Seoul in winter does not welcome you. It tests you first.

We were there for business. A client wanted to build a digital experiential shopping project. Not a screen in a store. A system. A space where technology and retail had to behave like one thing. To do it properly, we had to be there. Fully. Physically.

At some point, the decision became unavoidable. We bought a small apartment in the city to execute the project. No shortcuts. It felt crazy and necessary at the same time. Boxes on the floor. Lights leaning against walls. Cables running where furniture should have been. We turned that apartment into a photographic shooting set. Temporary. Functional. Unforgiving.

Korea was harder than China. Less forgiving. Rules were precise but not always visible. You learned by making mistakes. You adjusted quickly or you stalled. The pace was intense. Expectations high. Execution mattered more than explanation.

We were not alone. We had people there. And we had friends. Marco had become a professor at a local university. He knew the system from the inside. Language, timing, pressure. That made a difference.

One evening, I was hosted by the Rotary Club of Seoul. The meeting took place on top of a hill overlooking the city. Seoul spread below, dense and silent under the cold. Formal setting. Warm reception. The kind of hospitality that does not try to impress. It just works.

Outside, winter was severe. Air sharp enough to cut breath. Hands numb after minutes. Inside, food brought you back. Stews bubbling. Rice steady and grounding. Meat grilled fast and eaten faster. And kimchi. Fermented, alive, complex. Nothing like what we had tasted before. It stayed with you. Heat after cold. Depth after fatigue.

Days were long. Nights short. The project moved forward in fragments. Setups built, torn down, rebuilt better. Seoul does not allow laziness. It demands presence.

By the time we left, the apartment no longer looked temporary. Neither did we.

Some cities open doors.
Some make you earn every step.
Seoul does the second, and feeds you well when you do.