My first and second day in Korea consisted of mainly tourism. On day one, our group started off our day by visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace. Personally, I was impressed with how large the palace space was, and I also enjoyed seeing all the mountains and natural beauty in the background. Later in the day, we spent time walking through Bukchon Hanok village, a residential area featuring traditional Korean homes. Something I took note of at this point was how quiet and respectful Korean people are when walking through the city. This aspect of Korean life was very different than the United States, where most people do not care about how loud they are being in public.

On day two, we spent most of the day sight-seeing at Buddhist temples and walking through the National Museum or Korea. It was cool seeing all the art and natural beauty Korea had to offer. Additionally, today was Children’s Day, so there were lots of celebrations at the locations we visited. Also, something that stood out to me today was how little trash there was on the streets, despite their being almost no trash cans. Unlike the United States, Korean people value picking up after themselves and keeping their spaces clean.

Later in the afternoon, our group spent time doing a K-pop dance class. Although I was pretty bad at following the instructor, I had a really fun time spending time with my classmates and trying my best to remember all the dance moves. To end the day, I had dinner at a Korean McDonalds and visited a department store to buy some things for the upcoming temple visit.

I’m really looking forward to the company visits later this week, and I’ve really enjoyed my time so far!