Austin's Blog

Hello, the trip is going really well. On the first day we arrived at Incheon Airport. Then we went to our hotel, it's name is the Vabien II. We were staying there for the next three days. Day Two We woke and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. The food at the restaurant was very different to New Zealand. There were lot's of different types of meat to choose from. After breakfast we caught the subway to The King's Palace. On the subways you had to be really quick and just get on and not give way to other people. When we arrived at the King's Palace the guards were changing, like they were swapping. Everything was really clean inside and you had to take your shoes off everywhere. The palace was massive and in the middle was the queen's house. There were lot's of other buildings surrounding the main buildings. A fter that we went to the markets. It was really crowded and there were lot's of people trying to sell stuff and get money. Then for dinner we went to Gangnam and had a huge buffet. Day Three Lotte World is an amazing indoor and outdoor theme park. I loved the rollercoaster because it was really fast. The gyro swing went really high, but I liked the roller coaster better. After the gyro swing I was a bit sick and went back to the apartments with Mrs Harvie. Day Four I felt much better today. We went to the war museum and I learnt lots of things I didn't know about the Korean War. Then we travelled down to Cheongju to meet our homestay families. When we got off the bus the Korean students gave us a great welcome. On our first night in our homestay I felt very welcomed. I live in an apartment near the school, it is quite big. My homestay family are good friends with Michael's homestay family. We spend lots of time together. We have had sleepovers and I have been to the movies. I have played table tennis and I have had a turn on nintendo wii. I have had a lot of traditional food and my favourite is the beef. They eat the same food almost every day. The Korean school is very different to ours because it is built in stories, not just on the flat. I have been to extension maths because my homestay is in that class, but I mainly watched. We play soccer in the morning with the sixteen year olds. It is good fun. They take it easy at the start, but then they get harder. In the end the score was two all. We are really popular here and everyone wants to meet us because we are from New Zealand. It feels different here because everywhere you go you are surrounded and trapped. It is not really scary, but you are just really crowded. I am looking forward to the hot pools and Everland on the weekend!

Nilo's Blog

Blog Day 1: Hello. The Korean Trip is going really well. On the first day we arrived at Incheon Airport tired. We went to our hotel by a bus. The hotel’s name is Vabien II. As soon as we were in the hotel we went to our room and after that we went to a restaurant called Outback Steakhouse. Day 2: We woke up with a lots of energy. First we went to the King's Palace. When we arrived there was a changing of guards’ parade. The parade was so awesome. The palace looked so ancient. After that we went to a food court. I had fried rice with prawns and veggies. Then we went to a day market. The things I bought today were a cap, a model of Seoul Tower, sunglasses and a traditional Korean fan. Next we went to Gangnam. We went to a really popular restaurant called Making Chao. This restaurant is a buffet. The food was really yum. Then we went back to our Hotel and went to sleep one second later. Day 3: First thing we did was Lotte World which is the world’s biggest indoor theme park. One interesting fact Lotte World is indoor and outdoor. As soon we went there I was busting to death to go on the rides. My first ride in Lotte World was called Atlantis rollercoaster. We decided we would take the hot air balloon ride around the inside of Lotte World. Then we went on several other rides. When we arrived at the school there were a lot of girls screaming at Michael. We went inside to see who our homestay brothers were and there were still girls screaming at Michael. I was a bit nervous about how the school would look and how the Korean students would be with us. But they were great and we have been having a lot of fun. At the homestay I like that they always take me out everyday. I have gone to the movies and a Karaoke place. I sang Gentlemen, Gangnam Style and Moves Like Jagger. We went on a trip yesterday to a printing press. It was the oldest metal printing press in the world. I made my own print there of some Korean words and a map. We then took a big tramp up to the temples. At school today we did a Korean music lesson and I was asked to wear a traditional costume.

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.

Nicholas's Blog

Korea Trip When we got to Korea I was looking forward to Lotte World but, it was like three more days till we got to go there. At the airport there was a VIP bus waiting to pick us up to get us up to Seoul and the hotel. For dinner there was an Outback Steak House but before we went to dinner we got locked out of our room and we thought we were missing dinner but my room-mates Fish and William just told Mr Daniels and he fixed our door. We went down to the steak house and it seemed as if we were waiting for our food for 20 hours but I was so full after dinner. The King’s Palace When we got to the King’s Palace we walked about a mile. The palace had really colourful paintings on the doors and the roofs. The gardens were huge with many trees and a large lake. Lotte World I thought that Lotte World was just a little theme park but no it was the biggest inside theme park in the world! The teachers put us in groups ‘hard core free falling’ and ‘normal riders’ and ‘baby rides’. I was in the ‘baby rides’ but we rode the giant loop. You could smell fear in the air. A huge air balloon was floating across the ceiling and we rode through the theme park. My group also went to the Underground World and we enjoyed a 4D shooting game. I came first for the game, one of the teachers said, “You little champion”. I brought a little toy for my sister. It was a red and yellow striped worm.,

