May was probably the most jam-packed month of my whole study abroad semester. There were a LOT of concerts this month, so I decided to dedicate some separate blog posts to those. Feel free to check it out if you're interested! :- D
International Student Festival
In the second week of May, KU had their annual International Student Festival (ISF). KUBA buddies were encouraged to participate by running booths that represented their country or any country of their choice. I initially was going to help the USA booth, but ran out of time while being occupied with other club activities. But I was able to drop by and try out the food and games from each booth.
I wish I had taken more photos to show what the booths offered, but some of the small snacks and food they prepared were pretty good. If I had time, I would have definitely found myself participating in this event.
KUDASAI?
On the same day, Devin Halbal, more known for being the famous"Kudasai" girl on TikTok, had a small meet-up with fans on KU campus. We were already there, so we couldn't pass up the chance to hear her iconic Kudasaiiii in person. Friends from Yonsei and other universities also came all the way to see her. Once we heard screaming and kudasais, we knew she had arrived. A huge crowd formed around Devin pretty fast, but she was easy to spot, thanks to the long selfie-stick that she always carries around. I couldn't help but laugh every time I saw it bobbing around. You'll see it in the photos.
I noticed how she was trying to talk to everyone and listen to everyone's kudasai requests, which I thought was super nice of her. My friend eventually made it to her and asked her to say "shaka kudasai~~" LOL. That was a cool moment for us Hawaii peeps.
KUBS Activity: Korean Traditional Snack Making
Our next KUBS activity was a Korean Traditional Snack Making lesson at the Korean Food Grand Master Center (식품명인체험홍보관). We learned how to make yeot gangjeong (엿강정), or sweet rice puffs. The snack was surprisingly easy and fast to make.
We first poured rice syrup into a large pan.
We added nuts and powder (I think they had chocolate, red bean, and matcha powder) of our liking. For the first batch, we chose almonds, cashews, and red bean powder. For the second batch, we used matcha powder.
We stirred everything in the pan on medium heat until the bubbles started to firm. While I stirred, my Korean buddy helped me prepare the mold and vinyl.
We then added rice puffs to the rice syrup and continued to stir.
I then transferred the mixture to the mold and used a rolling pin to flatten the rice puff.
After letting it cool for a bit, we cut the mixture into small bite-size pieces.
We boxed up all of our yeotgangjeong to take home and even learned a traditional wrapping method. The snack tasted sweeter than I expected, in a good way. It made for a nice snack. Overall, as someone who rarely cooks/bakes, this was such a cool activity and learning experience!
Exploring Seongsu and Ikseon-dong
My friend and I went to Seongsu to check out the Chapagetti (a brand of instant noodles that mimics jjajangmyeon) pop-up store. We visited on the second-to-last day before its permanent closure, thinking the hype might have died down, but the line was still surprisingly long. I think we waited for a little over an hour to get inside.
There was more waiting inside to take pictures in the chapagetti-themed photo booth. After the photo booth, we claimed our randomly selected Nongshim ramen, which we could only get after showing the employee that we had posted a picture of ourselves in the store on social media. We both got.Shin Ramyun The Red, which I knew I couldn't eat. I have a decent tolerance for spicy foods, but I get stomach problems the next day lol. They also had a small merch shop, which was cute. There was a "Cooking Zone" where you could order chapagetti noodles and other foods. We decided to skip out on this because we had already eaten lunch.
Rain Report
We went to Rain Report, a rain-themed cafe in Seongsu that we had been eyeing for a while. We went at around 6pm, so most of the pastries were gone, but there were still some croissants left. I didn't get a croissant (I regret it), but my friend did and she said it was pretty good. It had thick cream filling inside which looked super delicious. I'm a sucker for cream-filled pastries.
I also got "Rainy Garden" drink which was a matcha-based yuzu ade. This was probably one of the best ades I drank in Korea (I'm an ade enthusiast). We sat right in front of the raindrop chandelier in the center of the first floor. The cafe was much bigger than I expected with both indoor and outdoor seating available.
*I'm sorry, I did not take enough photos here...
Mil Toasthouse and Blue Elephant
On another day, we went to Ikseon-dong to check out Mil Toasthouse, a popular bakery cafe that specializes in steamed bread. We sat right in front of where they were making the drinks and steamed bread. I ordered a plain and sweet potato steamed bread along with a grapefruit ade.
I found it interesting how they use the bamboo baskets that are usually seen at Chinese dimsum restaurants to steam the bread. The bread was soft and of course, paired well with the butter that was provided. My friends seemed to have enjoyed their french toasts, which the cafe is also well-known for.
We then headed over to Seongsu to shop for some sunglasses at Blue Elephant, a contemporary eyewear brand based in Korea. People like to refer to this brand as the knockoff version of Gentle Monster. Both brands apparently use the same manufacturers, so I think Blue Elephant glasses offer good value. Most of their glasses run for around 49,900 won (around $36). However, I would be lying if I said I couldn't notice a difference in quality. The sunglasses felt a little lighter than Gentle Monster glasses, which honestly might be better for comfortability. As for durability, I'm not sure, but they have been great so far.
I bought the sunglasses on the left. The really oval-shaped glasses have been trending for a while, but those didn't fit my face shape, so I went with the most standard looking frame LOL. We thought it was funny how we each ended up with a different sunglasses frame shape. We took photos at a nearby photobooth to celebrate buying sunglasses for the first time.
Kutopia
Korea University, and many other Korean universities organize festivals for each season. This year's festival was called Kutopia, which I'm guessing is a cute play on words between utopia and KU. I thought it was pretty creative.
