This past week in Seoul I once again visited a few different places. On Tuesday, my supervisor took me and my fellow interns that I work with to a large convention center in the city for a Travel Expo. It was called Seoul International Travel Mart, and we went as a seller to have meetings with potential clients about our offerings and potential collaboration/partnerships. It was an extremely fulfilling experience. I was able to learn a lot, especially since I had to do some of the meetings alone. I needed to use the knowledge I had of our company and our programs on the spot to answer the other company’s representative’s questions. Luckily, when I first came to Adventure Korea, my boss had me spend the first day researching about what the company does and what its mission/values are. This seemed somewhat mundane at first, but I now realize the importance of this work I did early on. This event was a good chance to try out my networking skills and interpersonal skills as well.
Since we only had six meetings, the day ended a bit early, and I had free time to walk around the Starfield COEX Mall that the convention center was connected to. This mall is home to the famous Starfield Library, which has gone viral on social media due to its uniquely shaped shelves.
On Thursday, I had the day out of the office as well. I was tasked with visiting a place of my choice and writing an article on it to put on our website. I visited Jongmyo Shrine and Lotte World Tower. Jongmyo Shrine is a royal shrine that enshrines the spirit tablets of late kings and their queens of the Joseon Dynasty. It’s also where the ancestral rituals are performed. They used to be performed 5 times a year (one every season and once at the end of the year) in the Joseon Dynasty, but they are now only done twice a year. The public is allowed to view the ceremony now though, which is very cool. Lotte World Tower is the sixth tallest building in the world, and tallest in South Korea. I visited the observatory near the top which offered amazing views of Seoul below and across the Han River. These places were both super cheap to visit. The observation deck was about $18 and you can stay as long as you like. The Shrine was 1000 won which is genuinely only 70 cents so there is no reason for anyone visiting Seoul to not go there. It was definitely worth the money.
Throughout my internship and the past few weeks, I have developed/worked on a number of both hard skills and soft skills. I think that through my work making social media posts for Adventure Korea, I have gotten more creative, learned formatting, how to make captions, how to design posts, and more which are all hard skills. I also have written articles and brochures for trips and promotions for company trips, so I’ve gained skills in there such as writing, how to use keywords for Search engine optimization, how to make titles and descriptions for web pages, and more. My internship has also led to me developing soft skills as well. I have become more comfortable with working in an office environment, working under a supervisor and boss, and I’ve gained more confidence with my communication skills as well. I’ve learned how to listen to tasks and execute them, even when the directions aren’t always super clear.
Being in Seoul for a month now, I’ve been able to use a lot of soft skills navigating situations both in the workplace and outside it. Whether in the office or at a restaurant, I’ve been able to use the boost in my communication skills to navigate the situation and any trouble I find myself in. I’ve been able to use the open minded and creative thinking that my boss promotes whenever I find myself confused or in need of answers. I apply the problem solving that I’ve known my entire life, but I sometimes need to think a little differently since I am in a new city that I am not fully familiar with. It usually works out well and I am able to get out of any confusion that I find myself in.
I am looking forward to this next month of my internship and the things that I can do as I pass the halfway point in my program.
