April Fool's
April 1st, or April Fool's is also celebrated in Korea. The university has a unique tradition where students come to school wearing their high school uniform or varsity jackets from different universities (I saw a lot of Yonsei jackets). Students gather at the Central Plaza's grassy area and usually eat Jjajangmyeon 짜장면 (black bean noodles) there. My Korean buddy told me about this in advance, so I was anticipating it, but I definitely did not expect to see so many students in one area. I was a little intimidated so I took a couple pictures from afar while passing by.
First Club Session
For my Korean traditional painting club (한국화회), we finally had our first club session, where we learned the basics of painting. Playing around with a medium I had never tried before was really fun.
Cherry Blossoms Sightseeing At Jeongdok Public Library
My friend found a nice spot to see cherry blossoms, which was at the Jeongdok Public Library (정독도사관). On top of the cherry blossoms finally being in full bloom, the weather was great, so it was the perfect day to go sightseeing. I hope the photos sort of capture how beautiful the flowers were. As an aside, I took these photos with a Sony digital camera that I purchased on eBay before coming to Korea :-D)
Seoul Museum of Craft Art
For the traditional painting club's first outing, we visited the Seoul Museum of Craft Art. This was my first time going to an art museum in Korea, so it was cool that I got to check it out with my Korean club members. For those interested, the entrance fee is free for students! You just need to show your university ID card.
On the way back, we saw more cherry blossoms, which were also beautiful in the evening. After taking some pictures in this alley, we headed home.
Everland Theme Park
One of the KUBA members coordinated a group trip to Everland, Korea's largest theme park. Everland offers a discounted price for groups, so we were able to purchase a cheaper ticket with the help of our Korean buddy. We also received food coupons that we could use at any of the restaurants in the amusement park.
We rented out school uniforms, which were 20,000 won, or a little less than $15. You can find the uniform shop near the entrance of the park. I would say it's worth doing it just for the unique experience. However, I strongly recommend that come prepared with an idea of what you want to wear. This will save a lot of time. The entire process of waiting to be let inside, mixing and matching tops/bottoms/ties, and trying on the clothes took us more than an hour (we are indecisive people lol). Try not to get the rented clothes dirty, or else a cleaning fee will be waiting for you... Watch out for makeup and food stains!
Aside from the fun rides, there were also a lot of other things to see at Everland, such as the mini zoo and tulip festival. At the time, Everland was having a collab with Sanrio, so we were able to see many familiar characters scattered around the tulip garden, which made for a cute photo-op. It was the perfect time to go as it wasn't too cold or hot, making all the walking more bearable. Overall, I had a super fun time with my friends, and I can definitely recommend this amusement park to anyone going to Korea. Just keep in mind the slightly long commute from Seoul to Everland. The park is located in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, so it took us around two hours to get there from our apartment in downtown Seoul.
War Memorial of Korea
My last highlight of April was my visit to the War Memorial of Korea. My roommate Jazmin brought up the idea of going there, especially since it was a short commute from our place. There are three floors of exhibits, as well as an outdoor, open-air exhibition area. While going through the museum, we followed an English audio tour, which was available through an app (War Military Museums Guide). You might need to search up the name of the museum in Korean for the app to appear (전쟁기념관).
It took us a while to finish going through the first-floor exhibits, so we picked up the pace a bit. We even had to zip through some exhibit rooms so that we could end the day with the outdoor exhibition before it was time to leave. The museum was engaging and accommodating to foreigners with many of the descriptions translated to English for convenient viewing. It was cool being able to make connections between the Korean war movies I had watched in the past to the real-life, historical events that were displayed in exhibitions. This was an amazing learning experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the six hours we spent here.
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