It was mostly a work trip, and I have to say that both colleagues and other folks I met in Korea were really nice.
In the evenings, I went and checked out a few places. One was the Gyeongbokgung palace which is just off the seoul metro station. It is absolutely huge and beautiful with lots of history behind it. Another evening I had a nice dinner in Seoul at Han Miri where my colleagues graciously picked out the best vegetarian options - the food was great. I also visited Gangnam which is their shoppers and diners paradise. It was very interesting. Finally, as icing on the cake, I literally stumbled upon the French Open trophy tour, where I saw the actual trophy presented on the French open.
Finally, the most exciting piece - I took a day off to go to the North Korean border. We went in a trip to Panmunjom, the place on the border where you can cross over to the North Korean side. The history of North Korea since the Korean war is both fascinating and painful. We saw North Korean soldiers on the other side and we had UN guest passes as a sign that we are non combat civilians. The military complex there had both South Korean and American soldiers side by side which brought realism to what we hear in the US about thousands of soldiers stationed in South Korea still. On the trip, I had the best Bibimbap during lunch.
Overall, it was a great trip. Flying business class on Singapore Air was a great experience as well! The only struggle was the combination of food and language barrier sometimes, which was generally not an issue since I had someone else helping me out!
In the evenings, I went and checked out a few places. One was the Gyeongbokgung palace which is just off the seoul metro station. It is absolutely huge and beautiful with lots of history behind it. Another evening I had a nice dinner in Seoul at Han Miri where my colleagues graciously picked out the best vegetarian options - the food was great. I also visited Gangnam which is their shoppers and diners paradise. It was very interesting. Finally, as icing on the cake, I literally stumbled upon the French Open trophy tour, where I saw the actual trophy presented on the French open.
Finally, the most exciting piece - I took a day off to go to the North Korean border. We went in a trip to Panmunjom, the place on the border where you can cross over to the North Korean side. The history of North Korea since the Korean war is both fascinating and painful. We saw North Korean soldiers on the other side and we had UN guest passes as a sign that we are non combat civilians. The military complex there had both South Korean and American soldiers side by side which brought realism to what we hear in the US about thousands of soldiers stationed in South Korea still. On the trip, I had the best Bibimbap during lunch.
Overall, it was a great trip. Flying business class on Singapore Air was a great experience as well! The only struggle was the combination of food and language barrier sometimes, which was generally not an issue since I had someone else helping me out!
