Hey guys,

If you guys are ever looking to spiff up your hair whilst you’re in Korea or you just need a trim or some styling, definitely go to The Day’s Hair Salon in Hongdae!

The hairstylist, Dean, will do wonders for your hair and the workers there all speak very good English! I have gotten my hair permed, cut, styled, and dyed there so I can vouch for it! Dean is super super friendly and he does magic when it comes to hair!

His English is very good and it is also very easy to book an appointment with him! All you have to do is go on his Instagram @Thedays_dean and click on the Kakao link to book an appointment OR you can even message him on Instagram!

Dean will give you an estimated cost when you make an appointment with him. He will ask you to provide pictures of your hair and pictures of what you want to do 🙂

Things you should provide when asking for an appointment:

1)THREE Pictures of your desired hair change

2) THREE Pictures of your current hair (front, side, back) without any filters

3) Available dates/times that work for you

When you get your hair done there tell him Trang said Hi and I hope he is doing well!

Oh boy, tattoos are, very very popular to get by people who travel here from what I have seen. In fact, I may or may not have gotten 9 of them this past 2 weeks hence this delayed post. Anyway, the tattoo scene in Korea is HUGE and what makes it so special is how unique, intricate, and detailed some of the work is! Their colored tattoos in particular are very popular.

First, I’ll go over the general process of getting a tattoo here with price, schedule, etc and then there are some pictures of the tattoos I’ve received and the artists I have gotten them from 🙂

1. Findng an Artist
   • Most tattoo artists here have instagrams that they post their work on. You can look around and find an artist with a style you like
2. Bookng an Appointment
   • Once you have an idea in mind, you can message them. Some artists do instagram DMs some do email and some do Kakao messaging. They will usually say so in their profile
   • You can send them some pictures of what you want, where you want and size
   • They will then design a tattoo for you and usually send it to you 24-48 hours before.
   • Some artists design on the spot with you there with them
3. Cost
   • Most artists will give you a price gauge to let you know what you will expect
   • Price generally depends on how big the tattoo is, how detailed it is and how popular the artist is!
   • My largest ones were probabaly around 600-700 USD
   • Some of my smaller ones were 140-250 USD
   • But some of my smalller ones by a popular artisst were higher 250-400 USD
4. Pain
   • I’ve been told im inhuman so maybe don’t take me to seriously on this.
   • Most of my tattoos didn’t really hurt. My norigae one had me going oh that kinda hurt once in a while so I have yet to experience the extreme pain I have heard some people get from tattoos, but maybe some day!
5. Good luck! You can look up some of the artists below to explore the tattoo scene in Korea 🙂

Hey guys, Trang here,

This is just going to be a short post with some advice for y’all in South Korea. Overall, I think most of this stuff is common sense but it doesn’t hurt to mention it anyway.

Alright, first of all, it is very important to be open-minded. You are in a whole different culture and will be surrounded by plenty of new things. There will be A LOT of new foods you have never seen before and habits that you are not used to. Try them out. PLEASE try them out. Yes, it may be a bit odd but you might enjoy it.

Second of all, be social! You will meet people from ALL OVER THE WORLD while you are there. I have friends from Germany, France, Chile, New Zealand, and lots of other places now through my experiences! Plus, it can be fun to do things with other people!

Third of all, be nice to the locals! This one is very obvious but Korean people might seem a bit stern, especially the older generation, but they are very sweet! Usually, they are just trying to help you out and I have received little treats from them before.

Hey guys, Trang here,

This post is going to try and help you guys get started in South Korea. Traveling can be scary especially without your parents and in a foreign country. Luckily, South Korea is pretty easy to navigate and a lot of signs are in English!

• KakaoTalk

So Kakaotalk is basically the main messenger app in South Korea like everyone has it which means you should also probably get it. It also can be used for things like calling taxis or making appointments so overall very useful.

• T-Money Card

This is how you’re basically going to get around town. You can refill it at any subway station and just tap on your way in and on your way out. Transportation is super easy and fast so don’t worry either!

Usually, you get one of these in quarantine if you’re in a partner program so you should be all set. Otherwise, you can purchase them at pretty much any convenience store such as GS25 or CU

They also come in super cute designs so you can collect and swap!

• Kakao Metro App (AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE)

This app goes hand in hand with the above T-Money Card, especially towards the beginning. Basically, this is how you will navigate the subway system such as transfers or whatever. When you download the map, it is in English, you can select you from and to the station and it will route you to where you need to go. Thus, you can figure out what subway route to go, whether it be the fastest one or the one with the least transfers!

• Kakaomap or Naver Maps

Self-explanatory but google maps isn’t that great in South Korea and these are the two popular alternatives

• Kakao T

An app that lets you call for taxis. Trust me, sometimes you will be lazy and taxis are relatively cheap in South Korea so this will come in handy. You can pay for the taxi using your loaded T-money card or hand them your debit or credit cards for them to swipe

Fair warning, taxi drivers are kind of wild over there. I got into a lovely car accident when I was in one, but I am unscathed.

• Papago or Google Translate

Luckily, Korean translates very well on language apps so you can always use these to communicate if you have any issues. Papago is notorious for being pretty good in translating.

Hey guys, its Trang Vy here!

As you guys probably know, when you enter South Korea (at least until the whole pandemic chaos is over) you will have to quarantine. Right now, you have to only do it for 10 days. I had the absolute pleasure of doing it for 14 days (cries). As someone who has gone through and survived quarantine. I thought that I would make my first post about things you should bring or prepare for the lovely experience.

So first of all, some things to know:

• Quarantine is in a hotel
  • I had my own bathroom, bed, TV, small fridge, kettle, etc
• You may or may not have good internet (mine was slowwwwwwww)
• Meals 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
  • Examples show below, they usual rotate a bit but second week I started getting the same thing you get sick of it trust me
• I believe you get tested the first day you are there and the day before you leave

Here begins my tips of what you should do to prepare:

• God, do youself a favor and bring some snacks
  • You will get so sick of quarnatine food, bring your favorite snacks
  • Chips? Tea bags? Instant noodles? Instant mac and cheese? Literally anything
    • Bring sauce
  • On that note, bring a bowl so you can cook those noodles in, do not be like me
• Predownload entertainment
  • A lot of apps let you download episodes in advance now whether you like Disney + or crunchyroll or whatever
    • It’s going to take up space in your phone but like what else are you going to do inside your room really
    • Internet can be slow so this will keep you from going insane
  • Bring a book or books
  • Literally whatever will entertain you
• Talk to people
  • When I was in quarnatine, my program had made a groupchat of the entire ISA/TEAN student body so we spent most of our time suffering together
  • This is a great chance to make some friends that you can hang out with after quarantine!

Well, that’s all guys! Hope you enjoyed it, if you have any questions feel free to Instagram DM me @kasumiakemi

Trang Vy Bui, a UMass Lowell Chemistry major, studied abroad through UMass Lowell partner-led program ISA at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea during spring 2021.

A Gilman Scholarship recipient, Trang Vy was awarded $8000 to study abroad in Korea, a U.S. Dept. of State critical language location. Read about Trang Vy’s experience!

Learn more about the UMass Lowell Study Abroad program.