Today was another full day in Seoul. We started out early in the morning on a trip to 한양 or Hanyang University. Hanyang is one of the best universities in the world with a ranking of 151st on the QS World University list as well as being the first engineering university in Korea. The university was founded in 1939 by a musician, Dr. Kim Lyun-Joon, wishing to make a stronger mark on Korea. It’s motto is the “Engine of Korea” because of the many successful engineer alumni from the school. In fact, the on campus subway station was partially designed by alumni. The university also has an extremely in depth international students division with the Hanyang International Summer School. The staff pitched the program to us and I found it extremely interesting and I might look into it for the summer. After all of the lectures including one on Korean culture and society, a few students took us on an impromptu school tour ending at one of their cafeterias. I was especially astonished by the quality of the food. It included various small plates as well as delicious entrees. This is no typical Market food from Pitt.
After the university visit, several of us went to take a cooking class learning how to make tteokbokki which means stirfried rice cakes. We learned all of the required ingredients and steps to make it and even received a participation certificate on the subject.
After all of that, a large group ventured off to 홍대 or Hongdae. This is an extremely popular area for younger college students looking for a good shopping place as well as somewhere to have fun. It’s covered in restaurants, boutiques, and karaoke bars. There was so much to see and so little time to see it all. After a fruitful few hours of shopping, I finished the day with a cup of oolong milk bubble tea. It was a perfect ending to a fantastic day.