Seoul’s Beauty from a New Perspective

Day eleven of Plus3 South Korea was our final full day. Before our final presentations in the late afternoon, we had the opportunity to witness the beauty of Seoul from the mighty Han River on an hour-long cruise. While the trip had a packed itinerary, they certainly saved the best for last. I have many beautiful pictures of the city skyline from the top of the Lotte and Namsan towers, I truly feel as if I was able to get my best shots from this river cruise.

Before embarking on the cruise, we had the chance to eat a traditional Korean lunch box containing beef bulgogi, silverfish, rice, kimchi, and seaweed soup. While I’ll admit the silverfish were a little outside of my comfort zone, the marinated bulgogi was one of the best I had during the trip. After wrapping up our lunch, we got to take some pictures in the surrounding park where many locals had set up tents to get an early start on the weekends and spend some time outdoors. The vegetation and flowers arranged and maintained by the city government were spectacular and provided quite a stark contrast from most urban parks in America.

Once we boarded the boat, we were greeted with an incredibly friendly crew concerned equally with our safety and our experience on the cruise. While in America, most people avoid feeding seagulls to prevent a bird food frenzy, in Korea, the people love to feed the seagulls. In fact, we had a chance to buy anchovies on the boat and watch as the seagulls snatched them right from our hands. Thankfully, throughout the feeding, we were not surprised with any “presents” from above. In addition to the seagull feeding, the boat offered many great picture spots for combined water / Seoul skyline views. Much like Governor’s Island in New York City, there were a myriad of natural islands in the Han River where we saw locals spending time outside enjoying with their families. The cruise was spectacular and was a fantastic way to wrap up the most exciting and formative trip of my life.

Thank you Pitt and South Korea!

I would like to take some time in my final blog to thank Mr. Christopher Kirchoff, Dr. Yun, and Program Director Kay for all of their hard work in making this program a success. For my first time outside of the United States, I could not have asked for a better way to break in my passport. The trip was everything that I had hoped it would be and I am grateful for the introduction that Plus3 gave me to globalizing my professional career and opening my mind to other study abroad opportunities. Thank you Plus3, thank you Pitt, and most of all, thank you South Korea!