I moved to Seoul, South Korea, and this is how I spent my first full week there.

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

Ever since I studied abroad in South Korea in the summer of 2024, I’ve been trying to write blog posts for the little things I do, even if it’s going across town for a fun little day. When I was studying abroad in Busan my Korean teacher would show us these Naver (a Korean search engine) blogs random people would make documenting visiting parks or bakeries, and I loved that energy.

I think the Internet is a cluttered place, so even if no one reads this at the end of the day, it’s a cute little time capsule for as long as we have electricity—or my credit card stops paying for this domain. I recently started a job, at the time of typing this, and I’m finding one of the ways that I’ve continued to stay sane is by going on little side quests here and there.

This blog post is a little special, as it’s one of the first ones I’m putting out since moving to Korea temporarily for ten months. I won a Fulbright award to conduct research on local immigrant communities here and document their stories through poetry, and while I plan on working hard during my award, I also want to play hard.

I had about a week before school started after our orientation, so I wanted to give myself some grace and have some time to be a standard tourist. Now I didn’t press on the gas completely, as I know I would have burned myself out if I had done everything on my list all at once.

This is what I did during my tourist week! I hope this helps someone out.

Day One: Grocery Shopping at E-Mart, German Cafe and Sulbing in Mapo-go

My first day of complete freedom was on a Saturday, and I woke up bright and early. I knew I needed to go grocery shopping, so as soon as my local Emart opened, I was there. I learned very quickly though that I shouldn’t go to Emart on a Saturday morning, as it was very overwhelming. I now go in the middle of the week.

Anyways, I got the essentials for my apartment, as I had been living off of the bare minimum for the past few days beyond eating lunches out. I didn’t want to keep spending an insane amount of money eating out, so I picked up meat, noodles, vegetables, and all the core basics. But when you’re starting from scratch sometimes that means you’re unable to get everything in one trip.

I hauled all my groceries back home and rested for a bit. I had plans this evening to go and meet a friend in Mapo-gu, so I headed to the nearest subway station. We landed on meeting at a German cafe called Liebhaber. They sell German beers, coffees, fusion drinks, and cheesecakes that lean more European.

I got an apple drink and waited for my friend. She ordered an orange coffee and we split the vanilla cheesecake; I wasn’t the biggest fan of the cheesecake, but it was a nice reprieve from the Korean sweets I’ve been eating. After meeting this friend and chatting, as we were swapping places between New York and Seoul (I came to Seoul, she’s moving to New York), I went to Sulbing with another friend nearby.

We split a blueberry bingsoo and chatted about our time in Korea so far, then I headed home to sleep. At this point, I was still very jet lagged and waking up at 6 AM.

Day Two: Seoul Museum of Art, Deoksogung, Gyobo Books Gwanghwamun

And waking up at 6 AM the next day is what I did indeed! Once I woke up I prepared some eggs with tomato, cucumber, and kaymak, then did some work before enacting my agenda for the day. I wanted to start at the Seoul Museum of Art, which is free, then go to Deoksogung. In the past, I had only been to Gyeongbokgung, so I was excited to have the opportunity to go to the others.

I went to the SeMA first. It’s three floors of exhibitions, and the main one at the time was the abstract artist Yoo Young-guk. I was unfamiliar with his work, but the English descriptions and contextualization made me more interested in studying Korean avant garde artists. My personal favorite in the museum was the Chun Young-ja exhibit; I almost cried seeing a painting of my own hometown in front of me.

I was a bit hungry after the museum, so I went to a ttukbaegi restaurant two minutes away. It was 8,000 won for a ttukbaegi bulgogi with banchan, and I was full for the rest of the day. After finishing my delicious meal, I then walked along the historical wall to the front of Deoksogung.

I bought my ticket and entered, pulling out the camera to grab shots when I could. The Western style buildings on the palace ground were built to show how modern Korea was to the Western visitors, but then Joseon was annexed by the Japanese. The mix of buildings was interesting to see on the grounds.

I then saw how the Modern Contemporary Art Museum had a branch here, so I bought a ticket on the spot for the Lee Daiwon exhibition happening. It was a very beautiful set of paintings and I’m glad I spent the time wandering around this branch.

After finishing up looking at paintings, I decided to walk to the big Kyobo Books at Gwanghwamun. If you want to buy a very specific book, then this is the center to go to. I specifically wanted the Brewmaster Yun makgeolli book, so I picked that up for about 20 USD then fled because there were too many people in here on a Sunday.

At this point I was dripping in sweat, so I decided to go home. I rested my feet, as I knew the next day I had big plans again.

Day Three: National Museum of Korea, Shopping in Itaewon

I woke up a little later on this day, which was a win for me. Once it started getting closer to the time the National Museum opened, I wandered over from my part of town to Yongsan to go see what was up at the museum. I had been here eight years ago but didn’t remember any of it, so I wanted to see it again.

I spent about two hours in the museum. I went through some sections quickly because I knew I was going to come back in the near future, then spent some time in the Islamic art section because that’s my interest beyond Asian art. It’s a shame though that the Buddhist sections were all under renovations when I first went, as that was a large portion of the museum.

I want to go back though for the food exhibition. And the gift shop. I tell people some of the best souvenirs, even though they’re a bit pricy, come from the museum gift shop. This time I only purchased the drunk scholar soju cups. Their faces turn red when the cup is full of soju.

From the National Museum, I hopped on a bus on a whim and headed to Itaewon. I first went up the hill towards the masjid, as I wanted to go to Bareka Cafe. They had the cheapest tea prices of the cafes I went to that day (three), and their Turkish tea was the best. I then went back down the hill once I finished my tea and stopped at Kervan.

