As of now, I have returned home from Korea. Adjusting my sleep schedule when I returned back to America was harder than I thought, and it took me about a week to sleep normally again. I’ve taken the time to visit my friends and family, give out all the souvenirs I bought, and work my summer job to earn back all the money I just spent. Overall, I cannot wait to visit Korea again some day, and I will cherish the time I had learning about Korean culture and technology with my classmates. In this final blog entry, I will share an overall summary about some of the professional topics I learned about on this trip, as well as some of my personal experiences and challenges I faced during my journey.

To start, Korea broadened my perspective on the ethical issues in engineering and technology. Besides the subject of sustainability, no company on the trip explicitly presented about ethical dilemmas. However, one issue I would often observe during the technology-focused tours were difficulties regarding privacy. For example, during our class visit to see TOPIS, Seoul’s advanced traffic monitoring system, our class discussed some of the issues with tracking individual drivers and collecting data. Although the representative during the tour confirmed that tracking drivers was only used to find macro data trends in traffic, it still raised a flag in my head about the issues of breaching one’s privacy. As society develops more advanced technology to make people’s lives better, privacy and date usage will become increasingly problematic. As an engineering student, it is important that I take the privacy of others into account, and that I maintain the proper ethical standards when collecting data to better society.

Next, I would like to discuss how the Plus3 Korea trip contributed to my educational breadth and developed my understanding in subjects outside my direct field. Many of the cultural sites and experiences I was able to have during the trip greatly helped to develop my global empathy and understanding for other cultures. Additionally, many of Korea’s cultural expectations and norms play a key role in what technology is integrated into their society. For example, the cultural norm described as “pali pali”, which is the Korean value of speed and urgency, can be observed in almost every aspect of Korean life. To match this value with technology, Seoul’s large subway systems ensure that every individual can quickly travel to their preferred location to complete their obligations. Additionally, the KTX trains also ensure quick transportation outside of Seoul, traveling at speeds of 190 miles per hour. Overall, observing Korean life and culture has helped me to understand that different technology will be created to solve unique cultural and social issues in a society. As a future engineer, I hope I can apply these concepts to American culture to help me develop effective solutions that match American values.

I also think it’s worth mentioning the value of continuous learning and growth. Personally, I was unsure about taking this Plus3 course because it would begin right after my first year. I thought this trip would just remove time I could spend enjoying my summer. However, I soon realized throughout this trip that I should always be trying to improve and learn new things. Although taking a break is necessary for avoiding burnout, I should make sure to stay curious and take the time to explore different subjects, especially during the summer when I have more free time. Now that the trip is over, I want to learn more about electrical engineering subjects such as circuits and coding, and begin learning more about the content being taught during my sophomore year.

Next, I want to discuss the work culture in Korea. During my experience abroad, there was fairly good work life in the companies we visited. However, Korea is a country known to have terrible work life. Many Korean companies avoid healthy work environments, and emphasize long hours and production more than employee health and safety. In Korea, work life is often associated with alcohol as well, with drinking being a means of stress relief and bonding between co-workers and superiors. Although this is not completely bad, using alcohol as a means of coping is a very dangerous habit, and can lead to more unhealthy behavior and choices in the long-term. With that being said, I did find a lot of hope in the companies I saw in Korea. For example, during the Hyundai factory visit, I learned that the company gives free health care to all workers to ensure their safety and health. They also limit their shifts to a maximum of eight hours, which would eliminate the chance of overworking factory laborers. I suspect that many of the large companies in Korea have better working conditions and culture to ensure that these companies maintain happy workers and a positive public image. This assessment of work culture has also helped me learn what kind of company I would like to work for. Work-life balance is something I strive for in my career, so I must make sure that I find a job that allows me to work on something I care about, all while having time to pursue other endeavors.

On the subject of work culture and social expectations, I also want to mention how this trip helped me learn how to work and collaborate with a team. Personally, the team I was on consisted of people with a variety of different skillsets. Although this was helpful, as certain people were better suited for specific tasks, it was hard to determine how the work should be split up among the team. Considering our original group leader could not make it to Korea and we had a change in group leader during the trip, it was hard to stay organized and complete our work. That being said, I believe that working in teams throughout the trip taught me how to be a good communicator, become more flexible, and learn how to adapt to new situations quickly. I was also very happy with our team’s work and quick communication skills, and I believe that I was able to form close bonds with many of the people I collaborated with.

Overall, this trip has been a very fruitful experience for me. Although I developed my professional and teamwork skills, this trip also served as a very important cultural experience for me. As a Korean-American, this trip to Korea was an opportunity to learn more about my own heritage. To start, this trip to Korea was the first time I was around people who all looked similar to me. Although I am not full Korean, seeing all Asian people around me was so much different than America, where the country is majority white people. Additionally, I found it interesting how some of my family values and Korean values were very similar, such as taking your shoes off in the house or the value in academics and family. Also, I was able to have only Korean food for two weeks, and it was nice having Korean food that I would normally only get from my grandmother.

This trip also helped me learn more about my grandfather who passed away when I was five. My grandfather was a North Korean defector, so visiting the DMZ helped me learn more about his story. It was interesting to learn about the living circumstances of North Korea and learn what my grandfather had to deal with when he was a child. This visit helped me to have a larger appreciation for my parents and my grandparents sacrifices and struggles to give me a better life. Also, my grandfather’s story has helped me to appreciate the North and South Korean conflict more, and to greater empathize with the people who are trapped in the North’s harsh living conditions.

Culture and heritage aside, this trip also helped me learn how to become more independent and grow in my resilience when traveling. Very often, I would have to use what little Korean I know to read signs, order food, and get around the city. Additionally, I had to learn how to take care of myself in atypical circumstances. When I got food poisoning, I had to try my best to keep myself healthy, monitor my body, and navigate through a Korean hospital where nobody spoke English. Although I would have much rather gone through the trip without being sick, I think this was a great test of my independence, and served as an opportunity to develop my resilience and grit.

This trip also featured a sixteen hour flight which was the longest flight I’ve been on. Personally, I do not like plane rides at all, and it was a challenge to stay occupied and comfortable when I was on the plane. Learning how to endure the flight and to stay healthy in the air was an important step in achieving one of my goals of traveling the world on my own.

To conclude, I just wanted to say thank you to my teachers and my classmates that I got to experience this with. This trip will be one of my most cherished college experiences, and I hope I can take this new growth and learning into my sophomore year. Goodbye Korea!