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It seems I never posted these photos last year, and since I'm missing proper autumn, I figured I would post a few of them now. These were taken roughly a year ago when I took a friend for her first (my third!) trip to Gyeongbokgung. I love walking around the palace, and the colours were stunning.

Although I lived and worked in the Bundang area of Seongnam, I spent relatively little time there on the weekends. Generally I made the trek into Seoul for at least half the weekend. In my last month one of my friends convinced me to go visit a park a couple stops away in Seohyun. It didn't disappoint! The weather was really cloudy, but the rain held and we were able to chill. This last photo is from a different, equally cloudy, day. It's actually the view from my apartment window.

Sunset after a storm is gorgeous, though. I seem to be a curse whenever I come to Austin. The city experiences just the absolute worst weather when I'm here. In the winter I always manage to arrive just as the temperature dramatically drops. It also rains just about every time I come here. Since I arrived at the start of May, it has rained most days over the past few weeks. Just this past weekend there were tornado warnings for hours throughout the various counties with several touching down. There was major flooding, including downtown Austin. It's crazy, really. My friends and family say I brought this weather and really should not move here. I swear I am not the "Elsa of rain," I can't make it rain. That's ridiculous, but I do feel Austin and I have an unlucky relationship when it comes to weather.

These photos are indeed from back in the first couple weeks of April. We somehow ended up there the week before the festival. It was a cloudy day, just like the rest of that week. Nonetheless, the blossoms were gorgeous, and the crowds weren't bad (a bonus to missing the festival, I suppose).  At the park we noticed all of these groups of trees that were labeled "Memorial Trees." I honestly thought it was going to be something sad, or serious. I knew that the anniversary of the Sewol tragedy was coming up soon, too. I could not have been more wrong. They were all for Kpop idol groups! Each group had their own section and sign, then each tree had a tag for whose it was. SNSD Seohyun's tree I do remember, based on the colour, that this was a TVXQ tree. So, it's either Yunho's or Changmin's tree. View across the river from the memorial trees' area Back to the cherry blossoms It's hard to capture how pretty i...

I've always done better when I have a schedule, it keeps me organized and productive. So, naturally I've decided to apply that to writing/blogging, too. I'm always optimistic, which means I'm thinking this will work. Anyway, I've been absent from here quite a bit over the past few months. I actually had photos and posts I meant to write, but are now untimely. So, instead here's a brief look at some random moments. Admittedly taken from my Instagram, in reverse chronological order (newest -> oldest) 1. My brother came to visit for Christmas and the week after, which I had off. We went to Lotte World to walk around one day. It was my first time going, it's what it is. Not Disney World, but fun. 2. Tree at AK Plaza in Seohyun. I love Christmas decorations, and this one was gorgeous. 3. I went to the Lantern Festival at Cheongyecheon. It was a fail trip, but a fun one. 4. Some of my kids were sweet enough to give me goodies on Pepero Day. 5,6....

Last week we experienced the first signs of spring. It always starts the same way here in NJ, you get a couple of nice days surrounded by frigid ones. However, those two or three days are all that's needed to give a little hope that we will exit the days of 20-something degree weather. A friend and I decided that nice weather meant we should be outside. Initially we planned a trip to a local park, but it was closed. Being the determined type, we decided to drive and chat until we could come up with an alternative plan. That alternative was going out to a trail on the NJ-PA border of the Delaware River. This was not our intention, and it showed. Neither of us was dressed to go hiking, and we were both wearing full make-up. The path was either still slick ice, or mud. So, we pretty much walked a little, sat down on a fallen tree to chat and just enjoy being outside. If there's one thing I've learned over the past couple years, it's that spontaneity can sometimes...

I previously shared photos of Konkuk's campus and the KU:L House dorms , and today I have the final post of photos from Kondae. These are just a few of the general area around the school and places we used to go all the time. Leaving the dorms you have two options, this is sort of the "back roads" way. My friend and I joked we were stalking those girls, and I had a camera. So yes, I felt a bit like a creep. Delivery dudes don't give a s***t about pedestrians, road rules. Entrance to campus. By the way, I know the guy in the picture. He was a running joke for us, because I was told he was a "free man." I never remembered his name, but he would greet me around campus, and I would just think, "it's the free man." Walking past the hospital to the metro station. Lotte Department Store, across the street from Kondae. Star City- the movie theatre is in here, emart, several restaurants, cafes and shops. I doubt a week went ...

I left the last post with a photo of the forest path that leads to the dorms, so here I'm going to pick up the tour with the dorms! Living in the dorms at Kondae is a bit different than living in dorms in the States. The rules are definitely stricter than my own school's (although the commonality is no alcohol!). Here's a few: Boys and girls are kept secret and cannot enter each other's halls  No guests!  You have to scan your card to get in and out of the building.  Somewhat enforced curfew (which I broke a couple times)  Point system - you get points when you break a rule. I only remember that breaking curfew was two. If you are only staying for one semester, these don't affect you. So you can kinda collect as many as you wish. If you are going back, these can get you kicked out of the dorm in the next semester. The dorm area, when the weather's nice there is always people sitting outside or wandering about. The dorm cafeteria, open for breakf...