Fun and Dogs Cafe - Ansan, Korea !

So it was Friday !

or as my Korean friend calls it "FIRE Friday"

we skipped work for today and thought its time to take a break from all the stress

I'm really in love with dogs ever since my childhood and in Korea dogs are more seen than cats in the streets

I don't know why but you can notice that unlike western people; korean people rather get a small cute dog instead of big sized ones

 and I was like "awwwwww you cute sweet lil huggy puppy ..*ciphered text* "

so my lab partner introduced me to a new sort of cafes in Korea called dog cafes ( there also exist cat cafes however dogs are more active and much interesting than cats he says )

so I asked him to take me there and although I thought it must be only in Seoul; Ansan had few around too !

it was raining that day and we had to hold the map and walk around few blocks till we found the place. You know how in Korea one building has multiple shops so you have to search carefully and look up for a sign or so


anyways when we went through the door I totally got a fright as I've never seen such number of dogs in one place and they started barking at once !! xD I literally almost jumped on my friend hehe ~!

but then the owner calmed them down by a plastic hammer lol and they were sniffing us from everywhere and I let them do it cuz it the dogs way to get to know a new person 

Pic of the place

when we got to the table I said to my friend "you know I don't feel like having anything .." *dogs were jumping on our laps and sofa from all directions xD*

they dogs were so friendly and happy to see people !

my bad luck got me to play with a small naughty puppy, he was uncontrollable and bit my hand lightly then got to tease his mother xD

Trust me taking this picture was so hard and he's not as innocent as he seems xD !

The menu was quiet interesting you get a page with the family tree of the dogs in the cafe. it also included their name, gender, age, favorite games and the words they understand !

앉아 ~! ( sit down ) xD

another page for services you can give to dog like giving bath, haircut or coloring but it was a bit expensive ! around 50,000\ = 45 USD = 165 AED

Family tree

The place also allow dog owners to bring their own dogs and let them enjoy the company of other dogs while enjoying a cup of coffee 

One Korean girl's cute puppy ~! ♥

My Bodyguard, 4 years male doggy who barks when other dogs get close hehe~

and here a video of how the lady owner communicate with them, they were so excited cuz she had snacks hehe~

I never had so much fun like this before in a long time, it was the childish kind of fun and the too much excitement got us dead tired later in the movies lol

I, now really believe that Pets bring joy to their owners

but it is really difficult for me to get a pet as it needs too much care and responsibility all the day :(

wish we can have such cafes in my country. maybe cat cafes will get most approval as our culture is not that welcoming to raising dogs indoors

Peace,
Amna

Lab Fun !

"You are still in the lab !!"

"what are you doing there ?"

yes the same questions being asked each and everytime I spend a long day in the lab, I feel sorry for those who never sees the lab as any further than a studying room !

so what do I like about the lab life ?

well lets start by this, I Started going to labs in my home university and I found myself comfortable to the whole idea of gathering in one room and building up memories as well as gaining a lot of experience from others

I tried to write down why do I like being a member in a lab not to encourage workaholic-ism but to spread awareness about our need to change our minds and start collaborating in order to grow !

so I'll leave you with my list:
 

1- The encouraging all-working atmosphere

Seriously and honestly, how much can you achieve at your house lying on your bed ? probably a high new score of sleeping hours ! when you see people are devoted to their work you start acting the same !

 

2- You get to have a warm family

Spending so much time together will bond any hating people together and you will start missing those people while you're away and have the best time when your together. we simply build families, sister & brothers :)

Miss you all !

 

3- shared meals 

No more eating alone, always with those warm people around trying different food ( if you have options to go out of campus) and enjoy a nice talk and funny situations exchanging around the table !

Maybe not this fancy but from time to time :p

 

4- free time activities

YES ! one of the best parts. at your free time you can simply socialize with other lab partners, play some video games, watch movies or listen to music together ! 

Rock festival attended with the lab members yesterday :D

 

5- Cultural Experience

I found this the most interesting, understanding mentalities from different countries (if you have non local lab partners). how they act and how they talk and dress, you get to develop a better understanding being to those outsiders. hey hey locals only doesn't mean you don't get this benefit, everyone is unique and there's alot more to learn from the person next to you!

Seriously ! learn english please it would be easier for both parties ! :P

 

NOW now, I'm not done yet ! to be fair overdoing some stuff always have a bad side that we shouldn't forget to mention !

