This past weekend the entire cohort took a trip to Gyeongju. On Friday, my company had a half day so I got off at 12. Unfortunately, that was also one of the Yonsei interns’ last day, which was sad since that meant one less person to eat with at lunch everyday. At 5 PM, the cohort met up at Seoul Station and took a high speed train down south, which took about a two hour ride. Gyeongju is located close to Busan, and the change in scenery from Seoul was immediately noticeable. There are significantly more trees there and the air smelled fresher. After we arrived at Gyeonju, we immediately took a private bus to a Korean BBQ dinner. After dinner, we went to the hotel and had free time in the evening to explore the surroundings. I walked about for an hour, and noticed that many of the businesses closed noticeably earlier than compared to Seoul. 

Saturday morning, we started with a Gochujang making class, where we learned how Korean chili paste is traditionally fermented in giant pots and got to make some ourselves. It was a really cool experience, listening to the instructor, and you could tell it was genuinely the instructor’s life’s passion. (We were told our Gochujang needed to sit out for three days to ferment, so I am still waiting on the results of that!) After the class we went on a tour of the city, which included a historical tomb from the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. There were historical crowns, jewelry, and pottery on display that were all incredibly beautiful. We also saw the oldest astronomical tower in Asia, which was built with 365 stones to represent the 365 days of the year. I had no idea what it was when I first saw it, but once the tour guide explained it, it became one of the more memorable things I saw all weekend.

After the tour we had free time to explore. My group visited some nearby temples and bridges, grabbed lunch, and stopped at a cafe. Lunch was interesting because we ordered what we thought was a pork and potato pizza. However, what came out was a pizza with pastry crust with fries, ketchup, and mustard on top. Unexpected, but honestly not bad, however this opinion is varied. Before leaving Gyeongju I also made sure to try Hwang Nam Bbang, which is a traditional red bean pastry and a Gyeongju specialty. It is small and flower shaped with a dense red bean filling in the center. It is not too sweet and pairs really well with coffee or tea. Tasting it there felt like a proper cultural experience. I also went on night walks around the city and got to take in the historical sites after dark, which had a completely different atmosphere. The next morning we visited two more temples as a group before heading back. In total I walked around 70,000 steps over the course of the weekend, which paints a picture of how much ground we covered.

In my opinion, the biggest cultural challenge by far has been the language barrier. It comes up in every single aspect of daily life here, whether it is navigating the transit system, shopping, or just going about a normal day. One thing I did not fully anticipate was how often people assume I can speak Korean. Since I am Asian American, people approach me regularly and start speaking to me in Korean. and every time, I have to apologize and explain that I cannot speak the language. It is more funny and awkward than anything else. What usually happens is they switch to English, and when I respond back in English they get a little flustered, apologize, and leave. It has become a pretty regular occurrence at this point. A good example of this happened during the train ride to Gyeongju. A foreigner approached me and asked for directions, and I had to explain that I was also a foreigner and could not help them. Even other tourists assumed I was a local, which was a little surprising. In the workplace, things have been pretty smooth. My coworkers are all very nice and willing to help, so the environment has never felt unwelcoming. The biggest challenge has really just been the occasional misunderstanding during daily communications, but everyone is patient and we just pull out Google Translate when needed to make sure we are on the same page. It is not a perfect solution but it works well enough, and most people have been really patient and understanding.