Jayden's Blog

Jayden‘s blog Hello everyone I am enjoying Korea. The plane flight was tiring but exciting at the same time. The hotel was really big but the beds were a bit hard. The second day was the first day on the subway train. It was really different from NZ because in Korea you use a travel card. We went to the King’s Palace. It was not what I expected because it was very traditional and huge. The changing of the guards was cool. I have never seen guards like those before. After the Palace we went to Gangnam. I was surprised by the buildings because they said Psy from the song Gangnam. It was fun to dance on the stage but funny when the teachers tried to do it too. I did not expect the food court to have a sorbet stall. It was yummy because I can’t eat lots of dairy. They had a melon so big – I did not expect it to be that size. It was W125,000. After lunch we walked to the markets. They were different to New Zealand markets. They had lots of food and clothes. I bought a T Shirt with the Nike logo. It was only W10,000. We went to a fancy restaurant with water running down the walls. The food was not so traditional as it was Japanese and pizza. I was tired and ready for bed by the end of the first day. Third Day was Lotte World. It had a lot of outside and inside rides. The rides inside were fun. I went on the Cobra Baskets, the hot air balloon and the 4D shooting ride. My favourite was the Cobra Baskets because you could control the speed of the spinning basket. We spent a long time at Lotte World and then we went up Seoul Tower. It was a really long walk to the tower and it was really high up there. There were lots more lock trees than I thought; they were nice with good messages. We put a lock up there from FCI. The dinner tonight was a traditional BBQ. It was yummy because the meat was well cooked. The funny thing was everything was cooked at the table. The last day in Seoul arrived. The best thing for me was visiting the War Museum. They had interesting walls and the vehicles were really interesting. We went to the gift shop and I bought an M1 tank and an aircraft carrier. Then we had a look at the real tanks. Finally we arrived at our sister school and got to meet our home stay family. My home stay has one child and his mum and dad cannot speak much English. We live in a small apartment. We play computer games and played table tennis in the gym. They feed us heaps of good food. I have had a lot of traditional food and noodles, sometimes a bit spicy. I got to go to ABC Mart which is like Rebel Sport but everything is shoe related and actually quite expensive. I bought some Vans shoes there. School life is good. I like school. It is quite big and is five stories high. I have been playing soccer and doing maths that I did not understand but worked it out using the pictures. We had cool fun doing baking and music. I got to take 6 muffins away to give to my home stay mum. They said they liked them. I got to play to play the drums that they played for us when they visited NZ but it was really hard. Yesterday were took a long, long walk all the way up to a temple on a mountain. The temple was very unique and special. I have been surprised by the mountains and the green. We have had some rain and some sunshine. I only have a few days left and am looking forward to spending time with my home stay on the weekend. I do not know what we are doing because it is a surprise.

Michael's Blog

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 September. Once we had arrived at the airport after the 12 hour flight, we were all tired and had to hop on a bus to travel to our hotel. It turns out that we had the privilege to go on a party bus. We got to the hotel and grouped up for our hotel groups, got our keys, ran to our rooms, dropped our bags inside (after a quick inspection) and ran down to the restaurant to have beef ribs for dinner. That was the first night, now for the second day. We went to the King’s Palace and found lots of info about this special site. The palace was so big. We also saw the changing of the guards. It was really interesting. We got on and off the subway many times to visit special places in Seoul. On the third day. LOTTE WORLD! We were all really excited as we ran through the doors of the giant theme park. First I won an angry bird for W1000, which is worth about a dollar. A group of us went on a hot air balloon ride, which went over the whole theme park. I did lots of other rides like the log flume and so on. My most enjoyable ride was the cowboy shooting ride, where I came third. It was awesome. On the fourth day, we went to Seoul Tower and looked at all of the locks. It was giant. We went to the top, then the bottom in 10 minutes. Then we walked to the Korean BBQ Restaurant and I had beef. On the fifth day, we dropped off BBI at a BOYS ONLY SCHOOL. We went to our school. I walked out of the bus to a crowd of screaming girls. I knew this wouldn’t end. We met our home stays and my home stay brother is called Andy. They are really nice. They live in an apartment. On the first evening, we drove to a really good restaurant where I had beef, chicken and pork from shared dishes. On the sixth day. We did a cooking class and I was able to leave the screaming girls behind me. We made blueberry cupcakes. They were delicious. We then went on a bus to dinner with everyone from FCI including the teachers and parents. I then stayed the night at Austin’s house as our home stay brothers are besties. It rocked. On the seventh day, we went to a really big mountain and I was elected the new emperor of everything. We saw people doing prayers which remind me of dance moves. This was at a Buddhist temple. The emperor of everything then stayed at Austin’s for the second night. On the eighth day, we stayed the whole day at school getting screamed at. I mean, emperor is a pretty big title. Then we went to an Outback Steak House with Austin and it was delicious. So far the trip has been O for Awesome.

Sagar's Blog

My Trip To Korea I have been to many places in Korea, but let me start with after I left the hotel. On September 8 after we left the hotel we took the subway [they’re really fast] and went to the Emperor’s Palace and saw heaps of old tools and gardens and rooms [they can hold 50 people] and much more. After the Emperor’s Palace we had lunch and then went to the markets and I bought some glasses, a t-shirt and an owl ring. After that we went to Gangnam and danced to Gangnam style music. I thought hiking through the forest was challenging because it was 8 kilometres uphill. We were trudging through the forest to reach the top and visit the three temples that were high up the mountain. I enjoyed talking to the Korean students and learning more about their interests and their favourite sports. My favourite part of Korea was going up Seoul Tower, it was so tall that I felt like I could see all of Korea. It was breath-taking [technically air is very thin when we go higher so I guess it’s true], it was amazing.