With members of the Asian Students in Action cultural club during my sophomore year at Queens College, I had a trip to South Korea. The list of options to travel to were all in Asia, and ultimately the club members decided on Seoul over two months of planning for the trip. To get the most out of the trip, the club has been in touch with students from Seoul National University who have agreed to be our tour guides.
During the trip, two days have been designated for a 2-day festival in Nanji Hangang Park to listen to bands. The trip was also focused on getting in touch with Korea’s history. Korea’s capital, Seoul, has lots of attractions and historic sites in the city. A place of interest to visit was the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main and largest royal palace built in 1935 during the Joseon Dynasty and served as a home to the kings and government of the Joseon Dynasty. The palace was the center of essential state affairs and was used for the storage of ancient Korean royal books. Another place of interest was the Trick Eye Museum, an interactive painting gallery that uses optical illusions to trick the eye. The museum combines art with augmented reality effects and 2D/3D illusions. The Ice Museum, located in the Trick Eye Museum, has displays made fully out of ice, including an ice TV, an ice kitchen, and an ice slope.
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In Seoul, we met tons of themed cafes. Themed cafes first came about a couple of years ago in Seoul’s Hongdae district with the first cat cafe. Today, the city is filled with themed cafes specializing in animals such as raccoons, dogs, sheep, or cats. Other cafes are themed according to a specific cartoon character, such as Hello Kitty. I can assure you from my experience that visiting such places will bring a lot of pleasure.
Seoul also has small craft shops for tourists where you can find paintings, sculptures, pottery, and crafts. An example of a craft shop offered is Gallery Park Young Sook of the modern potter. The gallery displays and sells white porcelain representing the Joseon Dynasty, Buncheong ware, and ceramics with modern aesthetics. The gallery feels more like a showroom than a shop. However, various items including flower vases, decorative ceramics, and daily-use earthenware are for sale featured around the store. Another craft shop is the Tong-In Store, which is the oldest traditional crafts shopping center offered in Korea. The shopping center is home to over 100 shops that sell ancient and contemporary traditional crafts and include galleries, displaying crafts collections by newer emerging artists. Visiting these craft shops gave me an opportunity to look into Korean culture, pick up traditional jewelry to wear, as well as learn to drink Korean tea.
South Korea is known as a technologically advanced country especially, Seoul. During my trip, Seoul has shown advancements in both technology and the architecture of its cityscape. With all the things to do in Seoul, this makes it a top destination spot, especially to learn about the cultures and traditions.
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