Today was another very busy day. To start, we went to Seoul City Hall and explored on our own for an hour before our tour. Something that immediately stood out to me was how massive the building was. I found the architecture to be pretty cool, and I enjoyed seeing all the plants incorporated into the space. During the tour, I noticed a lot of smart-escalators, which are capable of stopping when nobody is on them. I assume these were made to conserve energy. Additionally, I found it shocking how the city hall runs off of solar panels, considering how huge of a building it is. Overall, I was impressed with Seoul’s sustainable infrastructure and their efforts to minimize carbon usage.

Next, we visited the Arisu’s Water Purification facility in Seoul. This facility is in charge of providing clean tap water for the city. It was fascinating to see their process of cleaning water, as it was a lot more advanced than a water cleaning facility I’ve visited in the US. Their purification process consists of money different filters and chemical cleaners to purify river water into regular drinking water. Unfortunately, I was not able to take any photos of the facility due to the technology being privatized, but it was a great learning experience in-person.

To finish off the day, we had a paid program dinner consisting of Korean BBQ. Although this is nothing new to me, it was great to have a lot of the comfort food I would eat back at home. I really enjoyed the kimchi pancake and the pork, and it was fun explaining to my friends all the different foods we were being served.

Tomorrow, we visit Suwon fortress and the Samsung museum. I’m really excited for the next visits!