Tokyo *-*

I made a short trip to Tokyo and spent there three woderful days :)

The place where I study in Japan is very rural and so it was fascinating to come to Tokyo and see so many people and feel the city. 

 

This is the famous cross road at Shibuya

This is me and Hachiko. Everyone, who hasn't heard the story of this dog please google it ;) 

Meiji shrine 

Meiji shrine is located near Harajuku station and I was quite surprised to see so much space and trees there.

Ueno

the picture is nothing special, but I found the "U" statue interesting :)

Sky Tree 

Even I can find Sky Tree because it's really high :) 

 Asakusa shrine. 

Awesome!!! And a paradis for tourists who search for some souvenir ^^

This was a small parade at Asakusa shrine :)

 Azumabashi, a famous bridge leading to Asakusa

 Ueno koen

In spring it must be awesome. Should go there in the cherry blossom season.

And food. This is tonkatsu  :)

I really liked eating together with my friends. And the food in Tokyo is quite good.

I mean they have wonderful looking sweets and cakes and everthing. :D

I know I've not written very much, so if you're interested and want to know more write me directly :)

Mizuho, Hozumi

I show you a few photos of Mizuho ^^

 There are many paddy fields in Mizuho. This can be quite dangerous if you don't look out where you go xD

This is my dormitory. I'm staying at room 303 :)

I hope you have an impression of Mizuho now ^^ Of course there's also an industrial area, the university and convenience stores, a station and so on. But it's a rather rural, quiet area.

I'm in Japan!

I'm in Japan now and nearly two weeks without Internet.

On the first day in Mizuho we got a lot of information from the university and a long list of things we're supposed to do in the two weeks before the term starts.
For example we had to change our status of residence and buy a denji jisho, school materials, health insurance, buy a seal, Internet, ... and we had to do some homework as well (writing katakana and hiragana... ) and of course we had to buy things for our room because it was kinda empty in the beginning.

Because for me it's a big surprise to have Internet now -thought it would take two more weeks- I have not to many photos about Mizuho and my room. I will write about that the next time. For now I show you some of the things I ate. And for everyone who wonders, yes I'm vegetarian and I still want to be a vegetarian, but at the moment I want to try everything regardless of the ingredients.

 Ramen 

 and again Ramen *_*

I want to try every kind of Ramen XD

okonomiyaki

The okonomiyaki restaurant was in Osaka. Visited Osaka a few days ago with friends and it's a great city! (though Seoul is better :D) Ok I was there only for a few hours and can't say I know the city very well xD

I guess there's still a lot I haven' t told, but I need to catch up on a few things. So that's it for today^^ 

Naksan park and other things

I have the talent to walk out of my hostel wthout plan and arrive at the place I wanted to go though I didn't know I wanted to go there XD
Anyway I wanted to see the old city wall and I'm sure I wouldn't have found it with a guide book, but I kind of discovered it by luck :D
On the photo it looks as if I left Seoul, but I'm still right in the middle ^^

On the way I saw many beautiful wall paintings <3

Lastly some interesting things I found or found out :)

The "You are not alone" bank at the subway station Dongdaemun. There are more of this kind for example with a rabbit, but the cat looked friendlier :D

Even such a big airport as Incheon International is empty at night. Haha I spent a night there and it's not even related to me flying ^^

And at last this fellow. Don't know why but I totally like him xD

This was my last entry about Seoul I guess. Leaving for Japan, Nagoya tomorrow :)

Seoul at night

To take photos at night exceeds the limits of my camera, the photos are always blurred -_-

Nonetheless I have a few good photos to show you :)

Gwanghwamun

Cheonggyecheon stream or rather the walkway beside the stream xD

Cheongdam bridge 

this is also Cheongdam bridge and the blue spike in the background is the Seoul Tower

Water and Light

This was a laser show at Cheonggyecheon stream. On the picture you can see Haechi, a mytholocial character. It resembles a lion but in fact is a fire eating dog. Haechi is said to protect Seoul from fires, disasters and represents justice and good fortune.

The picture below is a dancing figure :)

And these are pictures of the Banpo Bridge at Hanyang river. Was amazing watching this <3 Thy even played songs as "You raise me up" with fitting water and light effects.

Namsan Mountain and Hanyang

The Namsan mountain is located in the middle of Seoul and that's the placewhere the Seoul tower is.
View from Namsan:

And finally went to Hanyang Park for an evening walk. There are many Hanyang Parks along the river. I went fro Mapo to Hapjeong.

