After taking my Final Exams, all on the same day, my workload and stress were slimmed down drastically. Unknowing the results of the exams, I carried on with my Tuesdays as usual. Around this time of year, many of my friends back home were graduating, and one of my childhood friends, Anthony, decided to go to Korea for his graduation trip. My typical Tuesday schedule goes something like this:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:30 -12:30 | Investments Class |
| 12:30 – 2:00 | Lunch and Study |
| 2:00 – 5:00 | Financial Engineering and Quantitative Analysis Class |
| 5:00 – 8:00 | Dinner with friends, a quick rest |
| 8:00 – 10:00 | Volleyball at the Dorms |
| 10:00 Beyond | Go home and finish up the day |
| Typical Schedule |
However, since my friend Anthony was here, I decided after finals for my finance courses, I wanted to introduce him to my friends from class and bring him to play volleyball with me. Since I only had 3 days left in Korea before I had to head to Singapore for my next Exchange program, Anthony and I decided spontaneously that we might as well grab a bike (Swing Bikes, read about them in my previous blog post “When to Look Down at Your Phone in Korea”) and simply ride with no specified destination.
Soon enough, we passed many beautiful night sights, and deeper into the night, the weather was just perfect for biking. We biked for hours, only stopping to take pictures of sights too good to give up.
Quick Digression: Initially, the roomies, Jay, Tran, Dune, and I lived close to Gwanak-gu which was directly north of the SNU Campus. Let’s call it Jenifer’s place, as that was our Airbnb host. Jenifer’s place was close to SNU Station, so the convenience was awesome, however, we were also in the epicenter of large apartment complexes. The downside of Jenifer’s place was that it was quite small, and we couldn’t have any guests over as the walls were paper thin, and having guests over typically meant a noise complaint. A month into living in Korea, the roomies moved to a house in 신림, where we had a lot more space. However, the downside was that the area did not have much going on.. or so we thought.
The stream running down to 신림 held many beautiful man-made structures, lights, and fountains. With the bright moon lighting our night, we had no idea of the time. Soon enough, Anthony and I realized we had biked up to the Han River. After sweating and treading till 1 AM, we realized it would be a good idea to head home and sleep. Taking this bike ride after finals really flushed the stress out of my system ultimately reminding me not only to slim down my workload but also myself. All in all, we biked over 18 Miles from 신림 to Yeouido Hangang Park.
The Han River, one of our last destinations in Seoul
Bonus! Korean words of the week:
빨리 (Ppal Ri!) = Indicates a fast speed
빨리 is a word that could mean “hurry up” or “that car was fast!” if different endings are used… it always intrigues me how it works, and I cannot explain all the use cases!
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