Today was an extremely busy day, but something else I would like to note before we left the hotel is that I ended up eating something for breakfast that severely upset my stomach. I am still not exactly sure what that was, but it progressively bothered me more as the day continued.

Despite my health difficulties, today was still a very exciting day. I started off by visiting the DMZ, which was a significant cultural moment for me. My grandfather is a North Korean defect, so visiting the border between North and South Korea was a way for me to learn more about his story. We started out tour by walking through the “Third Tunnel”, which was a tunnel the North Koreans dug under the border with the goal of invading South Korea. At the end of the tunnel, I was able to see a small window which peered into an underground section of North Korea which was heavily surveyed and guarded.

Next, I visited the observatory deck, a high ground area where I could view North Korea from a safe distance. Using binoculars set up on the deck, I was able to peer into different parts of North Korea and see exactly what it looked like. Although I was not allowed to take any pictures, North Korea was extremely underdeveloped, with some homes being made out of what seemed to be dirt and clay.

After the DMZ visit was over, our tour group headed over to Gocheok Sky Dome, a baseball arena in Seoul, to watch a Korean baseball game. Pretty soon, I realized that Korean baseball is nothing like American baseball. Each teams’ fans are split into different sections, and when their respective team is up to bat, everyone on that side cheers. Cheering mainly consisted of songs and dances for every individual player, making it a much more interactive experience for the audience. I had a lot of fun trying to copy the moves of the audience, but it quickly became tiring.

Additionally, something else I found interesting was how little security there when entering in the arena, as you can bring almost anything into the baseball game with you. It was much different from the American baseball experience, where there are very strict regulations regarding bags.

After the game was over, I was feeling pretty sick, and I fell asleep as soon as I returned to the hotel.