When talking about mountains in Japan the thing that first comes to mind for most people is probably Mt. Fuji, a famous Japanese landmark which additionally has become the country's newest World Heritage site. However, there are many other mountains in Japan that can offer an interesting experience for those who are longing for adventures outside of Japan's sprawling city life.

Although I lived in Kyoto for two years as an exchange student to I never had the chance to visit Kitano Tenmangu (北野天満宮)'s monthly flea-market even once (although I visited the shrine during one of their autumn light-up events at the Kitano Tenmangu garden).
Now I'm back in Japan for work, and before moving to Tokyo I spent a week in Kyoto, during which I finally got myself together and went to the "Tenjin-san" (天神さん) flea market  to take a look at what kind of things they were selling there.

This news was provided by Community Korea. You can like their Facebook page to get a lot of information to make your stay in Korea more fun!

Hey guys, for those of you who plan to visit Korea or already in Korea for your studies or exchange program, here’s a great tip to stay connected with your friends. (AND avoid wasting your time and energy on Korea’s complicated cell phone registration requirements for foreigners!)
http://www.ktexpatblog.com/?page_id=32
Above is KT’s website (in ENGLISH), Korea’s largest cell phone provider. Use the link above and have a look under the ‘Prepaid Rate Plans’ section. Basically it’s a prepaid SIM card plan, and you can choose the amount of credit to be loaded to your phone starting from 3,000KRW to maximum 50,000KRW. (They even let you talk for 100 minutes FREE if the person you’re calling is using KT) AND most importantly… there are NO ENROLMMENT FEES, NO CANCELLATION FEES AND NO MANDATORY REGISTRATION!! Oooh yes. Saves you so much hassle. 
Visit your nearest KT store, (There are literally hundreds of them on the streets…Even if you’re not in Seoul…you’ll find it!) and ask for ‘KT SIMple SIM card’. Guys there will set up your phone in less than 5 minutes. Plus, the card is free if you top up more than 10,000KRW for the first time. 
Hopefully this helps you guys settling down in Korea. Enjoy your stay!!

My year as an exchange student in Korea is over! I have learned a lot during the time I spent at Kyung Hee's GIP campus, and met so many great people during this year. Although I have spent a lot of my time in the GIP (perhaps too much time) studying by myself I have still been fortunate to make some great friends along the way, and I believe that the best thing about our school might be the chance to meet such talented and kind people from all over the world.

I am really thankful for all the experiences I have made at the school. There have been both good times and hard times, but all in all I believe that my stay in the GIP has helped me improve myself as a person and inspired me to pursuit a career where I also can be of inspiration to others. The knowledge I have gained at the GIP will definitely be used to the fullest so that I can become a better person in the future. Kyung Hee has taught me a lot about our society, and inspired me to work for global peace and prosperity through whatever path I might find myself walking on in the future.

Thanks to all of you who have been supporting me throughout this year! I really appreciate each one of you a lot :)

Today was my last day in Korea, and while taking the 3 hour long trip from my campus to the center of Seoul I was thinking that there could impossibly be anything worth experiencing on this trip that I have gone through so many times. But I couldn't have been more mistaken. When I got onto the blue line at Hoegi station I quickly realized that the interior looked quite different from what I had seen before in Korea. The usual row of seats had been placed, and instead there were a section where travelers could get a medical checkup and health advices from a doctor.

This blogpost is dedicated to my friend and roommate during the past semester, the intelligent and warm-hearted Nazzina from Bangladesh! Although the GIP has a general rule that foreigners should share room with Koreans I ended up loosing my Korean roommate due to some unfortunate complications with her undergraduate school, and in the end the office let me and Nazzina share room instead.

A fair trade pencil case from Bangladesh

Today there is an event called the "Warrior Dash" being held in Japan's Kanagawa prefecture (神奈川県)  where people dress up in funny costumes and run an obstacle course with their costumes on.. It looks pretty interesting!
My bf is participating in it, and he showed me his costume on Skype the other day. Apparently he had stitched it himself.. He is such a creative guy. My dear caveman <3 Too bad I'm in Korea right now, or I would have loved to join the race too. また今度！

My boyfriend, the caveman.. :)

Apparently the company that arrange the race is planning on having Warrior Dash-races in a lot of different countries this summer, including the US, Denmark, Norway, Italy, New Zealand and Australia..
I guess it will look similar to this (pictures from their Facebook page):

Warrior Dash: The funny participants

Warrior Dash: The obstacles

Warrior Dash: The Goal

For more information about this summer's Warrior Dash events, check out their homepage

Kyung Hee is actually quite well-known in the field of taekwondo, and their taekwondo union can boost of schools in various other countries such as for instance the US, Canada and Singapore. At the main campus in Seoul we even have a Taekwondo Department for those who really want to take this sport to the next level.

