e-learning conference, Seoul, South Korea

A short summary of my trip to Seoul, South Korea.

First of all, travelling there takes VERY long. From Jo’burg it is a ten hour flight to Singapore, followed by 6.5 hour flight to Seoul. The airports there are huge; you have to catch trains to get to your terminal. Most of the writing is in the local languages and it is quite intimidating. Everything is on time and just works though.

My hotel room was very similar to what we normally stay in locally, just smaller. I guess space comes at a premium there. The people at reception spoke English quite well and were very helpful. Communicating with the locals was very difficult and I gave up most of the time.

It is ridiculously clean there; along the rivers, highways, industrial areas and in the city itself. It makes one aware of just how messy SA really is. 
 

Their food is actually very nice. It is mostly vegetable-based dishes. Even for breakfast! The main meats are chicken and fish. It is no wonder the majority of the locals are in such good physical condition.

I found Seoul to be pretty expensive. Main meals are in the region of R200, cab rides between R100 and R200, beers between 20 and 50 bucks and the same goes for coffee. I thought I would get electronics for cheap at least, but that was not the case. Electronics cost almost exactly the same as here, if not more. Clothing is also very expensive, starting at R300-R400 a piece. I am sure there must be cheaper options available, but I couldn’t find any. The Korean government embarked on a mission to get rid of the “selling fake goods” label. Apparently quite a few people have gone to jail for selling counterfeit goods. It was also quite frustrating trying to work out costs with the huge Won (local currency) price tags. I saw a Hyundai car for sale; W 51, 000, 000.00 I think. Too many zeros to remember!

They drive pretty much the same cars as what we do although there are imitations of all the big brands like Merc and BMW. They are copied almost EXACTLY! :-)

The trade show and expo were pretty interesting too. Again, communication was almost impossible but I did manage to find some products that I will be investigating further.

All in all I would definitely recommend a visit to Seoul if the opportunity presents itself. You can look at some pics here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.284811578301421.64560.189037557878824&type=1