Day 3 - My first day in Seoul

On the way to Yonsei University

Today we woke up around 7:30 am and got ready for the day. We ate the complimentary breakfast at the hotel (which included kimchi (김치) -- something I did not expect!). Kimchi is a traditional Korean food typically made of fermented cabbage, radish, scallion or cucumber with a fishy/garlic flavor to it, and it is apparently served at every meal.

The sign at the Yonsei University front gate

After breakfast, we met in the lobby and hopped on a bus to Yonsei University. We toured a small part of the Yonsei campus (which has a lot of hills and looks like the old universities in America) before attending an orientation at the CIEE office on-campus. CIEE is the name of the company that I am studying abroad through.

Yonsei's beautiful campus -- so many trees!

After orientation, we had 샤브샤브 (shabu-shabu), which is a Japanese food where you cook your own food in a hot oil. Of course kimchi was served at this meal (which was very tasty!) and the restaurant was on the 4th floor of a building.

샤브샤브 for lunch

The view from where we ate lunch

On they way to the Korean National Museum

After eating lunch, we took the Seoul subway system to the Korean National Museum, which is the largest museum in Korea. We attended a workshop where we learned a lot about Korean history and culture from natives and tried on traditional Korean dress.

Me, Andy, Sam, and Tyler wearing traditional Korean clothes

After the workshop, we went into the museum and took a tour around, looking at various artifacts such as the emperor's royal throne from the 1300s and celadon pottery. Once the tour was over, we were free to go do whatever we liked!

Outside and inside the Korean National Museum

Everyone decided to head back to the hotel so we could eat dinner and cool off (it's hot and humid here! -- 85 degrees Fahrenheit). I went and ate at a Japanese restaurant with two other girls which turned out to be a mistake because it was so expensive! We ended up buying one meal and splitting it between the three of us so we wouldn't have to leave and cause problems.

A beautiful building outside of the Korean National Museum

Afterward, I ate bag of chips to supplement my appetite and I headed to the Hongdae (홍대) district with seven other students. The Hongdae area is one of the places where all of the college students hang out. We had a lot of fun exploring the crowded streets and just now made it back to the hotel. Tomorrow we are going to tour more of Seoul and go to a Korean theater.

Shrimp appetizer at the Japanese restaurant...

One of the streets in Hongdae

Another shot of Hongdae

That's all for now!