A Sunday in Korea Gone Wrong?!

Like any Sunday morning, I woke up around 11 a.m. in my two-person dorm room, brushed my teeth, scrolled TikTok for an hour, then headed down to the dorm convenience store with my roommate, Alani. As we ate our usual Gimbaps, I looked at her and said, “We are literally in Korea; we gotta do something.”

So from 12:25 p.m. to 3 p.m., we checked off our to do list (with obvious TikTok breaks) and at 3:10 p.m. we walked to the bus stop and took two buses all the way to Gangnam.

This is where it all started…

Our plan was to go to a thrift shop called “Vin Prime.” According to our GPS (Naver Maps), the bus should’ve dropped us off basically at the front door. After walking around for 15 minutes, we realized the store could actually be underground since a lot of shops in Korea are located in basements (B1, B2, B3, etc.).

The only problem? We couldn’t find an entrance.

So, as any sane person who spends 30 minutes looking for a store does, we gave up and decided to change our plan to the famous Starfield COEX Mall.

Instead of taking the bus, we decided to switch things up and take the subway. Naver Maps made it seem so easy: just take Line 2! As we found the subway entrance and made our way underground, we spotted a cool vintage shop.

As we got closer, I read the name:

“Vin Prime.”

Yup. We accidentally found the store we had spent 30 minutes looking for. 

We browsed the whole thrift shop and its very American theme, then made our way back to Line 2. But, just like our first attempt at finding Vin Prime, we couldn’t find the correct subway entrance going toward COEX. After taking shelter from the heat in a nearby coffee shop for 15 minutes, we decided the bus was our best option.

At this point, the heat and the subway had defeated us.

We took a bus directly to COEX and arrived around 5 p.m. It was then that we realized the famous Gangnam Style statue was there—a bucket-list item for both of us! While we were excited, we were also STARVING.

I looked at Alani and said, “We are eating at the first place we see in the mall.”

Then we proceeded to spend 20 minutes choosing a place to eat.

Luckily, our search finally ended when we stumbled across a restaurant serving omelette rice (Alani’s favorite) and pork tenderloin (which, as a meat lover, was wonderful).

After eating, we spent the next two hours exploring the mall. We stopped at a store called "Butters" that had a bunch of cool stuffed animals and even looked at some Korean exclusive Major League Baseball merch.  We also made sure to visit the very famous COEX Starfield Library.

At 7 p.m., we both bought a sweet treat because you cannot end the day without one, and explored a K-pop store connected to the mall. Finally, we sat outside for a few minutes and took in the scenery.

It is truly surreal to be in a whole different country for the first time. Sometimes, when that realization hits you, you realize that all the “bad” parts of your day, like getting lost twice in the heat, really don’t compare to everything you get to experience.

I’m only three weeks into my study abroad adventure, and I already have so many amazing stories to tell.

At 8 p.m., we took two buses back to SK Global, and I closed out the day writing about today: Sunday, September 20th, 2026. It could’ve been a day spent locked away in my room, but instead, it was filled with good food, laughs, views, and a little bit of adventure.