South Korea: Day 9

 Freedom Speakers International

This was one of the more valuable experiences of this trip to me because I never realized how limited my knowledge of North Korea was until I heard the stories of the refugees. It is easy to be ignorant of something you do not hear much about. Since picking this trip as a class and securing my spot, my Dad was furious at me and I did not understand why. Every time I even mentioned the trip he would say "as long as you're not going to North Korea..." and I just assumed it was bad there because of the dictatorship. I had never taken the time to do a Google search on just HOW bad it is. After hearing from each of the refugees, how their families are in danger because of where they are now, how they have not heard from them, how they had to live through poverty, how they had to stay silent, and how they had to live like slaves, I finally understand. Naturally, I want to know more, and intend on reading some of the books the leader of the organization recommended: Dear Leader and Girl With Black Makeup; each of which look incredibly interesting. Overall, hearing about their stories made me realize how privileged I am despite growing up in a not-the-safest-household. I had it easy compared to them. I did not have to work for my family to eat, nor did I have to control what media I consume. Most of all, I did not have to be forced to live in ignorance forever. 

 

Meeting with North Korean Refugees group picture 

Farewell Lunch

For our final shared meal together (since my dinner ended up being 7/11 ramyeon) we shared a dish of cheese rice cakes, chicken, cabbage, rice, and various other cultural foods. All of which were extremely tasty. Whatever seasoning they put on the food made it just the right amount of spicy for me. It was the perfect closing meal full of various things I hadn't tried yet enjoyed in the end. 

This trip was incredible. The food was too but the trip as a whole leaves me speechless. Indulging in the culture, testing the food, trying out the customs, and just building onto my knowledge of the history were all valuable experiences that I'll cherish. I never thought I would get to travel here nor do all of the amazing things we did here, especially as someone who has been majorly influenced by the Korean wave since 2018. It was beyond anything I could've expected and I honestly wish I didn't have to leave. Though for now, when I get home I look forward to sharing with my Dad what I now know about Korea along with what I have seen here in South Korea.

 

Before digging in

 

Our farewell lunch table
 

Extra Pictures! 

Here is a couple pictures from the beginning to the end of the trip of various things we did that were either not on the itinerary or were just too cute to not to add. Thank you professors for making this trip possible!

 

 

The airport greenhouse

 

Found harmony through the sweltering day

Changdeokgung palace vending machine experience

I don't know... this guy seems fishy...

SOMEONE SAVE LOOPY!!!

Ray saying hi

Delta making eye contact with the Moray

A gathering at Cheonggyecheon

Peeking out at pedestrians

Overgrown cafe we passed by one time

Mirror mayhem at the subway station

Life discovered on a model of life

Night view of the subway from Hangang River Park

The first spotting of the Cookie Run Kingdom exhibition

The duck king of Gyeongbokgung palace

There's a Dr. Pepper club?!

Gingerbrave...

Trying to act like we were not heaving around the hanok

Me being overjoyed that my BurgerOk order was number 672 because 67

0.5 of the gorgeous White Lily Cookie

A brief cafe run

(except I got a smoothie. NOT coffee.)
 

CAUTION. FALLING.

Hanbok with professor Hammick

South Korea: Day 8

 

 Hallyu K-star Road

At first I thought this would be like the hollywood stars on the ground that you pass with the name of an idol or group but it was much different than what I anticipated. Instead of stars, these influential bands get GangnamDols; individualized statues in the shape of bears. It's a much cuter and personal alternative considering thought is put into each design of the bears. Because of how much success Psy had on getting Korean media to a Western audience, they dedicated these statues to many of the groups that worked before him and BTS, on getting the content to more audiences. Thus initiating the Korean Wave when it came to music. In addition to the Gangnam dolls, Psy also has a huge statue dedicated to him in the form of two large golden hands. These hands form the Gangnam style dance pose and they even have the song playing on a display. Although it seems silly, marketing to Americans or anywhere other than Korea was a big achievement at the time especially with how viral it became.

