Spring Break in Chongqing, Hong Kong, & South Korea
I am astounded that the fall semester sped by so quickly, and Spring Festival is upon us. I was planning on blogging more frequently, but life got in the way. However, I finally had the chance to blog again, and I will try my best to update on these past few months. My Chinese exams passed smoothly and I am pleased with the test results. Frankly, I know I could have dedicated myself to studying more, but I got distracted and caught up in the study abroad lifestyle. Sometimes I hit that spot where I don’t feel like I improved in any of my languages, because I get lazy and don’t make the effort to make native friends and study the language like I should. However, the good news is that I have felt strangely motivated lately and I am finally progressing in my languages again. I have been keeping up my Spanish by talking with friends and watching Esperanzamía. Obviously, I have been using my Chinese, and I am currently studying my HSK and other helpful Chinese books. I have decided to continue my self-studying in Korean, French, and Portuguese. Hopefully, I’ll survive the process. On top of all that, I am beginning to get ready to teach abroad in China next fall. I also applied to be an official CIEE blogger, so we’ll see how that turns out. I have been on vacation since the beginning of January, and I am happy to say that I had the opportunity to explore a new city and return to two of my favorite places. So, here’s what I’ve been up to since I got out of school!
Chongqing
Almost immediately after I finished fall semester, I headed over to Chongqing with some good friends. By train, it’s only two hours away from Chengdu. We spent a brief three days exploring the city and its delights. I had heard mixed reviews on Chongqing, so I didn’t have high expectations for the city. However, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Chongqing is very nice. It is very different from Chengdu in regards that there are many skyscrapers, water running around the city, and the main part of Chongqing is settled atop a hill.
Over the next few days, I explored various aspects of the city and grew to love and appreciate its similarities and differences to Chengdu. Chongqing at night is truly a spectacular sight. Many of the skyscrapers were lit up and some even featured moving lights that formed quotes, flowers, fireworks, etc. The city itself is filled to the brim with diversity, from seeing a farm in the middle of the city to being right smack dab in the middle of the business district. In addition to seeing all the city-esque details of Chongqing, I also had the privilege to see Chongqing’s proud display of their favorite spicy pepper, Chinese propaganda at every corner, and a graffiti section of the city.
Language-wise, the Chongqing dialect was slightly easier for me to understand than the Chengdu one. Talking to people is always an interesting experience when you don’t know if you’ll be able to understand them or if you’ll be completely lost. This has been the tough part of living in China, sometimes feeling like my Chinese is really fluent, and then in the next moment feeling like I don’t have a clue how to speak the language.
Chongqing’s hilly city definitely gave me a workout. Sometimes my friends and I would be able to spot our destination, but then it would take a half and hour to get there since there wasn’t a direct path to the place. This led to many funny, memorable moments throughout the trip. As a reward for ourselves, we ate delicious food to our hearts’ content. This included the famous Chongqing hotpot. Personally, I didn’t find any difference between Chengdu and Chongqing’s hotpot; both are delicious. Chongqing was an amazing start to my vacation time filled with great memories.
Hong Kong
I had the greatest time exploring Hong Kong yet again! My dad came to visit and he and I ventured around the city and ate some delicious food. The weather was bright, clear, and warm; quite a difference from the winter weather in Chengdu. To briefly summarize my time in Hong Kong, I revisited places like the flower and bird markets, Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery, the Big Buddha, Stanley beach, Victoria Peak, and took a day trip to Macao. I also had the wonderful opportunity to reunite with my roommate from university and another friend from university. They gave me a tour of CUHK (their university), and I can say that I definitely would not have minded studying abroad there. The view of Hong Kong from the top of the hill and the scenery on campus was stunning. I finally got to enjoy a beautiful sunset after months of living in a city filled with smog.
After living in Chengdu, it was definitely strange to see so many non-Asian people in Hong Kong. The blend of cultures is honestly so fascinating. For example, there were so many things in English, yet there were still menus that were only in Cantonese. Also, many people assumed I could speak Cantonese, which made for hilarious situations where I didn’t know how to react.
The metro is a whole experience in itself. For being so small, there were plenty of people shoving to get on the metro. The metro was usually filled to bursting during rush hours, and during the quiet hours there were still quite a few people calmly sitting or standing while they made their way to their destinations. One day there was a horrifying incident where one lady tried to get onto the metro at the last minute with her baby in its stroller. In the blink of an eye, she got shut out on the platform while her baby was sitting in the metro. Thankfully some guy pried the doors open so that the woman could reunite with her child. What a fright it gave to all of us that were watching the scene unfold before our eyes!
