Day three in Seoul started at nine in the morning with a subway trip, which was now becoming standard. Our first stop was Seoul City Hall, but we had a bit of free time first. I took a quick stop at an ATM, since I had only brought $20 in cash (USD) and had to take out some more won. We had been eating quite a lot more street food from market vendors than I expected, and I needed cash for that.

We split into two groups and took a guided tour of the city hall. Our tour guide was an older woman who was very kind and candid. She gave lots of interesting insights about the city hall, Korean history, and just the country in general having experienced some of it herself. After the tour we had some time to visit the gift shop, where we became acquainted with Hechi. Hechi is a silly pink creature who is apparently a mascot of Seoul tourism. He pops up everywhere, and we all love him!

We had shabu-shabu for lunch, which was a confusing but fun experience. We the went to our first company visit of the trip, that being ARISU. ARISU handles the water purification in Seoul, and we visited one of their six water treatment plants. After a presentation about the water purification process and a Q&A, we took a tour. We got to see the control room, lab, and sedimentation process. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see everything, and it’s a secure facility so I can’t share any pictures, but it was really cool.

We then headed off to the program dinner, which was Korean barbecue. Thankfully we didn’t have to cook ourselves, but there was endless pork and all sorts of side dishes. I ate so much and it was delicious; I can’t believe I didn’t feel more stuffed. To cap off the night, in our free time, we took a bus up to Namsan Seoul Tower and then an elevator to the observation deck at the top. It’s a 236 meter tall tower on top of a mountain, and the view from the top was amazing. It was a great way to finish the night.