A quick note before reading

Just a quick note about a few things that might be beneficial to know before reading:

1. I have fallen super far behind on posts. I think I am currently more than 20 days behind... oops! My instagram is much more up-to-date so feel free to look at the posts there while I try to catch up here (id: em.tucker).

2. I like BTS and tend to mention them a lot in my posts. I can't remember if I ever actually explained who they are or if I just jumped straight in to talking about them. For those that don't know about BTS, they are a South Korean pop group that debuted in 2013. I have been a fan of k-pop for almost 7 years and I did listen to BTS a little in 2014, but I have become more interested in them over the past couple years. The group consists of 7 members and their music addresses many issues that people of all ages can relate to, including the challenge of accepting and loving oneself. I love their lyrics and each member has their own quirks that have make them an interesting group of people to follow and support. During my last month in Korea I visited a lot of places that they had filmed at or been to. Seoul is huge and it's a little overwhelming to try and figure out where to go. Following the BTS places was such an easy way to find areas of Seoul that I probably would not have discovered if I was trying to sightsee on my own. It also motivated me to go out and find something different every day rather than lying in bed and watching Netflix (which would have been a heck of a lot easier and require less planning). I think after seeing them live and going to places where they have hiked or visited it is a lot easier to see them as regular people who simply have a very different job compared to most of us. I've also slowly drifted away from following them as closely on social media and other platforms as I become more interested in other genres of Korean music. However, I am forever grateful for the role they played in inspiring me to chekc out this beautiful country and for helping me to find interesting places along the way.

I used a Twitter account that a friend of mine showed me to find the BTS places (@btsinfo1). They look at their photos, music videos, etc. and somehow figure out where they were taken/filmed. All I do is scroll through their feed and pick ones that look interesting!

3. I write the posts very quickly and as if I was talking about my day to someone. I typically don't read them over before posting, which I really should but oh well, so you may find loads of spelling and grammar mistakes. Apologies in advance! I try to get my ideas/memories down as quickly as possible because 1) my memory is terrible and I don't want to forget small details and 2) I am too far behind to go slowly. I am hoping to read back over everything once I am back in Canada and fix all the spelling and grammar mistakes, run-on sentences, and whatever other terrible writing mistakes I have made. So just try to ignore those for now!

4. I am coming back to Canada on January 1 so I can go back to school on the 7th! This makes the length of my trip just over three months (Sept. 26, 2018 - Jan. 1, 2019).

Hope you enjoy reading the blog and feel free to let me know what you think! :)

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Also for those of you that may be interested in exploring Korean music a little, here are a few songs that I listened to a lot while I was travelling:

• Gaeko's "Vacation" (the first song I listened to after arriving at my hostel in Jeju, perfect vibes for the beach view)

• basically anything by Younha, but "Like Nothing" and "Parade" are great places to start. Her album Rescue is beautiful

• Heize. i don't even know where to start here, she has loads of amazing music. I listened to "Sunday", "Would Be Better", and "Sorry" a fair amount

• Yoon MiRae omygosh. She's an absolute queen and such an amazing rapper and singer. She released an album recently called Gemini 2 that has so many great songs on it. My favourites are "Peach", "You & Me", "No Gravity", and "KawiBawiBo"

• "Trap" by Swings, Villain's "Rainy Night", Moon Sungnam's "This Life", Gaho's "Stay Here", Kim Nayoung's "Maze"

• Lots of BigBang, Winner, Mamamoo, and BtoB

• music by Soyou and Davichi (I love "This Love" by Davichi)

• Standing Egg, Cheeze, Punch, Eric Nam, etc.