 

Gangnamdol of Psy: the beginning of K-Star Road

 

Gangnamdol of SHINee

(I love their songs) 

Gangnamdol of AoA

(I also love their songs)
 

Standing next to the BTS Gangnamdol

Gangnam Style gold hand statue

 

Starfield COEX Mall

After that quick visit, we were introduced to the largest underground shopping mall in Asia; the Starfield COEX mall. In the mall there is the Ktown4U store; a kpop store that I indulged in a bit too hard. Though originally this store was the old SM Entertainment headquarters where BTS and many other older groups originated. In addition to this, the mall has huge attractions like the Starfield library, a SeaLife aquarium, and a Kimchi museum? Although other than the kpop store, Allison and I just browsed the stores. Agreeing that we'd spent enough money in one place.

What used to be SM Entertainment

 

Starfield Library

 

Selfie at the Michael Jackson popup
 

Business Visit to a Communication Agency

Our last stop of the day for the program was the communication agency Cheil. Although I am not a communications, business, or graphic design major, I could still see the value in the experience here. They gave us a small tour of their history and explained how they intend to connect people through technology and promotion. To do this they work with brands and small businesses to promote their products or support their ideas through campaigns. One example was the Samsung flip and how they made a way to advertise it to Apple users, thus increasing interest even in iPhone users. Their ways of promotion target a specific audience in order to increase openness to a product. So in order to make ones ideas palatable to all, you should put extra focus on how to make the idea palatable to someone opposed to it.

 

Awards Chein has received 

 

Cheil Worldwide has maintained it's #1 position in Korea  

 AK Plaza

By the night, we spent a night out exploring the AK Plaza mall and found lots of cool spots like the Sanrio Cinnamoroll cafe, Animate KOREA, and an entire store dedicated to One Piece. Most notably however was the entire floor dedicated to anime and manga. They had an entire maid cafe and manga store, the Animate store being especially packed. It truly surprised me to see how crowded it was after Titi and Professor Hammick told us that Koreans were not big on anime or anything from Japan. Maybe those who do enjoy it choose to not be vocal about it.

 

Jujutsu Kaisan look up figurines display

 

 

Aki cardboard cutout for Chainsaw Man event

 

 

Cinamoroll Sweet Cafe photo-op

 

Selfie with giant Cinamoroll statue

South Korea: Day 7

 Hanbok Experience

One aspect of the living culture in South Korea is the wearing of hanbok. Even if it is mostly tourists who go to wear them, it is keeping the tradition alive. Typically traditional hanbok contains a jeogori (top), baji(pants), chima(skirt), and po (coat), but for ours we simply wore a chima and po to go over our everyday clothes. Because we all wore Hanbok, we were allowed into Gyeongbokgung for free. Not only were they really pretty to wear but we got to participate in what people of the palace had to wear daily. At the palace we also got to witness the changing of the guard ceremony and hear traditional music from the 'royal band.' It was so crowded I was unable to see any of it, though hearing the music was enough for me. While we were there, we had tourists come up to us for pictures as well which was beyond strange. I guess when you look that good it just happens. Since this was the original palace of the king and more grand scale, it was much more open; which meant much more heat. By the time we were out of the hanbok, my shirt was sticking to my back with sweat and I was grateful to be out of it. I cannot imagine the older times where they had to wear this every working day. 

 

Selfie after getting my hair done

 

 

Selfie in hanbok except it became a picture of Allison

 

Group photo from outside the palace

Changing of the guard ceremony

Gate three, right before meeting with the king

"The best view" of Gyeongbokgung according to Andrew

Delta fanning the ladies

 

Retreating because of the heat

 

 

 Bukchon Hanok Village

After the hanbok experience, we took a hike up various hills and through Bukchon Hanok Village. The village is a residential neighborhood filled with traditional homes or hanok but originally, it was a residential area for the nobility. From certain points of the village, you can view not only Seoul tower between the hanok but also the entire city below the mountain. I was not prepared to be hiking then or at all for that manner, so it was a struggle getting uphill. However, in the end, the views were beautiful. I can understand why it is such a famous place for tourists to visit.

 Andrew guiding us uphill

 

View of the village and more from one point

 

Andrew guiding us uphill some more

 

Namsan tower in the distance, right among the hanok