Quite a busy day again!
For Day 3 of our trip to Korea, we had a couple of more business-type events occurring. I started the day waking up to the wondrous time of 5:30 AM, as my body, despite being fairly used to the time difference, has been on edge due to thinking about grades being released and a couple of other business-like ordeals I had to sort before starting the day officially (thankfully, nothing bad!).
We started off at Seoul City Hall, where a couple of us grabbed a quick coffee at Tim Horton’s (meh, wouldn’t go back) before starting our respective tours. We were divided into two groups based off our group letters and had our respective tours guides. It was neat seeing all the innovative technology Korea’s implemented into their new, refurbished City Hall to promote a greener footprint. If I’m remembering correctly, their newer city hall is a fairly new building as a whole, with plants on vertical walls going up all stories to solar panels on the roof—the old building had been converted into a library. Underneath was a neat little performance area—I believe it was built to promote Seoul’s global identity, so it’s really cool to see the lengths they go through to do so. I got a cute purse with some fine stitching that I thought was a cute souvenir to commemorate the experience there. Was neat!
After a quick lunch getting Shabu Shabu and doing some hopping between stations, we ended up at the Ttukdo Water Purification Facility (a company called Arisu, maintaining a majority of Seoul’s water purification system; they take water from the Hangang and purify it to make it drinkable for everyone)! Unfortunately, no photos were allowed to be taken, but it was interesting getting to learn about Korea’s rich history regarding water purification (since 1906!) and getting to see how the process works as a whole, which is something I was a little unfamiliar with.
To be honest, every time I get to see a piece of Korea’s history, I tend to wonder how hard things must’ve been with the various events that transpired in the country during the 20th century and how it must’ve impeded some of the developments being made. During the museum portion of the water facility tour, they talked a bit about twin brick buildings with green roofs and how only one survived after the war, and how you could see the bullet holes and ash still on the building. It’s interesting to see how that history is kept.
To end the day, we had a group dinner of Korean barbecue, and then split off from there with free time. I finally was able to cross some bucket list stuff out of my notes app (read: I finished my shopping list), and now I’m worried I won’t be able to go home without paying that extra fee, ha! My feet really hurt from all the walking we were doing, but I think it was worth it. Excited to see the Samsung Innovation Museum tomorrow, and for archery, and…. For my haircut!
Today’s title is named after Water, by Seventeen.
