Emma Ichikawa's blog

We’ve been back in Toronto for over a month now, and I’ve almost gotten over missing Seoul. It took me about a week to get over the jet lag, but much longer to get used to being back. There’s just something about South Korea that really resonated with me, and I know I’m not the only ASI400 student who wants to go back.

After almost a week in Korea, there are a few phrases I've picked up to help me get around. The title of this post means "not spicy," something we decided was important after our violently spicy meal on Saturday. "Thank you" is probably the one thing we can all say, and we often say it as a group when we get directions. I've taught myself "how much is it," and "receipt" and have been forced to learn "straight ahead" and "stop here" for taxi rides.

It's about 7:45 on Tuesday morning, which means four nights down and five nights to go. I've created a backlog of things to blog about but the days have been quite full and I need my sleep. There is also the problem of my internet not working on my laptop I hauled all the way here, so I am forced to type this in iHouse's computer room.

To begin, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm a fourth year student in Asia Pacific studies, and am participating in the ASI400 ICM trip to South Korea. The theme of my blog, at least for the duration of the trip, is "first time in Asia," as it is my first time traveling to Asia after studying it for four years. This trip has an extra level of meaning for me as I am a member of an Asia diaspora group (I'm a sansei Japanese Canadian), and I'm at least in the region where my ancestors have come from, again for the first time.