had ever met before in my life. Mikey and I met a bunch on our European travels, and I work with and am surrounded by lots of them here. To date, I haven't met a Canadian that I outright didn't like. A good breed overall, those way-Northerners.

Finally, here is a time-lapse video of our journey back from the big Buddha, courtesy of the dedicated photographer Alec Lorraine:

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Bed time. Back to work tomorrow and the kids return Sunday! 6 weeks until I'm home for Christmas, and I can't wait to see everyone. Thanks for taking the time to read, folks. Adios.