As someone who usually spends limited time outdoors (I'm a homebody...), this festival week turned out to be one of the busiest weeks of my life. For three days straight in the week, there were on-campus student and celebrity performances. These performances were free, and for the most part, open to the public. I saw a lot of students from other universities come to watch our school's performances.
This was where the concert was held. There was a gated area where you could get a close-up view of the performances. We international students called it the "pit." The pit was initially reserved for KU students, but on the first day, staff didn't check for IDs, so students from other schools managed to enter. But security got a little tighter on the following days.
First Day
On the first concert day, we arrived a little later than we hoped, but still managed to get inside the pit. We stood on the very left side of the stage, about 10 rows back. I expected the pit to be completely packed, but surprisingly, there was still quite some space behind us. It seemed that many students preferred to watch the performances outside of the pit, which I totally understand—there was nonstop shoving throughout the concert. I also could barely move around, which took a toll on my back after standing and jumping around for five hours.
The concert kicked off with some student performances and then transitioned to the first celebrity performance, a band called The Wind. From what I know, they are a rookie boy group that recently gained some popularity through their song "With US," which I recognized as the song that plays in the Korean karaoke rooms after you finish your session. A lot of people around me felt pretty disappointed when they first came out on stage, but there were collective "ahh"s when they started performing With US. It was nice to be able to sing along to that song.
The second performer was Jukjae, a Korean singer who seemed pretty popular with the crowd. Although his name sounded familiar, I still didn't know a single song.
Next was Jung Yonghwa, a well-known singer and member of the band CNBLUE. The crowd, of course, recognized him instantly. He was incredibly interactive, getting everyone pumped up and even coming close to the audience, which I think really elevated the energy.
At one point, he came super close to the left side of the stage. I think it was my first time seeing a celebrity so up close in Korea. My phone unfortunately ran out of storage at that exact moment, so I couldn't do anything but stare lol. Talk about bad timing.
The next performance was by ILLIT, a newly debuted girl group known for their song "Magnetic," which I kept hearing everywhere in Korea. They were super cute!
The first day of the festival ended with Apink, one of my favorite girl groups. They definitely knew to save the best for last. They sang I'm So Sick, DND, Forever, Dumhdurum, NoNoNo, and closed with Mr. Chu, one of their biggest hit songs. Their older tracks brought back so much nostalgia.
Second Day
I decided to bring my friend from Yonsei to the second-day concert, especially since so many students from other universities had made it into the pit on the first day. However, as I had mentioned earlier, security had tightened, and they started checking student IDs at the entrance. We only realized this right before we were about to enter, so we had to leave the line. Fortunately, we found a decent elevated spot under a tree outside the pit, and our view turned out to be pretty good. Most of the performers ended up being hip-hop artists that neither my friend nor I were familiar with, so we were actually relieved that we weren’t in the pit.
My friend and I waited for Kiss of Life to come out, another newly debuted girl group that has been receiving a lot of attention recently. They performed Bad News, Nobody Knows, Midas Touch, Nothing, and Shh. Kiss of Life did not disappoint! Also, our local girl Julie did great.
Last Day!
The line to get inside the pit was the longest for the last day. I think the line-up got leaked somewhere online, so the demand for this last concert was the highest.
The line stretched all the way from the central plaza, and I ended up waiting for about 2 hours. I was grateful I had brought an umbrella—otherwise, I would’ve been roasted under the sweltering sun. The temperature was already getting a bit warm in May. For concerts and other outdoor events, it's always a good idea to bring a sun-protective parasol or even just a regular umbrella.
I had a more frontal view of the stage, which was nice, despite being a little farther than I was compared to the first day. The first performer was Lee Mujin, who I recognized from his YouTube channel, though I wasn't particularly into his music. Still, I noticed a lot of people around me singing along to his songs—he was more popular than I expected.
EXID came out next, earning a roar of screams from the audience (including me lol). I'm a huge fan, so I was pumped to see them live, especially since they aren't as active anymore. It was so cool to see them promoting together again. They opened with DDD, then performed L.I.E, I Love You, Hot Pink, FOREVER, and Up & Down. EXID did a great job of getting the audience hyped up.
Next was NMIXX, another rising girl group. They sang some of their popular songs Love Me Like This, DICE, and Dash. Their set list was a little on the shorter side, but it was nice to see them live. I took many pictures because my friend is a Sulyoon fan lolol. They were SUPER pretty.
Next up was Highlight, formerly known as Beast, a well-known 2nd generation boy group. I spent much of my childhood being forced to listen to their songs "Shock" and "Fiction." Seeing them perform these tracks live was surreal. It was a nostalgic experience, and I’m sure a lot of students in the audience grew up with those songs too. The wave of nostalgia was intense. By this point in the concert, I had run out of storage, so I couldn’t capture any more photos or videos. But it was nice to just be in the moment and enjoy the performance.
I think the last performer was YB, a Korean rock band. Since I wasn't too interested, I decided to leave early, knowing that getting out would be tough. I managed to catch the last train, but unfortunately, it only went as far as a few stops before mine. I came home completely exhausted. While part of me was relieved that festival week and my late nights out until 1am were over, I had an amazing time.
By the way, the last train is usually at midnight or 1am, but some lines may close earlier. Try not to miss the last train, as getting home can sometimes be tricky or inconvenient with limited bus options.
The only thing left was IPSELENTI, Korea University's annual pep-rally-cheering festival. Stay tuned for a separate blog post about IPSELENTI!
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