I recently had the privilege and opportunity to travel to South Korea and present my research at the IAU General Assembly 2022 in Busan. In particular, I gave a face-to-face presentation at the IAU369 FRB symposium about my FRB research with the MeerKAT telescope.
Unfortunately, my outward flight from the UK to South Korea was severely delayed, so I had to stay in London for a night in an airline-provided hotel. I arrived in Busan two days later than planned and late at night, only a few hours before the conference started.
The FRB symposium and IAU General Assembly were excellent, and Busan was a charming city. The COVID-19 entry checks were straightforward. The bullet train connection from Seoul to Busan was perfect and reasonably comfortable. Despite the extreme heat in Busan, which was expected, the stay was great.
I spent a couple of days in Seoul before flying out. Unfortunately, Seoul experienced its heaviest rain showers in several years, with parts of the subway entries flooding. Hence, it was only possible to visit some of the many temples in the historic centre.
It was a great and memorable trip, and I hope to return to South Korea shortly.