Yeosu Expo - The World Fair 2012

This weekend Alexa and I went to the World Fair which is held in Yeosu, South Korea. Before coming to Korea, I had no clue that the World Fair was going to be here. I found out in April when I was reading about the 50^th Anniversary of Seattle’s World Fair back in 1962. Therefore, we were both really excited to go; however, it took us over a month to finally go because of the complications of getting there. From Daegu, there is no direct route to get to Yeosu. Therefore, we had to take a bus to a town called Suncheon and stay in a hostel there overnight. Then the next morning we had to take a taxi to the train station so that we could catch the 7:50 shuttle train that left for Yeosu. Then that night we would have to take the shuttle back to the Suncheon train station, take a taxi to the bus station, and walk back to the hostel. It sounded tiring (AND IT WAS) and that is why it took us a month before deciding to go. However, the World Fair was well worth it and we are both extremely glad that we went.

Entrance to the Expo

Our favorite part of the Exposition is that they had over one hundred countries participating. The different countries set up pavilions so that people can come and try different foods, learn about new inventions, and learn what that country is doing to implement production of resources by using marine (ocean) supplies. After all, the theme of the World Fair is how to save our oceans and how to use the ocean’s resources to create new resources. It was interesting going to the United States pavilion as it was one of the biggest pavilions at the World Fair. The line was long as most people were excited to see America’s oceans and beaches on a video that was created for the fair. The video started with Hillary Clinton talking about working with Korea and then had Obama talking about the importance of using alternative sources. As the only Americans in the pavilion, I think we both felt extremely patriotic and wanted to do a chant when finished (Don’t worry, we did not do a chant). 

My favorite pavilion had a demonstration on how Korea is going to try using seaweed algae to not only create resources such as plastic but also things like automobiles, medicine, and fabric for clothes. Korea already has the resources to use seaweed algae to create these products and is now trying to get other countries to get on board. The resources are completely biodegradable which will help prevent pollution on land and in the oceans. I liked the pavilion not only because they had a sample car that was made from seaweed algae but also because they were extremely informative on how the process works. The vehicle looked pretty sweet as it portrays the type of vehicles that we will see much further in the future.

Alexa and I were also very fortunate that we brought our umbrellas as we went during monsoon season. When it rains it pours! We knew that it was going to rain before hand; however, it did not rain the entire time. When it did rain though, you did not want to be outside. My umbrella felt like it was going to break due to the nasty monsoon. At the same time, it was a blessing because the fair was not completely packed due to the weather. Our friend went a few weeks before us and she said that she had to wait for two hours just to see a pavilion. Alexa and I only had to wait a few times as we mostly just got to walk right into most of the pavilions.

Oh, and yes, we got to eat amazing fair food! We took advantage of the food as we ate churros, sausages, curry, gelato, and had partaken in an international buffet. The buffet was rather refreshing as it had foods that we had only desired such as fresh fruits, desserts, and other foods that we took for granted in America.

The best decision that we made at the fair was to not wait for the O-show which is the trademark for the World Fair. Most of the Koreans gathered around this outside arena and waited up to three hours for this show that started at 21:00 hours (9:00pm). Thankfully we did not wait for the show because it was literally only five minutes long and we could see it from where we were standing in the park. Most of the show involved things in the air such as fireworks, and therefore, we had the satisfaction of seeing the show without waiting. Overall, the World Fair was an amazing experience and we are extremely excited that we had the opportunity to enjoy it.