Americans Visit Korea

Americans visit Korea ... and by that, Bri and I flew in to Incheon to stay with Hayley for five days in Korea. I met Hayley and Bri my first week of college, and we became instant friends! Yes, we still talk everyday, but on our KaKaoTALK app! 

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I flew American Airlines new Premium Economy for the first time from DFW. The food looked and tasted better than regular coach, but I wasn't able to sleep. I had to take a train to jump terminals to greet Bri. Exhausted, I fell asleep in her bright, noisy terminal. We treated ourselves to mocha teas. Then Hayley came from work to greet us. â€‹

By then, lack of sleep, lack of food, and the presence of a sugary drink in my stomach, I knew what was going to happen: I will throw up before making it back to Hayley's place.

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fun fact: it’s already my birthday in Korea □□ but hey, facebook will tell you soon enough #birthdaygirl

A post shared by Lesley Rowland â–¡ (@lesleyyx1) on Aug 20, 2018 at 7:47pm PDT

Fun fact: Korean guys (not all) scope out the ICN airport location tag on Instagram to check out the western girls who check-in. They say that they seek "friendship," but then they quickly ask for sex. (No, Venmo doesn't exist in Korea, so you can't make false promises and block.) This happened twice if I remember correctly? They tried to sell the idea by saying that I would have the "Korean experience," but I am from America. Koreans live in America too. *eye roll*

We had to undergo about 40 minutes of bus travel to reach her neighborhood. One minute before the bus made it's final stop, I start throwing up in bag on the bus on the dead silent bus (since their culture is to stay quiet on public transportation.) I had to exit the bus, vomit around my mouth, with my suitcase, backpack, and clear bag of throw up. 

​NOBODY acted like they noticed. Except, I was so amused by the situation, I feel bad that they could not laugh about the incident. I looked bad! Luckily, my stomach was emptied just in time to enjoy some fried chicken. Korea is really good at fried chicken.

Americans Visit Korea

We celebrated my birthday! Hayley bought me a cake! For dinner, we had Korean BBQ (of course!) Then visited a bar where we each tried 6 drinks, and finished the night with low-key drinks and a truth-or-dare app. Hayley kindly pointed out that post-college Lesley is not as fun and crazy as college Lesley (haha), so I tried to go hard even though jet lag kept creeping up on me every night. In the middle of the night, Hayley threw up. She ran to the toilet in the dark but wasn't successful. She sprayed the floor and the wall! Haylerz parties hard! â€‹â€‹

Here is a panorama taken at the Korea BBQ place. We don't look distorted at all! Korea is very heavy meat-heavy in their dishes, so the menu did not offer any fruits or vegetables. Check out my post Everything About Korea to learn more about their culture differences. 

We met a celebrity on the streets. We can't tell you whom he is, what he does, but we have picture proof that we met him. He was riding a hover board being friendly with fans.

Have you ever met a celebrity from another country?

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We visited their Trick Eye Museum, which is a mix between app photo technology and a Ripley's. The building included a Love/Sex museum and an ice show room similar to the Gaylord Hotel (in Texas) ICE exhibit.

Bri's and my favorite places to visit were the animal cafés. We started with a meerkat café that included exotic cats, wallabies, and a feisty raccoon. All the guests had been warned to not pet a certain wallaby because she was pregnant, but I forgot as usual. I find this wallaby sad and hunched over, and I try to show it some love. Not noticing that there's a 'Do Not Touch Me' sign right next to her! I was told to leave her alone. Gosh, I'm such a dumb American!

The shopping was unreal. Many places sold items you could purchase in the states or get at the boutique next door, so you had to really search for unique pieces. I don't want to go into so much detail because I already address the fashion so much in my YouTube videos.

I snapped pictures of my dishes to help you visualize what I was eating. If you enter the restaurant area of Lotte World's mall, you will find restaurants that replicate other countries' foods. I enjoyed tacos, a stuffed hamburger, and clam chowder. In America, one plate alone is usually $14. In Korea, you can get food and drink for $8.

My trip to Korea was a culture shock from their streets to couples etiquette. I do address the differences between America and Korea in my mukbang video, so you should watch that (and click on its ads!) Oh, and the video might also make you sick to your stomach.