Shervonne's Blog

SHERVONNE’S BLOG PAGE Hello! Our Korea trip is going really well. I have had a lot of fun so far. My home stay family is very nice, and the atmosphere is really different to New Zealand. Here are some of the details: Day 1: We arrived at Seoul airport after a long, 12 hour flight. After getting through customs, we took a VIP bus to the hotel. We were staying at, Vabien II. We got together with our room-mates and, after our long flight, fell fast asleep. Day 2: After waking up, we took the subway to the King’s Palace and looked at the sights there. We got to watch a parade of people dressed in traditional Korean costumes. After leaving the palace, we had to walk a long way to have lunch!!! We headed into a department store to eat. Inside the department store, we all went and found something to eat. I bought a large piece of pizza and a tub of strawberry gelato. After eating, we walked to the markets and browsed through the shops. I bought so many “ useless souvenirs” as my Mum would say. By the time we were done at the markets, it was already 3:30! We went to a restaurant in Gangnam, where it was an all you can eat buffet! We had a very hearty dinner, and took the subway back to our hotel. My feet were ACHING by the time we got back! ( I guess I should’ve worn sneakers instead of sandals.  ) Day 3: This was such a long day!! We woke up at 7:00 and took the subway to Lotte World: the world’s biggest indoor theme park! We got into groups and went around the park going on rides, shopping and taking photos. Unfortunately, the people in my group had to pull out of some rides because they were feeling sick.  My favourite ride was Atlantis: an awesome rollercoaster that went super fast! By the time we left the park it was already 4:00, and we were still planning to walk up Seoul Tower, walk to a restaurant and shop at the night markets! So we left the park and took the subway to a place near Seoul Tower, then walked up a hill to get to the gondolas to take us up there. We rode the gondolas up, and bought locks to put on the lock trees. After putting our locks up, we went up the tower and looked at the view of Seoul. After that, we went down the tower to go to a restaurant for a late dinner. Then we headed back through the night markets, buying as we went. Mr. Hurn bought lots of socks! After getting back to the subway, we rode back to the hotel and got to sleep. (This day was so tiring! My feet were aching even more than they were on Day 2, and this time I wore sneakers!!) Day 4: We rode the subway to the war museum and looked around there. There were lots of interesting facts and presentations about the Korean war. We then left, and went back to our hotel to pick up our bags to go to Cheongju, where our sister school is located. We drove for a long time, and finally arrived at the school. Our welcome was amazing: as soon as we came out of the bus, all the students started screaming! It felt like we were celebrities! We were then matched with our home stay families. My homestay friend is called Jane. She and her Mum are both very good at speaking English, and they are very nice! ^^ We live in an apartment. It’s quite a comfy place, and my room is quite big. Each morning, my homestay Mum cooks me a very nice breakfast. We then drive to school and get dropped off. In the afternoon she picks us up and takes us back to her apartment. It’s not really all that different from in New Zealand, which makes it quite relaxing.  The Korean school is very different to Farm Cove! Our sister school, Seohyun Middle School, is very big compared to FCI. There is one main building with all the classrooms in it, and it’s very tall. You have to climb three flights of stairs from floor one to get to my classroom, and there are more flights after that! I am also very popular here. Instead of being greeted by a casual “hi” like in New Zealand, I walk into screams of girls saying ”hello! hello!“ and “you’re very cute!” It’s awesome.