I finally finished the scrapbook on my bucketlist for my girl who I tutor at the children’s home. I gave it to her during our last meeting. I went out with Melody and her student as well. We took our kids out to Myeongdong, where we got drinks from Cafe Bene then watched Men in Black 3. In the scrapbook, I put photos from the past 3 years together with her. I also included a letter in my broken Korean and in English. She gave me a handmade card as well! I absolutely love it. 
My alarm was set at 4:30am. I managed to get up and get out of my door by 5:20am. I got in a taxi and picked up my friend on the way to the bus stop in city hall. Our bus was leaving at 6:30am. We managed to get there early, with time to spare. As we found our seats at the second to last row, we were barely awake.
When doing some of my initial research (discovering Korea ,official Korea Tourism site) on going there, I came across some interesting history. Apparently during the Japanese occupation, they realized that the area was a good place to grow green tea. Even after the Japanese left, the green tea fields were kept and are now a huge tourist attraction.
I think I slept almost the entire ride down to Boseung, despite the two loud ajoomas (older Korean women) talking for the entire bus ride directly behind us. It was about a 6 hour ride including our rest stop and a little bit of traffic. When we finally arrived there, it was beautiful. It was a long ride all the way to the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, but it was worth it! They had delicious green tea ice cream and drinks. After stopping at the green tea fields, we got back on our tour bus and headed to another area about an hour away call Damyang. There we got to see a bamboo park, which was pretty cool. They had a lot of bamboo inspired dishes there that were interesting. I don’t think I’ve really eaten cooked bamboo before!
Another item on my bucket list is checked off! Who wants to ride on the swan boats with me next?
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Tagged #slice2012, bamboo park, Boseong, bucket list, green tea fields, korea, seoul, Slice of Life Story Challenge
During the slice of life challenge, I wrote a bucket list of things I want to do in Korea before I leave. Elsie suggested that I could write a slice about the things that I cross off.
We took one of our friends as part of her early birthday present. We didn’t tell her where we were going. All we said was, we are going to be taking pictures! We took her on the subway and finally arrive to Myeong Dong. First, we took her dress shopping (for her birthday dinner outfit). Then, we started walking to the cafe. As we walked past stores and different streets, she tried to guess where we were taking her. She we knew she would never guess where. Then, we got lost. I was trying to follow the directions I printed out on the Internet that weren’t very specific. I ended up calling the cafe and they gave me easy directions. Afer that, we found it very quickly. Our friend was very surprised and excited!
Only in Korea can you rent dresses and take pictures in a cafe. We definitely had a fun time choosing dresses, dressing up and taking photos, Korean style! They had traditional Hanboks (Korean dress), party dresses and even wedding dresses. You do have to buy one drink per person from the cafe and you have to pay to rent a dress. The dresses cost from 10,000-40,000KRW (about $10-40). There are actually tuxes/suits that guys can rent as well. You have about an hour to take the photos in the different rooms.
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Tagged #slice2012, bucket list, myeong dong, party princess cafe, seoul, Slice of Life Story Challenge
Slice of Life Challenge Entry #3: My Bucket List
For most of my life, I called NY my home. It was where I grew up, learned to drive, graduated from college, got my first paycheck and discovered what I was passionate about. I grew up in the suburbs, 30 minutes north of Manhattan. I lived in Manhattan for about 8 years before taking the jump to the international school scene. NY will always be home for me.
These past 3 and half years, I’ve started to call another place home. I never thought this could happen, but it’s funny how time allows the heart to grow soft. I’ve met so many amazing people and done some many amazing things one could only do in Korea. However, as my time is slowly coming to an end (3 months left), I realize there are some things I should try to do before I leave.
My Bucket List of things to do in Korea before I leave:
In the end, the most important one would be the last one! If you want to join me for any of the other things on list, let me know.
Where do you call home? Do you have a bucket list?
