On our last full non-travel day in South Korea, we were left more or less to our own devices. So we did what I would expect most teenagers in the “Miami” of anywhere would do (Busan was described to us as the “Miami of South Korea”), we went to the beach!

The group that I stayed with went back to Haeundae in the morning and spent some time just enjoying being outside. I also took this time as an opportunity to reflect and observe my surroundings. When I wasn’t confronted by the language or in a crowd surrounded by Koreans, it was easy to feel like I could’ve been anywhere, after all and sand and the ocean aren’t defined by the countries they are touching. I would be staring out at the water and every once in a while, because it could slip my mind, I would remind myself that I was half way around the world from where I live. One of the incredible things about Haeundae was that it was right up against the city, so if I just turned around I don’t think I could believe I was anywhere but South Korea.

In the evening we returned to the larger group and attended the farewell dinner, where each team gave a presentation of a company proposal related to our visit to Korea. Some of our ideas solved problems we had encountered during our time in South Korea while others integrated some of the technology we had learned about during our company visits. We then ate dinner which was an extraordinary buffet which included so many things to which we had been introduced as well as new things to try. Sitting in that room, surrounded by people that just two weeks ago were strangers, it would be difficult not to realize just how fast the past two weeks went and just how much had happened in them. i