The past two weeks in South Korea have been an eye-opening experience that I am certain I will never forget. The Plus3 program enabled me to act beyond my comfort zone and fully immerse myself in a culture that is not my own. The range of activities we participated on the trip assisted me in…

Today we woke up bright and early to check out of our hotel in Busan and drive to the Incheon International Airport outside of Seoul. The drive took about six hours, including the two stops we made at rest areas in the country. At the rest stop, we indulged in one last Korean dish before…

Today is the last day of our Plus3 agenda. During the day itself, we were given unstructured free time to explore the city of Busan. In the morning, my friends and I woke up early to take a taxi to Haeundae Beach. There we spent the day soaking up the sun and swimming. This was…

Today was the last of our site visits before Plus 3 comes to a close. Our last site visit was the United States Consulate in Busan. This consulate is the smallest in comparison to any other countries, as there is only one United States Ambassador working there. It was nice to see someone who was…

Today, we visited two companies in Busan. Our first site visit was at Trainor Korea. This company specializes in safety, offering certificates to various employees or companies to confirm the training in electrical safety. The speaker gave us a talk about the importance of electrical safety. According to the statistics he showed us, nearly 98%…

We started off the day by visiting only one company, Hyundai Motor Company. As I am sure you know, Hyundai is automotive manufacturer with its largest plant in Ulsan. This plant is responsible for making a variety of Hyundai models, including their hybrid cars, SUVs, and Genesis luxury cars. We were able to see many…

From Gyeongju, we traveled to the city Ulsan to visit two companies: Jinsan Marine Management Company Ltd. and Hyundai Heavy Industries. The President of Jinsan Marine Management greeted us as we exited the bus and then led us to the conference room where we met a few of his staff members. The employees at Jinsan…

Although Seoul and Gyeongju are inherently different, both cities have much to offer to its visitors. Gyeongju is not only a city rich with history, but it is also three times the size of Seoul. This Sunday we embarked on a cultural tour throughout the city, visiting many of its important remaining sites. Gyeongju was…

Today, we spent the bulk of our morning traveling from Seoul to Gyeongju. We made a few stops in order to eat lunch. Mine, for example, consisted of tasty chicken skewers and (Korean name), or walnut balls. It is essentially fried treat filled with walnuts and red bean filling, which tastes delicious! Gyeongju is a…

On Friday we traveled to the DMZ, or the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The DMZ is a very important part of Korean culture and society, as it is the border between North and South Korea. We arrived at Dorasan Station and were able to see the train stop that leads to the capital of North Korea….

Today was definitely one of the most memorable days I have had so far on the trip. We started our day by traveling to NAVER, a company seen as the Google of Korea. NAVER’s headquarters were very impressive, as it was a clear example of a modern company, filled with young employees, continuing to grow….

Today, we embarked on our first visits to various companies. Our morning started with Samsung, but it was not the branch of Samsung that most people are familiar with. In the United States, Samsung is widely recognized for its electronics: primarily phones and tablets. However, in South Korea, the company has dipped into many aspects…

Today, we woke up bright and early to drive to the Seongdong-gu area in order to visit Hanyang University. Hanyang, founded in 1939, is Korea’s first engineering university; therefore, it is predominantly known for its massive engineering alumni network. Due to this feat, the school is known as the “Engine of Korea.” Many of their…

Hello Everyone! Today was a wonderful first day to kick off the start of a busy two weeks ahead of me. Luckily, I have adjusted to the time change fairly quickly and did not have any problems falling asleep last night. I woke up around 5AM and instead of returning to sleep, I started to…

Good Evening everyone! Or perhaps I should say good morning, as I am now in a time zone thirteen hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone! After a greuling seventeen hours of flying from city to city, we have finally arrived to Seoul. Our first stop from Pittsburgh was Dallas, where we had a layover…