Today was another busy and exciting day. First, we went to the Seoul City Hall. There, we explored on our own for an hour before beginning a tour and being led around the building. While exploring on our own, we saw some extremely impressive architecture, with a web-like spread of metal bars holding up hundreds of triangular glass panes. Inside the city hall, there was also the world’s tallest vertical garden. I learned that the plants were watered by a time-based system, allowing for a much simpler design.
After the city hall tour, we moved toward the Arisu water purification facility. First, however, we ate lunch. Most of the group went to a shabu-shabu restaurant, which was my first time ever being at a restaurant like that. You had to fill a bowl with noodles, mushrooms, and many vegetables, and then place those into a large bowl over a central heating area. Those ingredients, as well as steak and broth, created a delicious soup, which you then ate. After you had that first serving, you poured rice and seaweed into the same large heating bowl and created another type of soup which you could then eat. I was initially confused about how to eat at the restaurant, but I learned that there is no wrong way if you enjoy what you eat.
After lunch, we toured the Arisu water facility. We first listened to a researcher give a presentation about how the facility works, then we went on a tour of the facility. There were huge water filtration areas both inside and outside, which was very surprising to me. I did not expect there to be so much open water, susceptible to contamination from the rain or animals. After that tour, we were led through a museum and learned how water was purified during South Korea’s history.
For dinner, the whole program went to a Korean BBQ place, where we had so much good food. There were waiters that cooked the meat for us, which I was grateful for, but we were able to choose what we wanted. Some of the options included japchae noodles, kimchi, salad, an egg souffle, and many different spices. I am learning much more about how South Koreans eat compared to Americans and I have found that it normally takes more effort to eat in South Korea, with you often needing to cook for yourself.
Lastly, I went up to the North Seoul Tower and got an amazing view of Seoul. It is incredible to be so high up and still not see the end of the city skyline. I had seen the tower from most places we had been to, and now I know what it is like up there.
