Another early start today with a 6:45 wake up was a little rough, but it meant we could enjoy a little more of this wonderful country. Alma and Angelika took the lead by guiding us towards the prestigious Seoul National University.
Some of us have more energy than others in the morning :’)
After 2 trains and our first bus ride over here, we were greeted by 5 enthusiastic engineering students in their architectural wonder of a library (it literally won the Korean Architectural Award in 2015). Together with a knowledgeable library worker they gave us an informative and enjoyable tour of their beautiful facility. It turns out the building was funded through private donations started by the hansom fellow bellow (Lee Chong Hwan PH. D) with an astonishing 60 Million U.S. Dollars (talk about setting the bar high!).
Can you guess which one of us made the donation?
Many others followed suit, and each of their names are visible in this board bellow and all around the library. From seats to conference rooms, each donor is thanked for their contribution by becoming part of the facility. It truly is awe inspiring, and we could only imagine what it must be like to study there daily.
The bigger the block the more money they donated.
After the tour the students took control and let us get a quick bight to eat. It was great to get to know them, and exchanged stories of our travels and cultural differences (we totally impressed them with our knowledge on Korea’s traditions :D). Afterwards they showed us to their version of the DesignLAB/SmartXP. Here we truly felt at home, and like kids in a candy store, we had to play with all their ‘toys’ like the 3d printed models they had lying around.
It was definitely our turn to be impressed (again). Their facilities looked closer to a factory than a work shop, but still had all the comforts a student needs to feel relaxed. Sadly this concluded our visit, and the students showed us to their shuttle service so we could get back to the train station comfortably (and most importantly free of charge). It was great to see the best S.Korea had to offer, and we just want to say thank you to anyone and everyone who helped make the visit as memorable as it was.
Our final trip of the day was to the famous Gangnam district of Seoul. Here we visited Samsung d’light, an interactive exposition of all the technology Samsung had to offer. Now, kids in a candy store would be an understatement. We were surrounded by VR roller-coasters, massive QLED TV’s, more phones than you can count and that was only part of the first floor. We were given a tour showing us how to use their interactive system that used their technology to give you insights into your personality:
We were then showed to their second floor to see how their technology could, and in some cases will, be used in the future. They then released the reins and let us loose to play to our hearts content.
That was the end of our company visits in S.Korea, and afterwards everyone split up to experience their final moments in this amazing country. I personally toured around Gangnam, and then went to have some final Korean BBQ in a local restaurant and made some new Korean friends!
We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about our adventure, because we are all having an unbelievably good time. Tomorrow we embark to the land of the rising sun, Japan. We are sad to say Good-bye to S.Korea, but are also giddy with anticipation for what the future holds. Keep reading to find out how it goes!
With a bitter-sweet farewell,
Quinton & Andres