Kervan I think was geared towards non-Turks and Muslims. I finished up my tea and baklava, then I wandered to Foreign Food Mart. I specifically wanted to see if they had Iranian ingredients, but it seemed to me that it was mainly Desi/South Asian. The guy behind the counter also spoke Bangla.

I bought some feta there (it was 10 USD, which shocked me), then went to my final stop: Alpedo Bakery. I bought some pistachio baklava and ekmek from here, and I will say: I will be back. That baklava tasted just like the ones I had in Turkey.

Having spent too much money, I decided to go home from this point. I rested for the remainder of the day, then passed out around 10 PM.

Day Four: Museum of Contemporary History, Jogyesa Temple, Sunset at Nodeul, Eating in Yongsan

Day four I woke up with a plan in mind. If I was smarter, I would have checked to see if Gyeongbokgung was open, but it wasn’t until I was in the Museum of Contemporary History, in one of their rooms offering a gorgeous view of the palace, that I noticed the gates were closed.

Before that point though, I made some za’atar eggs with feta, tomato, cucumbers, and ekmek. It was the classic Turkish breakfast on my table that morning, and I devoured it. Sometimes you’re always chasing the taste of home, even when you’re excited about being somewhere new.

I went to the Museum of Contemporary History right after it opened, and I spent about an hour in there total. They had a special exhibition on the DMZ and what unification once looked like before the country was split, then the fourth and fifth floors had the comprehensive contemporary history overview.

I already knew all of the colonial and war facts, but it was interesting for me to go beyond that. I could read a chunk of the Korean but the English was pretty in-depth and accessible to make it readable for a non-Korean audience. I felt it was clear and conveyed the stories and messages clearly. There are also some interactive elements that switched things up.

I only saw a couple of other foreigners in there while I was roaming, but then it came time to leave. With sadness in my heart at the fact Gyeongbokgung was closed, I decided to wander over to Jogyesa, despite the heat, so I could see their lotus festival. There were a lot of other tourists in the area as well, although I found it vaguely disrespectful people were filming others in the midst of worship.

The lotus festival was cute, though. I plan to go back during their next festival, which falls right when my family is visiting town. I headed home after this thinking I was done for the day, but then some other Fulbrighters planned a spontaneous meetup at Nodeul Island.

We watched the sunset there that night, then walked over to Yongsan to get Korean pork belly on a stone slab. It was a bit pricy, but delicious. After that we went to a rooftop bar, where I got a virgin mojito, but I was a bit tired, so I went home after. Everyone else continued bar hopping—there are a lot of really cute and cool bars in Yongsan specifically, so I recommend checking the area out.

Day Five: Another Emart Run, Korean BBQ in Anyang

Day five was mainly a rest day for me. Because it was a weekday, I slept in and then went to Emart again. This time the place was empty. I had entire aisles to myself! My main mission was to pick up peaches, as I was thinking about them constantly, and then I grabbed some other greens because I felt like I wasn’t getting enough vegetables in.

From there I went home and kind of just bed rotted until the afternoon. I had plans in Anyang, near Beomgye Station, with my host family from eight years ago. I originally studied abroad in Korea through the U.S. State Department’s NSLI-Y program, and to this day I still talk to my host family. I even stayed with them two years ago.

We met at Beomgye Station and ended up getting samgyeopsal, or pork belly, at a new place by there. It was very good! It was also only $61 with alcohol to feed five people, which is insane to me. I’m used to paying just that for myself back home in Maryland.

Afterwards we went to their house and had tea time, catching up over a tea my sister had purchased in Yeosu. She’d gone on vacation there and picked this one up—it was quite good! Then I caught a bus to the train station and headed home around 10 PM. I showered and went to bed, as I had a major trip ahead: Suwon!

Day Six: A Day Trip to Suwon, Starfield Mall, and Hwaseong Fortress

I’m making a separate blog post breaking down what exactly I did in Suwon, but from Seoul it was pretty easy for me to get there. You can get to Starfield Mall in Suwon directly from Line 1, and that’s what I did. I hopped on the Line 1 at Sindorim specifically, but make sure you’re getting on a Suwon-bound train and not one just going around Seoul.

I had never been to Suwon before, but I started off at the mall, ate lunch there, then hopped on the bus and went to Hwaseong Fortress. That’s where I spent most of the day. It was too hot for me to stay outside long, as this was after the monsoon, so I would say I want to go back when it’s either spring or fall. There’s definitely more I want to do there.

I ended up on an express bus back to a local subway station in Seoul, then getting on the subway and transferring back to where I needed to go. All in all, this was a worthy day trip!

Day Seven: Times Square Mall, Lotteria, Relaxation Day

Day seven is about when I was burned out and ready to just sleep all day, so I ended up deciding on going to the mall Times Square. I was dumb and didn’t realize the subway station was connected to the actual mall through the underground shopping mall, so I ended up walking around for 20 minutes and was dripping in sweat.

The actual mall itself is many different floors. I kept wandering in and out of stores in search of more Korean styles, but the only thing I purchased was a chunky sweater from 8 Seconds. Everyone keeps telling me about how cold the Korean winters are, so now I feel like I have to prepare. I need to buy a winter coat, too.

Anyways, I spent about three hours in the mall, wandered through the underground subway mall, then stopped at the Lotte Department Store because I saw food. I found my favorite beer, Kirin, in there and tortillas, which I couldn’t find anywhere in my neighborhood, so I bought all of those on the spot.

On the way home I also stopped at Lotteria because I was curious about it. I don’t remember my feelings about the food there in the past, so I ordered a chicken burger with a Pepsi Zero. And for 8,000 won it was pretty good! I would definitely go back there for sure.

I crashed out for the rest of the day, which is understandable. I think I’m tired of being a tourist and am ready to go back to my normal life that’s productive!

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