My day started early at 2:30am to catch our 6:00am flight to Seoul through a connection in Atlanta. Fortunately, I was able to get some sleep before the flight and be ready to embark on our journey. We got to the airport, got through security and were off. While my 15 hour flight wasn’t particularly exciting, the destination ahead kept me going. On my flight, I got through 3 movies and did some accounting work for my business. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep much and by the end my eyes were even bloodshot from staring at a screen. Upon landing and getting our bags, we got to meet Brad and Kay, our guides in-country. We hopped on our extremely nice bus, made by Hyundai of course, and headed off to the Sejong Hotel in the center of Seoul. After a short safety briefing upon arriving, thankfully I had the chance to take a shower and wash off the airplane grime off me. After freshening up and getting more comfortable, my first day in country really began.

We started off the night by taking a walk around the local Myeongdong market. It was amazing! There was so much going on all around me from local shops, street vendors, and stores. The area was almost overwhelming to my senses. Everywhere we walked, it was great to smell different local Korean cuisine. Having never tried Korean food before, I was especially excited to try all the new meals. A small group of friends, and I found this small, hole-in-the-wall Korean barbecue restaurant that turned out to be amazing. The picture in this post is from our dinner. The servers brought out two giant plates of food and put it on the stove, then they walked away. We were very confused at first and even got a couple of laughs from surrounding locals, as we looked like the “classic Americans.” The servers ended up coming back and cooking the food. We order a Korean chicken and street corn dish. It turned out to be fantastic. I loved enjoying the meal with friends and trying a new type of food. We ended the night by finding our way back to the hotel in the pouring rain. Despite the weather, the local market was still bustling with people. My roommate, and I ended off by falling asleep quickly due to our tiredness from travel. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store!