Day One: Exploring the City

After traveling for over 24 hours in a car, a plane and a bus, we arrived at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel ready to overcome our jet-lag!  After about 6 hours of sleep, we were eager to explore the city, but not before hitting the all-you-can eat breakfast buffet, which offered an immense variety of Korean cuisine along with some Western favorites.

Our first challenge of the day was learning the Seoul subway system.  We were very impressed with the efficiency and cleanliness of the whole system, not to mention the many people who were willing to help the only two Americans who clearly looked lost moving from one line to the other. Thank goodness for color-coded subway lines!

We decided to explore some traditional Koren architecture by visiting the Bukchon Hanok Village. Here we were able to observe the beauty of the natural materials, flared roofs and winding roads of this quaint area tucked inside the bustling city. One woman even invited us to tour a private home, Simsimheon, meaning the house where the heart is found.  This home, built in 2004,  preserved all of the Hanok tradition, yet included modern conveniences for living in 21st century Korea.

Before heading to the National Science Museum to register for our conference, we had a brief glimpse of the shops in Insa-dong, a web of narrow alleys filled with an abundance of Korean crafts, souvenirs, teahouses and restaurants.  We hope to head back to check out the art galleries and make some purchases before leaving the country!

Arriving at the Science Museum with literally one minute before registration ended, we were kindly escorted to the registration table to pick up our schedule and materials for the next five days.  We were fascinated at the many tables already showcasing the connection between art and math!  We look forward to sharing more of our discoveries over the next few days.
Enjoy the photos!  

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