Day 8

Day 8: May 27, 2025

Today we started out with a trip to the Common Ground: Architecture, interior design, and the 3rd Place. This was a small shopping center made completely from reused shipping containers. The shipping containers were stacked and secured to one another to create a interconnected series of shops. The design utilizing the shipping containers was very eye catching and definitely added to the shopping experience there. After shopping for a while, we went to Coex to visit the Starfiled library, a grand, two-story library in the middle of the shopping center featuring thousands of books along multi-story shelves. After venturing around the library and shopping center, we also visited the Bonguensa Temple nearby. We then visited the Lotte Tower, the sixth tallest building in the world. At 123 stories, the building offers an impressive view of the city. I also learned that many of the floors are used for residential purposes, but are incredibly expensive to live in.

Blog 6 Theme: Food Store Operations within Seoul

Something vastly different from the US that I noticed when I initially arrived was where people bought food from. Throughout my trip to South Korea, I have been diligently looking into where people get food from. It seems that a lot of people get entire meals from convenience stores regularly, something uncommon in the US. Convenience stores are typically where people buy small snacks in the states, but are usually to small to offer larger meals, are expensive, or are poor quality. Convenience stores also offer microwaves for people to prepare food. There are also larger grocery stores such as Lotte Mart where groceries can be bought. Although from my perspective, it seems people do not have to rely on them as much in the city compared to the US because they have more access to convenience stores and fresh markets with locally grown foods.