My main mission (excuse?) for this trip to Korea was to see the Major League Baseball 2024 season-opening game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This was the first time American major league baseball was hosted in Korea. Koreans are huge fans, and Ha Seoung Kim is a Korean superstar who plays for the Padres.
Tickets couldn’t be bought from the USA, so I thought I’d be able to score a ticket there. However, I didn’t have an extra $5000 to get in, so I enjoyed hanging around with the other fans at the stadium and watching the games on screens.
Being born and raised in San Diego, you know who I was rooting for!
I rented an amazing apartment with a great view of Seoul!
I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon dynasty.
I noticed that many of the visitors were wearing very colorful clothing. These beautiful dresses and costumes are the Korean national dress, hanbok! One of these tourists is wearing his traditional Arkansas costume.
Gyeongbokgung Palace consisted of 330 buildings and had up to 3000 staff, all serving the royal family. During Japanese colonial rule, most of the palace was destroyed – much of what you see today is an accurate reconstruction.
Wandering the streets of Seoul and finding cool things made me happy!
While strolling down a side street, I encountered this church with architecture I’d never seen before!
I popped inside for a closer look at the sanctuary…
The Lotte Tower, the tallest building in Korea, is over 100 stories high and boasts the highest glass-floor observation deck in the world. The view from up there was amazing!
Maybe you remember a famous K-pop song, Gangnam style? This monument commemorates the dance moves…
Food everywhere was delicious! I could’ve filled pages with all the yumminess, but I spent more time eating it than snapping pictures.
I tried to visit North Korea, but there wasn’t an option that’d allow me to return. “You cannot enter North Korea from South Korea […], you may be arbitrarily arrested and/or detained at your point of entry.” (Photo credit Smithsonian Magazine)
