To start off our Wednesday in Seoul, we traveled to Eaton, an international company that works with the auto industry. We got to talk to the senior VP as well as get to tour the facility and manufacturing. It was great getting to know more about Earon’s sustainability plans, their current initiatives, outside companies/locations they work with, and how their factory is run. Despite the visit being more focused on engineering, it was still very interesting to learn about the company since I never knew they were in the US as well. I also got to learn more about who their target customers are for their products, which includes other car companies like Hyundai and Kia. This was interesting in a supply chain perspective regarding the different parts and communication that have to occur.

After Eaton, we got to go to a fish market. This was something interesting because I’ve never seen a fish market before. Everything was bigger than what I’ve seen in America including the fish and the crabs. While we were there, Dr. Yun got us a live octopus that we watched get butchered and then got a chance to eat it. This was a fun experience, not just seeing how excited Dr. Yun was but also eating the octopus while it was uncooked and alive, something I have never done before.

Following this, we made our way to the Hyundai Mall, which was insanely big but also contained high fashion, well known brands, greenery, and food markets. It was so interesting to see how the mall was similar yet so different to malls in the US. The layout seemed very much more modern and opening, creating more of a flow between stores. Additionally, stores weren’t that big and didn’t go in too deep. There was so much in the mall, and it was really cool getting to see more of what occurred in Korean society.

Lastly, which was my favorite of the day, we traveled to Gocheok Sky Dome Stadium to watch a baseball game between Kiwoom and Doosan. It was so cool to watch an international sports game as well as see the differences between American and Korean audiences. There are cheers and dances for each player as well as no booing, which was crazy for me as a Philly sports fan. Overall, the environment was so different yet so fun and energetic. This made the game so much fun despite being so unfamiliar.

One could say that this day was a grand slam, making it exciting for the future of the remainder of my trip in South Korea.