Some people spend time in the lab more than they do in their own houses which can make them socially isolated ! Also, some health issues might arise in a result of the long sits and unhealthy snacks. okay you figure out the other stuff I don't wanna ruin the mood lol 

Today in Hanyang university; I'm part of the Software Engineering lab. The first day was a bit awkward as we have people who don't share the same language ! ( korean, chinese, urdu & arabic -me-) and english is the universal & easiest language but most of us don't speak it !  so did that stop those things I love in lab life from happening ? NO we are enjoying it ! each and every min whether its an afternoon cup of coffee or funny hand signs or simple broken English questions about each others whereabouts :)

At the end of this, if you get the chance to be part of a lab just be part of it without any hesitation ! there's always a good part out of it and a huge experience you don't wanna miss.

SMILE !

Peace,
Amna

Make it home !

Hello all !

first thing first, this post is my flag that indicates a start of my new life in Korea and an honor to the efforts I paid so far to settle down as an exchange student 

three days ago I arrived to the Hanyang University dormitory all exhausted and had one hour to spend till my orientation 

the dorm was a bit of a shock as I was used to different environment n standards and well.. I never were a dorm student since my university is in my hometown 

and the rain was really heavy from the airport to the end of the day I felt like I wanted to take a taxi back n book a ticket back to UAE even if it meant to spend a night in the airport 

being the only Arab is this university's history made it a lot worse

 (while the korean supervisors were rlly happy to have me - how sweet - ) cuz everyone else came with a friend or a group he/she belongs to and so I couldn't left myself up

I kept praying that things would get right for me and made a huge mistake by calling my mother at that miserable state !

if there's a lesson I learned from this harsh start is to always be patient, stop crying and see where it goes !

and few more minutes is what I needed in order to meet some awesome guys from Singapore & Japan who helped me feel so much better on my first day :)

Around campus looking for dinner and translating menus in streets !

and just when I thought life can't get any better, second day I met the Pakistani society in the university !

they were so nice to cook me dinner and tell me not to worry about halal food as it is available everywhere

Pakistani dinner: Chicken curry and roti  :D

I was surrounded by good people but there was another issue, once I'm separated from them I feel lonely and sad again in my room I thought it was time that I needed but ..

 

 One of my closest people said .."Make it home!" and that's what I had to do I gave up on crying, unpacked my bag, cleaned the room and asked for internet connection, organized the books I brought along and suddenly it felt like my own private heaven = ) 

Yes my lil place feels like home now :)

so right now I'm really blessed and I keep praying and thanking allah for all the little things I never appreciated back home ..

I'm thankful to have a good health, good feet to carry me everywhere, good budget, good people, good technologies and of course good friends and family who didn't forget about me = )

its already 2am and I think I should go to sleep now, tomorrow I'm hitting ansan city market and I need my energy to walk ! ^^

Peace,

Amna

I missed my flight to Korea !

for the past 2 months I came back from a 10 days cultural exchange program in South Korea that left me inspired to see more of the world and a little too attached to my home and family in UAE that I couldn't post any meaningful posts here !

However, the summer vacation is over and now I had to start packing for the real adventure !

I'm writing this post to remind myself of my real goals and why I deserve to be stronger and go for it cuz I was so down yesterday for missing my flight ..

for the half year passed I was planning to do my internship course abroad, of course I didn't thought about east Asia as an option because I lack language .. but when a thing is destined it will pop up in your life without any former notice !

and thats how I planned for KOREA and took a language course and made awesome korean friends all in half a year !!

with a little research I was able to review the top 10 universities in my field of study and I came up with Hanyang University which was more than welcoming to have me !

it is such a proud to be the first student from UAE and the first to let the two universities sign an MOU :)

Due to our conservative society that doesn't approve a girl going abroad alone without any protection from family members reminds me that this is an once in alife time chance and how wonderful my parents are to trust me and support me through this from the beginning :)

of course nothing as awesome as this chance comes on a silver platter! here are some of the toughest jobs that I had to do in a week :

- I had to apply for student visa in another city and drive all way from my hometown twice in a row

- apply for visa card 

- ask for budget from my university

- make phonecalls to korea to get my acceptance letter 

- book my ticket online

Now the tragic thing that happened yesterday is that I missed my flight at 8:45 am !!

usually Etihad airlines would process your transactions faster than usual but it was my luck that made the counters so busy and the lady checking not to hear me well when I said my flight is to incheon airport in Korea !

After the drama and the tears that came after the stressful nights and bad nutrition I thought that maybe its for the good for reasons : 1- The typhoon that was hitting Korea at that hour 2- the fact that I'll arrive night time in Korea which is not as easy as arriving morning time 3- I was feeling sick

so my next flight is today Wednesday at 10 pm I'm more relaxed and I will be there like hours earlier and hope the best to happen, if this trip was cancelled again .. will it be a god's will ?

for now 

Korea here I come :)

 will write more updates once I get there so pray for me :)

xoxo,

Strong Woman