Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer.
It started when I met several Koreans at the IPSF congress in the Netherlands and Malaysia, I still maintained good relations with my Korean friends. When I had the opportunity to go to Korea for student exchange, I didn’t miss the opportunity to visit their cities. During my time in Korea, I had the opportunity to visit my friends who lived in Jinju, Busan, and Gwangju.
I decided to visit these cities on festival day (except Gwangju). The first city I visited was Jinju. It was early October, I invited my friend Farah to join me to visit Shin Eunha in Jinju. Shin Eunha attended pharmacy major at Gyeongsang National University. It was early in the morning when we were invited to her university. And it turned out there was Indonesian student who are currently took pharmacy master degree there.
Road to the Gate of Gyeongsang National University
Gyeongsang National University Faculty of Pharmacy
After that, we went to Shin Eunha’s apartment to perform Dzuhur prayer. From Shin Eunha’s apartment, we visited a Korean restaurant for lunch and after that to the Seolbing café, where Korean famous shaved ices are sold.
Bibimbap and Abalon
Bingsu (Shaved Ice) at Seolbing Cafe
Then we went to the Namgang River, where Jinju Lantern Festival / Jimju Namgang Yudeung (Lantern) Festival was being held. This festival was really interesting. Lanterns with various shapes were displayed. It was really beautiful! In addition, the festival also opened a variety of booths selling Korean food and snacks. There was also a concert to find Korean talents.
The lanterns in the afternoon that have not been lit.
Food Stalls along the Namgang River
Concert for Talents in Jinju
Jinju Lantern Festival / Jimju Namgang Yudeung (Lantern) Lantern Festival
At the end of October, I was told by a friend that there was a fireworks festival in Busan. I decided to go to Busan, the second largest city in Korea, on the festival day. In Busan, I met an acquaintance from IPSF APPS in Malaysia. Her name is Oh Dae Hyun. Using KTX (Korean fast train), I traveled to Busan from Daejeon. Well, when I arrived in Busan, I felt that the residents were so friendly, more friendly than Seoul and Daejeon residents. Hmm, maybe because it is a port city (like Osaka), hehe. In Busan, there are also many Indonesian people. My Indonesian friend said that Kyungsung University in Busan hosts a lot of students from Indonesia.
Gwangali Beach where Busan Fireworks Festival was held
Crowd before the fireworks festival
The fireworks festival started after sunset. The fireworks were launched on the Gwangan bridge. My friend said that there were tens of thousands of fireworks launched. Here are some forms of fireworks that I could capture through a cellphone camera hehe.
Some forms of fireworks
In November, I had the opportunity to visit the city of Gwangju, one of the cities in the south of Korea. In this city, I met Park Jo Hee, an acquaintance from IPSF World Congress in the Netherlands.
Around Gwangju
In Gwangju, there is Art Street, which is a wall with various murals. Actually, the walls were decorated with murals that I often found in various cities in Korea. I found that Koreans made their cities to look beautiful by building unique museums, beautiful murals on the walls, cleaning rivers, and creating city parks.
In the afternoon, I visited Chosun University, where Park Jo Hee attended her pharmacy college. Unfortunately, the photos at Chosun University that I captured were lost. I really regretted it because the architecture of the Chosun campus was very beautiful :”) Here, I also met a number of Indonesians studying at Chosun University. Well, Indonesian students are everywhere in Korea.
Next : Trip to Seoul Part 1
Previous : Korean Food
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