Making The Most of Free Time

Over the last 3 months, I have had a lot of amazing opportunities to visit different places outside Seoul while also engaging with many different cultural activities within it. Like any major city, there is a wide variety of events and things to do that allow you to get to experience what life is for a local student. Whether it be through student clubs, language exchange meet-ups or traveling there are a lot of opportunities to explore and understand more about South Korea outside of the classroom.

In the last few weeks, during my free time, I have made it a point to try to see and experience as much as I can. Since my classes can only provide me with one perspective of the history and life of people in South Korea, I wanted to make sure I was able to supplement my time with other experiences. Therefore, I narrowed my focus on finding events within music and design, as I am interested in seeing how culture shapes creative fields. I found it interesting to go to events and that I would typically go to back home to see the similarities and differences in how they are conducted here.

So far, I have been able to attend a 2-day music festival, Seoul Fashion Week and a variety of other events. Although in the middle of a major city I found these events to be very peaceful, especially the music festival. I think a lot of people in the US see festivals as slightly overwhelming because of the amounts of people and just overall chaotic. But I found that the festival that I went to most people were sitting down and enjoying the music. At first, I was shocked at how relaxed and calm everything was but then I began to realize how things such as laws, regulations and societal traditions of listening to and appreciating music can really shape and differentiate experiences to those in the US.

2019 Off Route Festival

Additionally, I recommend trying to plan time to explore travel outside of the city or country. Over the last month, in my free weekends, I have had the opportunity to take a few day trips outside of Seoul to explore life outside of the capital. Although I do not find Seoul overwhelming in size, I found it refreshing to get out of the city to explore the different beaches, gardens, and traditional villages that lie outside of it. Since Seoul is very well connected to other parts of South Korea, it is not hard to plan a trip to see the countryside. Also from Seoul, Japan and many other countries in East Asia are very accessible to go to as well. Whatever your interest may be, I recommend making the most of your time and finding events and new places to experience.

I am so grateful to have these opportunities to explore and begin to gain a holistic view of life in South Korea.

Petite France in Gapyeong

Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto