Day 3 is kind of a blur because we didn't get any sleep the night before. Instead, we decided to watch the World Cup match between South Korea and Nigeria which started at 3:30am. We decided to watch the match out in the streets of Seoul...and it was quite incredible. This should be a separate post, but here's a preview:
After breakfast, we visited two research institutes, the National Fusion Research Institute and the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials. Neither of them allowed pictures. Both were doing some pretty impressive work.
After lunch we had some time to wander around and found a coin operated machine with some crazy prizes like autographed baseballs, an electric shock lie detector, and binoculars. But the button that controlled the vertical motion was broken so we gave up after four tries. Disappointing.
The hotel for the next few days was really nice and had a great view but didn't have internet in the rooms. So we all had to go to the lobby to check email. Everybody walking by seemed to get a kick out of the internet addicted Americans in the lobby. There were also a bunch of Russian kids at the same hotel. I talked to them some in Russian but they seemed more interested in hanging out with Sunny. Especially the young girls. Careful Sunny.
We finished the day off by watching the USA vs. Algeria soccer match. The one where they won by scoring a goal in extra time. This one started at 11pm so we actually did get some sleep.
Day 4:
The next day was devoted to learning about the major industries in Korea. We first visited the Phang Iron and Steel Company. They didn't allow pictures either, but we watched a huge iron mill flattening out a 12" slab of iron to about 4 inches thick.
On the way to our second industrial tour, we stopped by the underwater tomb of King Munmu who united the three kingdoms in Korea at the time into the Silla Kingdom. He specifically asked to be buried in the sea before dying so that "he would become a dragon and protect Silla from the Japanese intruders."
The next stop was Hyundai Heavy Industries. This is the same company that make the cars, but they are also the largest shipbuilder in the world and we were visiting their massive shipyard. Again, pictures were prohibited, but think giant boats. The original founder, Chung Ju-yung, is extremely well respected and admired so about an hour of the tour was about him. They had a whole exhibition hall devoted to his life. Quite excessive.
The last stop of the day was Gyeongju Gwaereung, the supposed tomb of the 38th king of Silla. They are holding off excavating the tomb because they hope a non-intrusive method can be developed in the future.
For the complete photo album of everything in this post go here:
Feel free to ask questions if there's anything you want to know more about.
Hey Victor,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your comment a lot. Maybe you are good at expressing some situation and making stories.
BTW, there is no special to show you when I get there since you have already traveled the fun places in Korea. In this time I think it is very hot and humid there, please be careful your health.
B.H. Lee