After that sixteen-hour flight, we finally arrived in South Korea. I was nervous about the flight length, but it went very well. We were fed three times on the flight, and for the rest of the time I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep. Eventually, we arrived at about 4am in Korea time, but we only got to the hotel at about 6:30am.

After a large breakfast and resting for a while, I converted some money from dollars into won, the South Korean currency. The exchange rate was about 1450 won to one dollar, meaning that the dollar is a much stronger currency. I noticed that most items were relatively cheap for Americans, as I was able to buy a huge lunch for about eleven dollars and a bunch of snacks for a dollar and fifty cents each.

On our first full day in Korea, we toured the Gyeongbokgung Palace and watched a changing of the guard ceremony, allowing me to learn much more about the Joseon dynasty. I was amazed at all the thought that went into designing the palace, like how sand was used instead of grass around the King’s quarters to protect against possible assassins.

We then walked parallel to the Cheonggyecheon river, which was restored about twenty years ago and flows through the middle of Seoul. After arriving in Insa-dong, we had an hour to find lunch, and I ate a huge rice-noodle bowl. We then walked through the Bukchon Hanok Village, which has fantastic traditional Korean housing, with people even still living there today.

We finally went to the Gyeongju market and had a bunch of amazing food. I had a seafood potato pancake, some delicious hotteok and fish cakes, and even octopus! I have eaten hotteok before in Oakland, but the fresh hotteok in the market was much better. The fish cakes were full of a vanilla cream or chocolate filling, and I cannot wait to try other flavors soon. The octopus was also delicious; I was nervous about trying it but I ended up having most of a whole dish.

I cannot wait for another day and exploring more of Seoul and Korean culture.