Today (and it is actually today, since I’m writing this on the plane the night of the last day) was our last day in Korea. Rather than do the responsible thing of sleeping in, I did the alternately responsible thing of waking up early to get as much out of the trip as possible. Saltbread is a food (not classically traditional, but certainly Korean) that is supposedly one of the “things to eat” in Seoul. So I joined a party of Kali, Sophie, and Emma to venture out to get our hands on some. We ended up in the Hanok village (I think), and ordered a few; they’re similar to croissants, just as soft but with less air, and with a thin line of salt on top, even the sweet ones (it turns out to be a very good combination). On the way back, I took a walk around the Tapgol park, a traditional looking walled park with trees, walkways, and most prominently, a 600 year old ten-story stone pagoda (around 12 meters tall) enclosed within a modern glass box. The cover of this blog post is that monument, and I have a lot more to say about it (more on that later). It was a beautiful park; small, but a rare sanctuary. Not huge with tourists either, although there were a great number of 70+ year old locals, which is always a good sign for a public park. On the way back I also stopped by Cheonggyecheon, the landscaped stream that runs through this part of the city; yet another natural-type getaway from the city. I spent a while in both places, and in both places I wished I had brought my sketchbook (more on that later). After returning to the hotel, we finished packing and checked out, then got on the bus to the airport, where our trip officially concluded.
Some semi-final reflections:
On blogging: I wrote a bit about this in one of the previous blogs, but writing is the only good way to do some meaningful thinking. I’ve done a bit of it this trip, not necessarily creating brand new ideas all the time, which is difficult, but forming connections. My favorite blog was 06-07 Part 2, the one about authenticity, and it’s the only one that I feel like I want to go in more detail about, as I said at the end of the post. So look out for that in the future. There are also at least two more topics I want to go into: my experiences with the controlled portrayal of Korean culture in different regions of the country, and a more detailed exploration of the enclosed pagoda from Tapgol Park.
On sketching: Just as writing is a good way to think, sketching is a good way to observe (I may have written about this as well previously). This trip was my first experience with sketching from observation seriously, I figured that the frequency of seeing cool stuff worth sketching was pretty high, although I wish I had brought my sketchbook around more often. I’ll share my sketches at some point, not on this site though. Probably I’ll write some more organized thoughts on it as well, so look out for that.
On Korea: Part of the Plus3 assignment is a lengthy final reflection on the country, which I’ll probably put up somewhere, so I don’t have much to say right now. Generally, I loved Korea, and beyond me, I think it is a good location for a first-year study abroad program. I could see myself going back to Korea, but not for tourism; it would have to be a summer internship/research or a semester abroad.
On support: I would like to thank those who made this all possible. My parents, the administrators; Dr. Yun, Chris, Aakash, and Esther, and for their additional financial support: Dr. Jessica Sun and the Pitt Asian Studies Center.
So these are my semi-final reflections. In the coming weeks, I’ll finish up posting my thoughts, probably on LinkedIn. Until then, that’s all from me.
– Rohit