Hello!
I am an architect and architectural historian from Turkey and I have been living in Barcelona since last year, for my PhD studies in History. My life has recently changed after I have seen a popular Korean drama, "Boys Over Flowers", as I have become a true fan of South Korea, Korean culture, language, kpop, kdramas, well in short, everything about the country! My interest has gone further, and I have started learning Korean by myself, watching dramas, listening and singing aloud kpop songs which finally arrived to a conference application in Seoul and I was accepted to this event as a presenter :)
So this journey I am dreaming of means so much to me. First, I will be attending to ICHHS 2015 conference to present for the first time a paper about my future doctoral thesis -which is very important for my academic career- and second, I will see how it feels to be in Korea.. It has been a part of my everyday life recently and I want to observe Korean way of living, people, culture, food, music, architecture.. My dream is to be a part of Korea for a few days, which is soooo exciting for me! I will have a chance to practice my Korean as well.. And yes, I will be hoping to come accross kdrama stars on the streets, especially Lee Min Ho -I am a fan of him- and I hope to be taking hundreds of photos. I will try every Korean food, go to karaoke bars to sing my favorite kpop songs, I will meet a lot of local people.. In short, it will be an amazing adventure for me :)
It will also be amazing to talk about my Korea memories in my travel blog (https://gezginineskizdefteri.wordpress.com) and share it with people who might be interested in South Korea and its culture. (For sure, on my blog, there will be a list of the people -if you agree too- who helped my dreams come true with their donations) Well, I also have a collection of The Little Prince with many languages from the places I have travelled so far, so it will be wonderful to add a version in Korean!
I have always tried to go after my dreams and now my biggest dream is to be there, to experience Korea.. to be a part of Korea.. It will be like a "paradise" to me if I can go there. I only need some contribution to be able to afford my flight and registeration fee for the conference which is so expensive for a doctorate student. Sure, I have tried my chances for a scholarship, but my hopes are going away as I have seen serious grown ups are not excited by hearts of children trying to achieve their dreams. I won't stop to believe one day I will be there in Seoul!
Thank you so much for your support!