Want to ride with a bike along the Hanyang *-* But impossible for me to rent one.. have to walk. 

Japanese, Korean, English, German and Shopping

I spoke all those four languages today (ok, in korean only some words but I'm surrounded by korean!!!)

First I went to Sangsu by subway to visit a certain place:

This was the filming location for the drama "Love Rain" which I really enjoyed watching. This place was kinda made into a little museum :) I met there two Japanese woman and we spent an hour together there and talked. I'm really surprised how good I can communicate in Japanese :D

After that I met with a friend and fellow student. On the way to the meeting point I met a korean woman in the subway who spoke with me! Normally koreans just ignore me, but I guess there exist also some who are interested in foreigners and want to test their english ^^ But as I had to exit the subway we spoke only for a short time.

I met my friend and his korean girlfriend in Gangnam-Gu.

After eating (omurice :3) we went by subway to Myeong-dong. Myeongdong is a really nice shopping area. We met there with three others and went shopping together. Though I'm not really the shopping typ it was kinda fun :)

Kyobo Bookstore and Seochon

Rainy day -_- next two days will also be rainy..

While fleeing the rain I found the biggest bookstore in Seoul by accident :D The bookstore is really really big and I spent a long time there looking around.
Of course the most books were written in korean and it's amazing to see so many korean books, but I can't understand them anyway... I was most fascinated with the Japanese books and magazines xD In the end I didn't bought any book because I thought that it's really stupid to buy a Japanese book in Seoul when I'm in Japan soon..
Ahh and the strange feeling when I found a few German books like "Sonea-die Heilerin" or "Seelen" :)

Then I wandered a little bit through Seochon. Seochon is next to the biggest Palace in Seoul, the Gyeongbokgung Palace, and has a few traditional houses (though not as much as Bukchon).

This was really an amazing small alley with many curves and beautiful houses <3

Then until tomorrow ^^

Gangnam-Gu

Today was extremly exhausting because I walked and walked for a very long time and weather is totally hot and sticky. But it was a great day <3

First time using the subway in Seoul! I'm impressed, the subway system is really great and easy to understand even for foreigners (who have no sense of direction xD)

I explored Gangnam-Gu and Cheongdam-dong. There are all the big shopping malls and businesses.
The photo shows the Dosan-street :)

Actually I wanted to wait until it's dark to see how the district changes, but was too exhausted. Maybe I'll come again, I've enough time.

Now I show you a special building, which is located in Seolleung-street.

Doesn't look special? Tree-J is located there in the sixth floor! That's the management of my favourite korean artist, he's the boss there :) I even saw him there today :D
I spoke for the first time with a Japanese, also a fan of Jang Keun Suk like me. I'm not so good at speaking, but my korean is as bad as her English and in Japanese we could at least communicate xD I should learn more I know that T_T

I'm hungry ^^ Thats it for today!

Deoksugung Palace and Cheonggye Plaza

I'm tired and too lazy to write much, so today mainly photos ^^

Today I visited among other things the Deoksugung Palace.

Especially the change of the guards impressed me. I love the historic clothing of the guards :)

And I enjoyed some time at the Cheonggye Plaza where I met two other girls from Germany. I really love this river :)

The insects here are really loud unlike in Germany. I think they are called cicada. Can you find it?

Until now I avoided the subway and walked the distances, but tomorrow I'll have to use it. Otherwise I won't see much of Seoul xD

First discovery tour

So I found the way to the hostel and checked in. Then I went on discovery tour by foot because I really needed something to drink and to eat ^^

The traffic is kinda dangerous. Especially motorbikes in small alleys, they just honk when you're in the way~ 

Like this photo there are many of such alleys. Everything is only written in hangul, so I'm glad I can read it and regret that I didn't learn more korean the last months. 

I searched for a supermarket but haven't found one yet..  But there are many street vendors selling all kinds of food. Unfortunately I don't know what kind of food xD I'm not ready yet to eat everything, especially meat, innards or something like that. But I bought water from such a street vendor ^^ (but my korean was a little unpolite T_T have to try better next time) 

Then I found the Cheonggyecheon river. It's such a lovely little river right in the middle of Seoul and you can walk on both sides on small paths next to it. 

There are stone steps where you can cross the river and many bridges where people sit and enjoy the shadow. 

That's it for today, I need to take a shower and some sleep. And I found a Somen Restaurant where I can eat noodles tonight :)