Day 9

Day 9: May 28, 2025

Today was a very exciting day as we got to ride the bullet train to travel to Kangnung, a quaint coastal town around 2 hours from Seoul. The train ride was very exciting as we reached speeds of over 115 mph, which I quickly learned is somewhat slow in terms of bullet train speeds. As we rode through the countryside, I was able to see vas green spaces, mountains, and many smaller settlements. Once we arrived in Kangung we arrived at our place of stay at Gangneung Seongyojang House. We then ate lunch, enjoyed a special organ performance by one of the family members of the house we were staying, and dressed in the traditional hanbok. After, we ventured to a local beach to walk and swim and enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant. I was able to try abalone, a large marine snail with an iridescent shell for dinner. It reminded me a lot of steamed oysters, which was very unexpected, but I enjoyed it a lot!

Blog 7 Theme: Countryside Farms

On our way to Kangnung, I was able to see where a lot of the farms are located just outside of the city of Seoul. I was very interested to see how farms operated outside of the city. It seems that they operate similarly to those in the US, with large fields of crops surrounded by trees. I was even able to see many rice fields. This was very different for me as I had never seen how rice was grown. The process involves planting rice in a flooded field. These fields were also tucked into many places along the railroad tracks, and just across the street from where we stayed overnight. These crops are vital for the local population in both these small cities and larger cities like Seoul.