My first day in Korea was absolutely brilliant, if confusing. The Royal Palace wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it was undeniably beautiful; every component within the walls surrounding the palace was ornate, precise. Each aspect of the architecture holds some significance. The dragons in the throne room symbolize the king’s power, the raised center path on the way through the three gates is indicative of the king’s rank above all others, and so on. Practically, it is also a beautiful feat of architecture. The king’s actual residence has pine wood floors that remain cool during summer, as well as a way of creating circulation without any fans or ventilation. Then, in the winter months, the stone below the pine wood can be heated up so as to provide warmth in the entire residence; Korean architecture mimics this system today using boiler coils beneath the floors of homes.

After seeing the palace, we had a delicious lunch. The longer we stay here, the more respect I am gaining for Korean cuisine. I have not eaten a single thing in this country that I didn’t like. The street food, for instance, is incredible despite how strange it seems to me as an American traveler. I would love to give specific recommendations, but my method for buying food in this country thus far has been to point at something random, ask how much it costs, and hope for the best. If you ever visit Korea, I’d highly recommend this system; it yields some interesting results. Try the same thing with street vendors of all sorts. I got a shirt for 5,000 wan that is so horrendously ugly it somehow looks tasteful. 

The cultural attitudes here in Korea are so vastly different from the United States; Cheonggyecheon is a great example of this. Cheonggyecheon is a ten kilometer river that was enjoyed by the people of Seoul for centuries until it was covered by urban development and infrastructure. In 2005, however, the mayor of Seoul created a program to dig the river up and bring it back to its former glory. While it was a polarizing project, it was completed and has become a popular spot for tourists and natives alike. Imagine for a moment that an American mayor says, “we are going to dig up 10 kilometers of concrete in the heart of this city because we want to be able to see a river that was buried decades ago.” Perhaps I am being cynical, but there is no conceivable way that the project ever gets completed. Americans generally push to the future, aim to move forwards in life. Korea, in every way, is constantly thinking about what came before today, and how they can pay respect to that past. That’s not to say they are backwards, but instead, to say that they have a greater respect for their history than I perceive that we Americans do.