Manasi Parmeshwar Sarate, a second-year MSc student from India, shares her perspective on the first excursion of the Fall 2026 semester to Seoul National Museum.

The 18th Student Council organized a trip to Seoul, and as a Student Council Associate, I knew I would be helping out along the way. We left Daejeon by bus at 8 a.m., and about an hour later we stopped at a rest area for a short break. Once everyone was back on board, I counted the students, which was part of my responsibility for the day, and then we continued on to the museum.

When we finally reached the museum, we gathered everyone in front of the building for a group photo. After the photo, everyone went off to explore Seoul in their own way. Some of my friends went to Myeong-dong Street for shopping, while I decided to stay at the museum and explore it. It was much bigger than I expected. I started with the galleries covering Korea’s ancient history; I spent almost two hours just on the first floor. There was so much to see that I kept finding something new as I walked around; moving between display cases of skulls, rows of ancient pottery… I found myself especially drawn to the Silla section, where I saw the Famous gold crown and gold belt; it was one of the moments that really caught my attention. The intricate designs and craftsmanship made it easy to understand why Silla is sometimes associated with the idea of a “Golden Kingdom.” Near the exhibits was a coin-pressing machine offering a small copper-colored coin for 2,000 won or a golden one for 6,000 won. I was tempted, but I decided to hold off in case the museum offered a better souvenir.

I kept exploring and eventually reached the second floor; I moved through different periods and styles of Korean art. The transition from ancient artifacts to later Korean painting, ceramics, and Buddhist art made the visit feel like a journey through time. After exploring for so long, I met up with my friend Sandra, and we decided to have lunch at the museum’s food court. It was a good chance to sit down, talk, and recharge before continuing our day. After lunch, we grabbed Coffee and went back to exploring.

We also visited the Children's Museum, which offered a more interactive and playful experience and showed another side of how museums can introduce history and culture to younger visitors. Later, we sat down for a while and ended up talking about some current political issues, which was a nice break from all the walking. Those small conversations with friends turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the day.

Before leaving, I made one final stop at the museum shop and decided to buy some souvenirs. I went back to the bus before the others, and once everyone had arrived, I counted the students again, and we headed back to Daejeon. We got there around 7 p.m. Since there were five buses, all the Student Council Associates had to wait until every bus had arrived; we had a quick meeting, and then everyone finally went home.

Looking back, the excursion was much more than just a visit to a museum. It was an opportunity to step outside our usual campus routine and experience Korean history and culture in a much more tangible way. It was a day filled with exploring, discovering new things, spending time with friends, trying food, collecting souvenirs, and even taking on small responsibilities as a Student Council Associate. It was a full day of exploration, and definitely one that I would be happy to experience again.

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