Changdeokgung with Woosik

Today I went with Woosik to visit Changdeokgung Palace downtown Seoul. We took the guided tour of both the palace as well as the gardens in the back of the palace grounds.


Changdeokgung is considered the most intact palace in Korea. It was built in the 1400's as a second palace to Gyeonbukgung. In the late 1500's, most of the palace was destroyed by the Japanese during the war. It was the first palace to be rebuilt following the war, becoming the main residence of the kings of Joseon after the 1600's. When Japan occupied Korea, many of the buildings from Gyeonbukgung were moved to Changdeokgung to make way for Japanese officials buildings. Many of the original buildings on the grounds were also destroyed, only about 30% remains. The last king of Joseon lived here in a special area built by the Japanese for the remaining Joseon royalty until his death in the early 20th century. It was also home to his queen and children until around 1970 when the last direct descendant passed away. Today, the palace is a good representation of Joseon architecture as well as the unique aspects of Joseon royalty.


In the back of the palace grounds lies the gardens, often called the "Secret Garden." It has been preserved from the Joseon dynasty and displays Korean traditional gardens. The original landscape of the area was maintained when the garden was built because it was believed that it maintained harmony. The gardens make up the majority of the palace complex, about 70% of the 110 acres.

The palace compound consists of three main areas: The officials compound where government mandates were created, the royal family's quarters where traditionally the King and Queen lived and worked, and the area built for the remaining royal family after the occupation. A few interesting things I learned while touring around the palace grounds:


1. The building where the King lived is covered in blue tile because blue is considered the color of the ruler. Today, the president of South Korea lives in a mansion located near this palace called the Blue House.


2. All of the officials and royalty's buildings are painted with the traditional blue, green, red, white, and yellow that represent north, south, east, west, and power. Only buildings associated with the royalty or religion (Buddhist temples) could use this color combination. The home where the royal family lived during and after the occupation are not painted in these colors, but rather designed like the commoners house with plain white walls.

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3. After the occupation, the descendants of the royal family continued to live here. Because of the political unrest and poverty of the country after the Korean War, they did not receive any money from the government. In order to survive, the former Queen and her daughter, the woman that would have succeeded the throne, worked with the tourism portion of the palace, leading tours of their ancestors home.

This palace is such a contrast from Gyeonbukgung. Gyeonbukgung is a huge complex with so many officials buildings and several compounds for the royal family to live in. Changdeokgung feels like a palace in the countryside. It is very peaceful, you cannot hear the sounds of the city even though you are in the business area of the city. You can really picture what life must have been like for the Joseon royalty walking around this palace.

Boryeong Mud Festival

On Saturday, I joined Woosik, his cousin, and three of his cousin's friends from school in England to visit the Boryeong Mud Festival. Boryeong is very close to Daecheon, the beach that I visited in May. It is about two hours southwest of Seoul by bus right on the coast.

We met at the Seoul Bus Terminal, which is about an hour from the Byeons. From there we took the journey south by bus to the festival. When we arrived at the festival, we saw mobs of people covered from head to toe in gray, mineral rich mud. It was quite a sight to see so many people covered in mud. It almost looked like some thriller movie gone terribly wrong: "Return of the mud people." Most of the people there were adults, and there were hardly any Koreans. I think this festival has turned into a foreigner activity.

The mud that makes this festival so famous is considered rich in minerals, courtesy of the abundance of hot springs in the area. Many Koreans come to Boryeong to go to the hot springs and have a mud bath. Boryeong is the place in Korea if you want mud that is considered good for you. I'm not sure if it is really as beneficial as the locals make it out to be or if it's just a way to get tourists, but the area is so beautiful that it is worth seeing with or without mud.

It was the first day of the festival, so there were hordes of people. The festival was located in sight of the beach. There were huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and pools filled with mud. Because it was so crowded, we were only able to do half the things we wanted, but it was still an interesting experience. After playing in the mud, we washed off in the ocean and relaxed on the beach before making our way back to the chaos of the city. It was nice to return to the countryside where there is little smog and life moves at a slower pace.

Lotte World

Today I met Woosik for the first time since he got back from London. He graduated in May and moved back to Korea. It was great to see him after six months. It was difficult for the longest time to coordinate our schedules to hang out, but we were able to set a time and were able to hang out.

We went to Lotte World, which is one of the most popular amusement parks in Korea. Half the park is indoors and the other half is outside, which allows the park to be open year round. I was amazed by the design of the indoor portion of the park. The architects of the park used the space very wisely, building several huge rides in such a small space including a looping rollercoaster, log flume, and raft ride. The outdoor area also utilized its space very well, especially with an underground rollercoaster (which was my favorite ride).

We were not aware of several variables that proved to be a challenge in our mission to ride every ride. First, it rained....a lot. Second, today was the first day of summer vacation for Korean students. I'm pretty sure at least half of the Korean students in Seoul were celebrating at Lotte World. We didn't accomplish our mission, but we still had a great time catching up while exploring the amusement park.

A few of the memorable moments from the day include:
1. We went to the 4D theater in the park and watched this very funny pirate adventure story while being jostled and squirted with water.
2. While in line for the log flume, the girl listing the rules said: "You will get wet on this ride, but don't worry, the water is purified so it is safe." You would never hear that in line at Six Flags!
3. Riding the looping rollercoaster with two middle school girls behind us screaming like it's going out of style.

Internship Week 3 and Taiwan

I am finished working at my internship with STL! It was a long three weeks of work, but I really enjoyed my time at the company. I met so many incredible Koreans at the company and have so many memories from work and MT. I learned a lot about the way in which Koreans conduct business and a lot about Korean culture that I have not seen in my other experiences.

I spent the week working first in the office then back at manufacturing. It was nice to come full circle, starting working at manufacturing, working with marketing for a week, and returning to the assembly line. It was bittersweet to finish this three week internship, but it will be nice to rest for a week after such a busy three weeks.

I also have some travel news: I will be going to Taiwan for a month to volunteer at an English camp at the Lutheran school. I had wanted to volunteer this summer here in Asia and had asked Matt and Dee Dee about possible opportunities with LCMS World Missions. They recommended this service project, and it seems like a great opportunity. This is the school where Matt and Dee Dee worked, so they have a lot of knowledge about the school and the work being done there. I will be teaching English classes along with some VBS material for four weeks. I am very excited about this opportunity to use my gift of being a native English speaker to help enrich the minds of these children. Now that I'm done working at the internship, I have been busy preparing and packing for this trip. Hopefully, I will be able to keep you guys updated about my experiences teaching there and the new things I learn along the way. Another culture, another adventure!

Internship Week 2

Gosh, this is ridiculous, I feel like a grown up with a real job: no time to blog! I finished my second week of my internship, which was just as busy as the first. This week, I worked with the marketing department, which was quite a contrast to the week prior.

I spent my days in the office calling prospective customers from various countries inquiring if they would be interested in our product. Before making these calls I had a crash course on Security DVR technology and what makes STL's products unique. I have realized that this technology revolution we have experienced is greater than I imagined. The capabilities of these security devices makes me wonder who is watching me as I walk down the street or through a shopping center....

I also corrected the English in the products instruction manuals. It was quite a tedious task but it was something that I could contribute considerably for the company.

Friday, I went on the Manufacturing departments Membership Training (MT). Basically, it's a weekend long trip for all the employees to spend time together outside of work. It is to build a friendship relationship between coworkers. I have heard many other Korean companies have MT's as well, so I was curious to see what this whole MT thing is about.

We left for Taean, which is on the west coast of Korea on the East Sea. We played Paintball, rode ATV's along the beach and rice paddies, and rode a Banana boat on the East Sea. I found that I was at quite a disadvantage seeing that all of the Korean men were trained for two years in how to use a gun. They annihilated me with their military aim before I could even target an opponent. The ATV ride was absolutely gorgeous. To ride among rice paddies with the smell of the salt air of the nearby ocean, followed by making figure eights on the sand was a great memory. For those who have not seen a Banana boat, it's a long inner tube that can hold about eight people at one time. We raced around several of the small islands close to the coast as everyone was screaming with both fear and delight. It was great to see my coworkers spend time together outside of the workplace and share a more informal time together.

After these activities, we went to the Pension we would stay at for the night. The pension was right on the coast overlooking the sea. We ate Samgyeopsal for dinner outside right on the coast. As the evening continued, me and Uncle Josh went to buy some fireworks from the nearby store to shoot off at the beach. It was a lot of fun, especially considering that it was 4th of July weekend.

Hyesun and Omma are back from Europe, so we have been busy catching up this weekend. They came back a week early because Omma was homesick. Hyesun will start her new job next week, very exciting!

Today, I met my friend Zhenghong in Seoul to hang out together before she leaves. She is returning to Beijing next week to finish her studies (she attends the same school as Xiaochen). She is quite an interesting person: she is Korean Chinese, meaning ethnically she is Korean, at some point her family moved to China. She speaks Korean, Chinese, and English quite fluently. Her grandparents live here in Korea, while her parents live in Brazil. She hopes to work in diplomacy with the Chinese government, so someday she and I may be working alongside one another representing our respective countries (wouldn't that be interesting!). We went to see a movie and then chatted over some coffee at a local coffee shop. I am going to miss her terribly. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, we would have some really interesting discussions about politics, social issues, and our opinions on the changing dynamics on the global stage. I told her that this is not "goodbye" but a "see you later" because I am certain, at some point in our lives, our paths will cross again. Whether it is in three years when we have both graduated or in fifteen years when we each have established our careers, I know we will share coffees together again discussing the same topics.

Internship Week 1

I finished my first week at my internship in Seoul. This summer, I was fortunate enough to find an opportunity to learn more about the Korean business environment through working at a Korean company for three weeks. The company is the place where Uncle Josh (the Byeons uncle, now my Korean uncle) works.

The companys name is STL Solutions. It is a security technology company that makes security DVR's and surveillance cameras. This past week, I worked in the manufacturing department making DVR's. I tested memory chips for the DVR's and packed them with their accessories for shipments.

While working during the week, I stayed with Josh's family. His home is closer to the workplace so it was more convenient. This meant that I had a full week of work and playing with his two children Jinyoung and Eujin. I haven't had a chance to see them since Seonyoungs birthday, so it was nice to spend a lot of time with them.

Everyday after work, I would play hide and seek with Eujin and American card games with Jinyoung. Hide and seek with Eujin is played a little differently than you traditional hide and seek: you must wait until he is ready for you to look for him. He always hides in the same place, but you must act like you can't find him. After yelling "I can't find Eujin" he would jump out squealing "Right here!" If you don't conform to Eujins rules, he will refuse to play with you and sulk for an hour. One evening we went to the park to play and had to play games by Eujins rules, meaning that he must always win. Oh Eujin.....I just hope he will realize that refusing to play by the rules will not be acceptable as he grows older. Being the baby of the family, both immediate and extended, he will have a lot of growing up to do. Jinyoung's final exams are next week, so she was very stressed this past week. However, we did have time to play some card games and to watch Kpop music videos. She is a very sweet 11 year old who has grown up so much since I met her last August. Her English had improved considerably and she is more self spoken.

Ok...enough about my Korean cousins, back to the internship...

The workdays were long, nine hours of working and 45 minutes commute. Finishing classes just five days before, it was quite a change! I went from studying to working long hours everyday. I suppose that's the benefit of internships: It gives you a glimpse of what life will be like when you graduate. I don't think I'm quite ready for that stage of my life, but I still have two years to reach that point.

We would reach the office around 9am and leave around 6pm. Every two hours, there was either a work break or lunch break. Everyone at the company were very welcoming of this foreign student who could barely converse with them. This week has taught me just how much vocabulary you need to know in order to be conversational. I definitely have my work cut out for me! They were very understanding when I would mess up my sentence structure and say something completely off the wall. They would smile and correct my sentence.

The work was tedious, but it was interesting. I have never been in this kind of work environment before, working an assembly line. It wasn't exactly a stereotypical assembly line, but it was still a series of jobs that would progressively create a product. Never though I would learn how to test DVR memory chips, but it is a new skill for me! Every afternoon I would have lunch with different coworkers. Despite my lack of Korean, they wanted to get to know me and we would talk in a mix of English and Korean.

I will try to discuss some other details of the week along with some of the things I noticed that were unique to the way Koreans conduct business in a future post. Next week I begin my work in the Marketing area of the company, which will be interesting to be sure! Adjacent to the marketing division is the R&D department so I will be sure to check it out as well.