Korea
The second time in Korea was no less awesome than the first time. I got to spend a wonderful week and a half in Seoul and Busan. From the food to the beautiful sights, it was definitely worth the trip. I spent lots of my time visiting many of the well-known locations, sipping drinks and eating desserts at cafes, sampling delicious food, and trying not to die from the freezing cold temperatures that were blasting through Seoul.
The first, full day there I was able to reunite with one of my good friends who I studied with last year in Chengdu. It was great to catch up with him, and have more discussions about the differences in culture and economy between China, Korea, and the States.
The second day I had the tremendous opportunity to attend the 17th Seoul Music Awards. The experience was totally different from any other music events that I attended in the States. The fans of the Kpop groups purchased their preferred group’s official light sticks. During the whole event you could see all of the fans waving their light sticks to the rhythm of the music. It was so aesthetically pleasing to the eye to see so many lights bobbing in the darkness while bright lights pulsed on the stage.
Since it was bone-chillingly cold outside, I often found myself in a coffee shop trying to warm up. This was a great experience because I got to try so many great teas and desserts. Honestly, they have the best real-fruit teas that I have tasted in Asia. The cafes are always filled with current Korean music and polite waiters who wait patiently for you to order. It was a great opportunity to practice my limited Korea. Compared to Chinese, Korean is easier to understand since they don’t have the heavy dialects that impede my understanding. It was interesting to listen to the differences between the Seoul and Busan dialects. In China, the dialects are practically a whole different language, while in Korea the people have slighter differences in pronunciation.
The Seoul area is extensive, and the metro system is even more impressive. Although it was overwhelming at first, with the help of an app, I was able to smoothly navigate around the capital. The metro culture is hugely different from that that I have experienced in other Asian countries. The Koreans line up at patiently wait for their turn to alight or board the metro before trying to squeeze into the available space. The pregnant, old, and ill were always given priority. The Han River splices through the Seoul area, so quite a few times I found myself crossing over the river while riding the metro. Seoul has an impressive amount of state-of- the-art bridges to get where they need to go.
On a particularly chilly day, I met up with my former college roommate. I was overjoyed to have the chance to meet up with her. She kindly gave me a tour of her university, Ewha Women’s University. We spent the rest of the day visiting the Kakaotalk Concept museum, shopping, and resting for a bit at a nice café.
Hongdae and Myeongdong are well-known as popular hangout places. Hongdae is filled with cafes, bars, and nightlife places. Despite the negative temperatures, there were still dedicated street performers who were dancing to popular tunes. Myeongdong is popular for its name-brand clothing stores and makeup and skincare shops. Along the streets are food carts lined up in case you get hungry during your shopping spree. Common snack sold at these food carts are fish cake (오뎅) and rice cake with spicy sauce (떡볶이). The smells drifting from the food carts just tempt you to buy at least one.
The last day my friend and I visited Big Bang Seungri’s cafe (andHere) to sample some waffles and tea. We also decided to brave the cold and trekked up a hill/mountain to visit Namsan Tower. The panoramic view of Seoul from the tower was to die for. Definitely worth the sore muscles and frozen face.
My friend and I took the two hour train to Busan. Busan is a coastal place that gives off small city vibes. The Airbnb that we rented had an amazing view of Gwangalli Beach. That night, we strolled along the beach admiring the water and lights from the buildings. Right after, we went and stuffed ourselves with mouthwatering Korean BBQ.
Busan has many attractions that I sadly didn’t get to explore to the extent that I wanted to. The Gamcheon Culture Village’s brightly colored buildings starkly contrast with the modern buildings that I could see right across the river. I also explored the fish markets, book alley, Haeundae Beach, and Haedong Yonggungsa. Although Busan is smaller and less “sophisticated,” it definitely has its own charm. If the beaches don’t tempt you, then all the fresh seafood will do the trick. Someday I will most certainly go back at explore the places that I didn’t get a chance to visit.
I was beyond fortunate to travel to Chongqing, Hong Kong, and Korea during break. I won’t forget all the language mistakes and successes that happened along the way. I’m grateful that I was able to learn more about the cultures.
All the memories from these adventures will be with me and I’m grateful to all the people who made it special (aka my dad and friends). I can’t wait for the next adventure, and I’m sure there will be one since school doesn’t begin until March 12th. Looking forward to the next one!