After a grueling 11-hour flight, my friend Jazmin (also a Freeman Scholar!) and I arrived at Incheon Airport on February 9th. At the airport, we met up with another friend (also named Jasmine lolol) who both Jazmin and I would be rooming with. The first thing I did was I got my sim card at the phone service counters in Incheon Airport. I purchased the sim card in advance through the website Trazy.com, so everything was quick and easy. My friends were able to get an eSIM through Trazy, which was set to be activated right when they landed in Korea. My Samsung S20 FE didn't support eSIMs, so I was left with no choice but to purchase a physical sim card. Everything turned out fine, so I have no complaints.
Right when we stepped outside, my Hawaii-born self almost couldn't believe how cold it was. The whole time we were outside, I was slightly hunched over, unable to walk properly. As we waited for a venti taxi that would be able to fit all of our large suitcases, I remember feeling my ears and fingers going numb.
Advice: If you are coming to Korea during the winter season, on top of thick winter clothes, bring gloves and a scarf. I later noticed that having these really made a difference and kept me warm.
We made our way to our first Airbnb in Bupyeong, Incheon. The taxi driver dropped us off a little far from the Airbnb, so we had to lug our suitcases to the apartment.
The place was more spacious than we expected. Granted, the loft was a little on the smaller side especially for three people, but it was still comfortable.
The next day, we spent some time exploring the neighborhood.
We had our first proper meal (by proper, I mean food that isn't from the convenience store) at a restaurant called 돌판생오리구이, which translates to stone-grilled raw duck. We were initially planning on eating on the second floor where they served galbi and samgyeopsal, but we were convinced by the hostess to eat on the first floor. The hostess could tell that it was our first time, so she practically did everything for us. It made for a really nice first meal in Korea.
Advice: We came to Korea during Lunar New Year, so many places were closed during the holidays. This was a pretty big oversight, but made for a story we could laugh about.
We then headed to the Incheon Grand Park to do some sightseeing. It was our first time catching the bus in Korea, and it was a whole different experience from how the bus rides are in Hawaii. In Korea, bus drivers often drive pretty fast, which I assume is because being on schedule is important. Back in Hawaii, buses were always late, but here, this is rarely much of a problem.
Advice: When waiting for the bus, always be prepared! Even though you're at the bus stop, if the bus driver sees that you are not paying attention, they might not stop for you. Also, make sure to tap your T-money card on the way out, especially when you're planning on transferring. I still don't fully understand the reasoning behind this, but you'll see everyone doing this.
The next day, we went to Yeongjong to ride their Seaside Rail Bike. A lot of people were with their family, so we were practically the only group of friends there.
You can probably imagine how cold it was biking against the wind. Another big mistake was not buying gloves prior to riding the rail bike. The ride lasted a little over 30 minutes, but it was super fun and worth it. We got some odeng fish cake to warm ourselves up.
On our last day in Incheon, we went to Wolmi Theme Park. When we got to the amusement park, there were a lot of children and families. Thinking there would be more young people like us, we started to realize that we bought ride tickets in the wrong area. We walked around a little more and found a bustling area with the infamous Disco Pang Pang ride. For those of you who don't know, it's a circular ride that erratically spins and bounces. There's no seatbelts, so you basically have to sit and hold on for dear life. Additionally, there's an emcee who controls the ride and plays cupid, trying to get people to fall onto each other while making funny quips at people. I didn't get much pictures, but here is a link to their YouTube channel for those who are curious: https://www.youtube.com/@jtbetv.
The ride was pretty fun, and a lot more dangerous than I realized LOL. We ended up having pretty bad muscle pain for a couple days from hanging onto the rails behind us on the ride.
Advice: This might just be common sense, but don't go on rides on an empty stomach. I didn't have breakfast in the morning and after riding the Viking, I got super motion sick. I had never been that motion sick in my life. I felt bad for holding my friends back, but they brought me some food and I soon felt better.
After the day ended, we headed back to our Airbnb and slept early because we had another eventful day ahead of us. The next day, we moved into our next Airbnb in Myeongdong, where we would stay for a little more than a week.
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