[WOW Korea] Attractions in Gangwondo on Korea’s East Coast

I’ve introduced Gangwondo a few times on my blog, but I do think that it’s the most accessible place to travel to from Seoul and there are so many beautiful mountains and the sea that I really like Gangwondo very much too! So today I will be introducing 2 places in Gangwondo, and I’m selecting beaches since I’m quite missing the summer ㅠㅠ (kidding) but no really, I think these two places are really worth visiting ^-^

Jeongdongjin Sunrise Park, Gangneung

If you have watched “Reply 1994,” you might remember this scene where Yoonjin and Samcheonpo finally get together while watching the New Year’s sunrise:

[Wow Korea] Taebaeksan Snow Festival

It’s snowed on the first day of December, welcoming us to winter for real and a reminder that Christmas will be here soon! And of course, acting as an encouragement to all of us poor students who are busy cramming for our final exams ㅠㅠ

Korea holds many winter festivals especially since it has such a distinctly long and freezing winter (well, at least to me), and I think most people who talk about the ice fishing festivals in Korea. Personally I am more interested in snow (yes, the tropical kid in me) and so I would like to introduce the Taebaeksan Snow Festival, one of Korea’s major winter festival!

It is definitely fitting to visit Taebaeksan in winter. Located in Gangwon-do, its name roughly translates to “Great White Mountain (태백산;太白山)”, and it boasts one of the most beautiful winter scenery in Korea.

[WOW Korea] Winter in Korea = Ski Resorts!

So the weather forecast says that the temperature will drop into the negatives next week, but along with the freezing temperatures there will be snow!

Throwing in a photo of Yonsei in winter ^^

Yes, snow is an integral feature of the Korean winter. It seems like the only thing to look forward to (well, at least for a tropical kid like me xD). It’s the only comfort in the freezing cold anyway. Of course the aftermath of snow is terrible, dirty snow, icy roads, traffic jams, but at least it’s beautiful while it falls.

Thus it would be logical to guess that in this snow-filled winter, ski resort is definitely the place to visit!

[Wow Korea] Introducing Wow Korea supporters

So after 5 months of seeing this “Wow Korea” thing on my blog, you guys might be wondering what it is, and what we do!

I think I’ve explained a few times about Wow Korea, basically we are a group of students who post on SNS about traveling in Korea! So we will go on trips (mostly to less explored places in Korea) and we will come back and share about our trip, transport information, etc so that other tourists can access these information easily. In fact, if you go to check the category “Wow Korea” on my blog, you will find records of my trips, as well as some weekly missions that we have to complete that introduces places to visit in Korea as well.

Now that the term is almost coming to an end, we were tasked with creating a video about Wow Korea supporters. So I hope that through this video, you can gain a better idea of what we do, and a better idea of the kinds of groupings you can join if you come to Korea and study!! It is not only about Korea, but we also make friends with people from different countries and have fun together as well!

Live chat event with current Underwood International College students!

After a few months of spamming you guys with travelling in Korea and education-related topics, I am finally sharing more about studying in Korea! Hope that you guys don’t mind because I do feel that you can learn more about travelling in Korea as part of student life, and education articles are a way of showing what activities you can join in Korea as a “SNS supporter” of a UNESCO organization.

This “SNS supporters” thing seems quite unique to Korea, basically organizations like to recruit university students to help promote them or some ideas on their own SNS channels. For instance, Wow Korea supporters aim are supposed to promote Korean tourism. And as UNESCO APCEIU supporter I join conferences or events and through writing articles I’m supposed to promote education for international understanding. There are many other organizations recruiting supporters too, such as KOTRA from what I’ve heard. So depending on your interests there are many such organizations you can join, outside of school!

But I digress. The main point of this post is this live event that I’m very excited about! So basically two of my best friends in school, Amalia and Thanh who are running the Woori UIC Youtube channel are planning to hold a live event via Youtube! What this means is that you get to chat with them in real time, and get all the answers to your questions immediately!

[WOW Korea] Train Travel in Korea with O-train and V-train

It was sometime in April this year when I was looking for ideas to join a competition that I had stumbled upon the O-train and V-train. And I was so fascinated with it that we literally planned a 10-day itinerary around these trains. Can you believe it, 10 days? Although our proposal didn’t get through to the competition in the end, it still remains as one of the things to check off my list before I graduate.

So what is so attractive about the O-train and V-train? Basically, I would say that these trains would appeal greatly to you if:

1) You are a great fan of train travels. Meaning not just trains as a means of transportation, but relishing in the process of travelling where you enjoy the beautiful sights.

2) You have always wished to visit the inland areas of Korea but due to language constraints, inconvenience for travelers who can’t drive, etc, is unable to.

3) You love the mountains and would love to have the chance to go to see the mountains of Korea!

And guess what, I meet all 3 requirements! Which is why this O-train and V-train is a must-do for me!

Can you imagine being so close to nature? 😀 Source: Visitkorea.com

[WOW Korea] Introducing Jindo Island

For this week’s #wowkoreasupporters mission, we are tasked with introducing one of the islands in Korea! It was a surprise for me to know that Korea actually has 3,358 islands, big and small! Apart from the already well-known islands such as of course, Jeju Island, I have decided to introduce Jindo Island!

Jindo is located at almost the Southernmost part of the Korean peninsula. Source: itv.com

Maybe for some of you, when I mention Jindo, you would think of this cute little thing:

Jindo is home to the Jindo dog. Source: theworldofanimals.proboards.com

Yes, the Jindo dog! It is a breed of dog which originated from Jindo. It is valuable to Koreans as it is native to Korea, it is a national treasure and there is even a Jindo Dog Research and Testing Center in Jindo!

But for now let us move on to some of the attractions in Jindo!

Jindo Bridge

If you’ve been to Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul right outside Gyeongbukgung, you definitely would have seen this statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin.