Week 1
New Beginnings
Time has flown by after my first week in Korea. It has been action-packed, filled with exploring Korean culture and our host institution, Seoul National University. We jumped into seeing the city over the weekend, staying south of the Hangang in Gangnam on Saturday then venturing across to the North Seoul Tower on Sunday. In Gangnam our destination was Seonjeongnung, one of the many royal tomb sites for the Joseon Dynasty. The tombs were very interesting to see, consisting of ceremonial shrines that faced huge hills that encased the monarchs’ final resting places. Spirit staircases and incense paths had signs indicating that they were off limits, but otherwise the shrines were very accessible to get up close to. Though the tombs themselves were amazing, from this experience I most enjoyed that the huge complex also acted as a sort of public park (it cost less than one US dollar to enter). The area around the shrines and were forested with beautiful Korean and Japanese pine trees and many paths had thick woven rugs that made it more comfortable to walk.
As we entered the shrine, a lively parade passeda by with people in traditional costume playing music and dancing. They marched along the perimeter of the tombs toward a street festival, which we knew we had to explore. At the street festival, we tried some delicious food and free makgeolli, a milky rice wine that I didn’t realize was alcohol until an internet search that night. Vendors sold a combination of wooden kitchenware, block-printed artwork, and merchandise with cutesy animated comics printed on it. Needless to say, the street festival was a lot of fun.
Our arrival at the University on Monday was very exciting. In the Urban Planning and Design Lab, we spent the first few days getting to know the lab members and their projects. The project we’ll be working on is part of a five-year effort to develop a generative AI design technique to optimize new residential complexes to be carbon neutral. I also attended a transportation seminar given by a visiting researcher from Purdue. He presented his lab’s use of digital twin technology to improve autonomous vehicle performance. It was very interesting, especially in comparison to my previous exposure to digital twin applications, which have been primarily in the area of facilities management.
In our lab, Serena and I are currently working on improving our skills in Rhino, a modelling software we’ll be using in the future. Hopefully next Monday we’ll get our first assignments! We also spent some time touring the university itself. We tried to get into the library but we’ll need an ID. Thankfully, a member of Rochelle and Eliana’s lab offered to lend his ID to us. Generally, the campus is huge. The green in between the shuttle stop and library currently has colorful beanbags scattered throughout. There are almost always students using all of them when I walk by, so it must be a popular spot! It reminds me a little of Plaza of the Americas back home at UF, though in function not form. Next to the green is the student center. Serena and I have gotten bubble tea inside and recently, I bought a Korean language learning book. I can already read Hangeul and know some basics, but I’m excited to tackle a little of this book every day.
A challenging experience that Robert and I had was signing up for a gym membership. After being turned down by one location for having a foreign phone number, we signed up at a spot around ten minutes from our apartments. It was difficult to communicate and fill out the forms but with patience and Papago, we figured it out. It was interesting to me that the locker rooms require you to first take off your shoes and put them in a cubby before entering, similar to households and our apartments here.
On Thursday night, Eliana, Serena, and I went to the Yongsan area. We wanted to check out a shop I had found on the internet, but that was just the starting point for exploring a small, but exciting neighborhood. Arriving right after work, we were all hungry for dinner even though it was barely five yet. The area was a bit of a ghost town at first. Most restaurants we passed were on their break between lunch and dinner with an unspoken consensus that this break would last 2:30 to 5:30 PM. We queued for a restaurant marketing itself as Italian-American food – SamSamSam. Eliana and I both got risotto, which was heavenly. There were also some koreanized menu items, such as the shrimp oil pasta that Serena ate. The adaptation of other cultures’ foods to the local denizen’s tastes is something that I hadn’t realized also takes place in the United States. An example that Dr. Lee gave me is the pizza in the United States, which differs drastically from its Italian origins.
The restaurant we ate in was casual but trendy, clearly appealing to an audience seeking an ‘experience’. The décor and façade were intricately designed like in Disney World – San Francisco travel posters on the walls, American pantry staples like Hungry Jack pancake mix lining the shelves, and a classic red striped awning outside the restaurant. This seems to be the case in some of the other eateries in the area. Serena got a croissant from a teddy bear-themed café with French cottage décor. However, in stark contrast to this were tiny food spots, unadorned. Without a gimmick, I wonder how much longer they’ll survive in a neighborhood that seems to be in the process of gentrification – if that’s even the right term to use here in Seoul.
We discussed how as visitors, we’re often drawn to the gimmicks of trendy restaurants and how representative of a culture that truly is. I think that we ought to experience both sides of that coin – the less flashy, but perhaps more traditional, restaurants as well as the new dining experiences that my social media algorithms feed me.
I already have so many more observations and insights from an amazing week, but I’ll leave it at that. I’m looking forward to reporting more about my research next week.