Do you ever randomly decide, "I'm going to South Korea?" No? Well, I do, and this winter break, I jumped on my travel impulse. I spent seven days traveling, staying with the host family I’d met during my first trip to Korea. Every day, I was out and about, checking off all my bucket list places. South Korea during the winter was so beautiful and lively.
My trip landed in between the snow season, so there wasn’t any snowfall, but a few places I visited had snow actively melting. The winter season wasn’t something I was used to, but it is definitely something I highly recommend for anyone traveling to Asia during the winter. South Korea loves the Christmas season. A few of the places I visited were decked out in Christmas decorations, and Christmas markets were open even though Christmas had passed.
One of my bucket list locations was the Starfield Library. The library is hidden in the middle of the mall with an upstairs, which is the ground floor, leading out of the mall and a downstairs that leads to the rest of the mall. The Starfield Mall itself is connected directly to a train station, so in the bulk of winter, you don’t even need to be outside to visit the library. The Starfield Library is iconic and popular due to its aesthetic Christmas Tree in the middle of the library. During this time, the library is super packed, and the crowd is so large you won’t be able to read in peace, but it’s one of those places you need to visit at least once in South Korea.
One of my favorite things to do while traveling is cafe hopping. I love looking up interesting and unique cafes. During my trip, I hit the top two cafes on my bucket list. I loved both cafes so much but my favorite had to be Rain Report. The cafe is a rain-themed cafe, both inside and out. From the menu to the decorations, everything fits the rain theme to a tee. During the winter, the Rain Report adjusts the theme to involve snow. Rain Report is known to rain all day, every day, but when I visited, they changed out the artificial rain sprinkles to snow dispensers. As I enjoyed my “Rainy Garden” drink, I watched the rain system inside the cafe come alive. I highly recommend that cafe lovers and pluviophiles check this cafe out.
I spent one day with my younger host sister and her cousins, people I consider my cousins now, and we went to the largest mall in Korea. The Hyundai Mall was such an awesome experience and is gigantic. If you are a big shopper, this is the place for you. The ground level is all of your normal luxury stores like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc. The first basement floor is called Tasty Seoul. The entire floor was designated for food, which was by far my favorite floor. The diversity of food on this floor is awesome. They had Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, Croatian, and Ethiopian foods, and even Five Guys. I’ll only name the other floors because it’s something that should be experienced firsthand. B2, or Basement 2, is called Creative Ground. 1F, floor 1, exclusive label. 2F, Modern Mood. 3F, About Fashion. 4F, Life & Balance. 5F, Sound Forest. 6F, Dining & Art.
Of the many places I’ve visited solo, Korea has been one of the easiest places to navigate. It’s an amazing place for anyone wanting to experience change. Korea is definitely a culture shock at first, but after you dive headfirst into the normal, everyday life of a Korean, you acclimate very fast. If you have any questions about any of my previous trips, do not be afraid to ask, comment, or come find me in the halls. I would love to talk about my experience.
THAT LOOKS SO FUN! Amazing Korea review!