By Hannah
With the end of my gap year approaching, I want to go over maybe a few random things I missed in my other posts and reflect a little bit.
My daily routine in China pretty much consisted of waking up late, heading to class around 12 pm, getting out of class at 4 pm, eating dinner with my friends, going to the gym, and then studying. Every day of the week would be a different aspect of language learning. On Monday it’d be reading, on Tuesday it’d be speaking, on Wednesday it’d be writing, and so forth. Despite doing the same thing everyday, it felt fulfilling.
While I was in China, I went on two trips with my friends. One was to Chongqing and Chengdu, where we saw some pandas, ate some infamously mouth-numbing spicy hotpot (surprisingly not as spicy as I thought!), went sightseeing, and made a pit stop at Jiuzhaigou National Park. Chengdu felt like it didn’t have much outside of their pandas, but Chongqing was a super cool city definitely worth visiting. The other trip was to Beijing, where I got to see some of China’s most world-renowned attractions. The Great Wall of China was astonishing to see in person. Same with the Temple of Heaven. One thing, though, my friends and I went in January and it was truly the coldest I’ve ever felt, even with three layers and a massive puffer.
I also went to Shanghai Disney with my friends! While it was underwhelming compared to Disneyland in California, it was still super fun, though mainly I’m talking about the TRON ride. Other fun things worth mentioning include going to a 24-hour spa, a coffee festival, and my friends and I forcing one of our friends to ice skate with us for Christmas.
In class, my favorite thing ever was to learn about four-character idioms. They have whole stories behind their meaning, but also whenever I use them with my Chinese or Taiwanese friends, it always seems to get a laugh out of them.
When I went to Korea, my family and I first headed down to Busan to visit family before my semester started. The beaches are stunning and it’s always great to visit my family after a while of being apart. I’m totally not biased, but Busan is a little better than Seoul and more people need to check it out.
In Korea, my daily routine was similar to the one I had in China. I’d wake up late, head to class at 2 pm, get out of class at 6 pm, eat dinner with friends, and then come back to the dorms and study and chat with friends until late. Every day it was the same class schedule. First two hours of grammar and vocab, and then an hour of reading and listening, and then the last hour of speaking and writing. If I had time I’d also go to the free gym in my dorm building.
There’s so many areas to visit in Seoul. Hongdae, Itaewon, Myeongdong, Seongsu, and Gangnam, just to name a few. Every weekend was spent exploring a new area. And I must confess, Seoul is a dangerously great place for shopping.
Some of my favorite places probably include the Han River, Namsan Tower, and Bukhansan. Having a picnic and eating ramen as the sun sets over the expansive Han River felt so peaceful and a scene straight out of a movie. Same with going to the Namsan Tower at night, being able to overlook all of Seoul and its glimmering city lights. Bukhansan is South Korea’s tallest mountain, and while the hike isn’t too long, it’s certainly challenging as it’s mostly uphill. But it’s also an exceptionally fun hike with an incredible view as an end reward.
I also went on a trip with my friends here too. We went to Gangneung to check out Korea’s East Sea. We ate some tofu ice cream that tasted exactly like real tofu, took pictures at the famous tourist spots, but honestly, what I loved most was just being at a beach again.
Both my time in China and Korea were incredibly worthwhile. Getting to live in two new cities for a few months helped me learn and grow tremendously, not just in my language abilities but of course also in my personal character. One of my biggest values in life is to always be expanding my perspective. Getting to experience life outside of my small town in Utah has definitely helped achieve that. Life is meant to be experienced, and I’m grateful to have experienced every moment—good or bad, exciting or mundane—during my gap year.
