Korea/Japan Gap Year Trip - The Beginnings!

As of this tomorrow, I will be leaving the Aussie homeland and going on a 2 month South Korea and Japan trip!
I will be travelling with one of my closest friends, Helen and we've been dreaming of a trip like this since early high school however we never thought it'd happen.

I remember telling her that someday I wanted her to show me around Japan but I never really thought it'd happen.
Late last year we both decided that we wanted to make these dreams a reality and we're both going different ways for university next year (I'll be moving to Brisbane and Helen will be studying in our hometown) so I think it'll be nice to travel together before being separated.
So after almost a year of working and saving up, we're finally about to embark on our gap year journey!

In Korea we'll be staying in Seoul, Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu and Busan. There are also a few other places that we'd like to visit on day trips. I'm definitely looking forward to shopping in Seoul (particularly in Myeongdong), visiting Lotte World and many other places. We're hoping to be able to see a live recording of a Korean music show (likely to be Mnet Countdown because it's the easiest to get into). Not many idol groups tend to come to Australia & when they do I usually don't have the money to travel to Sydney to see them. So I definitely want to see as much as I can whilst in Korea. I'm also really looking forward to seeing a lot of traditional Korean culture including their temples and shrines.
I can speak a fair bit of Korean (I studied it for 3 years back in high school) but I'm very out of practice since graduating. I went from studying every day and having phone lessons with my teacher to flicking through a few pages in my Korean textbook every week or so. Speaking and listening has always been my weak point when it comes to Korean so I hope to get a lot of practice and improve before studying it further in University.

In Japan we'll be visiting Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Odawara, Kamakura, Yokohama and Tokyo. Helen is half Japanese so she has some family & friends in Japan that we'll be able to stay with for some of the time. We plan on getting the full tourist experience including Tokyo Disneyland, visiting Mount Fuji, Studio Ghibli, temples, etc.
I speak very little Japanese so Helen will essentially be my guide. She has taught me a few essential phrases that will come in handy. She spent a good few hours teaching me how to ask directions and understand the response using pieces of paper to create paths to follow on her bedroom floor with random objects to use as landmarks. Not quite the way most people learn but we had a lot of fun and surprisingly I still remember most of it. I definitely hope to learn a bit more Japanese while I'm away, way better than learning from a textbook.

I'm very excited but also quite terrified. This is our first trip as proper adults, without our parents. I'm fairly sure that we can handle it but that doesn't mean there won't be any hiccups along the way. This trip has been months and months away for ages and all of a sudden it's tomorrow. I feel like the time has passed a lot quicker than I'm able to process. It still hasn't all sunk in yet but I'm sure it will once I'm on that plane tomorrow.

There will be new posts here each week about our overseas adventure including stories, pictures and the like. I will also be quite active on my Instagram, so make sure to check there as well!
Thank you all for reading,
I'll see you in Korea! xoxo