Youth Talk

I have returned home from my trip to Korea and am already thinking about when I will be returning. We students were lucky to have a well thought out itinerary in store for us.

Out of the all the places we were taken to, among which were a traditional Korean village and Dongdaemun Plaza, my favourites were our day trip to Bonguensa Temple and the DMZ tour.

Nestled in an urban landscape of high-rise buildings, and in strong contrast with it, is the temple. The entrance, lined with a beautiful selection of deciduous trees such as pine, made me wonder just how breathtaking it would look in the winter with the wooden roofs of the traditional style temples covered in snow. 

Here we got to experience practicing Zen meditation which differs from regular mediation in that you keep your eyes open so as to keep drowsiness at bay.

Prior to our day tour here, I had only the slightest idea of the Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas, but that changed by the end of this trip. Our tour guide, one highly-enthusiastic about sharing all the knowledge he possessed, made the whole ordeal of relating  to us facts of the past interesting and intriguing.

Although the picture he painted at first was that of an eerie and heavily-restricted area, the actual place turned out to be quite cool with plenty of tourists visiting; the tour made for a fascinating day out.

You cannot pass up a visit to one of the many skincare and beauty shops that can be found in plenty in the major shopping districts when in Korea.

South Korea is well known for its beauty industry and my roommate and I wasted no time in getting ourselves acquainted with the plethora of skincare stores about the city.

Moreover, South Korea has got a bustling and very present café culture. At any time, and in any café, you will find students catching up on work and friends catching up on each other’s lives.

As someone who absolutely adores the atmosphere found in cafes, I was very happy to see that South Koreans shared in that sentiment.

I had a great time and an incredibly invaluable experience. Most importantly, I was able to practice using the Korean that I have been learning for a little over a year now. I’m grateful … and I can’t wait to go back!