A sunny day has finally arrived and with it the threat of rain has gone away for the first time. Our trip for today started like most of our other days here as we hopped onto our usual bus. As for most of the trip, we have scheduled company visits, and today was our first official visit to one: Eaton. As some readers may know, Eaton is a multinational power company who even has its headquarters close to Pittsburgh as it is in Ohio.

The tour of the facility was interesting as I have never been in a factory as far as I can remember. It was also a working day so we could see people actually manufacturing products on the ground floor. We had to wear steel toed shoes and safety goggles to be able to walk through. My original pair of shoes didn’t work, but the nice workers there let me borrow a pair that they had which I am grateful for as it made my tour there easier. I was even able to ask a question during the Q&A session which is a huge accomplishment because I had spent some time in advance preparing to do so.

After the visit to Eaton, we stopped by a restaurant for Lunch which we knew how to eat the right way because of our guide Kay. While we were on the bus there, she gave us a small quiz on Korean topics, but afterwards, she also taught us how Koreans usually eat at restaurants like the one we went to. Apparently, they get everything into one serving/bite and eat it all at once. So naturally I tried it myself and it was really good! Having all the flavors at the same time worked really well and this made for a filling lunch.

This stop for food was followed by, well, more food as we went to the Noryangjin Fish Market. It was similar to other ones I have been to before (Pike Place in Seattle), but it was way more extensive and offered so many different types of fish. From live octopus to giant tuna bigger than my head. Speaking of octopus, I got to try a dish with it at the fish market. Our professor decided he would buy one for us to try and after a few minutes of chopping (yes it was raw), it was ready to be eaten. A quick search online tells me it is called San-nakji, so if you are interested in what exactly it was Google can probably explain it better than I could. I will say however, that despite the octopus still moving in my mouth as I ate it, it was still some of the best seafood I’ve ever eaten.

The second to last event for the day was going to The Hyundai Seoul, a large mall with many floors to explore. Most of the stores were full of expensive clothing with some suits I saw easily going over the ₩500,000 mark. Still, the inside was beautiful and there was even an indoor park with luscious plants adorning the walls. I didn’t buy anything as I said most of it was expensive, but unfortunately nothing was in my size either. However, it is all good as I was able to buy a delicious smoothie (it was in reality a milkshake) before leaving.

Now, all of that sounds fun (and it was), but it was nothing in comparison to the final event of the night: the baseball game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the Doosan Bears. The game was played in the spectacular Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong. While the game didn’t go too well for the team we were rooting for (Kiwoom), it was still the most fun I’ve had at any sporting event. Sorry, Pitt, but the atmosphere at Acrisure Stadium was nothing as compared to the game here. Firstly, there were whistles, flags, cheerleaders, songs, everything here at this game. From my own experience in the states, baseball games usually have silent crowds for most of the game, at least until something like a home run occurs. That’s not the case here. Every pitch, out, hit, all result in loud cheers from the team’s fans. The fans behind us got really loud at times, but I was right there along with them. I found it fun to cheer on the team, sing songs, and try to get a ball from the players on the field (I was unsuccessful, but a few in the group did manage to do it.) I must also give a moment to respect Ronnie Dawson from the Kiwoom team for becoming my favorite player in baseball right now. I was cheering for him because he was doing so well, and I think I even got the fans around me to cheer for him harder as well.

There’s a lot more I would like to get into regarding the game but it would take too long to explain here. All I will say is that the chicken and corn dogs were really delicious. Well, that’s it for tonight. Tomorrow looks to be another fun day and I’m ready to get some sleep to make sure I’m ready for what’s next!