Another day has gone by and it’s starting to really feel like a true cultural experience instead of a fun little trip. Today was lighter than the last few days as we didn’t have too much on our schedule. Still, we got to do a lot of fun stuff even if this was the case.
The first thing on our itinerary today was to take the subway to a Taekwondo class. The teachers there spoke English, so we got an introductory course to the martial art. I’ve never really done martial arts (unless you count like a week of karate in 2nd grade), so it was a completely new area for me to be introduced to. I’m not all too flexible and that was evident as the class wasn’t exactly the easiest for me when it came to practices such as kicking. However, I must be quite strong since when I kicked one of the breakable wooden practice boards, which are supposed to split into two, I left it in five pieces on the ground. It was quite funny to see some of the teachers there pick it up and stare at me with the look of “Did you really just break this board into that many pieces?” spread across their faces. Other than that, it was an interesting exposure to something new and it has made me possibly look into doing it further back in the states.
After the class we headed over to City Hall where different groups split off to get lunch before going inside. Me and some others went to a burger place a few blocks away. All I will say is that some of these places back in America need to take some notes because the burger was great. The sauce especially was delicious and I wouldn’t mind having it again, or even a few more times.
The actual tour of Seoul City Hall was very interesting and informative thanks to our guide Mr. Kim. He seemed so genuinely interested and happy to teach us foreigners about the city and his country. If I ever become a tour guide, I will want to model my style after his.
Before heading back to the hotel, we were given each task as a group. All four groups were handed a picture of a different location in the city, and we needed to find it in an on the spot scavenger hunt. My group got a bridge and we really thought we were doing well when we approached a park with a similar looking bridge. However, we completely missed the mark and ended up going to a completely different location from where we were supposed to. This was fine, though, because in my opinion the wrong location was more beautiful than our goal. It was a nice park in a quieter part of the city with a good amount of flora. We did eventually make it to our goal destination and got a great photo to go along with it that matched up with the one we were given initially.
That about sums up the day I had today. Tomorrow is Yonsei University so I am excited to go and see it!