Field Notes

On Thursday evening my Contemporary Social Ethics professor, Dr. Jae Park, treated several of her students to dinner.

We met at a restaurant called Sictac in downtown Seoul where we enjoyed a Korean spin on fine Italian food. There were 15 of us for dinner: three from the United States, one from New Zealand, one from Canada, one from Turkmenistan, two from Mexico, one from The Netherlands, one from Finland, one from Australia, and four from South Korea. We spent the evening sharing experiences from home, perspectives on ethical and social issues, and plans for the future. Dr. Park told us about her time at the University of Chicago and Harvard’s divinity and business schools, working as an investment banker on Wall Street, and how she became a theology professor at Yonsei University. She had great anecdotes and advice to share with all of us, and we stayed at the restaurant until we were kicked out at 2200 so it could close. Continue reading “Seoul – 10 December 2018”

On Monday night I accidentally spilled water all over my personal laptop, which was the catalyst for my interesting experience this week.

In order to recover the data (including all of my portfolio research) and see about getting my laptop repaired, I had to visit Yongsan, a district located in the center of Seoul which is home to the headquarters for U.S. military forces in Korea and the famous Yongsan Electronics Market—my destination. Continue reading “Yongsan – 3 December 2018”

This week I wrapped up the last significant portion of my portfolio research with a visit to the newly built League of Legends (LoL) Park. The Park was opened in September of this year by Riot Games, the creator of LoL, after investing nearly $90 million. The LoL Park is located on the third floor of the Gran Seoul building in Jongno (the business district) in central Seoul.

Continue reading “Seoul – 26 November 2018”

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a professional women’s basketball game.

On Friday afternoon we left in a chartered bus for the city of Asan, which is about 100km (or 62 miles) south of Seoul. The trip should have taken us only two hours, but Friday rush hour traffic added an extra hour to the drive. Fortunately, we left with just enough time to make it to the game before the end of the first quarter. Continue reading “Asan – 19 November 2018”

The PC 방 (“PC bang”, or literally, ‘PC room’) is ubiquitous in South Korea.

A PC bang is basically a 24-hour internet café for gamers. It is equipped with dozens (sometimes even hundreds) of high-performance gaming computer stations with pre-downloaded games and comfortable chairs for anywhere from 500 to 3,000 KRW (or $0.45 – $2.65) an hour. Additionally, many PC bangs have on-demand food and beverage service that can be ordered right from your computer screen and delivered directly to your computer station. PC bangs are everywhere in Seoul; there is at least one on every block and there are often a few within 50m of each other.

Continue reading “PC Bangs – 12 November 2018”

This weekend I explored two popular markets in Seoul: the Dongmyo Outdoor Flea Market and the Seoul Folk Flea Market.

These markets, known amongst young people as “Grandma and Grandpa’s Hongdae,” have become very popular amongst foreign tourists and locals alike for the variety of goods available for purchases. Each market features hundreds of stalls and vendors with their collection of wares laid out on tables and all over the street. They have almost everything that you would expect to find at a flea market and beyond. The items were mostly second-hand, but included clothing, jewelry, shoes, books, electronics, toys, knives, tools, CDs and records, and various household goods. In addition to the retail items, there were many street food stalls and vendors selling imported packaged food that one would typically find in a US supermarket at a hefty premium. Continue reading “Seoul – 29 October 2018”

On Saturday I crossed the Military Demarcation Line into North Korea.

My study abroad program had the privilege of going to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Joint Security Area (JSA) as the very last organized, military-escorted tour for the foreseeable future (or, if things continue to progress, for all of history) with the forthcoming demilitarization of the JSA.

Continue reading “DMZ – 22 Oct 2018”