I am so sad to say that this is my final blog. I loved the two weeks I spent in Korea and it has become a favorite memory. I can’t wait to go back one day. We got back to the states last Friday and things are so different here. It’s louder, there are tips…
Category: School of Computing and Information
Departure Day
Today was finally the day we were leaving Korea. It felt strange waking up knowing the trip was officially coming to an end. I got up around 8 a.m. and spent some time hanging out with V before we went upstairs to get breakfast. While eating, I kept thinking about all the Pokémon keychains and…
Last Day in Seoul
Today was our last full day of activities in Korea, and it was also the day of our final presentations. It honestly felt strange knowing the trip was coming to an end because it felt like we just arrived. We started the morning by visiting TOPIS at Seoul City Hall. TOPIS is the transportation management…
Back to Seoul
Today we headed back to Seoul, but before leaving we had one more exciting stop: the Hyundai Motors plant. After finishing packing, I headed downstairs and we left for the day. Before the tour, we stopped for an early lunch. I had bulgogi along with several side dishes that I wasn’t completely sure what they…
Day 11: Gimbap and Goodbyes
Day 11 was our final full day in Korea. We were back in Seoul for our last day, where it all began. Our first activity was a visit to TOPIS, Seoul’s Transportation Operation and Information Center. We were back at Seoul City Hall, which we had visited on the third day. It felt like a…
Day 10: Return to Seoul
Thursday morning, we officially left Pohang for the last time. Our visit was short, but I really enjoyed it. Although Pohang is not very touristy and doesn’t have as much to do as Seoul, in a certain way I think that really made me enjoy it. It somehow has a much more authentic, “small town”…
Day 9: Pohang, just like Pittsburgh
Day 9 in Korea was our second full day in Pohang, and would also be our last. The day started with us heading back to POSTECH. Even though we had already spent an entire day at the university, I was glad to visit again because it was probably my favorite thing we’d done so far…
Coming to a Close
Yesterday we made back to the original hotel we were in the first time we were in Seoul. I missed the breakfast here. However, I think the eggs gave Noah food poisoning for four days, so I didn’t eat those. Then we headed to Topis. Topis headquarters is back at city hall. It was nice…
Final Day 12 – End of an Era
Okay, this post will actually be short because we didn’t actually do anything today. I woke up bright and early at 8:05 AM but still missed the salty bread. Luckily, some was saved for me by them, so thank you for giving me some. Emma delivered it to me mostly because she was in the…
Day 11 – FINAL NIGHT
I’ll keep this post more brief than the others (or not). I woke up super late, sleeping through all my alarms. We went to Seoul TOPIS to learn about the smart systems. I got made fun of for looking like a bum because I wore my business shorts. Like I told everyone there, I was…
End of an Era
Last full day in Korea! We started the day off with a visit to Seoul’s TOPIS (Transport Operation and Information Service) after breakfast. It is located around the City Hall, and was very neat, On the way there, we did pass by Seoul’s mayor (we believe) giving some sort of speech. Not too sure what…
Day 10 – Spending Big at Seoul Tower
It was a good day in Pohang. I slept horribly last night, clearly feeling the drain from constant activities. I love this trip, but there is basically no time to just chill and rest a little. I feel I constantly need to do something during free time rather than just rest. My sleep schedule here…
SUPERBOARD (Hyundai!)
Currently, I write this blog post with odd hands as I wait for my press on nails (matching with Emma) to fully set… sorry, mom. I got nails in Korea. Sue me. Shorter post today! Today we left Pohang, and for breakfast Kali and I got some rice cakes one last time, as she a)…
Droid Factory
We woke up early and went to Postech for the second day. It was rumored to be an industrial engineering and data science tour, but it turned out to be a campus tour. We got split up into different groups than normal and were shown around by students of the campus. They reminded me of…
Postech, Posco, & Pizza
Today we visited POSTECH again, but this time we got a full campus tour from student guides. We were split into smaller groups, and each group had a POSTECH student showing us around. The campus was incredibly large and modern, but what stood out to me most was how much nature surrounded everything. There were trees, walking…
POSTECH Then Beach!
Today in Korea was one of the busiest days of the trip so far. We had to get up a little earlier than usual because we were visiting POSTECH. I came down for breakfast around 8:20, and not long after that, we headed out for the campus tour. From the moment we arrived, I could tell…
Day 8: P(itt)OSTECH
Day 8 was our first full day in a new location in Korea: Pohang. It’s a city of about 500,000 people, located in the southeast of the country on the ocean. It’s a very different vibe from Seoul, which is a huge city of over 9 million. Although Pohang isn’t a very touristy, we’re here…
Morning Meditation
Today we got up at 5am for the morning meditation session with the monks. It was very early for me, but I was curious, so I went. We arrived like a min late but still got a mat. Only 6 of us made it up for the mediation. It started with some stretching and then…