This two-week trip to South Korea was an extraordinary whirlwind. From the beginning we were surrounded by extensive history, exciting technology, and a culture so different from our own. While our scheduled activities were separated into cultural and company visits, the values of the Korean people developed over centuries of trials and resiliency was inevitably…

This adventure ended, as all great adventures do, with the long road home. Hence, our last day in Korea was spent traveling, which began with an approximately five-hour bus ride from Busan back to the airport in Seoul. As the hills whizzed by outside the window, it still felt surreal to me that we were…

On our last full non-travel day in South Korea, we were left more or less to our own devices. So we did what I would expect most teenagers in the “Miami” of anywhere would do (Busan was described to us as the “Miami of South Korea”), we went to the beach! The group that I…

Today we had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Consulate in Busan which offered unique insight into the historical and current United States and South Korean relationship as well as on Busan. The consul explained that Busan, the second largest city in South Korea with a population of over three and a half million, is…

This day’s visits were Trainor and Busan New Container Terminal. Trainor is a Norwegian company which offers training and personnel certification services. In Korea a lot of their work is with shipbuilding companies, and their three trainers at the Busan location have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and over ten years of experience from…

I would not be surprised if I were to learn that almost every engineer and engineering student has a little soft spot for cars. Even those of us like myself are not in a directly related area likely have had moments when they have looked at cars and all of their mechanical complexities and wondered…

The first visit of the day was Jinsan Marine Management, a company which acts as a supplier to ships as they travel. For example, they provide food and supplies for crews as well as spare parts for ships. We were fortunate to have the president of the company, Matthew Gang, speak with us and give…

We spent today in Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla dynasty in Korea which started in the southeast in 57 B.C.E. and expanded from there through 668 C.E. There are two parts to Gyeongju – the old town and the new town. The new town is where most people live now, while the old town…

A rest stop is a rest stop anywhere, right? As we discovered on our drive from Seoul to Gyeongju, apparently not. Traveling to Gyeongju and our evening there afterwards presented further examples of how things that seem so familiar can, despite having the same basic structure, still be so different. For example, the rest stops…

There is only one South Korea. There is only one Seoul. But of all the different places we have seen on this trip by far the most unique is the Demilitarized Zone – 247 kilometers of “No Man’s Land.” So many things about the DMZ surprised me. I think I went in expecting barbed wire…

Something that I found eye-opening at our company visit this morning, NAVER, was just how big of an impact a company’s target market can have on their success relative other companies that offer similar services. NAVER is essentially the Google of Korea. It turns out that “of Korea” component is a huge part of what…

Something that is quickly becoming apparent in South Korea is that chaebols, or family-owned conglomerates like Hyundai and Samsung reach across a broad range of industries. This morning we were able to visit Samsung BioLogics, a division of Samsung I wouldn’t have expected to exist before coming to Korea because at the time the only…

Today was spent experiencing something we know well in a very different context. That thing was college. This morning we went to Hanyang University! Founded in 1939 by a musician, Hanyang University was the first private engineering college was South Korea’s first private engineering college. The university is extremely research-focused and is ranked 151st worldwide…

The first full day in Korea was packed with Korean history and cultural immersion. We started off the day at Gyeongbokgung Palace which was the home of the kings of the Joseon dynasty, which lasted from about 1392 to 1910 in the common era. Gyeongbokung Palace is the largest of the five in Seoul and…

I cannot think of many valid reasons to wake up at 3 AM on two consecutive days, but I imagine traveling to South Korea to start what I believe will be an extraordinary two-week whirlwind of an adventure, to be one of those few good reasons. That is why I did just that this past…

Hello, my name is Elissa Wilton! I am a freshman in the Swanson School of Engineering studying computer engineering, and I am extremely fortunate and excited to have the opportunity to participate in the two-week study abroad experience that is Plus3 Korea! When asked where I am from, I am one of those people who…