Korean layover: A visit to the Incheon Global Campus

Krishna left IRRI to pursue her PhD degree in Ghent University's South Korea campus soon after I moved to the USA. While waiting for arrangements about my Korea tour, I asked if she's around and if her schedule permits us to meet up. She said we could meet up near her university. Right after my tour, I got onto a city bus and went to our meeting place in downtown Incheon.

The view going to Incheon from the airport was fascinating because the airport was really pretty when viewed from the outside. After getting more passengers at the other terminals, the bus then drove over a long bridge to go to the mainland... Incheon International Airport is on an island. Given that it's almost noon, I had a double take seeing buildings that seemingly float in thin air while the bus was on the bridge.

That was just haze, I think, because once we were closer to the mainland, the buildings became clearer and the fog cover disappeared. 

One of the stops that the bus made was in front of the coast guard building. Even with the Korean characters on the building, I think even tourists will know that this is the coast guard building because of the boat prominently parked outside.

The stop that Krishna instructed me to go to was actually in front of a hotel. She met me close by and then we went to one of her highly recommended Korean barbecue places. I don't remember the name but I can attest that the food was so delicious! The meat was so tender and the vegetables were very fresh.

After lunch, we then took a cab to see her university. I have to honestly say that I didn't even think that it's a university! The facilities were ultramodern and the building had the ambiance of a research and development company (which I see on the telly), with sleek design and bright interiors. The universities I've been to all mainly had old brick and mortar buildings (especially the Hartley Teakle Building in UQ). The only exception is the Robert Mondavi enology facility at UC Davis. 

Krishna also introduced me to her fellow students and gave me a quick tour of the Incheon Global campus. Aside from Ghent, the global campus also houses George Mason University, the University of Utah, and State University of New York. This is a good thing: people who want to get degrees from these universities and may have problems getting visas for the USA or for European countries can go to Korea instead.

Unfortunately, my time in Incheon was highly limited. So after our lightning tour, I headed back to the airport and got ready to board my flight to Manila.