Asia Trip

A big regret I wish I had fulfilled before my grandfather died was being able to communicate and speak with him.

Both sides of my family are immigrants from Korea. My mom and dad grew up in the United States, with my dad immigrating and my mom being born here. My grandparents were limited in their English. I found it hard to understand and relate to my grandparents because of this language barrier, only translating words such as asking if I wanted food, if I liked it, or if I wanted to go golfing. When I hear from my uncles and aunts, they talk about how wise he was and how he told such prolific stories about growing up in Korea, during and after the Korean War.

So, I wanted to go to Korea this summer to learn Korean and reconnect with my heritage as a Korean American.

Two weeks before my Korean study abroad program started, I wanted to go to Japan. My family friends, who were like aunts and uncles to me, had moved to Kyoto, Japan, a year ago, and I wanted to see them. Of course, as an avid manga reader, I also loved looking at all the architecture and infrastructure in Japan. Everyone seemed to be in Japan this summer, and surprisingly, my best friend from middle and high school was also planning a weeklong trip to Tokyo and Kyoto. Their family graciously invited me, and I traveled with them around Japan.

I totally recommend visiting all the shrines at 5 a.m. because sunrise starts at 4 a.m. I think this is because they wanted the entire country to be in the same time zone, which is why the sun rises so early. On the last day, I wanted to go to the famous Inari Shrine without any people, so I left at 4 a.m. No one was there, and it was quite peaceful. The temperature was much better compared to the boiling 90-degree weather with loads of people.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was learning how to make sushi; it’s such a precise craft and form, though the rice kept sticking to my hands. I don’t think I’m fit to be a sushi chef. I also loved walking around all the small neighborhoods and visiting the parks. We went to some animal cafes in Harajuku, then realized how unethical they were.

I have to talk about the food: all the meals I ate were amazing, from teppanyaki dishes to squid, and even going to an omakase. I didn’t realize that the chef would keep serving sushi until I asked for the check, so I kept eating sushi!

While staying with my family friends in Kyoto, we went on a bike tour of more residential areas, hosted by a guy my family friends knew. We also went shopping, and I decided to buy a Muji blanket that I brought to college.

After that, I planned a trip to Shanghai because my aunt works there for three months out of the year. While it was scorching hot outside, I found Shanghai’s infrastructure to be impressive. Since it’s too hot to be outdoors, most activities are indoors. Almost all the buildings I saw were over 10 stories tall.

Finally, I went to Korea for my Yonsei study abroad. Funny enough, everyone spoke English, so I didn’t really need to try speaking Korean. Most people at cafes spoke English, and many words were "Konglish." For example, iced Americano was pronounced like “I-ced ah-meh-li-can-no.” I mostly spent my summer at cafes and eating amazing food. I have to say, my Korean teacher wasn’t the best, but I learned the grammar, and I think that’s what was important. The food in Seoul was so multicultural; in less than a mile radius, there were Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, and French restaurants.

I wish I did more hikes in Korea, but it rained so much, and I was often exhausted from having full days of classes almost every day. Towards the end of the trip, one of my friends visited Korea, and we went to an aquarium. I hadn’t been to an aquarium in a long time, and it was so cool to see jellyfish and strange sea creatures from the ocean floor. I also went to a place that served raw salmon soba noodles, which actually tasted amazing.

Lastly, I went to Taipei with my Barnard friends. Since I learned Chinese in high school, it was fun to practice it. This was my first time traveling with friends from college, so I was pretty excited. As the foodies we are, we ate so much food. The Din Tai Fung in Taipei was amazing and so cheap (compared to NYC or LA). We also did a 4DX experience watching the movie Twisters. I found the movie so much more immersive in 4DX, and it was a traditional feel-good thriller. During our trip, we visited Jiufen, the place Spirited Away was inspired by. The place is a little overrated, but the photos are so aesthetic. Towards the end of the trip, we found ourselves in an arcade. Honestly, it was kind of smelly, but the games were crazy. There was an advanced version of DDR called Dance Crush, and a guy cosplaying while dancing was a beast at the game—he was even spinning backwards and moving his hands.

My flight back to LA was through Japan, so I had an extra day alone in Tokyo. I decided to do all my shopping there, which included buying stuff for friends and purchasing the complete volumes of a manga called Windbreaker. I was so tempted to buy a Nintendo Switch game called Taiko Drums, but alas, I had no space and only an hour left before I had to head to the airport.

The flight back consisted of me sleeping pretty much the entire time. The first thing I ate afterward was a refreshing smoothie.

After a week, I went to my grandma’s house and was able to speak some Korean. Most of the time, she was laughing, finding it funny how concentrated I looked trying to understand what she was saying. I spoke to my grandpa at the cemetery, and I felt pretty proud. I hope to continue studying Korean!