Hello all! As I write this, I can’t believe it’s already week three. I just returned from a weekend trip to the historical city of Gyeongju through the Absolute Internship program. Although it was short, I had a lot of fun!
We started off the trip at Seoul station where we traveled about two hours by high speed train. Gyeongju is located in the South, close to the city of Busan. We all had some very delicious Korean BBQ for dinner and settled into the hotel.
The next morning we started by going to a group gochujang, or Korean chili paste making class. There, we learned about how gochujang is traditionally fermented in giant pots and even got to make some ourselves. I thought it was a very cool experience and it was very clear that it was the instructor’s life’s work. We were told that our gochujang needed to sit out of the fridge for three days to ferment, so I’m still waiting to see the results. I’m sure it’ll be great, though!
After that we went on a tour of the city, including a historical tomb coming from the ancient Korean kingdom of Sila. There were lots of historical crowns, jewelry, and pottery that I thought was incredibly beautiful. We also saw the oldest astromonical tower in Asia. To be honest, I didn’t know what the building was when I first saw it. I thought it was cool because, as our tour guide explained, the tower was built with 365 stones to represent the 365 days of the year.
After that we were given free time to explore. My group and I explored some nearby temples and bridges, got lunch (we ordered a bacon and potato pizza and it came out with fries, ketchup, and mustard on it) and went to a nearby cafe. The day was so long — in total I walked 30k steps!
Before leaving, I also made sure to buy hwangnam-pan, which is a pastry Gyeongju is famous for. It is small and flower shaped with a dense red bean filling in the center. I thought it wasn’t too sweet and very delicious.
The next morning we went to two more temples as a big group before leaving. In all, I’m very glad for the cultural experience. I think traditional Korean architecture is very beautiful, especially the roofs. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to see traditional buddhist statues and art pieces.
As for work, I’m finding that a lot of communication from my supervisor and coworkers is a little unclear. I typically get one assignment for the week, which is often vague. For example, my week three task was “make shortform content using AI”, and week four’s was “post about our service online and show the shortform content you made”. Although both of these are completely reasonable requests, I often found myself in over my head trying to use my background knowledge and judgement skills to assess what my boss wants.
In order to navigate this challenge, I ask my boss clarifying questions whenever I feel ‘stuck’. I have found some success in assessing the company’s needs that way. I’ve also learned that some of the difficulties in communication and vaugeness come from a place of genuinely not knowing about the needs/desires of foreigners in Korea. Because I am a foreigner, it’s my responsibility to translate what I see online into the content I’ve been asked to create, if that makes sense.
Another way I navigated this challenge was through using resources I was familiar with and already had access to. For example, I used a prior Canva pro subscription for an on-campus job to aid me with graphics. I also used online message boards to help find a free AI software that I could generate content with.
This week with my task to reach out to foreigners online, I plan to begin to integrate myself into communities on Facebook, Reddit, and the Korean messenger app Kakao talk to begin building trust. Since self promotion is not allowed on many of those sites, I hope to be able to build relationships with foreigners online and genuinely help some of them out.
Outside of work, I am planning a weekend solo trip to the city Qingdao in China. I’m very excited! The city is known for its seafood and beaches. Looking forward to the future and always grateful for this opportunity halfway across the world.
Sydney