After the long travel of yesterday, today the first actual day of the study trip had started. The planning for today was simple, first some free time and after that a tour around the Digital Media City, or DMC in short.
As with every morning, some people get up a bit easier as others, which was also the case today. So a group consisting of people who are early risers were joined by a group experiencing jet lag to make a nice morning stroll around the neighborhood. After which they and the not so early risers experienced their morning breakfast. The breakfast was simple. Probably a bit too simple. White bread and jam, jam aaaaaaaand jam. Luckily, also a toaster was present to make the white bread a bit better to eat.
When breakfast was finished it was time to get ready… To enjoy free time. But first we got our lunch money and a travel card to get around easier. As the name free time suggests, everybody enjoyed it in their own way and did their own thing for two hours. As free time was drawing to a close more and more people started to gather at the guesthouse, because the first company visit was about to start!
But before we could attend the company visit we first had to get there. Which proved to be a challenge all on its own. First, we went the wrong way towards the subway station. Second, Yvon and Sunny experienced the fast boarding times on the metro first hand, by getting the door closed right in front of them. And lastly, the wrong exit was taken out of the station at the final destination, thus everyone had to check in again to exit at the other side (note: do check in, otherwise a door will slam against your knees).
Finally, unfortunately with half an hour delay, we arrived at the Digital Media City. This company visit actually consisted of a visit to multiple companies. Starting with a VR experience, K-pop bands were giving a concert here and we were allowed to enter. One minor twist, it was all fake, the K-pop bands were not actually there, but were holograms. Afterwards there was still a little bit of time to enjoy some VR games, however we had to leave quickly (in less than five minutes) to our next stop.
The next stop was the radio and TV company TBS where we got a tour around two radio stations, the TV set and a theater. When getting a tour at one of the radio stations (the English station) we were actually allowed to enter the actual studio and furthermore, also participate in the show itself! Multiple participants were allowed to participate in a quiz called the pit, where you have thirty seconds to give a top three on the item asked, such as best things to enjoy the summer heat with.
Only two visits were left after this, with the first being KLID, a company which specializes in the creation of software for local governments. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to see much of the company, due to security reasons, but we did get a nice presentation.
Finally, a general introduction to the DMC was given. You might ask why the introduction was given at the end. Well… That was because of the slight delay we had at the beginning. When this presentation was done, everybody went out for some food and are now back at the hostel to enjoy a nice beer. We look forward to tomorrow, when we will visit the local temples.
