On day four of Plus3 South Korea, we refocused our learning on Korean culture, society, and history. We began the day with a Taekwondo training session, toured city hall, and then embarked on a group scavenger hunt where we had to find Seoul landmarks without any outside help. Although day four did not have the most strenuous itinerary, this day was when I finally felt confident in my ability to study and live in Seoul without additional help.
Taekwondo Training
After a much-needed opportunity to sleep in past 9 AM, the group took a short train ride to a town near the Olympic village in Seoul. Hidden away on the upper floors of a densely packed urban neighborhood was one of the best-rated English-speaking Taekwondo dojos in South Korea. During our training session, we had the opportunity to work with three black-belt masters as they taught us basic Taekwondo self-defense techniques. Throughout the lesson, the master was constantly reminding us of our main goals in fighting, and of the importance of always trying to de-escalate a situation before it comes to a physical altercation. To defend ourselves, we learned how to properly punch, hand-strike, kick, and use our arms to block adversarial attacks. As we worked with a partner for most of the hour, we were taught how to properly respect our opponents and allies with bows. At the end of the session, we recited the creed of Taekwondo where we pledged to better ourselves, help others, and strengthen our bodies. As this was my first time experiencing martial arts, I must say that it is by far the most empowering sport that I have ever participated in, and I will not forget how to properly defend myself, nor the mental lessons I learned that day.
Seoul City Hall
After another quick train ride to Seoul City Hall Plaza, we had the opportunity to tour the two main buildings that comprise the City Hall campus. At the center of the plaza is Seoul’s old city hall; directly behind it is Seoul’s completely glass, new city hall. As the tour guide explained, the extensive buildings are by the people, for the people. Throughout the tour, we saw many citizens enjoying/working there in the museums, cafes, and public spaces. We also had the chance to hear some history about past mayors of the city and even see the current mayor’s office. What surprised me was how accessible and, frankly, normal it was to see/talk to the mayor. Although he has an incredibly busy schedule, it fascinated me how the people of South Korea truly treat him as a distinguished equal and want to help him do what’s best for the city and country. It was an inspiring display of unity in politics that can be seldom seen in the United States.
A Tale of Two Bridges
After our visit to Seoul City Hall, Dr. Yun challenged all of the groups to set out and find a location in Seoul without any help from the program directors or instructors. The hunt began with Dr. Yun handing the groups photos of famous landmarks containing only Korean letters. While our group was able to successfully translate the letters on the bridge, we did not pay careful attention to the surrounding village in the photo and spent quite a bit on additional public transportation as we headed to the wrong bridge. After taking a photo with the wrong bridge, we successfully reoriented ourselves and were indeed able to find the correct bridge, which happened to be exactly in the opposite direction of the way in which we traveled. Although we did get lost and had to refer to a map quite a bit, we were successfully able to get ourselves to two different locations in Seoul and return to the hotel as well. This may not have been the most efficient route, but it was certainly a confidence booster that had us all feeling confident in our abilities to navigate South Korea.
