Korea trip with EDUC 359L Teaching Lab: Inquiry-Based Fieldwork in Culturally Diverse Schools 🤗✈️

Hello blog! This week I will be telling you about my study abroad experience in Seoul, South Korea 🇰🇷I didn’t study abroad for a semester like most people do at Wellesley. I chose not to go abroad because I really needed to stay at Wellesley to work, and to be quite honest, I loved Wellesley too much to leave. Everything that I do here brings me joy, so I didn’t feel a strong desire to go abroad. When this opportunity came up, I jumped at it because I saw this as my study abroad experience through Wellesley. I got to go to Korea at the end of the spring semester through an international lab. International labs allow you to go abroad for 10 days at the end of the spring semester. This international lab was attached to an education class I took called Inquiry-Based Fieldwork in Culturally Diverse Schools. During the semester, we would go to a bilingual school in Boston to do classroom observations. I would say my trip had a good balance of scheduled things and free time. The location is predetermined, and the professor that takes you usually has a set agenda for the class they’re taking. We always had our evenings free, and our professor scheduled a couple of free days for us so we could go out and explore on our own! 

The first thing my professor planned for us was a cooking class where we made sundubu jjiae, a spicy soft tofu stew, and bibimbap, a bowl with steamed rice mixed with meat or tofu and vegetables. 🍲

Me with my jjiae that I made

She also scheduled a visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace and a visit to Ewha Women’s University, which is the largest women’s university in the world. The students there visited Wellesley last year, so it was really fun getting to reconnect with them. Aside from the university, we also got to visit Ewha’s High School and sit in on an 11th grade class. My professor also took us to the Haja Center, an alternative school in Korea for students who don’t want to go to university. The Haja Center is something that is really special in Korea since there is pressure on students to get into top universities. The Haja Center is a place of rebellion since it normalizes and promotes Korean students’ career agency, specifically with pursuing non-traditional careers. We also went to the Demilitarized Zone, which is the area that separates North and South Korea. We received a tour from two retired lieutenant colonels who served during the Korean War. We got to look through telescopes to see into North Korea, and the view was quite detailed because you could see people farming and walking around.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Ewha’s campus

This wasn’t something that was scheduled, but I went with my professor to get dinner one night, and she introduced me to my favorite Korean food: salt bread. I love bread with all of my heart, and this bread was as if a croissant and a Texas Roadhouse roll had a baby. It was so soft, so warm, and absolutely luxurious to eat. 🍞

The salt bread bakery my professor took me to. There are a lot of them around Korea. You find them by smelling them

The biggest thing I did in my free time was shop 🛍️I can’t lie—I’m a material girl. I love trinkets and plushies. Korea is a great place if you love shopping. The shopping culture there is insane. People will line up outside of the mall before it opens. My favorite place to shop was Insa-dong. There are so many shops there with plushies and trinkets. It was also a great spot to get gifts for people!

A caricature I got done of myself 🖼️

Plushie haul 🧸

My favorite thing that I did in Korea was go to a Miffy exhibit 💖This Miffy exhibit was in honor of Miffy’s 70th birthday 🥳I really enjoyed this immersive Miffy experience because of how it allowed me to reconnect with my inner child. I really felt like I would just let go and play. There were also toddlers running around that added a wholesome layer to the atmosphere.

Pictures I took in the Miffy photo booth

Going to Korea was the first time I went to a country where I didn’t know the language or much about the culture. I was proud of myself for taking that leap. I also appreciated the trust my professor gave me to go on this trip without a lot of prior knowledge of Korean culture or history. Learning about Korea in Korea allowed me to have a richer experience in the country because I got to hear from people who have contributed to the country’s history and education system. I’ve never thought about going to Korea, nor did I ever plan to go to Korea. Doing this international lab was yet another way Wellesley has expanded my worldview as a learner and global citizen 🗺️✨

Thank you for tuning into my blog! Until next time 🤗

Warmly,

Sofía ‘26