Our taekwondo-club

화이팅!

Practicing kicks with our taekwondo-teacher (사범님)

Here at the GIP all students are offered 2 classes of taekwondo per week free of charge, so it is a great opportunity for those interested in learning martial arts while staying at the campus. Our two taekwondo teachers are two brothers, and they take turns to teach here and at a taekwondo school in India every second semester. They are in charge of one of the local Kyung Hee Taekwondo schools, and we have also had the chance to visit their school to practice with their other students. The school even lends us the uniforms (dobok - 도복), so unless you want to buy your own there is really no expenditures involved in joining the club. Some of our students do however decide to take the black belt test, as this is offered at the end of each semester. The test costs 30.000, and is also arranged by Kyung Hee's Taekwondo Union. In order to be able to take this test the main thing you have to know is the 8 first poomsae (폼새 - taekwondo patterns composed of central taekwondo techniques). In general it is not that hard to pass the test, so it is a great opportunity for those who want to achieve the black belt within the 2 years of studying at Kyung Hee.

Practicing Poomsae

...And sparring

Hiya!

In my case I have had some previous experience with martial arts before, which really helped me achieve black belt last month. I practiced Shotokan karate for 5 years while I was living in Norway, but after I moved to Japan I haven't had the chance to practice any sports regularly.. Still, I ended up winning a prize for best poomsae at the black belt test in May.. Lucky!

Won a prize for best poomsae at the black belt test

My new black belt with my name in hangul

This week we had our last taekwondo class.. I'm gonna miss our practices, it has been really nice learning taekwondo at the GIP. There is not that much to do at the campus besides studying, so the taekwondo has really been one of the heights of my week for the last year. Next semester I'll be living in Tokyo, so we'll see what kind of sport I end up doing.!

The last taekwondo practice we ended the day with a cake :)

Anyway, the GIP offers classes in taekwondo on Mondays and Wednesdays, and kendo-classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Unfortunately I did not have the chance to participate in the kendo-classes, but they are also quite popular. Apparently the kendo-classes are easier than the taekwondo-classes, so it might be a good alternative for those who don't want to memorize the poomsae.

If you plan to study at the GIP I definitively recommend joining the taekwondo or kendo club! ^^

Taekwondo-friends^^

Other blog posts about taekwondo:
Muju Taekwondowon Promotion Tour

All my posts about Kyung Hee

The end of the semester is drawing near, and things have become pretty busy lately. However, as this is my last semester in Korea I decided to join my Indonesian friend Maya for a short daytrip to Seoul this week to get a bit of a changed in my environment from the usual days at school.

We had decided to go to a place called Naksan park, and ironically this park can be found in the Hyehwa area where I also stayed during my first weeks in Korea. It was strange to be back there again!

Anyway, Naksan is in fact also the name of the mountain where the park is situated (the -san comes of course from the Chinese character 山), and the Nak-part is apparently abbreviated from the Korean word for camel (nakta - 낙타). I guess the mountain might resemble the hump of a camel..?

The park is famous for its street-art, and I have added some of the pictures we took there!

Street-art: A man walking his dog

View from the top of the Naksan Park/Mountain

View from the top of the Naksan Park/Mountain

A pavilion on Mt. Naksan

Street-art: A korean (?) boy playing with toys and an African boy carrying stones. I really like the societal critic in this one..

Street-art: Maya posing in front of an imaginary city

Street-art: Discover your secret angel wings at Naksan.. :p

Street-art: A painting man

Street-art: Thumb's up!

Street-art: Flower stairs

Construction work and street-art

Street-art: 안녕!

Street-art: shhh..

Street-art: A cute frog

Street-art: puppies! <3

Street-art that utilize some electric boxes

Street-art: dog in the window

Street-art: 이제 정말 만나야 할때!

Creative street-art..!

Street-art: A guy painting a rainbow.. Love Maya's expression :p

colorful street-art

Street-art: Mother and child

Street-art: More colors!!

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Just watched this video where Patrick Steward talks about his childhood living in a home with domestic violence. It really touched me to hear his story; his braveness shows that he is definitely a Man with a capital M. Although violence should never be justified it is important to remember that there always are underlying factors that can contribute to the man/women becoming violent towards his/her partner, factors that sometimes can be prevented if we manage to help these individuals getting their life back on the track.

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this video as much as I did (^_^)
Ciao!