Since arriving in Korea a few days ago, I have already seen and experienced so many new things so far. The first full day that we were here, we walked along the Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul and took some pictures while we were there. We took the subway to get there which was eventful since it was such a large group taking public transportation. We were all given a black card that we had to tap to get in and there were some difficulties getting it to work on the first try for everyone, but we made it work throughout the day.
After Cheonggyecheon Stream, we went to the Gyeongbuk Palace and saw the changing of the guard, which was neat to see. We saw the whole ceremony from the music playing to the actual guards facing each other and officially changing. The process took around 5-10 minutes and we got to walk around the rest of the palace afterwards and see some of the other buildings there. It was really amazing to see such a cultural event with the music, marching, clothing, and just everything about the palace as a whole.
We then made our way to tour the Blue House, which was probably my favorite part of the day. We walked around and saw all the different rooms in the building, as well as a huge room with all of the national leaders and some information. Something that caught my eye in that room was an interesting story of when the President of South Korea visited Joe Biden at the White House and sang “American Pie” for him! I thought that was such a cool little event to be marked down.
After the Blue House we had some free time to get lunch, and my group and I ended up trying tteokbokki with our Professor which was very spicy, but also really good! We got some fish cakes and beef liver too, which was definitely something I never expected to be eating but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone a little and tried it. The food ended up being really good and we were headed to our next location.
We then walked around Jogyessa Temple and got to see all of the different colored lanterns set up for the upcoming holiday (Buddha’s Birthday) as well as the actual temple where prayers were going on inside. It was really interesting to see all of the various items set up around the area for the holiday, and take the whole scene in.
To end the long day off, we headed to the Namdaemun Market and walked around all kinds of small shops and stores. Between all sorts of clothing brands to food and various accessories, there was really an endless amount of items to look around for. Everything was relatively cheap too which made it even more enticing to purchase something. It seemed like a great place to get gifts or souvenirs for friends and family back home, and I plan to go back to get some another day. Our entire group also ate dinner together afterward at a place right next to our hotel. It was a long day of traveling to a bunch of places, but I have already seen and experienced so much, and cannot wait for the days ahead of us!